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The Strong National Museum of Play, Rochester, NY

Photo: Misc, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons. Cropped and resized.

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The Strong National Museum of Play

One Manhattan Square · Rochester, NY

Why you should go…

The Strong is a collections-based museum devoted entirely to play, grown from the personal collection of Rochester native Margaret Woodbury Strong. Its interactive exhibits fill more than a city block and include the National Toy Hall of Fame, the World Video Game Hall of Fame, a carousel, a train and the Skyline Climb. The Dancing Wings Butterfly Garden is an indoor butterfly garden inside the museum. A 2023 expansion added the ESL Digital Worlds exhibit and the Hasbro Game Park.

  • #children's museum
  • #toy hall of fame
  • #video games
  • #butterfly garden
  • #hands-on exhibits

Good to know

General museums guidance

Habits that pay off across this whole category, not rules for this one venue. Always check the official site for the specifics.

  • Check the special exhibition separately

    Touring shows usually carry their own ticket and their own opening hours, listed apart from general admission.

  • Look for the free window

    Many museums run community days, member evenings, or discounted late openings. It is worth a look before you pay full price.

  • Travel light through the door

    Large bags and backpacks often have to go to a coat check, and lines for it move slowly at opening.

  • Weekday mornings beat weekend afternoons

    School groups clear out by early afternoon midweek, while weekends stay busy from late morning on.

What's around here?

The closest stops to The Strong National Museum of Play, ordered by straight-line distance.

  • Sightseeing
    History Buff

    Women's Rights National Historical Park

    Free

    Visit the Wesleyan Chapel in Seneca Falls, where the first women's rights convention met in 1848.

    44 mi awaySwitch it up: Sightseeing