Hands on, minds busy.
Looking for science and discovery centers in New York? Here are 8 of them, with the details parents check first: price, opening hours and the right age range.
8 science and discovery centers in the New York area8 science and discovery centers in the New York area.
Sorted by distance from New York, nearest first. Straight-line miles, so every drive is longer.
8 places
5 of 8 science and discovery centers
Where a card says no price or no hours listed, the venue does not publish it. We would rather leave the gap than fill it with a guess. Prices come from each venue's own website, and we publish one only when the figure appears on the page we took it from. Tell us if we are missing one you know.
We list 8 science and discovery centers within 20 miles of New York, NY. Every one is a published listing with an address we checked.
3 of the 8 here do, and each price was checked word for word against the venue's own page before we published it. The rest do not publish one, so their card says no price listed rather than carrying a guess.
Yes. One place gets you in free: Hayden Planetarium.
One of them lists an age range starting at two or under. Check the age line on each card, because a place that suits a six-year-old does not always suit a two-year-old.
We list every one we have within 20 miles of the center of New York. Each is a published place with an address we geocoded and checked, and the business can claim its listing to keep the hours and prices current.
It varies more than you would expect, from free to full price, and it changes the cost of a visit by a lot when there are two of you. The price on each card is what it costs to get a child in. 3 of the 8 on this page publish a price at all, so call ahead about the adult rate before you rely on it.
Book if you want a show or a planetarium slot. General entry is usually walk-in. Where a venue publishes a booking page, the listing links straight to it.
Water and a snack. Hands-on floors are long on their feet and short on seating. Whatever else you need is in the notes beside the listings above.
New York has 13 categories of kid-friendly places on Mini Navigators, from playgrounds and museums to splash pads and zoos. The New York hub lists all of them.
Listings last checked 10/13/2026.