This year’s judging process will take place throughout the school summer holidays, with undercover families visiting each shortlisted museum to rank them on how well they meet the Kids in Museums Manifesto.

The aggregated results will then decide a winner for each award category – small, medium and large museums – and an overall winner, which will receive the title of Family Friendly Museum of the Year 2019.

2019 nominees

Large Museums Category

Museum of Liverpool

Riverside Museum, Glasgow

World Museum, Liverpool

Medium Museums Category

Bolton Museum & Art Gallery

Great North Museum: Hancock

London Transport Museum

The Potteries Museum & Art Gallery, Stoke-on-Trent

Sedgwick Museum of Earth Sciences, Cambridge

University Museum of Zoology, Cambridge

Small Museums Category

Andrew Carnegie Birthplace Museum, Dunfermline

The Devil’s Porridge Museum, Eastriggs

Erewash Museum, Derbyshire

Hastings Museum & Art Gallery

Parc Howard Museum, Llanelli

Valence House Museum, Dagenham

Damian Dibben, children’s author and Kids in Museums Ambassador, said that since the award began 15 years ago there has been a “real sea-change in how museums cater for their family audiences.”

Each year, he added, “the shortlisting gets more and more difficult and this year has been our most competitive yet. These museums have been shortlisted because they go above and beyond to put families first and make them feel welcome throughout their visit. We congratulate all our shortlisted museums. It’s now over to families to help us decide the winner.”

Winners of the awards, which are made possible with Arts Council funding, will discover their fate at a ceremony in London later this year.

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Past winners

2017: People’s History Museum

2016: York Art Gallery

2015: Tullie House

2014: National Maritime Museum Cornwall

2013: Brixham Heritage Museum and Horniman Museum

2012: Haslemere Educational Museum

2011: Mansfield Museum

2010: Herbert Museum and Art Gallery

2008: Weston Park Museum

2006: Falmouth Art Gallery

2005: Pitt Rivers Museum and Oxford University Museum of Natural History

2004: Killhope North of England Lead Mining Museum