The mission of the Children's Museum of Manhattan (CMOM) is to inspire children and families to learn about themselves and our culturally diverse world through a unique environment of interactive exhibitions and programs. From its humble beginnings in a neighborhood storefront in 1973, CMOM has grown to a 38,000 square-foot 501(c)3 learning facility with outreach programs at 49 sites throughout New York City, and has become a destination for visitors from around the world.

Each year, CMOM serves more than 325,000 people, which includes 30,000 children who visit the CMOM as part of a school group and more than 34,000 children served through offsite outreach programs. These outreach programs regularly serve children and their families from at-risk communities through partnerships with community-based organizations, schools and libraries. A key aspect of the strategic plan is to provide free or low-cost access to CMOM and its programs to low-income families.

CMOM’s three priority areas flow from the strategic plan and are designed to meet specific needs within the community: early childhood education prepares children to enter kindergarten; creativity in the arts and sciences inspires creative and analytical thinking skills for lifelong learning; and healthy lifestyles programs provide a blueprint for a family's physical, emotional and environmental well being. These priorities are met through exhibitions, presentations by artists from authentic traditions, and arts and science workshops.

CMOM connects the arts, language, science, math and humanities to the social and psychological needs of the child and family. Our programs and exhibits are designed to address the multiple ways children learn and to help parents understand and support their child’s development. CMOM’s philosophy is reflected in the recently opened PlayWorks™ exhibition, keyed to all of the skills children need for school; the upcoming exhibit, Gods, Myths and Mortals: Discover Ancient Greece, designed as an introduction to art, science and literature; and the Healthy Living Programming produced with local hospitals and health providers to encourage positive daily health habits. This philosophy is also woven throughout its Professional Development Training provided to early childhood and school educators.

More than 80 public performances with authentic performers and 3,000 public programs are offered free with admission, connecting children to diverse cultural traditions and the performing arts. These programs also uniquely engage parents to become more active and knowledgeable partners in their child’s development. Detailed learning objectives and curricula are developed and revised through evaluation and testing, ranging from research projects about how children want to learn about the Greek classics to professional evaluation of CMOM’s programs for families in shelters to early childhood curriculum used at CMOM and in the community. A current professional evaluation of early childhood programs at the museum reveals a distinct success in engaging parents in their child’s education and CMOM as a unique facility that values the remarkable breadth of cultural diversity of its visitors.

Outreach Programs

In today’s culture, childhood is compressed. Families have less time to spend with one another. Individuals, neighbors, and communities are detached. Those with different physical and mental abilities, as well as those new to a community, are asked to either assimilate or remain separate. Resources that educate, care for, and promote communities are stretched thin by demands to do more with less. In this environment, children’s museums stand out as unique places that bring children, families, and communities together for quality learning.

In pursuit of its primary mission to bring innovative learning opportunities to children in the greatest need, CMOM partners with a wide variety of Community Based Organizations as well as City, State and National Government agencies, foundations, corporations and educational institutions to provide programs to over 400,000 children each year. These partnerships and the resulting programs have positioned CMOM as a leader in outreach efforts throughout the city, across the country and around the world.