On the banks of the Harlem River stands a brick castle with four crenellated turrets. Formerly a power plant, it now houses the Bronx Children’s Museum.
For families with children, this is a great way to spend a day in the Bronx: a morning at the museum, then a stroll along the Harlem River, and in the evening, a baseball game or the botanical garden. Adults will enjoy the museum’s architecture and unique interiors, inspired by natural landscapes.
History of the Bronx Children’s Museum
The museum was founded in 2005, and initially had neither a building nor a permanent address. It was a traveling educational program. A team of educators and artists traveled to schools, parks, and libraries, transforming any space into a temporary exhibition.
Furthermore, in 2010, the Bronx Children’s Museum acquired the borough’s most recognizable transportation device — a large purple bus “Museum on the Go!”.
At the time, the Bronx was the only New York City borough without a children’s museum, a change the organization made in 2022. The groundbreaking for the Bronx Children’s Museum began in 2017 in Mill Pond Park. But the opening was delayed for many years — first due to bureaucratic delays, then due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
In September 2025, BxCM joined the city’s Cultural Institutions Group, a prestigious partnership of New York City’s leading cultural and educational institutions.
The Architecture of the Bronx Children’s Museum
The museum building is one of the most interesting in the Bronx, a veritable castle on the riverbank! It used to be the Power House, built in the 1920s as a refrigeration warehouse for the Bronx Market, New York City’s first perishable goods market. The power plant was decommissioned in 2004 and restored in 2009. The castle received a green roof and LEED Gold certification.
The red brick building features four crenellated turrets and is clearly visible from across the Harlem River and from the Major Deegan Expressway. The silhouette of the castle, which now houses the museum, is one of the most photogenic in this part of the city.
Inside, everything is different. The museum occupies the entire second floor — 15,160 square feet — and was designed by New York-based O’Neill McVoy Architects (the family duo of Beth O’Neill and Chris McVoy).
The interior concept is inspired by Swiss psychologist Jean Piaget’s treatise on children’s perception of space. Smooth curves, rises, transitions, and bridges — they are as close to the natural environment as possible and removed from the linear city.
Interestingly, the Bronx Children's Museum is the first project in the United States to use curved cross-laminated timber (CLT) panels. The Austrian company KLH manufactured the components using vacuum forming — the same technology Ray and Charles Eames used to produce curved plywood furniture.
The space unfolds from the entrance overlooking the river to the Cloud mezzanine, which houses a multimedia installation. The interior feels less like a building than like a forest or a riverside setting: the walls and views seem to open up and flow seamlessly into one another.
Bronx Children’s Museum Exhibits
Waterways
The main attraction and the first thing visitors see upon entering is a 35-foot (approximately 10 meters) water table. It recreates three Bronx waterways: the Bronx River, the Harlem River, and Orchard Beach. Children build beaver dams, launch toy boats, and explore aquatic ecosystems.
Nature of the Bronx
An area where you can observe live animals in enclosures, look through a microscope, create natural patterns, and even build beaver lodges.
Boogie Down Bronx
A miniature replica of a local neighborhood. You can harvest crops in a community garden and explore objects in a casita — a traditional Puerto Rican and Dominican house typical of the South Bronx.
BronxTopia
An interactive installation by local artist Jerome LaMarr. A multimedia space where children transform into animal avatars and move to the sounds of salsa, cha-cha, and hip-hop.
Fairy Garden
Wear insect wings and watch crystal raindrops create magical patterns on the floor when the light hits them. The walls are decorated with photographs taken by children from the Little Friends of the Museum program at Roberto Clemente State Park.
Storytime & Illustrator Studio
Regular read-aloud sessions with character puppets. The museum also features a recreated studio of children’s illustrator C.G. Esperanza, where children can try their hand at illustrating a book.
Bronx Children’s Museum Programs
- “Dream Big” is a summer and after-school arts program. Regular participants include U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor and Sesame Street actress Sonia Manzano. Manzano even wrote a children’s book for the museum, “The Lowdown on the High Bridge,” about the old High Bridge aqueduct that connects the Bronx and Manhattan.
- Museum on the Go! (purple bus) has been operating since 2011 and continues to tour schools, camps, and festivals.
- GreenArts is a program for schoolchildren where they write, choreograph, and produce musicals about healthy living.
- Little Friends of the Museum is an after-school visual arts program in partnership with Roberto Clemente State Park.
Visitor Information
📍 725 Exterior Street, 2nd Floor, Bronx, NY 10451
Tickets: children $8, adults $14
Website: bxcm.org
