The Museum’s mission is to establish a world-class institution of its kind in Toronto. It endeavours to enhance our understanding of the world of childhood, a world in which each of us was once immersed.

Incorporated in the 1980s, the Museum is directed by a volunteer Board of Management. Since its inception the Museum has developed outreach programs, produced temporary and travelling exhibits, and worked on the development of the collection. We are now entering a new phase in our evolution, the development of the Museum itself.
Exhibits, hands-on activities, and programs will be designed

• to focus on childhood, the most defining period in every person's life,

• to provide knowledge about childhood in various times and cultures,
  

• to encourage reflection upon the experience of one's own childhood and that of others.

The Museum gathers and preserves the material objects of childhood, such as toys, clothing, and sports equipment, as well as the music, games, stories, rituals, and traditions of childhood. We will use this collection for exhibits, both temporary and permanent, on the Museum site and on the Web site, and at other facilities from time to time.

Visitors will be encouraged to use the resource centre for research into childhood. The collection will be made accessible to those farther away via the Internet.

We will develop a network for participation and cooperation among communities in the Toronto region (for example, schools, teacher training institutions, ethnic associations, social agencies) and beyond the city through this web site.

To maintain the Museum's operation through entrance fees, memberships, and income from an on-site retail shop, we will seek partnerships with the business community and donations from private individuals and foundations.

The Museum plans to keep its annual operating and capital expenditure budgets in line with income, and has set as an objective to move toward eventual financial independence.