The Strong National Museum of Play in Rochester, also known simply as The Strong is a collections-based history museum devoted to playing. Established in 1969 and one of the country’s largest and premier family-orientated institutions, The Strong® is dedicated to the role of play in learning and human development, along with the way that play has contributed to cultural history.
The Museum houses the world’s most comprehensive collection of materials, both historical and modern, related to playing that has been adapted to cater for audiences of all ages. The Museum is also home to the National Toy Hall of Fame, the International Center for the History of Electronic Games, the World Video Game Hall of Fame, the Woodbury School, the American Journal of Play, and the Brian Sutton-Smith Library and Archives of Play. Together, these centers and institutions offer an array of multifaceted exhibitions, educational activities, interpretive and research-based programs for all ages.
The Museum features exhibits that interpret the critical elements of play through new and recognizable displays such as the Berenstain Bears, Sesame Street, the Dancing Wings Butterfly Garden Reading, and Reading Adventureland. The Museums exhibits are themed around children's lifestyles and feature well-known characters and topics from comic books, storybooks, video games and television shows, as well as carousel and train rides, nature-related adventures and educational themes. Other exhibits include Academy of Interactive Arts and Sciences, America at Play, American Comic Book Heroes: The Battle of Good vs. Evil, Aquariums, Build, Drive, Go, DanceLab, Dancing Wings Butterfly Garden, Discovery Garden, One History Place, Pinball Playfields, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Secrets of the Sewer, and more.
The Strong National Museum of Play, 1 Manhattan Square Drive, Rochester, NY 14607, Phone: 585-263-2700, Map
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