Museum Policies

Please note that the Children’s Museum’s exhibits and programs are designed for children aged 0-5 years and kindergarten through the 3rd grade. Please note the size restrictions posted at exhibits, as older children may not be able to access every exhibit. Below is our admission policy.

The museum may close due to weather, special events, and holidays, so be sure to check our website before planning your visit.

• Except as otherwise provided in this policy, all children must be accompanied by adults, and all adults accompanied by children. Please understand the Children’s Museum is doing everything we can to protect the safety of our visitors, and this requirement is necessary for the museum to operate safely.
• Adults must have a child with them to enter. Adults unaccompanied by a child must be escorted at all times by a Children’s Museum of Richmond employee, if one is available. If an associate is not available, the unaccompanied adults may not enter.
• However, the Children’s Museum recognizes that adults with developmental or intellectual disabilities also enjoy visiting the museum, and if they are accompanied by other adults, they may be permitted to enter the museum without being accompanied by a child. Employees will not ask visitors if they have developmental or intellectual disabilities, and so the museum will rely on visitors to volunteer whether they qualify for admission, after being notified of the policy.
• The museum prohibits persons who enter our property from carrying a handgun, firearm, knife, or other weapon of any kind, regardless of whether the person is licensed to carry the weapon. The only exception to this policy will be local, on-duty police officers and other federal or state law enforcement officers.
• Smoking, alcohol use, or being under the influence of any legal or illegal substance is prohibited.
• Children, and adults with developmental or intellectual disabilities, may not be unaccompanied and must stay with their adult visitor(s) at all times inside and outside of the museum.

The Children’s Museum of Richmond requires one adult for every five children.

The Museum strives to provide a safe and healthy environment for all our visitors. To keep everyone safe, we request the following “Sick Person Policy” be followed by our visitors, our staff and our volunteers.

As a general rule: if you or your child have a fever or are too sick to go to work or school, then you are too sick to visit the museum.

The following guidelines are more specific and we request that visitors with these symptoms not visit the museum.

Staff may be called upon to identify the following symptoms and to ask a visitor to leave if symptoms are present. If a visitor is asked to leave, free passes to return will be given to the visitor.

• Fever
• Flu symptoms (headache, high fever, chills, lethargy, muscle aches, cough, sore throat)
• Upper Respiratory Infections (nasal congestion, runny nose, scratchy throat, painful swallowing, cough watery eyes – with or without fever)
• Diarrhea or vomiting
• Conjunctivitis or “pink eye” infection
• Impetigo (infectious skin disease which shows up as small pimples that turn into red blisters in a circular pattern)
• Strep Throat (child must be on antibiotics for 48 hours before coming to the museum.)

The Children’s Museum of Richmond intentionally listens to the community we serve to ensure our experiences are made for children, families, and educators of all backgrounds. We center IDEA as a core value that plays a role in every aspect of our decision-making.

• Our team fully supports this effort, from our volunteer Board leadership to our staff. All parties have been trained on cultural competency, accessibility, and gender inclusion. We know that there is always more work to be done, and will continue our education through regular programming.
• Our commitment to IDEA is upheld through our Community Agreements and universal accountability.
• CMoR will continue to further the development of these initiatives, including during leadership changes. IDEA is a core part of our mission, and we have designated a staff member to regularly review our policies to ensure they’re upheld now and in the future.
• CMoR recognizes that equity is crucial to the work we do and the community we build. We invite all community members to join us.
• CMoR strives to create an inherently inclusive environment through our organizational values and practices. Inclusivity requires intentional, actionable plans that are regularly implemented and maintained. The following outlines some of these initiatives.

CMoR Community Agreements

Anyone who engages with our programming and space agrees to uphold the values of the Children’s Museum of Richmond. Failure to comply with our Community Agreements will be taken seriously and may result in immediate dismissal from all CMoR content, events, or activities. We agree to hold individuals accountable for their actions on a case-by-case basis, guaranteeing equitable treatment and an inclusive environment.

