Best kids’ exhibits opening and closing soon in NYC

The American Museum of Natural History’s exhibit explores the microbes, viruses, fungi and other organisms that live inside our bodies. According to the exhibit, our gastrointestinal tract is home to about 100 trillion bacteria and they can be affected by where we live, what we eat and what we touch among other factors. Learn about all about microbial genes and the important work they do to keep us alive. All ages.

The Children's Museum of Manhattan is putting little visitors in the driver's seat. “Art, Artists & You,” a combination of an art studio and exhibit, encourages children to explore the creative process with several main components: working on stop motion animation, crafting a model of a pet or contributing to a wall hanging. “We want visitors to consider what it means when art is made of familiar object and materials, and how they can use these everyday items to make something new that expresses their thoughts, aspirations, and personal perception of the world,” David Rios, Children’s Museum of Manhattan’s director of public programs and the exhibit’s curator, said in a statement. All ages. 

Ready for a few laughs? Well you're in luck. The masterminds behind the popular TV series Impractical Jokers are coming back where it all originated. This exhibit gives fans an up-close and personal look at costumes, props and even secrets behind the show. Make sure you're on your A-game: There will be a few interactive impractical surprises on display throughout the exhibit. All ages. 

Let your imagination run wild as you climb through a massive playscape made from miles of TAPE! This interactive exhibit by Brooklyn Children’s Museum in collaboration with Eric Lennartson is custom-built for the museum and created from unexpected everyday materials, and it’ll be located in the Visiting Exhibit Gallery. The exhibit will span about 400 square feet (about the size of a studio apartment here in NYC), offering plenty of tunnels to crawl through, and it’s open for anyone to explore, even adults. “TapeScape” encourages creativity, curiosity and gross motor play. The artist, Eric Lennartson, weighed in with Time Out New York Kids: “Because the exhibit is so crazy, it attracts everyone to play in it. One of the reasons I love the exhibit is that I see adults playing with kids in the exhibit. I see older kids playing again like they did when they were younger and didn't have to act so cool. I tell people it lets you act half your age again.” Building the exhibit will take around two weeks: the first will be used to create the skeletal structure, and the second for adding around thirteen miles worth of tape—that’s enough to go back and forth across the Brooklyn Bridge a dozen times! Lennartson continues: "I love that tape is such a common thing that everyone has, but it can do extraordinary things. It is completely unexpected material to build with, right? Why would you think that that roll of tape in your desk drawer could make something as big as a three-dimension