The Brooklyn Children's Museum at 145 Brooklyn Avenue in Crown Heights holds its Día de los Muertos celebration on Saturday, November 7, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., with Guatemalan kite making, Aztec dance, bilingual puppet shows, a sugar skull mask workshop and a community ofrenda where families can share memories of people they have lost. It is one of three cultural programs on the museum's calendar over the next eight days.

Saturday: kites, puppets and a rooftop market

The day runs across the museum. An artist and vendor market is open on the Rooftop Terrace all day, where DJ Farbeon plays Latin, world, soul, funk, house and hip-hop from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. At 11:30 a.m., the group Cetiliztli Nauhcampa leads a ceremony of Aztec dance and song on the terrace and invites visitors into a community circle.

In the ColorLab art studio, the Mayan artist Ixmucane Artisan teaches families about barriletes, the giant kites flown in Guatemala for the holiday, from 10:15 a.m. to 12:15 p.m. and again from 1:30 to 5 p.m. Children build their own with tissue paper, bamboo and other materials.

Karina Onofre performs a Spanish-language puppet show about Día de los Santos in Guatemala at 11 a.m. and 1:30 p.m. in the BK Voices space, with singing and dancing. Teaching artist Natalie Del Villar runs sugar skull mask making in the Studio at 2 and 3 p.m., and families take their masks home. An Ase Dance performance follows at 2:30 p.m. The celebration is ticketed through the museum's website.

Thursday: a free Mexican folk dance workshop

Two days earlier, on Thursday, November 5, from 3 to 3:45 p.m., teaching artists from the Calpulli Mexican Dance Company lead a Mexican folk dance workshop. They explain the history of each dance and its region, then teach families the steps. The workshop falls during Community Access Thursdays, when admission to the museum is free from 2 to 5 p.m. every week; the museum asks families to RSVP.

The same afternoon has the museum's regular free-hours programs: a guided art workshop in ColorLab from 2:15 p.m. and hands-on STEM projects in the Nature's Engineers makerspace from 2:30 p.m., along with the toddler area Totally Tots, the miniature shops of World Brooklyn and the NEST climber. Animal Encounters is also on the calendar for 3 p.m.

Next Thursday: Diwali

On Thursday, November 12, from 2 to 5 p.m., the museum marks Diwali, the festival of lights, with The Culture Tree. Families hear the story of Diwali through puppet storytelling, make mithai, the Indian sweets, and create their own diya lamps in ColorLab. It is also during free Community Access Thursday hours, with an RSVP requested.

About the museum

The Brooklyn Children's Museum has been open to children and families since 1899. It has three floors of interactive exhibits and cultural and science programs for children from 6 months to 10 years old.

How to go

The museum is at 145 Brooklyn Avenue, at St. Marks Avenue, in Crown Heights. It is open Wednesday through Sunday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., with last entry at 4:50, and closed Monday and Tuesday. General admission is $15 a person, members get in free, and admission is free on Thursdays from 2 to 5 p.m. The museum recommends reserving tickets online in advance.

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