Explore the intriguing world of science with games, sports and hands-on activities at New York Hall of Science. NYSCI also hosts World Maker Faire in September where hundreds of young inventors demonstrate their innovative creations.
Originally built in 1964 as a pavilion for the World's Fair, the New York Hall of Science remains one of the nation’s foremost educational facilities due to its use of interactive technology and accessibility to children of all ages. Nestled in Flushing Meadows Corona Park, NYSCI’s variety of both permanent and touring exhibitions take children on a journey through all areas of science and mathematics, ranging from microbes to the solar system.
Year-Round Features
NYSCI features more than 450 interactive exhibits that explore biology, chemistry, and physics. The center's most popular exhibition, Sports Challenge, combines the fields of physics, physiology, and material science to explain the science behind your child's favorite sport, including baseball, surfing, and drag racing. The exhibition also features an 8-foot-high rock-climbing wall, and a pitching area that uses a radar gun to calculate the speed and spin of the ball thrown.
NYSCI Explainers host several daily demonstrations where visitors participate in live science demos like dissecting a cow’s eye, playing with air pressure, and defying the laws of gravity.
NYSCI’s programs are interactive and hands-on, often with a do-it-yourself theme. In that spirit, the center opened a Maker Space where visitors can explore their creativity through crafting and building. “Making” activities include everything from sewing to circuitry, but the focus is on engineering-oriented themes.
For younger children, there is the popular Bubble Table, where kids learn about the geometry of spherical shapes by making their own bubbles. Kids younger than 6 will love Preschool Place, where they learn how to build using foam bricks and explore the laws of gravity on the Ball Drop wall.
If your little ones need a break from all the activities NYSCI offers, relax in the 3-D Theater, which hosts a variety of science-themed screenings throughout the day ($6; $5 seniors, students, and children, plus general admission).
Annual Favorites
Every September, young inventers attend NYSCI’s most anticipated event, the World Maker Faire. Designed to showcase the creative inventions of hundreds of different “makers,” the Faire includes innovative and unusual creations of all kinds, from rockets and electronics to gourmet food.
NYSCI’s Science Playground (open April-December) is the largest of its kind in North America, with 60,000 square feet of slides, seesaws, water play, and more. Kids of all ages and abilities can climb, build, and play as they explore basic scientific principles such as the science of space flight ($4, plus general admission).
At Rocket Park Mini Golf (open April-December) families can putt their way through nine holes with real NASA rockets looming in the background. Golfers learn that the same laws of motion and gravity that guide the path of a spaceship also control the motion of golf balls here on Earth ($6; $5 children, plus general admission).
From late June-mid-November each year, families can head to the Science Farmers Market on Sundays for fresh local food and science-themed activities.
Details
Address: 47-01 111th St., Flushing, Queens
Hours: September-March: Tuesday-Friday 9:30am-5pm; Saturday-Sunday 10am-6pm; closed Labor Day, Thanksgiving Day, and Christmas Day.
April-August: Monday-Friday 9:30am-5pm; Saturday-Sunday 10am-6pm
Admission: $11; $8 seniors 62 and older, students with college ID, and children ages 2-17. September – June: Free general admission to all on Fridays, 2-5pm, and Sundays, 10-11am
For more information: 718-699-0005 or nysci.org
