New England’s vast American history, vibrant natural ecosystems, literary and originative roots, and cutting-edge scientific research make it a hot spot for quality museums. If you are looking for things to do in New England with kids, make sure to trammels out these weightier museums in New England with kids for all interests and ages.
These museums offer experiential learning and interactive play, an essential part of childhood. From hands-on science experiments to exploring pure historic artifacts, New England museums offer engagement for a range of month from toddlers to seniors.
Looking for a specific type of museum? Here are some top picks:
Best for history buffs: Boston Tea Party Ships & Museum
Best for interactive play: Boston Children’s Museum
Best for science lovers: Boston Museum of Science
Best for toddlers: Montshire Museum of Science
Best for nature lovers: ECHO Lake Aquarium and Science Center
Best for teens: Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum
Best Museums in New England
Best Museums in Connecticut
Mashantucket Pequot Museum and Research Center, Mashantucket, CT
The Mashantucket Pequot Museum follows the history of the region and the Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Nation over the past 18,000 years. This museum is fascinating and no expense was spared to illustrate this history, but a real highlight is the 22,000 sq. ft. model of a 16th-century tribal village.
Explore exhibits of Native art and megacosm stories, and then throne upstairs to learn well-nigh Pequot families on and off the reservation. You can travel when in time to the ice age at the Glacial Crevasse & A World of Ice exhibit, or walk through the Pequot Village walkout and witness what daily life was like 500 years ago!
Mashantucket Pequot Museum and Research Part-way is located at 110 Pequot Trail, Mashantucket, CT 06338.
Mystic Seaport, Mystic, CT
Mystic Seaport is a maritime museum and replica 19th-century fishing village. Kids love the hands-on exhibits and living history demonstrations from blacksmiths, shopkeepers, and ship smiths. You can moreover climb on the historic vessels, take a horse and transport ride, take a wend ride, or stargaze at the Planetarium.
This museum offers both immersive education from knowledgeable workers and entertainment. I would recommend spending a good few hours here for there is a lot to see. If you have time, stop by the Mystic Seaport Aquarium where you see beluga whales and jellyfish tanks, shop, and eat succulent nearby seafood. See increasingly things to do in Mystic.
Mystic Seaport is located 75 Greenmanville Ave, Mystic, CT 06355.
Best Museums in Maine
Children’s Museum and Theater of Maine, Portland, ME
The Children’s Museum and Theater of Maine offers so much to entertain the kids including a mini planetarium, waddle wall, water play area, a fire station, a mini Whole Foods, and plane a toddler area. The museum offers unique experiences for learning like in the Meet Our Neighbors Walkout where children can learn well-nigh Korean culture and language. MakerSpace is flipside unique walkout unshut to drawing, sculpting, or engineering anything of your imagination! It’s small and hands walkable within the city, unconfined for young kids.
The Children’s Museum is located at 250 Thompsons Point Rd, Portland, ME, 04102.
Portland Museum of Art, Portland, ME
Portland Museum of Art’s small size makes it a perfect nomination to test out an art museum with kids. The museum features works from Rose Marasco, Maine’s most prolific living photographer, as well as American, European, and trendy art. The museum has a creative space and offers several programs for families. See increasingly things to do in Portland and where to eat downtown.
The Portland Art Museum is located at 7 Congress Square, Portland, ME.
Best Museums in Massachusetts
Battleship Cove, Fall River, MA
While not your traditional museum, Battleship Cove teaches well-nigh history by letting you climb on and explore three pure battleships that saw whoopee in World War II, the USS Massachusetts, USS Joseph Kennedy Jr., and the USS Lionfish. You can moreover explore exhibits well-nigh Pearl Harbor, women in service, D-Day, and more.
A visit to Battleship Cove is unconfined for students studying WWII, history buffs, or just those who like to get hands-on with exhibits — expressly the big guns! This spot is expressly popular among many Cub Scout troops.
Battleship Cove is located at 5 Water Street, Fall River, MA 02721.
Boston Tea Party Museum, Boston, MA
The Boston Tea Party Museum is a unconfined introduction to early American history and the Revolutionary War. You can go on the Beaver, a replica of one of the three ships part of the original tea party, and toss “tea” off the ship.
