New Children's Museum Opens in Rye

By Catherine Patwell April 27, 2016

The long-awaited opening of the new Westchester Children's Museum is here. Check out the new facility within Rye Playland, chock-full of family-friendly activities.

The Westchester Children’s Museum is officially open! An interactive learning center for families and schools, the museum’s mission is to nurture curiosity, enhance knowledge, and ignite the imaginations of children. The museum is committed to the arts, the environment, and the multiculturalism of the local and global communities to which it belongs.

Housed on the grounds of Rye Playland in the North Bathhouse, which sat unoccupied for more than 50 years, the museum includes exhibitions and activities devoted to science, arts, and culture. Current exhibits include: the KEVA Planks Construction and Design Zone, where kids can collaborate on architechture projects; Build Your Own Roller Coaster, where kids can discover the forces of movement and design; Toddler Beach, where young children can play and develop motor skills; Take-and-Leave Library and cozy reading nook; two Makerspaces, where kids can complete STEM-based projects; a Wind Tunnel, where objects take flight; and a Shadow and Light puppet theater.

When the museum is expanded to full capacity, it will also include a performance theater, water play exhibits, and a climbing structure.

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The museum was partially open for short 3-month previews in the summers of 2014 and 2015, but as of April 13, it is a fully functional, year-round facility. Now operating within a renovated 6,500 square foot section called the Boardwalk Galleries, the museum eventually will occupy the building’s full 22,000 available square feet.

The museum is open Wednesdays through Sunday, from 10am-4pm. Admission is $7 per person, $6 for seniors, and free for children under 1 year, museum members, and households with active-duty military personnel.

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