Parenting & Lifestyle for you!!

Delhi is a place bustling with lots of fun, activities for all, be it kids, teens, young or elders. Though it lacks the beauty of beaches and vast grasslands, Delhi still has a lot to offer to children much beyond the amusement parks. Childhood is the most precious phase and we have always focussed on making those memories more beautiful as a family. It is always fun to walk around and explore something new, which adds some value and awareness to our budding generations.

This time, I’m listing out top 5 Museums, which pose as a perfect fun place for kids. It entails not just their enjoyment, but ample opportunities to learn about our historical eminence and more.

5 Delhi Museums must for children and family :

1. National Rail Museum :

One of our favourite museum’s, It is a perfect joy ride to Indian railway’s heritage. This museum has a stupendous collection of real life size exhibits pertaining to locomotives, coaches, various kinds of engines, from different parts of India.

The Patiala State Mono Rail and the John Morris Fire Engine are the rarest yet operational exhibits of its kind in the world here. You can get this steam ride every Thursday and Saturday. Also, the oldest working steam locomotive “Fairy Queen” is one of the exhibit, sounds exciting right? It’s not just about locomotives ranging from steam to diesel to electricity, Rail Museum has moved well head with technology and offers 3D virtual tours. With technology its indoor galleries are more educative, interactive and keeps train lovers, be it kids and adults equally glued.

Rail Museum has :

• Toy Train Ride : Who doesn’t loves toy train rides, and more so here, when you can blow the whistle, turn On and OFF the lights as you go round and round around the track. Laugh, sing and get back into the beautiful memory lanes.
• 3D Virtual Train ride, a complete fun for all
• Miniature India : An amazing and the largest working Railway Model of India. This Miniature beautifully depicts and summarises India’s landscapes. Working models of Goods train, passenger train, steam train in mountain regions, bullet trains, windmill’s, rocket launchers, all of these keeps you enthralled. For cricket lovers, there is also a Model stadium to watch the cricket match.
• Indoor Gallery : A mesmerizing gallery sharing the rich heritage of Indian railways spanning over 1,15,000 km. It has some interactive games, models, historical facts and collectives and is quite well maintained.
• Rail Garden : Enter into the Rail garden to enjoy a lovely setting amidst the nature.

National Rail Museum conducts many kids, toddlers activities and has a clean cafeteria as well.

My ranking : 4.8/5, Must visit with Kids

Duration required : Minimum 2-3 hours

Tickets :

• Weekdays : Adults Rs50 & Kids (3-12 years) – Rs 10
• Weekends : Adults Rs100 & Kids (3-12 years) – Rs 20

*Outdoor areas can be hot in summer durations.

2. International Dolls Museum : Shankar’s International Dolls Museum

Who doesn’t loves dolls? How would you exclaim when you get to witness around 7000 dolls from around 85 countries all across the world? Well, yes that’s the beauty of this truly International Dolls Museum. It was set up by political cartoonist K. Shankar Pillai, inaugurated in 1965 with 1000 costume dolls and slowly the collection of costume dolls increased to more than 6k.

It has 2 sections, one section exhibits dolls from European countries, The USA, UK, Australia, NewZealand. Another section exhibits dolls from Africa, Middle east, India and other Asian countries.  It also has a Dolls workshop, from where you can buy dolls as gifts which have been meticulously handmade with lots of love. And the beauty is that these dolls have all very unique costumes, depicting a lot about various cultures and heritages.

My ranking : 4.5/5, Visit with Kids (closed on Monday)

Duration required : Minimum 1-2 hours

Ticket: Adult: Rs15, Children: Rs5

3. National Science centre :

As the name suggests, you think of anything related to science and you’ll find it here. This Science Museum is certainly not to be missed, be it for 3 year old or for 15 year old. It is one of the largest science centre in Asia and has some exemplary architecture’s for all ages. It houses close to 10 galleries, displaying various interactive exhibitions as :

Energy Ball :  in which the balls are lifted to 13 mts and then allowed to roll down following different trajectories, various geometric shapes.

Water : the elixir of Life : has 34 interactive exhibits. Get to know everything wrt water, be it our body water or ocean water or the conservation effort. Did you know how does a drop of water reaches from the raw water bodies to your taps? This exhibit tells you all.

Science & technology : Get to know about varied fields of science.

Human Biology : Get to know about anatomy, functional, physiological, Biochemical aspect of Human Body, this gallery has more than 100 interactive exhibits.

Pre-Historic Life Gallery : Who doesn’t love to know more about Pre-Historic era? Get into the world of Early birds, Dinosaurs and many creatures of that era. Get to know about the evolution of life, our ancestors, with this larger than life exhibit.

Emerging technologies : One of the most interesting gallery, it helps you ponder on the advancements in 9 technological areas and poses many awareness questions for the budding minds.

There are many more exhibits and even Science shows, 3D shows, real life science experiments all here.

Don’t miss it.

My ranking : 5/5

Duration required : Minimum 3-4 hours

Ticket: Rs50

4. Kiran Nadar Museum of Art

Are you fascinated with art? This museum is one of the most contemporary modern art museums in India. Every art depiction you see here, leaves you stunned, ignites imaginations in kids minds and takes you far away from this world. Even a small child enjoys the beauty of paintings there and for teens and adults this museum is worth every moment spent. They also conduct many artist’s workshops, symposiums.

Families can easily explore hands on activities, engage in story telling sessions, indulge in interactive workshops. Its a right way to introduce art to kids.

My ranking : 5/5 , Must visit

Ticket : Free Admission, closed on Monday

5. Museum of toilet :

Sulabh International Museum of Toilets, is one of the highest rated museums. With a rare collection of pictures, facts, objects related to hygiene and sanitation, it reflects the evolution from 2500 BC till date. It lays a very important focus on the Hygiene, etiquettes, healthy sanitary conditions, which is must for children.

One of the very unique kind of Museum, it also displays the gold and silver pots used by Romans, how the invention of W.C changed the life of people back then, strong drainage systems and evolutions of toilets. It’s amusing for sure but a very important lesson in the life of kids to focus upon.

My ranking : 5/5

Free Entry, open all days.

How did you feel about these Museums? Have you visited any of them? Share with me your experiences. Museums are indeed the best interactive modes to help kids learn in an experiential way. And what better than these?

Keep exploring,

Love Jhilmil