Drop in to the museum on Wednesdays in July to flex your creative muscles, imagine new possibilities, and take on fun design challenges as a family! Check out inspiring and innovative objects in Design Across Time: Exploring the Smithsonian's Design Collection, on view on the first floor. On July 8, PLAY like a designer and experiment with paper as a building material.

Drop in to the museum on Wednesdays in July to flex your creative muscles, imagine new possibilities, and take on fun design challenges as a family! Check out inspiring and innovative objects in Design Across Time: Exploring the Smithsonian's Design Collection, on view on the first floor. On July 15, COLLABORATE like designers and work together as a family team to design a restaurant or store, from soup to nuts.

Drop in to the museum on Wednesdays in July to flex your creative muscles, imagine new possibilities, and take on fun design challenges as a family! Check out inspiring and innovative objects in Design Across Time: Exploring the Smithsonian's Design Collection, on view on the first floor. On July 22, PROTOTYPE a solution to a "carry it" challenge.

Drop in to the museum on Wednesdays in July to flex your creative muscles, imagine new possibilities, and take on fun design challenges as a family! Check out inspiring and innovative objects in Design Across Time: Exploring the Smithsonian's Design Collection, on view on the first floor. On July 29, ITERATE like a designer and dream up a new take on an everyday object.

Join us for a lively story time and design activity to explore how things are made in Made in America: The Industrial Photography of Christopher Payne. Children and their caretakers will look closely at photographs and touch objects from inside factories to see the transformation of raw materials into everyday objects like pencils, hats, cars, and airplanes. Then they will design their own transportation vehicle!

Join us for a lively story time and then put on your designer hat to explore design and sound in the Art of Noise exhibition. Children and their caretakers will look closely at a variety of listening devices and create their own handheld percussion instrument.

Explore the factory where Steinway pianos are made In conjunction with the current exhibition Made in America: The Industrial Photography of Christopher Payne, tour the iconic New York City factory where Steinway pianos have been made for over one hundred years. Throughout the tour, we will visit some of the key spaces where the pianos are made...

In April, join us for a fun and relaxing day of drawing and reading with therapy dogs! Instructors will teach you how to make creative patterns through the Zentangle method that allows people of all ages to express their creativity and enjoy the art-making process—no art experience necessary. Pair your drawing with a sensory-friendly opportunity to read aloud with certified therapy dogs from New York Therapy Animals.

Join Cooper Hewitt for hands-on experiences and creative play in celebration of Art of Noise Tune in to gallery tours, experience Devon Turnbull’s listening room, pull your own letterpress concert poster, or try your luck at music bingo. All ages are invited to drop in throughout the day—no registration required.   DETAILS Print Your Dream Concert Poster   12:00-5:00 PM   Create a poster inspired by your...

Drop in to the museum on the second Saturday of each month for hands-on family activities!  In March, get creative together and make a custom band t‑shirt with Bushwick Print Lab. Families will learn the basics of screen printing—from sketching and cutting a paper stencil to pulling colorful ink across a screen with a squeegee.

Drop in to the museum during February’s mid-winter school break for hands-on family activities! On Thursday, join us to explore the Carnegie Mansion and make a paper greeting card inspired by the Gilded Age!

Drop in to the museum during February’s mid-winter school break for hands-on family activities! On Wednesday, join us to design and build your own pull toy with animated parts! Visit the exhibition Made in America: Industrial Photography of Christopher Payne to explore how things are made, from musical instruments to telescopes. Then use your design skills to prototype your own kinetic toy! 

Drop in to the museum during February’s mid-winter school break for hands-on family activities! On Tuesday, explore the world of sound! Check out music‑listening devices—from early 1900s radios to a jukebox, hi‑fi systems, speakers, and modern headphones—in Art of Noise, an exhibition about how music has been heard and shared over the last 100 years.   Find out how sound travels and learn about electromagnetism by building your very own paper‑cup speaker to take home. Music isn’t just something we hear—it’s something we see, too! Discover how concert posters and album covers express the feeling of different styles of music like folk, rock, punk, and hip‑hop. Then put sounds and images together by designing your own band button. 

This February, explore the world of sound! Check out music‑listening devices—from early radios to a jukebox, hi‑fi systems, speakers, and modern headphones—in Art of Noise, an exhibition about how music has been heard and shared over the last 100 years. Find out how sound travels and learn about electromagnetism by building your very own paper‑cup speaker to take home.  

This January, join us for a special game day at the museum. Design your own board game: Create a story for your game and choose from a variety of materials to make your board. Write challenge cards and craft your own player pieces out of clay.As a family, explore design by playing a round of the museum’s own Design Around Town board game. Invite your family members to come up with creative solutions to design challenges at an ice cream shop, a school, a stadium, and more.