Let the kids run wild at a New York children's museum.
To many children, the word "museum" may call up images of ancient artifacts, silent rooms or dusty dioramas. However, children's museums are anything but stuffy. Most museums for kids provide interactive activities, hands-on learning experiences and a variety of exhibits in which to play, imagine, make noise, pretend, get dirty, make a mess and generally have a good time. Several children's museums operate in New York state.
Children's Museum of Manhattan
The Children's Museum of Manhattan has been in operation since 1973. Set between Manhattan's Central and Riverside Parks, the museum offers theme-based exhibits, interactive activities, hands-on displays and a variety of educational programming. As of January 2011, exhibits include Playworks, which combines art, science, math and literacy-focused activities with a stimulating play space, including a large, talking dragon, a fire truck, a sand box and crawling space for infants. Other exhibits include Discover Ancient Greece, Adventures with Dora and Diego and the seasonal City Splash water-play exhibit. The museum also provides classes, school programs and community outreach events.
Children's Museum of the Arts
The Children's Museum of the Arts in New York City has a collection of more than 2,000 works of art, all made by children and selected with the intent of creating dialogue between museum visitors and inspiring children to create their own art. Pieces date from the 1930s to today and come from more than 50 countries. The museum hosts the summer art colony, a series of one- and two-week day camps for kids ages six to 14. Camps include art classes taught by professional artists and instructors. Other museum classes include the wee-arts drop-in program for kids under age five, after-school classes for kids ages five to 12 and an evening art studio for teens ages 11 to 15.
Brooklyn Children's Museum
Founded in 1899, the Brooklyn Children's Museum is the world's first children's museum. Located next to Brooklyn's Brower Park, the museum features exhibits focusing on the arts, culture, the environment and science, and collections of specimens and artifacts. Past and present (as of January, 2011) exhibits and activities include mineral of the day, night journeys, neighborhood nature, living in space, Japan and nature and out on a limb. The 30,000 Object Collection, a permanent exhibit, contains man-made items such as masks, dolls and baskets, and natural items, such as birds, fossils, insects and stones.
Children's Museum of History, Natural History, Science and Technology
The Children's Museum of History, Natural History, Science and Technology in Utica offers hundreds of hands-on exhibits on four floors of a historic building. Exhibit topics include Legos, wooden trains, microbes, radios, weather, a hyberbolic funnel, NASA and an Iroquois longhouse. The museum provides a variety of school programs and classes, ranging from space science programs to music and movement.
