For more than one hundred years, specific cultural and educational institutions - children‘s museums - have been developing their activities in the world. From the very beginning they received a favourable response from the general public and support and a positive response from experts, particularly teachers and psychologists. What is the reason for this positive response? How were the children‘s museums established? How did they develop? What makes them attractive for children and their parents? What are considered to be their distinctive characteristics? What activities do they offer to their visitors? What are their current development trends? The study responds to all these questions and analyses the basic preconditions of the birth, genesis, present situation, typical features and selected developmental trends of museums for children and young people.