The museum
We all play! Explore Toy Museum Mechelen and learn all about games and toys! Do you know how people used to play in our regions? Why do we play in the first place? And what does playing mean to you?
Experience
In addition to carefully selected collection pieces, recognizable for all generations, you will also be able to experience the story thanks to countless gaming experiences. By the way, did you know that you are challenged in a coordinate game? Score points during your museum visit and dive into the collection via the information screens with your personal wristband!
A museum visit takes about 2 hours, but when you play, you quickly lose track of time.
Floor plan
Download the map of Speelgoedmuseum Mechelen (NL) or view it here:
The collection
Toy Museum Mechelen preserves a collection of games and toy heritage, which includes more than 30,000 objects, with toys from the Middle Ages to the present day that were and are played with in our country. Most of the collection dates from the 19th and 20th centuries.
Toy Museum Mechelen wants to map and collect both the material and the immaterial and digital witnesses of the Belgian playing culture (objects, stories, archive and visual material) in order to tell how people used to play in our country and how they are playing in our country in the past.
Online search
Are you curious about which pieces Toy Museum Mechelen has in its collection? Part of our collection is accessible on erfgoedinzicht.be. You can search online.
Donations
Due to the busy schedule of the newly opened museum, we are temporarily not accepting donations. From 2025 this will be possible again, so keep your valuable toys for a while longer.
Have you carefully preserved your toys and wish to donate them to Toy Museum Mechelen so that future generations can continue to enjoy them? Give a clear description of the objects, photos and any available information (e.g. Who is the manufacturer? Is the piece dated and/or are there any marks? How and when did the object come into your possession?). This will allow us to assess whether the objects complement our collection.
Participate
By the way, do you like to play yourself? Then fill in our ‘Everyone Plays’ survey and help decide which playing heritage should be preserved by the Mechelen Toy Museum in the future.
Requesting loans
Are you working for a museum or other cultural institution and interested in temporarily exhibiting one of our collection pieces? Describe the desired objects, the exhibition concept, the duration, the location and the way the pieces will be exhibited and contact our curator.
Documentation centre and library
Speelgoedmuseum Mechelen has a documentation centre and library with a lot of information on games, such as reference books on player heritage or toy advertising leaflets. Books and records can be consulted on site by appointment.