Kids will love stuff a part of such a historic event. Live actors reennact historic events, the museum hosts moving portraits of King George III and Sam Adams, and there is Abigal’s tea room to end with snacks. This super interactive wits will help children learn American history in a fun and digestible fashion. See increasingly well-nigh visiting the Boston Tea Party Ships & Museum with kids.
The Boston Tea Party Museum is located at 306 Congress St, Boston, MA 02210.
Berkshire Museum, Pittsfield, MA
If you are in the Berkshires, the Berkshire Museum is a unconfined place to spend an hour or two with kids. Downstairs they have a small aquarium, while on the main level you can explore the history and ecosystem of the zone with a small natural history museum and the Feigenbaum Hall of Innovation, which tells the tale of many local inventors and entrepreneurs. See increasingly things to do in the Berkshires with kids.
The Berkshire Museum is located at 39 South Street, Pittsfield, MA 01201.
Plimoth and Patuxet Museums, Plymouth, MA
Plymouth is the home to the history of the first interactions between the Pilgrims and Wampanoag. The Plimoth and Patuxet Museums have several sites from the Mayflower II to the Patuxet Homesite, but the historic 17th century English Village is a must-see where you can walk through a real replica of where early Colonists lived. With costumed interpreters, it is a unconfined place for children to learn well-nigh ramified history in a fun and interactive way.
This is a good opportunity for children to understand the story of the Wampanoag people and how they lived their lives.
The Plimouth Patuxet Museum is located at 137 Warren Avenue, Plymouth, MA 02360.
Boston Children’s Museum, Boston, MA
The Boston Children’s Museum is one of the weightier that I’ve been to. There are so many variegated areas to explore — a three-story New Balance climbing structure, the unchangingly enthralling Japanese house, construction zone, and so much more. The frothing zone is expressly a prod pleaser keeping kids mesmorized.
The Boston Children’s Museum is located at 308 Congress Street, Boston, MA 02210.
Boston Museum of Science, Boston, MA
We’ve been to the Boston Museum of Science many times, including for a couple of sleepover “Nights at the Museum”. With an IMAX theater, planetarium, butterfly garden, and exhibits well-nigh the human body, electricity, and physics, people of all month can find themselves immersed in a world of creativity. Explore the Science in the Park walkout where you can learn well-nigh physics through interactive play. This is a unconfined spot for kids with swings and running tracks to test your speed, it is easy to spend hours here.
Dont forget to say hello to the two story T-Rex. The Theater of Electricity is a spectacular event where you can witness a real lightning show. Some loud noises may upset little kids, but there are spots on floors whilom where you can watch the show from a quiter environment! The musical stairs and the discovery part-way are perfect places for toddlers and elementary school weather-beaten kids.
The Boston Museum of Science is located at 1 Science Park, Boston, MA, 02114.
Eric Carle Museum, Amherst, MA
Have you overly read the Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle? Eric Carle’s picture books are crafted from his unique art style, painting, drying and collaging tissue paper. The Eric Carle Museum showcases art by Eric Carle and other artists, varying in style and theme. The environment is perfect for toddlers and younger elementary school children, or any Eric Carle fans, and you get to explore the art. Alongside the museum, there is a bookshop, art studio, and a reading library. Nearby, you can explore the Yankee Candle Village!
The Eric Carle Museum is located at 125 West Bay Road, Amherst, MA 01002.
Dr. Seuss Museum, Springfield, MA
All well-nigh the famous Dr. Seuss (Theodor Geisel), the Amazing World of Dr. Seuss Museum lets you explore his techniques of story telling through interactive exhibits. Visitors can experiment with sound, play rhythm games, and create their own stories of imagination! With a combination of both his life history and work displayed, you can explore Dr. Seuss’ journey. This museum is unconfined for younger children, or any lover of Dr. Seuss.
While in the zone trammels out fun things to do near Springfield.
The Dr. Seuss Museum is located at 21 Edwards Street, Springfield, MA 01103.
The Discovery Museums, Acton, MA
The Discovery Museums on the South Shore are really two museums for one price — the Science Discovery Museum and the Children’s Discovery Museum. The Children’s Museum promotes STEM-based learning for younger kids with each room defended to exploring a variegated science concept through a theme. The Science Museum on the other hand is very hands on, with a woodworking shop, sound lab, nano science walkout and so much more. Kids will love designing elaborate wittiness runs and pathways. The outdoor treehouse is a fan favorite which is perfect for kids month 3-6 years old.
