Museums can be categorized based on various elements of institution such as collection, management. Children’ s museum has been established based on needs and interests of c비ldren， the visitors. Since the opening of Brooklyn Children’ s Museum in 1899, new era of museum began, now about 300 children' s museums are open to young children and their farnilies in United States. These children' s museums provide not only display of valuable object, exhibition but also programs that visitors can participate to learn and enjoy. The place become art gallery， science laboratories, historic sites and foremost space to play with each other, to experience through senses, to engage in many activities for fun. This paper will exarnine history, theories and practices in various children s museums to identify the challenge of newly opened Korean children' s museums. Boston Museum made a revolutional progress in Children' s museum when the director Spoke throw out the glass cases and reorganized the exhibition program to create environment for children to learn. Since then every institution tries different attempt to make it better for the young visitors. Children' s museums are defmed in following four ways : 1. Education justifies every object, activity， and events. There is a purpose behind each display, a story to tell with each exhibit， an idea to unfold in each gallery, 2. Bright, vivid colour and dramatic lighting effects are used to capture attention. Labels are written in easily understood, contemporary language. 3. Exhibitions are placed carefully to afford even the youngest a good look, and materials are presented in idenfiable sequence. Whenever possible, exhibits are 'hands-on" or participatory in nature. 4. No matter hoe sophisticated the exhibit, human contact remains the most important source of leaming. The most famous theories and practices done in many children' s museum are hands -on, interactive education, education through play, museum theater, and multiple intelligence. In order to design programs including exhibition and education, it is necessary to have thorough examination and analysis on various children' s museums in the world. Eureka! The Museum for children， Manhattan Children’ s Museum, Children' s Museum of the Arts, Please touch Museum, and Children’ s Museum of the Native American are introduced and briefly analysed as well as newly opened children’ s museum in various Korean public museurns. In Korea, about 65% of visitors are young elementary school children, and the demands for these visitors are getting recognized. The paper suggests following for future studies and application in museum. 1. Children’ s museum should be found on philosophy and theories reflected on museum. It is extremely risk to replicate other institutions program without examination based on its own environment and population. 2. Create exhibition that can communicate with expected visitors if not make the communication possible adopting 19 various means. 3. Make exhibition itself become education. The participation of exhibition is education experience. 4. Self -guide, self -directed exhibition book or worksheet is necessary. 5. Create the program that whole family can participate. Try to understand the visitors. Children come to museum with family. 6. Be prepare various programs such as rental education kit, before -visit, after - visit programs for school. It is necessary to have various educational theories and application to build sound children' s museum program. More than anything - else children' s museum should be based on understanding of its audience， young visitors and their families - their wants, needs, interests and more, since it is leaming community for children the future generation.