Cold weather and Covid aren’t a great combo. The Summer and Fall meant copious opportunities for park and playground trips and a variety of other outdoor options for your sitter and kiddo to head to during the day. Chilly weather means having to get creative and consider indoor options that feel safe for your crew. Cue a museum trip! Museums are typically spacious and are currently taking reservations to mitigate large crowds and provide a socially distanced way to explore their facilities. Below are our top picks for NYC museums for kiddos to explore. A simple visit is enough to fulfill a morning or afternoon with fun & exploration, but our Kid Experts have been incorporating their art and teaching chops to add in activities and enrichment into each visit to maximize the fun.

Below explore our top 5 NYC museum picks for your mini – they feature large spaces to explore and stay distanced. A trip to any makes for an incredibly fun filled adventure for your mini, but here’s a quick list of additional activity ideas you can add into your museum adventure to make the experience extra enriching:

• Scavenger Hunt! Create a list of items your kiddo is likely to encounter during their museum trip. Write a list and give them a writing utensil to mark off each find on their journey.
• Word-Based Scavenger Hunt! Your kiddo working on phonics? Pick a letter of the day. Each time they find something on their museum adventure that starts with that letter hey score a point! Make this extra engaging by bringing a pen and paper and have your mini practice sounding out the word and writing the letters after each find.
• Photography 101! Let your kiddo bring their tablet on their adventure and snap pics of their finds! It’s an engaging way for them to view their experience and it’s a blast to share with parens and siblings after their trip.
• Drawing Class: bring paper and markers and help your kiddo use their museum discoveries as inspiration. Have them pick a piece of art, artifact or exhibit that inspires them and take time during their museum adventure to sit and create a piece of art of their own inspired by their newly discovered subject.
• Get moving! You can put in quite a few steps in a museum, and many feature large staircases. Combine gross motor with counting and have kiddos count the stairs they climb during their trip. You can set a goal (let’s beat 100 steps!) or simply track to see how high you can get!

American Museum of Natural History

pic c/o @amhistorymuseum

Hours: Open 10-5:30 pm, Wednesday-Sunday

Cost: NYC and NJ residents pay what you wish, general cost adult $23, kid 3-12 $13

Address: 200 Central Park West, NY NY 10024

Covid/Safety Protocol:

• Using timed-entry ticketing to limit attendance to promote physical distancing.
• Disinfecting and cleaning to meet CDC guidelines.
• Conducting temperature checks at entry. Visitors with a temperature of 100.4° or more will be denied entry.
• Adding plexiglass barriers at ticket counters.
• Upgrading ventilation systems.
• Marking paths and adding markers to promote physical distancing.
• Limiting elevator and restroom capacity to maintain physical distancing.
• Turning off or cordoning off interactive displays and other touchable exhibit elements.
• Providing hand sanitizer stations throughout the building.
• Learn more about what we’re doing to help keep visitors safe.

All visitors are required to:

• Avoid visiting if you have symptoms of COVID-19, have been diagnosed with COVID-19 within the past 14 days, or have been in close contact (within 6 feet (2 m) for 10 minutes or more) with someone infected with or experiencing symptoms of COVID-19 within the past 14 days.
• Wear a facial covering throughout the visit (for all visitors ages 2 and up), remain together with your party, and children ages 12 and under must remain with adults at all times. No neck gaiters, open-chin triangle bandannas, or face coverings with valves, mesh, or holes.
• Maintain physical distancing of 6 feet (2m) with others outside your group.
• Use hand sanitizer, which will be available at stations throughout the building.
• Follow directions from staff and signage for physical distancing, reducing contact, and other guidelines for use of facilities.

The Metropolitan Museum of Art

pic c/o @metmuseum

Hours: Thursday and Friday: 12 p.m. – 7 p.m.
Saturday–Monday: 10 a.m. – 5 p.m.

Cost: NY residents: pay what you wish

Address: 1000 5th Avem New York, NY 10028

Covid/Safety Protocol:

• All visitors are required to have their temperatures checked with a forehead scanner prior to entering the building. If you receive a reading of 100.4 degrees Fahrenheit or higher, we will ask you to visit another day.
• Please stay home if you are feeling sick.
• New York State Covid-19 Travel Advisory requires visitors from certain states or countries to quarantine for 14 days. If you are traveling to NYC from any of these states or countries, visitors are required to complete the online Travel Health Form.
• Face coverings are required for all visitors and Members over the age of two. You will not be permitted inside the Museum without a face covering. Additionally, face coverings must be worn for the duration of your visit. CDC guidelines advise that face coverings should:
  • Reach above the nose, below the chin, and completely cover the mouth and nose
  • Fit snugly against the sides of the face
• Entry to the Museum is by timed ticket or reservation only and capacity is limited. Please see here for more information on reserving or buying tickets in advance.
• We encourage Members to reserve a time to visit prior to arrival at the Museum. If you cannot schedule your visit in advance, we are happy to accommodate Member entry to the Museum without a reservation upon your arrival.
• Physical distancing is required; visitors should stay at least six feet (about two arms’ length) from others and from groups.
• Follow the physical-distancing markers at visitor entry and exit points as well as in locations throughout the Museum.

Bonus! Check out https://www.metmuseum.org/art/online-features/metkids/ to get some inspo for your kiddo’s visit!

The Museum of Modern Art

pic c/o @themuseumofmodernart

Hours: Tuesday through Sunday 10:3-5:30 pm (Mondays reserved for members)

Cost: Kids under 16 free, $25 for adults

Address: 11 West 53rd Street, NY NY 10019

Covid/Safety Protocol: