Going to a museum can
be an amazing learning experience for the whole family, so take advantage of
all the online tours and games that have become extremely popular now that
families across the Hudson Valley are doing more “at home” activities.
With these websites,
kids can engage with interactive experiences from some of the best museums
all over the world. From finding their classic art twin on Google Arts & Culture to playing dinosaur trivia from the American Museum of Natural History,
kids can find tons of hidden gems on this list.
Smithsonian Education Students
The Smithsonian Education Students site is filled with resources for kids who are
interested in all sorts of topics like history, science, and cultures, or for
kids who are looking for information on a specific subject for a school report.
There are games, articles, experiments, a searchable resource library, and
more to explore here. For kids who live close to Washington, D.C., or are soon
to visit, there's also a ton of information on this site about the current
exhibits and events of special interest to kids at the Smithsonian museums.
SMITHSONIAN EDUCATIONSTUDENTS offers art, science, and history questions and then gives kids the
tools to explore them. If the solar system is the size of a fried egg, how big
is our galaxy? Activities like Sizing up the Universe help kids make
predictions about scale and checking them using math. How has the role of
government during a national crisis changed since World War II? The Rationing
During WWII activity lets kids use primary source materials to examine this and
other big questions.
Getty.edu/gettygames
The Getty Museum's
online site offers art information and educational—and fun—games. Developed by the Getty Museum in Los Angeles,
GETTY.EDU/GETTYGAMES brings fine art to gaming. Kids can solve jigsaw puzzles
(from easy to very difficult), play card-matching games, race the clock to find
differences between pieces of art, print out craft ideas, and learn about the
Getty Museum. All games are educational and use images from pieces of art
housed at the Getty Museum. A "learn about the art" button explains
the artists' backgrounds, the art's origin, and other facts.
#MetKids
The Metropolitan Museum of Art is the home of #MetKids, made for, with, and by kids and
The Met! Whether you’re in New York City or across the globe, kids can explore the
Met using an interactive map, watch behind-the-scenes videos that
feature kids just like yours, and travel through more than 5,000 years of art
in our time machine. Kids will also discover fun facts about
works of art—from dragons to dancers, and from mummies to masks and more! A
major plus: try out creative projects for at home. Be sure to stay
up-to-date with the #MetKids blog. #MetKids has been inspired,
tested, and approved by real kids ages 7–12.
You can also try these kid-friendly virtual tours of these popular New York Museums:
American Museum of
Natural History
We just love the big
blue whale, but there are more than 2,000 other cool items in the the American Museum of
Natural History’s collection. From dinosaur skeletons
to insects, and everything in between.
Children's Museum of the
Arts
View more than 2,000
pieces of children’s art from around the world at the Children's Museum of the
Arts' collection.
The Cloisters Museum and
Gardens
Imagine that you and
your kids are living back in time and wander through the Cloister’s magnificent
monasteries.