Toy and Miniature Museum - Kansas City MO - Toy Miniature Dolls

On the University of Missouri's Kansas City (UMKC) campus there is a very unique 38 room house. Known as the Toy and Miniature Museum, this house is open to the public year-round. It features the largest collection of fine-scale miniatures in the Midwest, along with collections of toys, marbles and dolls.

The majority of the pieces are done to 1/12th scale. Begun as a personal collection by Mary Harris Francis and Barbara Marshall, the museum was opened in 1982. While Francis and Marshall collected miniatures and dollhouses, the museum also added marbles and now has the largest collection of marbles in the world in addition to the toy and miniature exhibits. It is supported by private donations and periodic fundraising activities.

At 33,000 square feet, the museum itself is anything but miniature. Housed in a home built in 1911 and later bequeathed to the UMKC foundation for use as classrooms, the museum has expanded twice since it opened due to its popularity. Group tours need to be booked at least two weeks in advance to ensure availability of tour guides and tickets. Private tours and events are possible, but need to be arranged well in advance by calling the main office. There are also a number of social events hosted by the museum for the purpose of benefiting the museum which visitors are welcome to attend.

The museum is closed on Mondays, Tuesdays, and Sunday mornings. Admission is quite reasonable. Adults pay $6 and children pay $5. Parking is free. While it is full of toys that were once for children, currently children under the age of 16 must be accompanied by an adult when visiting the museum, and the museum is not recommended for children under the age of 5 as it is billed as a "talking'' museum rather than a "touching'' museum.