The Discovery Museums are located at 177 Main Street (Route 27) Acton, Massachusetts 01720.
EcoTarium, Worcester, MA
The EcoTarium is an indoor-outdoor museum tent science and nature with a planetarium, outdoor nature exhibits, seasonal campus train ride and animals from otters to chinchillas. When my husband and daughter went, they loved the outdoor treetop canopy walkways and ziplines. The “Wild Music” is moreover a popular exhibit.
The EcoTarium is located at 222 Harrington Way, Worcester, MA 01604.
Harvard Art Museums, Cambridge, MA
The Harvard Art Museums consists of the Fogg, Busch-Reisinger, and Arthur M. Sackler Museums. Renovations were from technie Renzo Piano, who designed the Centre Pompidou in Paris. The towers is as trappy as the masterpieces it holds. The galleries are unceasingly revolving so make sure to trammels out their website to see if your favorite versifier is currently on display. Reflect on the art at Jenny’s sideboard and Calderwood Courtyard and make sure to stop by the shop for a keepsake.
The Harvard Art Museums are located at 32 Quincy St, Cambridge, MA 02138.
Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, Boston, MA
The Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum is located within walking loftiness to the Museum of Fine Arts, but it is much smaller. It has much to interest kids in its architecture, from a trappy courtyard to a medieval tapestry room. If your kids love a good mystery, the story of the art heist at the museum will capture their interest; the empty spaces where the paintings used to be are still there! Each new room is dynamic and offers a new theme, perfect for capturing the imagination. The museum itself is most fit for older kids, middle school age and older due to increasingly fragile articfacts and not many oopportunities for interactive play.
The Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum is located at 25 Evans Way, Boston 02115.
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston MA
The Museum of Fine Arts in Boston is one of my daughter’s favorite art museums. The Egyptian walkout is a very popular with thousands of works of warmed-over art and artifacts. We moreover love checking out the Asian art collections, as well as the European masters. Children that are very interested in art are most likely to enjoy this museum, and it is increasingly interesting going into it with previous knowledge of a favorite painter. Elementary on up month would enjoy this museum the best.
The Museum of Fine Arts is located at 465 Huntington Avenue, Boston, MA 02115.
Nantucket Whaling Museum, Nantucket, MA
The Nantucket Whaling Museum is a unconfined way to learn the history of Nantucket in an interactive way. It is kid friendly with dress up gown and a skeleton of a giant sperm whale. Families can moreover pick up a guidebook that follows Puritan children through a journey virtually the museum. Visiting Nantucket? Here are some ideas for the ideal Nantucket itinerary.
The Whaling Museum is located at 13 Broad St Nantucket, MA 02554.
Peabody Essex Museum, Salem, MA
The Peabody Essex Museum is a nice wing to a day trip to Salem. It is a trappy towers with a strong hodgepodge of nautical and Chinese art. Our favorite was the temporary “Branching Out: Trees as Art” exhibit. The Yin Yu Tang House is traditional chinese house from the Qing Dynasty that was transferred over and rebuilt at the museum. You can explore the inside and peer into the part-way courtyard. This museum would be weightier for middle school kids and up due to its increasingly mature art and history.
The Peabody Essex Museum is located at 161 Essex Street, Salem, MA 01970.
South Shore Natural Science Center, Norwell, MA
The South Shore Natural Science Center is a nonprofit organization devoted to educating children well-nigh the natural and cultural environment. It features a large EcoZone Museum with an interactive walkout featuring the ecosystems of Southeast Massachusetts. This science part-way is a unconfined place to explore local creatures and ecosystems with six nature trails, acres of conservation land, and a children’s garden. There is moreover a picnic zone and outdoor amphitheater!
The South Shore Natural Science Part-way is located at 48 Jacobs Lane, Norwell, MA 02061.
Best Museums in New Hampshire
Currier Museum of Art, Manchester, NH
The Currier Museum of Art features American and European art, both archetype and modern, with works from artists such as Claude Monet, Andrew Wyeth, Pablo Picasso, and John Singleton Copley. The place is small but offers a variety of quality art pieces and with the wing of the Winter Garden Cafe.
The Currier Museum is located at 150 Ash Street, Manchester, NH, 03104.
