The Brooklyn Children’s Museum will finally open its doors to youngsters this weekend after remaining closed since the onset of the coronavirus pandemic.
After locking down on March 14, the museum will reopen on Oct. 31 with a socially distanced Halloween celebration on its 20,000 square foot roof, where kids will have the chance to make their own masks, trick or treat, participate in a costume parade, and make prints with fall produce.
“We really thought this year ‘what are some things that our community might need at this time,’” said Stephanie Hill Wilchfort, president and CEO of the Crown Heights museum. “One of the things that we understand that families are seeking are safer ways to trick or treat.”
Wilchfort said the museum has planned for an October reopening since April, when they figured Brooklyn families would need to start searching for safe indoor activities once the temperature started to drop outside.
They have used that time to prepare the building to safely welcome guests again, by installing new filters in their air ducts, and instituting a new timed ticket system, whereby the museum will operate at 15 percent-capacity and guests will wear masks and have a 90-minute time slot for their visit.
“We knew that starting in October our community of families was going to need safe indoor spaces,” Wilchfort said. “We really spent the summer and the early part of the fall thinking about how to create a safer indoor option.”
The museum is also planning an event for the Day of the Dead on Nov. 1, where kids can build an altar honoring their ancestors and loved ones who have passed away with guest curator Mincho Vega, and see performances from the Ase Dance Theatre Collective.
The museum is currently showing “Oyster City” a new exhibit that teaches kids about oysters, and the efforts of the Billion Oyster Project to restore the once plentiful shellfish to the waterways of New York where they hope its filtration abilities will lead to cleaner waters.
Brooklyn Children’s Museum, 145 Brooklyn Ave. near St. Mark’s Ave in Crown Heights, www.brooklynkids.org. Reopening Oct. 31 at 10 AM, timed tickets required, $13.
