How to unlock the Museum in Animal Crossing: New Horizons

No Island in Animal Crossing: New Horizons is complete without the trusty museum to show off all your Fossils, Fish, and Insects that you have caught in your long 100+ hour play session. However, the museum, unlike in previous games, is nowhere to be found when you boot up the game for the first time.

Why do you ask? Well, because you need to unlock it, of course, and persuade Blathers to come to your island! But how exactly do you go about doing that?

First, you’ll need to unlock the ability to craft items and use DIY by going to Resident Services in the early portions of the game. You should be notified when the special lesson is available. After going through all the crafting tutorials, you’ll finally be able to craft a Flimsy Rod or Flimsy Net.

With your new items in hand, you will need to head out into the world and find and capture five unique fish or bugs first of all. These should be five different creatures and not the same one. Then, return to Resident Services.

When you enter Resident Services, go up to Tom Nook and click the “I found a Creature” option. Give Tom Nook the five different creatures, and a cutscene will play where he will call Blathers, the Museum Curator, and give you a tent.

You’ll then need to take that Tent to somewhere on your island, ideally where you want your Museum to be, and place it done. Once you do so, return to Tom Nook to inform him. You’ll then need to wait a day for Blathers and the structure to arrive.

After Blathers has set up shop with his small tent, you will need to go out and find another 15 different creatures or items to give to him; these again need to be different creatures that you can find on your island or can be Fossils.

After donating 15, you will be unable to donate any other things to Blathers at all. The next day the Museum will be under construction, and the day after that, the Museum will finally be open in all its glory.

As such, any Fish, Fossils, or Bugs you find, be sure to store into your house, so it doesn’t clog up your inventory. Then you can donate everything the day the Museum opens and begin your quest to complete it.