Children's Museum of Manhattan facts for kids
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| Established | October 16, 1979 |
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| Location | 212 West 83rd Street Manhattan, New York, United States |
| Public transit access | Subway:  at 86th StreetBus: M7, M11, M86, M104 |
The Children’s Museum of Manhattan is a fun, hands-on museum for kids located on the Upper West Side in New York City. It was started in 1973 by a woman named Bette Korman. Her goal was to give kids a place to learn through art and museum experiences.
The museum wasn't always called the Children's Museum of Manhattan. It started as GAME (Growth Through Art and Museum Experience). It officially got its current name in 1985 and moved to its home on West 83rd Street in 1989. The museum is now getting ready for a big move to an even larger building near Central Park.
The Museum's Story
The museum began in 1973 during a tough time for New York City. Many schools had to cut their art and music classes. A group of artists and teachers wanted to make sure kids still had a place to be creative. They started a small center in a basement to serve local neighborhoods.
With help from a grant, the group moved into an old courthouse on West 54th Street. They turned it into a space for workshops and exhibits and called it the Manhattan Laboratory Museum.
Growing and Adding Fun
Over the years, the museum grew bigger and better. It added a media center, an outdoor area, and a special center for very young children.
The museum became very popular with an exhibit about Winnie the Pooh, which it created with Disney. In 1998, it opened Wordplay, its first exhibit made just for kids aged four and under. By 2000, the museum had a brand-new entrance and more space for cool exhibits.
In 2005, the museum received part of a $20 million donation from the Carnegie Corporation. This was made possible by a gift from Michael Bloomberg, who was the mayor of New York City at the time. Today, about 350,000 people visit the museum each year.
A New Home on the Park
In 2018, the Children's Museum of Manhattan announced exciting news. It had bought a historic church building at 96th Street and Central Park West. The plan was to turn this beautiful old building into a new, much larger home for the museum.
The city of New York gave $5.5 million to help with the project. An architecture company called FXCollaborative was hired to design the new space. After some discussion about the plans, a final design was approved in 2020. The new museum will have lots of room for galleries and amazing new exhibits.
To pay for the move and the new building, the museum began raising money. By 2024, it had already raised $200 million. The museum plans to open its new doors to the public in 2028.
