Museums in earlier times were spaces for royals or aristocrats to coUect rarities and open to the limited public according their interests. Then they have become the public institutions and expanded their educational roles. Museums now not only disseminate knowledge as educational institutions, but also communicate information with the public. Museums are to collect, conserve, research, exhibit, educate and communicate material evidence and information for the public. To exhibit is the prirne function, representing those other functions, wmch the general public may understand. Hands-on exhibitions allow people to touch and handle specimens or objects given by the museum. They are introduced to make the audience understand easily and interested in collections since an educational role of museums is of importance. This article explores some cases of hands-on exhibitions. They include Children's Museum of National Folk Museum of Korea, Seoul History Museum, and Samsung Children's Museum in Korea, and Osaka History Museum, Edo Tokyo Museum, National Ethnography Museum and Ueno Folk Material GalJery in Japan. Hands-on exhibitions, on the one hand, can promote spontaneous learning motives and interests through the first hand experience, enhance concentration, satisfy the intellectual needs of the audience and allow interaction between the audience and the museum as media of two-way communication. Moreover, they work effectively on audience development and marketing as a means of irnproving intimacy. On the other hand, objects of hands-on exhibitions do not carryrarity or aesthetic value as those in other exhibitions. They also cost the expense of development, production, maintenance and repairing, and can cause noise and museum fatigue. The effects of hands-on exhibitions are: 1) educational for exhibition inductions, 2) econornical in marketing relation, and 3) publicity for audience development. Exhibition inductions employ pacing guidance and signs for information, and other supplementary methods. Marketing relation can enhance its effect by connecting diverse educational activity programmeS of museurns, or by developing related products. Audience development can achieve its effect of interaction with the audience through the above-mentioned programmes and marketing activities. Museum education is for a broader range of audience from different ages, educational backgrounds and interests. It is effective in various ways different from formal education and gives different pattems of effect to individual audiences. Museums play complex roles in providing diverse cultural facilities and opportunities for experience as open educational space which carries wider knowledge. In the past museurn collections and research activity were communicated in one-way with the particular public - who visited the museurn. Today, however, the interactive communication is intended between the audience and the museurn. Museums has extended and been proactive in their functions and roles. This ar1icle explores hands-on exhibitions which museurns provide easy and diverse spaces for the public to understand, and how hands-on exhibitions are employed and which effects they produce.