75 museums for kids in Manhattan, 16 free. Exhibits and family programs. Includes American Museum of Natural History and Intrepid Museum.
The city's famous natural history museum, home to dinosaur skeletons, a life-size blue whale, gem halls and planetarium shows. Kids can explore dioramas, the Gilder Center's insectarium and butterfly vivarium, and hands-on discovery rooms.
A museum aboard a retired aircraft carrier docked on the Hudson, where kids can see fighter jets on the flight deck, go inside the submarine Growler and view the Space Shuttle Enterprise. Interactive exhibits cover flight, naval life and space exploration.
A Harlem museum celebrating jazz history with listening stations, instruments and exhibits about the neighborhood's musical legends. It also runs workshops and tours for school groups and families.
An interactive museum where kids play with math: riding square-wheeled trikes, designing patterns, and solving puzzles through dozens of hands-on exhibits. It makes geometry, logic and numbers feel like a playground.
Set in a restored 1904 firehouse, this museum shows antique fire engines, helmets and equipment tracing the history of firefighting in New York. Kids love the horse-drawn rigs and learning about fire safety.
A Gilded Age mansion museum filled with old master paintings, sculpture and decorative arts, reopened in 2025 after a major renovation. It suits tweens and teens, who can explore the historic rooms free of charge.
New York's giant encyclopedic art museum, where kids can wander past Egyptian tombs, knights in armor, musical instruments and period rooms. Family guides, drop-in art-making and family programs help younger visitors engage with the collection.
J.P. Morgan's former library, with soaring bookshelves, rare manuscripts, drawings and early printed books. Families can visit the historic rooms and check the calendar for occasional family days and programs.
A small Battery Park City museum about tall buildings, with models, photos and exhibits on how skyscrapers are designed and built. Great for kids fascinated by the city skyline and construction.
A museum of modern and contemporary American art at the foot of the High Line, with outdoor terraces overlooking the Hudson. Families can take part in family art-making programs and explore rotating exhibitions of painting, sculpture and video.
A Fifth Avenue museum of art and Jewish culture in a historic mansion, with a family-friendly permanent collection and rotating exhibitions. Family programs and art-making events are offered on select dates.
A free hands-on space inside The Met where kids 3-11 explore wood, metal, clay and light, build drums, try digital woodblock printing and play instruments. Families can also borrow picture books and grab a field guide for exploring the galleries.
An outdoor memorial and indoor visitor center honoring the free and enslaved Africans buried in colonial New York. Exhibits and ranger talks give older kids a powerful look at a hidden chapter of city history.
A Midtown museum of dog art and history with digital displays that match your face to a dog breed and a kids' corner stocked with dog toys and puzzles. Scavenger hunts keep young visitors engaged.
An Upper East Side museum of traditional and contemporary Asian art with free docent tours and cultural celebrations such as Lunar New Year family days. Kids 16 and under are free, and Fridays are free for all.
A round 1811 sandstone fort in Battery Park that once defended the harbor and later served as an immigration station and aquarium. Today kids can explore its walls and small exhibits, and it's where Statue of Liberty ferry tickets are sold.
A play-based museum where young children explore interactive exhibits about art, science, health and culture across several floors. Exhibits are built around early learning, making it a strong choice for babies through kindergartners.
The Smithsonian's design museum in the Carnegie Mansion, where kids can use interactive tables and digital tools to sketch their own designs. Exhibitions span furniture, textiles, graphics and technology, and there's a garden to relax in.
A kid-focused history space on the lower level of the New York Historical where children follow the stories of young New Yorkers from past centuries. Interactive displays, games and reading nooks turn visitors into history detectives.
Manhattan's last Dutch colonial farmhouse, where kids can peek into 18th-century rooms, explore a reconstructed Revolutionary War hut and wander the hillside garden. Family days bring crafts and old-fashioned games to Inwood.
A museum celebrating Puerto Rican, Caribbean and Latin American art and culture, anchoring the top of Museum Mile. Families come for bilingual workshops, festivals like the Three Kings Day parade, and art-making days.
The historic tavern where George Washington bid farewell to his officers, now a museum of Revolutionary War artifacts and period rooms. Hands-on school programs bring the Revolution to life for kids.
The largest mausoleum in North America, overlooking the Hudson in Riverside Park, where Ulysses and Julia Grant are buried. Kids can explore the domed tomb, visitor center displays and the plaza's mosaic benches.
Guided tours of the New York City mayor's official residence, a 1799 Federal-style house overlooking the East River in Carl Schurz Park. Afterward kids can play in the park's playground and walk the riverfront promenade.
LittleGotham lists 75 museums for kids in Manhattan.
Yes. 16 of 75 are free to attend, including The Skyscraper Museum, 81st Street Studio at The Met, African Burial Ground National Monument.
68 listings are indoors, such as American Museum of Natural History, Intrepid Museum, National Jazz Museum in Harlem.
Upper East Side (9), Upper West Side (5), Battery Park City (5).