The educational effects of children's museums on cognitive development: Empirical evidence based on two samples from Beijing.

• A randomized control trial study was conducted on two samples of Beijing preschoolers. • Results showed positive educational effect of a children's museum on children's cognitive development. • The offer of 18 free museum tickets led to a 14.1 % increase of the pre-score for participants in the family model. • The treatment effect for participants in the kindergarten model was less significant. • The new evidence suggests the educational value of children's museums. In the western world, children's museums have a long history and they experienced ever-increasing development in the past few decades. However, China has just started to introduce such museums within recent years. We designed a randomized controlled trial to examine the educational effects of regular visits to a children's museum on young children's cognitive development in China, and it is the first Chinese experimental study for this topic. Based on two samples from Beijing, results indicated that there was a statistically significant effect of young children's museum visits on their cognitive development. The treatment effect was most strong for the total cognitive score: a 14.1 % increase of the pre-score for the control group in the family model. The treatment effect of the kindergarten model was less significant than that of the family model. The educational promise of the children's museum may indicate the importance of play and informal learning settings for children's cognitive development in China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]