School Visits
Brooklyn Children’s Museum welcomes school groups, daycares and other groups Tuesday through Friday between 10 am–1 pm.
- A 50% non-refundable deposit made by credit card is required in order to confirm a spot for your group.
- Your visit is confirmed once you receive confirmation from BCM personnel and your deposit has been paid.
- There must be one adult present for every five children in the group.
- Groups without an advance reservation cannot be accommodated at this time.
- ColorLab is not open during group visit hours.
- Please note: If you need to reschedule your visit to the museum within two weeks, you will be charged a $50 rescheduling fee.
- Please note: Groups will be charged for the number of students reserved upon booking. If the number of students on the day of the group visit exceeds the total included in the original reservation, an additional cost per student will be applied.
- Standard admission discounts do not apply to group visits.
PLEASE NOTE: Due to the high demand of visits requested for testing dates within the 2023-2024 school year, trips on the following dates must be paid in full upon booking and are fully non-refundable.
- Wednesday, April 10th, 2024
- Thursday, April 11th, 2024
- Friday, April 12th, 2024
- Tuesday, May 7th, 2024
- Wednesday, May 8th, 2024
- Thursday, May 9th, 2024
Self-Guided Visit
2 hours
Title 1 schools: $8 per student
Private schools, Non-Title 1 public schools: $10 per student
Lunch space: $50 per group depending on availability
Additional self-guided time in the Museum: $50 per each additional half-hour
Educator-Led Program and Self-Guided Visit
2 hours: 1 hour Program, 1 hour Self-Guided
Title 1 schools: $10 per student
Private schools, Non-Title 1 public schools: $14 per student
Lunch space: $50 per group depending on availability
Additional self-guided time in the Museum: $50 per each additional half-hour
Each educator-led program can have a max 30 participants.
Educator-Led Programs
Join a BCM Educator to participate in an engaging arts, culture, or science program. Choose from the following programs below.
Amazing Animals
Whether they can regrow a tail or lift 1,000 times their weight, our animal friends at Brooklyn Children’s Museum have super powers! All animals, including humans, have unique gifts that help us to survive, grow, solve problems, and live our daily lives. Students explore the science of adaptation and expert survival skills with reptiles and insects and other BCM animal friends. Inspired by what we observe of our animal friends, students move their bodies and reflect on their own superpowers.
Beautiful Us
People around the world use different materials to adorn our bodies and to tell stories about who we are. Beautiful Us is a cultural collections investigation and art-making workshop in which students explore the unique and universal reasons we adorn ourselves. Students investigate cultural adornments from our collection and then make their very own body adornment that expresses themselves.
Brooklyn Voices
Through the Brooklyn Voices exhibit, students explore the stories of Brooklynites through oral histories and objects. As students discover the ways that Brooklynites’ lives are similar and different, they understand themselves as part of a larger New York story.
K-2nd grade
Students will create their own Brooklyn book, making personal connections to their family histories, the place they live, and each other.
3rd-4th grade
Students learn about historical and primary sources such as photographs, artifacts, oral histories, and maps that we use to understand the past. They create questions to guide their own oral history collection and create an artwork that expresses their own Brooklyn story.
Growing Ideas
In this ecology-based program, students explore some of the issues of climate change that impact our everyday lives such as global warming, pollution, and renewable resources. Students interact with fossils from the Museum’s collection and get their hands in the dirt through a class planting project that continues growing in their classroom and make an artwork that expresses the ways they envision becoming the next generation of earth champions.
Me and My Super Sense Self
Activate your senses through looking, listening, and hands-on exploration of highlights from the Museum’s collection. Students will interact with a live animal, investigate a cultural object, and design a kaleidoscope that changes their perspective.
Nature’s Engineers
This program takes place in BCM’s new STEM themed maker space, where students explore STEM science and engineering topics sparked by nature’s amazing shapes, patterns, and creatures. Students will be inspired by natural science collection objects, and tackle a design challenge in small groups where they build, test and discover new ideas!
Opposites Abstract – Special Exhibition!
Red is the opposite of Blue, Light is the opposite of Dark, Soft is the opposite of Hard! Students explore the elements of art in BCM’s special exhibition “Opposites Abstract” based on the exploration of opposites in bestselling children’s book author/illustrator Mo Willems’ new book. Guided by a BCM educator, students will explore the interactive exhibit, learn art techniques and build visual vocabulary, while making their own abstract, “living” collage artwork to take home.
School programs will be offered for the duration of the special exhibition, November 21, 2023 through May 17, 2024.
Our Littlest Neighbors
Whether it’s a nest, a shell, a hive, or a burrow, all animals create unique homes. Through exploration of objects from BCM’s natural science collection, students investigate the ways that animals create shelters and how these homes offer protection and enable them to grow and thrive. Students consider the everyday needs of an animal of their choosing, and will then use natural materials to create a mini habitat and describe the animal who could make a home there.
Speak Up, Speak Out
Say it loud, say it now! Changemakers of all ages impact our communities every day. In Speak Up, Speak Out students are encouraged to find their voices, practice listening to others, and express themselves through art. In this workshop, students are inspired by artists who use their practice and techniques to advocate for their communities. Students will learn about collage and weaving, and create an expression quilt that channels their advocacy through art.
Free Trips
Select state senators, council members, and assembly members are offering free trips for public schools in their districts for the 2023-2024 school year.
New York’s 20th State Senate District
Public schools in New York’s 20th State Senate District may be eligible for free field trips thanks to support from New York State Senator Zellnor Myrie. Please let us know if your school is part of District 20 when you reserve your slot.
New York’s 25th State Senate District
Public schools in New York’s 25th State Senate District may be eligible for free field trips thanks to support from New York State Senator Jabari Brisport. Please let us know if your school is part of District 25 when you reserve your slot.
Brooklyn’s 35th City Council District
Public schools in Brooklyn’s 35th City Council District may be eligible for free field trips thanks to support from Council Member Crystal Hudson. Please let us know if your school is part of District 35 when you reserve your slot.
Brooklyn’s 36th City Council District
Public schools in Brooklyn’s 36th City Council District may be eligible for free field trips thanks to support from Council Member Chi Ossé.Please let us know if your school is part of District 36 when you reserve your slot.
Brooklyn’s 44th Assembly District
Public schools in Brooklyn’s 44th Assembly District may be eligible for free field trips thanks to support from Assemblymember Robert C. Carroll. Please let us know if your school is part of District 44 when you reserve your slot.