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Discovery Room

© AMNH
COVID-19 update: The Museum is closed to maintain health and safety, and programs are suspended. Read more.

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.

  • 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 Kwakwaka’wakw totem pole carved at the Museum in 1992. Learn about cultures in locations from Manhattan to Mumbai 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 our digital seismographic display and explore the natural world with sophisticated microscopes on the upper level.

Drop-In Events

Walks, Tours, and Drop Ins Gateway Storytime in the Discovery Room Science & culture for preschoolers and their parents or caregivers—each week highlights natural science or a cultural theme. Walks, Tours, and Drop Ins Meet the Scientist in the Discovery Room Bring kids seven and older to explore fascinating, real-world topics with the Museum scientists who study them.

Location and Cost

The Discovery Room is located on the 1st floor between the Grand Gallery and the Warburg Hall of New York State Environment.

Free 40-minute timed passes are available at the Discovery Room entrance.

Discovery Room Hours

School Year (through June 30, 2020)

Monday-Thursday: 1:30-5:10 pm
Friday: CLOSED
Saturday-Sunday: 10:30 am-1:25 pm and 2:15-5:10 pm

On the following public school holidays, weekend hours are observed:

  • Monday, January 20
  • Monday-Friday, February 17-21
  • Thursday-Friday, April 9-10
  • Monday-Friday, April 13-17
  • Monday, May 25
  • Thursday, June 4
  • Tuesday, June 9

Summer Hours (July 1 - Labor Day, 2020)

Monday–Sunday: 10:30 am-1:25 pm and 2:15-5:10 pm

Special Thanks

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

Additional support has been provided by the Ralph M. Cestone Foundation, the Louis and Virginia Clemente Foundation, the Ducommun and Gross Family Foundation, the Larkin Family, the V. and L. Marx Foundation, and the Jane and Frances Stein Foundation.