Photograph: Imogen Brown
Photograph: Imogen Brown

The best kids museums in NYC

For a fun-filled and educational day with the little ones, check out these kids museums in NYC

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While many classic NYC museums—MOMA, The Museum of Natural History, The Met—offer programs and experiences tailored to the younger set, they still have an adult vibe that may be a little overwhelming for the kiddos. If you’re looking for things to do with the kids that happen to be educational as well as fun, these kids museums in NYC are the place to be. You’ll find interactive exhibits where kids can run, play and learn, and you don’t have to worry about getting the stink-eye from gallery docents (or even worse, knocking over a priceless piece of art).

Not only are these museums amazing family attractions that the whole crew will love, they’re also some of the best options for indoor activities when the weather isn’t cooperating. Kids actually love—and benefit from—brain-stimulating playtime, so for even more interactive fun, check out some of the epic playgrounds around the city that boast innovative designs that foster learning and creativity.

Top museums for kids in NYC

  • Museums
  • Childhood
  • Crown Heights

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 todayis 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.

  • Museums
  • Childhood
  • Upper West Side
  • price 1 of 4

Looking for interactive art that welcomes curious minds—and grabby hands? Then head to "Inside Art," the current show up at the CMOM, which lets your little ones 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.

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  • Things to do
  • Upper West Side

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.

  • Museums
  • Childhood
  • Staten Island
  • price 1 of 4

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. 

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  • Museums
  • Childhood
  • Crown Heights

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.

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  • Museums
  • Science and technology
  • Queens
  • price 1 of 4

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. Check out "Connected Worlds," where visitors' movements influence a digitally-animated environment. Kids can also climb on a rope web and play minigolf at the massive Science Playground and Rocket Park.

  • Museums
  • Science and technology
  • Flatiron
  • price 1 of 4

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.

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  • Museums
  • Science and technology
  • price 1 of 4

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).

  • Museums
  • History
  • West Village
  • price 1 of 4

An active firehouse from 1904 to 1959, this museum is filled with gadgetry and pageantry, from late-18th-century hand-pumped fire engines to modern equipment. The museum also houses a permanent exhibit commemorating the heroism of firefighters after the attack on the World Trade Center.

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  • Things to do
  • Long Island

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.

More on museums for kids

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