The Discovery Room offers families, and especially children ages 5-12, an interactive gateway to the wonders of the Museum and a hands-on, behind-the scenes look at its science. Every major field of Museum science and research, from anthropology to zoology, is represented. Children, accompanied by adults, can explore an array of artifacts and specimens, puzzles, and scientific challenges. Activities for older visitors are located on the upper level.

Discovery Room Highlights:

• Hunt for animals in a majestic two-story replica of an African baobab tree filled with specimens of birds, insects, reptiles, and small mammals.
• Create your own collection of minerals, skulls, or arthropods from a cabinet full of fascinating specimens.
• Gather around an authentic Kwakiutl totem pole carved at the Museum in 1992. Learn about cultures in locations from Brooklyn to Bombay by examining traditional and contemporary artifacts from around the world.
• Assemble a life-sized cast skeleton of Prestosuchus, a 14-foot long reptile from the late Triassic Period, handle real fossils, and unearth an Oviraptor nest in a re-creation of a paleontology field site.
• Track real time earthquakes anywhere in the world on a three-drum seismograph and explore the natural world with sophisticated microscopes on the upper level.

Learn about Discovery Room for school groups...

SPECIAL THANKS

The Discovery Room was made possible by a grant from the Edward John Noble Foundation.

Additional support has been provided by Joella and John Lykouretzos, the Ralph M. Cestone Foundation, Capital One Bank, Mitsui USA Foundation, the Rose M. Badgeley Charitable Trust, Nora and Ted Weinreich, the Ducommun and Gross Family Foundation, the Daneker Family, Susanne and Douglas Durst, and the Larkin Family.

Early Childhood and Family Learning at the American Museum of Natural History provides exciting science learning opportunities for young children and families through OLogy, the Discovery Room, the Science and Nature Program, and Public Programs.

Support for Early Childhood and Family Learning has been provided by the Filomen M. D'Agostino Foundation, Mona and Ravi Sinha.
 
Additional funding has been provided by Joyce and Bob Giuffra, John and Amy Griffin, and Valerie and Wright Ohrstrom.