Best museum programming

Best museum programmingBrooklyn Children’s Museum

Photo courtesy of Brooklyn Children’s Museum

Winner Brooklyn Children’s Museum
Stop here pretty much any day, and you’ll find imaginative, interactive programming—from art projects and animal meet-and-greets to seasonal celebrations. Many workshops use the museum’s large international objects collection to help foster an appreciation of diverse traditions, according to Brooklyn Children’s Museum cultural and community educator Cris Scorza. Programs also tie in to the museum’s special exhibitions. In one recent workshop connected with the exhibition, “Joshua’s Journey: A Black Cowboy Rides the Chisholm Trail,” kids learned how pioneers lived during the Wild West days by actually making butter. The children left with a keen sense of how hard early American settlers worked—and took home some fresh dairy, to boot.

145 Brooklyn Ave at St. Marks Ave, Crown Heights, Brooklyn (718-735-4400, brooklynkids.org)

Runner-up The Metropolitan Museum of Art
Offered primarily on weekends during the school year (as well as on holiday Mondays and during school breaks), the Met’s relaxed family tours teach children how to look at art. Guided by educators who are adept at drawing kids out, participants answer questions about a thematic selection of works as a way of discovering what the artists might have been up to. An art project, done right on the gallery floor, ends the program.

1000 Fifth Ave at 82nd St (212-535-7710, metmuseum.org)

And don’t forget...The Children’s Museum of Manhattan
Bustling CMOM, whose offerings for tots, tykes and tweens range from art- and computer-design workshops to performances, received the most write-in votes in this category—which might have something to do with the museum’s mission to get families learning together.

212 W 83rd St between Amsterdam Ave and Broadway (212-721-1234, cmom.org)