School Visits
Brooklyn Children’s Museum welcomes school groups, daycares and other groups Tuesday through Friday between 10 am–1 pm. We offer two types of experiences: self-guided visits, and educator-led programs followed by a self-guided visit.
Self-Guided Visit
2 hours.
Title 1 schools: $9 per student
Private schools, Non-Title 1 public schools: $11 per student
Lunch space: $40 for 15 children or less; $55 for 15 – 40 children; $70 for 40 children or more
Additional self-guided time in the Museum: $50 per each additional half-hour
Educator-Led Program and Self-Guided Visit
2 hours: 1 hour educator-led program, 1 hour self-guided exploration.
Title 1 schools: $11 per student
Private schools, Non-Title 1 public schools: $15 per student
Lunch space: $40 for 15 children or less; $55 for 15 – 40 children; $70 for 40 children or more
Additional self-guided time in the Museum: $50 per each additional half-hour
Each educator-led program can have a max 30 participants.
More Information
- 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.
- If you need to reschedule your visit to the Museum within two weeks, you will be charged a $50 rescheduling fee.
- 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.
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
Recommended: Grades Pre-K-5
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, and solve problems.
Students explore the science of adaptation and draw each animal in their own personal field guide. Through close observation and physical touch, students become animal scientists!
Beautiful Us
Recommended: Grades Pre-K-5
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.
Design Your World – Special Exhibition!
Recommended: Grades K-5
New Yorkers often see scaffolding overhead in our city’s transforming landscape. Unlike these typical structures, BCM’s construction site offers an interactive play experience through full body play, strategic and safe climbing spots, and other features.
After exploring the special exhibit, students become designers and explore the connection between NYC’s famed skyline and the soil underneath it. Students will design, build, and test their structures to see if they are strong enough to withstand natural forces such as strong winds or earthquakes.
School programs will be offered for the duration of the special exhibition, November 23, 2024 through May 11, 2025.
Earth Advocates: Climate Change and Collective Action
Recommended: Grades Pre-K-5
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.
Harness the Wind
Recommended: Grades 3-5
How do we get electricity? Where does it come from? One way to generate electricity is by using wind! Students learn about sustainable energy, design their own wind turbines, and test their designs to see how much energy they can produce from wind alone.
Me and My Super Sense Self
Recommended: Grades Pre-K-5
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.
Our Littlest Neighbors
Recommended: Grades Pre-K-5
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.
Seeds on the Move
Recommended: Grades 1-5
Seeds are one of nature’s most famous engineers! In this program, students explore wind dispersal, a common seed distribution strategy in the biological world. Using maple seed pods from BCM’s natural science collection, students will investigate the structure that has inspired wind turbines, drones, hovercrafts by aerospace engineers, and more. Using a wind tunnel and dropper, students will design and build seed pods and test what makes a seed pod most successful.
Speak Up, Speak Out
Recommended: Grades K-5
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.
Symmetry All Around
Recommended: Grades Pre-K-2
From the natural beauty of leaves to the engineering marvels of the built environment, symmetry is everywhere! Students explore the properties of symmetry within cultural objects and science specimens from BCM’s collection, build their own symmetrical creations, and discover why symmetry matters!
Free Trips
Select state senators, council members, and assembly members are offering free trips for public schools in their districts for the 2024-2025 school year. Please let us know if your school is part of the below districts when you reserve your slot.
Brooklyn’s 35th City Council District
Public schools in Council District 35 are eligible for free field trips through support from Council Member Crystal Hudson. Programs are available on a first come, first served basis.
Title I Schools in Brooklyn
Title I schools in Brooklyn are eligible for free field trips through support from New York City Council Speaker Adrienne Adams and Council Member Chi Ossé. Programs are available on a first come, first served basis.