While traveling over the Thanksgiving holiday, our family made a visit to the Corning Museum of Glass in New York. We had heard fantastic things about the museum and especially the workshops available, so were excited to check it out first-hand.
We were impressed before we even walked in the door as we caught sight of this incredible tree of glass ornaments right in the lobby.
The next wow factor came when we walked through the store and gift area. Fun gifts for kids, jewelry, beautiful glassware, holiday ornaments, you could spend an hour or more just exploring all that there is to see. If you have young children though, you'll definitely want to keep a close eye on them!
By far, our favorite part of the day was our hands-on glass fusing workshop. When I first heard glass fusing, I wasn't sure what that meant, so in case you don't either, it's where you take small pieces of glass and glue them to another piece of glass, then they are heated and fused together.
Your Mini Macaronis as young as four can participate in fusing, and while each of us did our own project (clock, mirror, tic tac toe board, and wind chimes), our kids did require some help with parts of their work, particularly if they wanted to cut the pieces of glass into smaller pieces. The staff at the museum were VERY helpful with our kids for this!
We took my mom along with us, and she did a glassblowing workshop to make a snowman. The museum website does list the glassblowing classes as all ages, saying if your child can blow out a candle and follow directions, then they can participate.
The museum's website maintains a list of available projects, and booking your experience online before you arrive is STRONGLY recommended. You should also know that glass projects need time to cool and are not available for pickup until after noon the next day, or they can also be shipped to you.
In addition to making our own glass, we visited one of their theatre spaces for a glass demo where we watched a professional glassblower make a pitcher. They explain the process as they work, and with large screens in the room, you can see a close-up view of each of the steps. The parents and kids enjoyed this one!
Finally, one of the spots I recommend you not miss is the Innovation Center, an interactive science and technology exhibit that the Mini Macaronis can get hands-on and learn! We learned how bottling machines started, how telescopes work, and even looked through a periscope to see around downtown Corning!
In addition to visiting the museum's website, here are a few other notes from our visit.
Things to know before you go:
Kids and teens are FREE! Admission rates start at age 18 and up.
There is a welcome/admission center that has information about the museum, downtown, and the surrounding area. There is free parking here and you can hop on a shuttle that will take you the short distance to the museum (less than a five-minute walk), as well as other points of interest downtown.
There is a cafe area that provides food, drinks, and snacks when your family needs a break to fuel up.
Disclosure: We received complimentary admission and workshops to facilitate this review.
