Mid-Hudson Children's Museum - Poughkeepsie, NY - Hands-On Children's Museum

The Mid-Hudson Children's Museum is located at 75 North Water Street in Poughkeepsie, New York. The Mid-Hudson Children's Museum relocated to its current location in 2002. It served as an educational resource center for the Mid-Hudson region. It is a tourist attraction and a family destination. The purpose of the museum is to provide visitors with a creative learning environment that is fun and offers hands-on experiences that advance discovery and exploration.

The museum is home to two floors of hands-on exhibits. One such exhibit is the Hudson River Tides Water Play Table. This exhibit teaches visitors that the Hudson River starts at the top of Mt. Marcy, and it enables them to feel what this cool mountain air would fell like. Visitors can turn the Moon Dial in order to see what the rising tide of the ocean is like. The Hudson River Dive Bell Exhibit uses light, sound, and motion to simulate what it would be like to dive beneath the waters of the Hudson River to see what lies below. IBM's Da Vinci Inventions is an exhibit that features models of Da Vinci's 16th-century inventions. This exhibit is intended to teach visitors about simple machines.

The museum is home to the Health Center. The Health Center is designed to be an exploration of the human body that features detachable models of the heart, the brain, and other organs. There is a pretend doctor's office with a simulated x-ray table and other pretend medical equipment. Young visitors can play the role of patient, doctor, or technician. There is also a Medical Imaging Exhibit.

The Mid-Hudson Children's Museum is open Tuesday through Friday from 9:30am to 5:00pm. On weekends, the museum is open from 11:00am to 5:00pm. The museum is typically closed on Mondays, but it is sometimes open on Mondays that are school holidays. The museum is also closed on New Year's Day, Memorial Day, Independence Day, Labor Day, Thanksgiving Day, and Christmas Day. Admission is $6.50 per person. Children under one year of age receive free admission.

The museum is home to a variety of programs. Early childhood programs are for children from 3 to 6 years of age. Early childhood programs include a guided tour. The guided tour walks young visitors through some of the most popular exhibits at the museum. A Hudson River Program educates young children about the Hudson River through the use of their senses. Children can touch a dried seas star, smell a fish, see a sturgeon puppet, hear gulls, and taste salt. ABC Detective is a program that enables children to act like detectives and search for alphabet letters. This program is designed to reinforce the importance of using letters to form words.

Astronomy programs are also offered, and the Mid-Hudson Children's Museum is home to the STARLAB Planetarium, which is an inflatable dome planetarium. Visitors can learn about constellations, moon phases, and much more.

Additional information about the Mid-Hudson Children's Museum and its many programs can be obtained by calling 845-471-0589.