Brooklyn Children's Museum opens a hands-on BMX exhibit Saturday, with pro riders on opening day
'Riders Ready: The Science of BMX' teaches kids about speed, balance and helmets through real bikes and race-gate games. It runs Oct. 24 through Jan. 3 in Crown Heights and is included with $15 admission, or free on Thursday afternoons.
Photo: Ajay Suresh / Wikimedia Commons · CC BY 2.0
- 'Riders Ready: The Science of BMX' opens Saturday, Oct. 24, at the Brooklyn Children's Museum, 145 Brooklyn Ave. in Crown Heights, and runs through Jan. 3, 2027 (Brooklyn Paper, museum).
- The 2,500-square-foot exhibit, built by Discovery Lab with the USA BMX Foundation, covers bike setup, track design, helmet safety, speed, energy, balance and friction.
- Kids can design a digital bike, build a block track that appears on screen and test their reaction time on real BMX bikes at a starting gate.
- Opening day brings BMX demos by pros Matty Craer and Chad Douglas, helmet decorating with Transportation Alternatives and a storytime with author Dan Saks.
- Hours are Wed.-Sun., 10 a.m.-5 p.m.; admission is $15, under 1 free, and free Thursdays 2-5 p.m. Families who send riding photos by Oct. 21 can get two free opening-day tickets.
The Brooklyn Children's Museum in Crown Heights is turning part of its building into a BMX lesson. "Riders Ready: The Science of BMX" opens Saturday, Oct. 24, and runs through Jan. 3, 2027, using bikes, tracks and helmets to teach kids the physics of speed, energy, balance and friction, Brooklyn Paper reported and the museum's exhibit page confirms.
What's inside
The 2,500-square-foot exhibit was developed by Discovery Lab in collaboration with the USA BMX Foundation. Among the activities:
- Build a Bike: kids design a digital BMX bike with racing or freestyle parts and their own paint scheme.
- Build a Track: children arrange physical blocks into a course and watch it appear on a screen.
- Starting Gate: visitors sit on real BMX bikes and test their reaction time by leaning forward when a race countdown ends.
- Sections on bike setup, track design and how helmets work.
The museum is also collecting photos and videos of Brooklyn kids riding, from training wheels to first solo rides, for a montage in the exhibit. Families who submit by Wednesday, Oct. 21 get two free admission tickets for opening day, according to the museum.
Museum president and CEO Atiba D. Edwards told Brooklyn Paper he still remembers riding his gold BMX bike from Brownsville all across Brooklyn.
Opening day, Saturday, Oct. 24
- BMX demonstrations by professional riders Matty Craer and Chad Douglas
- Helmet decorating with Transportation Alternatives
- An "On Our Bikes" storytime and singalong with author Dan Saks
- Raffles for cycling glasses from 100Percent and bike raffles hosted by the BMX Foundation
If you go
- Where: Brooklyn Children's Museum, 145 Brooklyn Ave., Crown Heights.
- When: Oct. 24, 2026, through Jan. 3, 2027. The museum is open Wednesday through Sunday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., last entry 4:50 p.m., per its visit page.
- Cost: The exhibit is included with general admission, $15 per person; children under 1 are free. Admission is free on Thursdays from 2 to 5 p.m. (Community Access Thursdays); tickets can be reserved online or picked up that day.
- Brooklyn PaperReady to ride? Brooklyn Children's Museum rolls out new BMX exhibit
- Brooklyn Children's MuseumRiders Ready: The Science of BMX
- Brooklyn Children's MuseumVisit
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