81st Street Studio — Attraction in New York

What? 81st Street Studio at The Metropolitan Museum! A brand new art and science inspired playspace, aimed towards children aged 3 to 11, although open to those younger too. There’s a music corner, built by Yamaha, a HUGE collection of books, a soft pit, an area to build anything with cardboard, along with other spaces to run around and get creative. Honestly, my photos don’t do this place justice. Aside from having open play everyday, storytime is also offered on Mondays, Saturdays and Sundays.

Where? At The Met, located at 1000 Fifth Avenue on the Upper East Side of Manhattan. If walking north up Fifth Avenue, the entrance to the 81st Street Studio is on your left just before the fountain.

When? Open during museum hours, which currently is everyday apart from Wednesday, from 10am to 5pm. The actual Met museum is open late on Fridays and Saturdays, but the studio still closes at 5pm.

Cost? I can’t quite believe I’m saying this, but….it’s FREE. Not even museum admission is required!

Our Rating - 9/10. I have been so excited to visit, and it definitely exceeded my expectations. It’s so modern, clean, well designed, and tons to keep your little ones busy. This is probably the nearest playspace to me, so I’ll be going regularly. The only small thing that bothered me was how many older children there were running amongst little ones, some of who weren’t even walkers. I’d love to see them implement different hours for infants, toddlers and bigger children. There were a few run-ins while I were there, and it does make me wary.

Anything else? There’s stroller parking, family restrooms nearby, seating in the actual studio as well as outside by the stroller parking. No food or drinks are allowed inside, and shoes must be off for the soft pit! Also, for the time being, you need to book a slot when you’re actually there (there were so many available when I went at midday on a Monday), and from what I remember they were slots on the hour or 30 minutes past, so best to arrive five minutes before to book a slot, park up your stroller etc.

(Review originally posted on the @playinnyc Instagram account in...

We recently visited this space at the Met with our 5-year-old and 1-year-old, and unfortunately, it wasn’t the best fit for us. The space felt quite limited in terms of activities, and many of them weren’t very engaging — especially for younger kids. Although it’s advertised as being suitable for ages 0–11, our 1-year-old had almost nothing to do, and even our 5-year-old lost interest quickly.

The concept seems to focus a lot on technology and structure, but it felt like there was less attention given to what children actually enjoy — the simpler, more hands-on forms of play.

There were also quite a few rules, which made the experience feel a bit restrictive. For example, we found it funny (and a little counterintuitive) that running wasn’t allowed in a space meant for toddlers and young children — it’s one of the most natural things kids do!

Some of the staff (not all) came across as a bit reserved and not particularly warm or helpful, which added to the overall sense that the environment was more controlled than playful.

We go to the Children’s Museum on 84th Street all the time, and the difference between the two was night and day — that space feels far more engaging, warm, and designed with children’s natural play in mind. So we were a little disappointed with this one at the Met.

It might appeal more to older kids who enjoy tech-focused activities, but for younger children, it didn’t feel very engaging or...

We went there the day after the opening day in September 2023 since I figured the opening day will be super-packed. On that day it opens at 12pm. We arrived about 15 mins after 12pm. There are 2 or 3 large separate kids' workshops in large enough rooms for 30+ people. So my son and daughter spent some time there building things. But the studio itself is a separate room and its entry is guarded by staff. Most of the fancy pictures posted online are about the studio space. When we were about to enter and explore inside we were told we have to make reservations, and it has a limited quota for each day. When I ask so where can I make reservations there are no staff who can do that for us at a counter anywhere. In stead I was told the reservations for this day are full and it's not possible to enter. "Just come back another day, the reservation requirement is just for the open 2 days and it should not be a problem tomorrow" as I was told. Excuse me, we traveled all the way from Queens and took a 1 hr LIRR train and subway ride to get here... But from the reviews I see it is still being practiced now. So that was after 12pm and before 1pm. My kids were very disappointed we came here to see this space but could not enter. I feel this studio space is a wonderful concept design but it is poorly executed...