• We hold a zero-tolerance policy against ableism, ageism, anti-Muslim sentiment, anti-Semitism, body shaming, classism, homophobia, racism, sexism, transphobia, or any discrimination on all grounds. This includes bullying or harassment of any kind.
  • We honor the names, pronunciation, and pronouns of anyone with whom we interact.
  • If you feel you have been disrespected, excluded, or made to feel uncomfortable at any point, please contact a CMoR manager immediately to have the situation resolved.
  • If you need to address an incident after the fact, please fill out this incident form. We strongly encourage all feedback. 
  • You may also fill out a comment card, located at the front desk.
• We are committed to accommodations and inclusion for families with disabilities. 
  • Supports provided include: sensory charts, visual schedules, social narratives, adaptive art supplies, physical accessibility, sensory backpacks, and special programming for families with children with disabilities.
  • Questions about accessibility at the museum?
    • Review our policies and information, linked here.
    • If you need to request an accommodation or have a question about our facilities, please contact accessibility@cmorva.org. 
    • If you find that something is not accessible for your family, please contact accessibility@cmorva.org. We welcome all insights. 
• We include and welcome people of all racial and ethnic backgrounds. 
  • We celebrate our differences and our diverse cultures, and want all families to know they are welcome here. 
  • We are committed to scheduling programming that reflects our diverse community through cultural celebrations, multi-lingual programming, and partnership development.
    • Are you a community organization interested in partnering with the Children’s Museum? Reach out to community@cmorva.org.
• We aim to make the Children’s Museum of Richmond financially accessible for all families.
  • We are proud to participate in Museums for All. Guests who present their SNAP EBT card, EBT App, or WIC card will receive $2 admission for up to 6 individuals.
  • Additional admission discounts are available for senior citizens, military personnel and their guests, and educators.
  • Families may qualify and apply for our scholarship opportunities.
    • If you have questions about the application, please contact memberships@cmorva.org.

CMoR’s IDEA statement was created in collaboration with Pip Collective.

Periodically, the Children’s Museum of Richmond takes photographs and video of museum visitors and activities for use in promotional and editorial material. With admission into the museum, you give permission to the museum for the recording of photographs and/or video of yourself and your dependents. You grant the museum all rights to use these still or moving images for educational, promotional, advertising, and other purposes which advance the overall mission of the museum. All rights to the photographs and video belong to the museum. Please notify guest services at 804-474-7000 if you do not consent to this policy.

The Children’s Museum of Richmond is committed to keeping the museum clean and safe for our visitors. We follow recommended cleaning practices for children’s museums, based on guidelines set by the Association of Children’s Museums and the American Academy of Pediatrics.

Museum staff members are on-site during operating hours to clean and disinfect the restrooms, common areas, and exhibit areas, including frequent cleaning of surfaces that hands touch, to eliminate the spread of germs. This includes the manipulatives in each exhibit.

We encourage all manipulatives that have been put in a child’s mouth or otherwise soiled be placed in a ‘Drool Bin’ or turned into a staff member. Guests are welcomed and encouraged to notify a museum staff member if an area or object needs attention.

In addition, all museum exhibits, surfaces, and public areas are disinfected with a cleanser recommended for hospitals at the close of business each day. Flooring is mopped/vacuumed on a set schedule to ensure all areas are addressed.

Museum staff members consistently sanitize and/or wash their hands. While sanitizer is available throughout the museum, we strongly encourage staff and patrons to wash their hands with soap and water whenever possible.

In order to maintain a high standard of service and safety for visitors, employees, volunteers, and students, the Children’s Museum reserves the right to refuse or discontinue service to any visitor. A visitor may be denied service in circumstances including, but not limited to, the following:

• violation of any of the museum’s policies or procedures;
• misrepresentation of the need for service;
• threatening or offensive language or behavior;
• trespassing;
• physical contact with visitors, employees, volunteers, or students;
• unreasonable demands for service.

Any museum employee can exercise the right to refuse service to any visitor based on these or similar circumstances. Visitors in violation of any museum policy will be asked by museum staff to leave the premises.

Your Privacy

The Children’s Museum of Richmond is committed to the protection of your privacy on our website. This site does not collect personal information such as names and email addresses unless individuals knowingly provide that information.

Policy on Information Collection

The website collects personal information for membership purchases and renewals, program registrations, electronic newsletters and mailings, and general inquiries. This information is used only for the intended services. For some of these services, the site may request information about background, occupation, demographics, and interests.

The website automatically collects information about computer hardware and software. This can include IP addresses, browser types, domain names, access times, and the referring websites that visitors use to access this website. The site uses this information to maintain the quality of the service while you are on the website, as well as to collect general statistics about the site.

Policy on Information Disclosure

This site collects personal information to operate the site and to deliver the services you request. This information helps us understand our audience, and that allows us to better meet the needs of website users. We will not sell, trade, or rent personal information. We may compile aggregate statistics and provide them to third parties, but these statistics will not include information that identifies individual website users.

We may save personal information to comply with federal and state policies, but we will not disclose this information to third parties or government agencies unless we are required to do so by state or federal law or we must act under exigent circumstances to protect the safety of our users or the public.

Revisions to the Privacy Policy

The privacy policy may be revised at any time. We may revise the policy in response to changes in the law or other factors. We encourage website users to periodically visit this page to review the most current policy.