The best kids museums in NYC

Your kid will think the Brooklyn Children’s Museum is so much fun! Founded in 1899 as the country’s first museum specifically made for children, today the BCM today is one of the most comprehensive, with a permanent collection of 30,000 objects, including musical instruments, masks, dolls and fossils. Kids love the interactive “World Brooklyn,” a pint-size cityscape lined by faux stores where children can pretend to be working grownups. The recently-renovated play spaces upstairs is a great place to let your kids get their sillies out.

Best for: kids who love to pretend

Looking for interactive art that welcomes curious minds—and grabby hands? Then head to the CMOM, where little ones can climb in and over and all around the exhibits. It's ideas like this that make the 40,000-square-foot so special. Learning about culture, history and science is a blast for kids ages six and under. CMOM also hosts classes and workshops—like Gross Biology for kids who love burps and germs—all designed with the latest child-development research in mind.

Best for: kids who love hands-on learning

The hands-on displays at this kid-focused arm of the New York Historical Society transport children back through 350 years of U.S. history, with a special focus on NYC. Children are encouraged to climb around and interact with exhibits that highlight the lives of kids who grew up to become famous doctors, athletes and political figures—hello, Alexander Hamilton! Little New Yorkers can get in on sing-alongs and crafts. Other family programs include cooking classes, scavenger hunts, games and story hours.

Best for: little historians

Kids can get hands-on with hundreds of interactive exhibits and activities that bring science, technology, engineering and math to life. Built for the 1964 World's Fair and expanded in the last decade, NYSCI is home to a revolving lineup of displays about light, 3-D printing, outer space and robots, plus the Design Lab, where kids can tackle activities at five stations: Backstage, Sandbox, Studio, Maker Space and Treehouse.

Best for: kids who like to experiment

This children's museum celebrates imagination through art, storytelling and education. Kids can explore different exhibits that explore fables and folktales. The museum hosts a variety of events for kids from story hours to art workshops.

Best for: kids with big imaginations

The Jewish Children’s Museum educates on Jewish history and heritage in a fun, immersive environment, fostering a natural curiosity through hands-on exploration. Learn all about the story of Chanukah and the meaning behind the menorah in its seasonal Soil to Oil workshop, where children press olive oil from fresh olives, make and eat their own delicious potato latkes, and spin the dreidel for chocolate gelt! Throughout the year, examine biblical history, Israel, Jewish holidays and more.

Best for: teaching the little ones about Jewish history

Math is powerful: Just look at all remarkable things math can be used to create. MoMATH lays it all out with the Wall of Fire, a laser "wall" that shows visitors that cross-sections aren't always what you think they are; Math Square, a Jumbotron on the floor that connects each person standing on it by the shortest path possible, changing the moment anyone moves; a design studio where participants create a 3-D design on a screen, for a chance to have it "printed" into an actual sculpture via a 3-D printer; and Enigma Café, a place where families can sit down at tables to work on digital puzzles.

Best for: kids who love solving problems

While the Liberty Science Center is technically in New Jersey, just a stone's throw from the Statue of Liberty, it's firmlay a part of the NYC circuit. The museum succeeds beautifully in its stated aim to reinvent the science-museum-going experience—an interactive heat-sensitive "cave painting" allows tykes to add their handprints to the mural just like real Cro-Mags. Then there's the giant blue nose that sneezes spray at visitors. And let's not forget the I-beam, suspended 18 feet in the air, which lets kids "walk the steel" just like a construction worker building a skyscraper (with a safety harness, of course).

Best for: future scientists

The Long Island Children’s Museum opened in 2002 after the renovation of a 40,000-square-foot facility. Today, it houses 14 hands-on exhibit galleries for little ones, plus a state-of-the-art theater and several learning studios. They can play with bubbles, explore and make sounds, discover art and more.

Best for: kids who love hands-on learning

Temporarily closed for renovations

Staten Island Children’s Museum nurtures creativity. Offering hands-on experiences like the Block Harbor (plenty of blocks to play with!), larger-than-life games like Connect Four and Dominoes, and even the opportunity to crawl through a human-sized anthill or play firefighter at Ladder 11, you’ll find immersive fun around every corner. Don’t forget to stop by the wind energy powered Green Living Room, where the kids can keep their hands busy turning light switches on and off, and trying out the TV, radio and more, all while learning about the environment and ways to reduce our carbon footprint. 

Best for: kids who learn by doing