Cooper Hewitt Museum: Design Something!

City-Kid Review:

I like my hat

The Cooper Hewitt Design Museum is in the splendid, former Astor Mansion on 5th Avenue. City Kid loves the enormously grand wooden staircase which leads from the lobby up to the first floor. One can imagine wonderful entrances winding down this flight of steps.

The exhibits are those of designers from around the world and can be quite inspiring. These tend to be on the upper floors and are ‘hands-off’ exhibits, so not so great for City Kids.

…however….rather ingeniously they have these incredibly interactive activities elsewhere, for those in the know. On the second floor they have, what we call, the wallpaper room. Here, you create a design on a computer screen and, when you are completely satisfied, you can press send. This results in the entire room being electronically ‘painted’ with your design. It’s very satisfying. I do not recommend spending too much time in there, though, if your city kid likes very busy designs!

If you have a regular museum membership, they give you a nifty electronic pen, with which you can draw your design. Then, using information on your ticket stub, you can save your design and email yourself the link. It really is fun.

Dotted around the museum you can find design tables, on which you can electronically design buildings and objects. I have seen absorbed teenagers describe this as ‘better than chocolate.’

Downstairs, on the first floor, on the right of the main entrance is a changing, interactive exhibit. These tend to be for older city kids, but there is always something to do in there.

Downstairs in the basement, you have the education center. During the school holidays, they have changing daily design-based activities that will inspire you and your city kid, and regularly on Saturdays. Once a month, and daily during most school holidays, they have the talented Jonathan Kruk weave imaginative tales as the kids follow him, Pied Piper like, around the museum.

Need to Knows:

The Copper Hewitt Family programs are free. As you enter, the desk will send you downstairs to the basement.

The museum is located at 2 E 91st St, New York, NY 10128, which is between 90th and 91st. The main entrance is on 90th. Admission to the regular museum is $18 for adults and children are free. It is a little cheaper if you purchase ahead, online.

Opening hours are 10am-6pm with Saturdays open until 9pm. The children’s workshop ends at 3pm, with the final story time being at 2pm (in practice, I notice, there tends to be a little flexibility)

The Museum has a cafe with a limited, reasonably priced menu. They have a large, newly refurbished garden, where you can sit in the fine weather and a chairs and tables inside for those less pleasantly-weathered days. You can go to the cafe without visiting the museum. Here is a link for more information about that.

Top-Tip

Check out the fun chairs in the basement. You sit in them and they spin.

If you skip the story, all the kids clear out following Jonathan Kruk, and you can have the space – and the chairs – to yourself.

Have you visited the Cooper Hewitt Design Museum? Any more top tips to share? Please share with us in the comments below.

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