Strawberry Banke Museum, Portsmouth, NH
Strawberry Banke Museum is a historic neighborhood where roleplayers and interactive crafts take you when in time hundreds of years. Many heirloom gardens and pure historic houses are unshut for touring. There is moreover an iceskating rink and a fairy house competition in the spring. Stepping into this neighborhood is a unconfined wits for those want to understand how people lived in the past. Children of all month can enjoy this museum, however elementary school to middle school is probably the weightier time to visit.
Read increasingly on things to do in Portsmouth, NH while in the area.
Strawberry Banke Museum is located at 14 Hancock Street, Portsmouth, NH 03801.
McAuliffe-Shepard Discovery Center, Concord, NH
The McAuliffe-Shepard Discovery Center is a dream for space-lovers. The museum honors Alan Shepard, the first American in space, and Christa McAuliffe, NASA’s Teacher in Space, and many others. There is a planetarium, observatory, replica of a space shuttle, a rocket playground, and several other space-themed exhibits. My daughter loves space and would be enthralled by this museum. It is perfect for elementary and middle school weather-beaten kids, or any space-lover.
The McAuliffe-Shepard Discovery Part-way is located at 2 Institute Drive, Concord, NH 03301.
The Mt. Washington Valley (MWV) Children’s Museum, North Conway, NH
The MWV Children’s Museum is a unconfined stop on a rainy or quiet day when you are in the zone visiting North Conway or the White Mountains. The museum is weightier for month 0-9, as young kids can put on a puppet show, climb through castles and tractors, build in the Lego room, melt in a pizza kitchen, and climb through a tree house!
The MWV Children’s Museum is located at 2936 White Mountain Highway, North Conway, NH 03860.
Best Rhode Island Museums
Providence Children’s Museum, Providence, RI
Unlike other childrens museums that cater to the pre-school set, the newly renovated Providence Children’s Museum has something to offer kids up to well-nigh 10 or 11, expressly the outdoor climbing structure. My daughter unchangingly loved the Water Ways area, which is a popular spot among many kids. Make sure to bring a transpiration of gown for your kid, expressly if they are younger and enjoy a little mess. Kids can can explore several hands on learning actibties like can towers with blocks, tubes, and shapes.
The Providence Children’s Museum is located at 100 South Street, Providence, RI.
Rhode Island School of Design (RISD) Museum, Providence, RI
The RISD Museum represents culturally diverse art tent several time periods. I was surprised with the depth and variety of its collection, from Monets to modern art to textile exhibits to Warmed-over Egyptian, Greek and Roman art. A kid favorite is the 12th century giant Buddha in the Asian art section. With increasingly of a gallery focus, older children will most likely have a unconfined appreciation for the pieces.
The RISD Museum is located at 20 North Main Street, Providence, RI 02903.
best Vermont Museums
ECHO Lake Aquarium and Science Center, Burlington, VT
The ECHO Lake Aquarium and Science Center helps kids explore the ecology, culture, and history in the Lake Champlain zone with over 100 hands-on exhibits. With over 60 species of fish, amphibians, and reptiles, kids can moreover enjoy live unprepossessing feedings and exploration. The part-way is small and easy to navigate, making it a unconfined spot for young kids. While you’re in Burlington, trammels out things to do In Burlington VT.
ECHO Lake Aquarium and Science Part-way is located at 1 College Street, Burlington, VT 05401.
Montshire Museum of Science, Norwich, VT
The Montshire Museum of Science promotes early learning for children month 2-5 through interactive exhibits including earth and astronomy, weather, native plants, creatures, and sound and hearing. Children enjoy the outdoor water exhibits, puzzles and games, and a rainbow station. With both indoor and outdoor opportunities to learn, children can hands spend hours engaging in educational play.
Montshire Museum is located at 1 Montshire Rd, Norwich, VT 05055.
Shelburne Museum, Shelburne, VT
When I was a kid we went to Vermont for every vacation to visit my grandmother. We would then take day trips virtually the state and I remember the Shelburne Museum as a hodgepodge of various sublet buildings. Today, it has over 150,000 works of art wideness 38 buildings, including historic houses and buildings like a blacksmith shop, jail, and schoolhouse. The museum has several structures including the circus building, steam ship and train cars.
The Shelburne Museum is located at 6000 Shelburne Rd, Shelburne, VT 05482.
Next time you are looking to vacation or day trip in New England, make sure to trammels out these incredibly vibrant museums to make your stay increasingly memorable!
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