Brooklyn Children's Museum in Crown Heights opens a new hands-on exhibit about the science of BMX on Saturday, October 24. Riders Ready: The Science of BMX fills 2,500 square feet at the museum at 145 Brooklyn Avenue and runs through January 3, 2027. It is included with general admission, which is $15 per person and free for children under age 1.

The exhibit uses bicycle motocross, the racing and freestyle sport ridden on small, sturdy bikes, as a way into physics and engineering. Children learn how a bike is set up, how a track is designed, how helmets protect a rider, and how speed, energy, balance and friction work together on a course.

What kids will do inside

Riders Ready was developed by Discovery Lab in collaboration with the USA BMX Foundation. The museum lists three main stations:

  • Build a Bike: visitors design a digital BMX bike, choosing parts for racing or freestyle riding and picking their own paint scheme.
  • Build a Track: children arrange physical blocks into a course and then watch their layout appear on a screen.
  • Starting Gate: visitors sit on real BMX bikes and test their reaction time, leaning forward when a race-start countdown hits zero.

The museum is also building a video montage for the exhibit out of families' own footage. Parents can send photos or videos of a child's early riding moments, from training wheels to the first ride without help, and other riding clips are accepted as well. Submissions go through brooklynkids.org/ride or by message to the museum's @bcmkids Instagram account. Families who submit by Wednesday, October 21 receive two free admission tickets for opening day.

Opening day on October 24

The museum is marking the opening with a full day of activities from 10 am to 5 pm, all covered by general admission:

  • Live BMX demonstrations by professional riders Matty Cranmer and Chad Douglas.
  • Helmet decorating with Transportation Alternatives.
  • An On Our Bikes storytime and singalong with author Dan Saks.
  • Bike raffles from the BMX Foundation and a cycling glasses raffle from 100Percent.

Atiba T. Edwards, the museum's president and CEO, said in the museum's announcement that he grew up riding a gold BMX bike from Brownsville across Brooklyn, and that the exhibit is meant to turn that first-ride excitement into questions about balance and motion.

More happening at the museum this fall

The BMX exhibit joins Empire Skate of Mind, the rooftop roller rink that returned to the museum on October 1 and stays open through April 11. The rink honors Empire Roller Rink, which operated at 200 Empire Boulevard from the 1940s through 2007, less than a mile from the museum. Public skating runs Saturday and Sunday from 10 am to 5 pm and Wednesday through Friday from 2 to 5 pm, for families with children ages 3 and up. Skating is an add-on to admission: $10 per person with rental skates ($8 for members) or $8 with your own skates ($6 for members). Helmets and wrist guards are provided, and inline skates are not allowed.

The same weekend brings the museum's Election Day programs, in which children meet animal candidates, make campaign buttons and vote in a mock election. In-person sessions are October 24, October 25 and October 29, with voting open through November 3. On Saturday, October 31, the museum hosts a Halloween celebration with AniTOMO Con that pairs trick-or-treating and a costume runway with anime art and storytimes led by cosplayers.

Admission is free every Thursday from 2 to 5 pm through the museum's Community Access Thursdays program, and tickets for those hours can be reserved online or picked up at the door.

Also in Crown Heights on October 24

Farther east, Weeksville Heritage Center at 158 Buffalo Avenue holds the last Weeksville Green Community Market of the season on the same Saturday, from noon to 5 pm. GrowNYC sells produce alongside local vendors including Essence Smoothies, 18 August Avenue, Botanical Moment, The Black Mermaid Society and Maya Lewis. Free drop-in programs start at 2 pm: Sanuces tai chi and qi gong with Grandmaster Lumumba Hernandez, a Rest and Restore yoga session with Six Travis of Sensate Wellness, a painting and bookmark-making workshop for families led by 18 August Ave, and chess on the lawn with National Chess Master James Black of KnightShiftChess.

Plan your visit

Brooklyn Children's Museum is at 145 Brooklyn Avenue in Crown Heights, a few blocks north of Eastern Parkway. The Kingston Avenue station on the 3 line is the closest subway stop. The museum is open Wednesday through Sunday from 10 am to 5 pm, with last entry at 4:50 pm, and is closed Monday and Tuesday. There is no museum parking lot, so drivers should plan on street parking.

Riders Ready: The Science of BMX opens Saturday, October 24 and runs through January 3, 2027. Tickets are sold at brooklynkids.org/tickets, and BCM members get in free.

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