Hours 10 a.m.–5 p.m. | Fri. & Sat. till 8 p.m.Learn about the pivotal role that Black designers have played in diversifying toy aisles in Black Doll Designers, open on the museum’s first floor (near The Strong Express Train).
Explore the history of toy companies founded to promote representation—such as B. Wright Toy Company, Olmec Toys, and Shindana Toys—and view key doll examples, such as:
Photovoz: Picturing Play
Through June 30
What do playful spaces look like across the City of Rochester? See the power and exuberance of play through images captured by 12 Rochester residents in Photovoz: Picturing Play, a new photo display on the museum’s first floor.
Playgrounds take many shapes. Through photovoice—a research method that provides people with cameras to capture what’s going on in their neighborhood—local parents and community elders photographed the abundance of play in Rochester.
Photovoz: Picturing Play, launched in 2019 as a collaboration between […]
Capturing Play
From the Collection of Photojournalist Martha Cooper
February 10 through June 30
See a selection of toy cameras and figures collected by documentary photographer Martha Cooper in a new display just outside the Field of Play exhibit on the museum’s first floor. Learn about Cooper’s life and career in photography, which has included snapping pictures of urban play for more than 50 years. Then view a sampling of the more than 450 items The Strong acquired from Cooper, including a:
The display remains […]
Barbie™ You Can Be Anything™: The Experience
Open January 20 to May 12, 2024
Barbie™ joins The Strong National Museum of Play to encourage kids to play out their dreams by exploring things they like, such as creating, nurturing, solving problems, leading, and being adventurous. Barbie™ You Can Be Anything™: The Experience helps kids learn about professions and explore the possibilities.
Learn about real-life role models who broke barriers, such as Amelia Earhart (aviation pioneer), Katherine Johnson (NASA mathematician and physicist), Laurie Hernandez (Olympic gymnast), Florence Nightingale (pioneer of […]
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Re-Play: 50 Years of Hip-Hop Fun Exhibit
Celebrate the history of hip hop—born in New York City in the 1970s—and how it inspired joy, play, and fun while creating a new art form. The exhibit, opening August 11 on the museum’s second floor, explores the wide-ranging cultural influence of this creative art form. View related artifacts from The Strong’s collections—such as the dual Technic turntables that DJs used to spin the genre’s first beats in the 1970s to rapping Mickey Mouse dolls and DJ Barbie Mini Boomboxes […]
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Raceway Arcade
Opens March 23, 2024
Play your way through the history of electronic driving games and learn about America’s long fascination with the need for speed in Raceway Arcade. Start your engine and zip through the evolution of driving games in this highly interactive and artifact-rich exhibit designed for racing enthusiasts of all ages.
Produced by The Strong’s International Center for the History of Electronic Games.
Playable machines in Raceway Arcade require purchased tokens. Money collected from the sale of tokens helps maintain these original artifacts.
(Note: Arcade games […]
Material Girl
Inside the Closet of America’s Favorite Doll
Examples from the 1960s, such as Twist ‘n Turn Barbie, Sophisticated Lady, and Little Bow Pink, that showcase Barbie’s early style and elegance
Versions from the 1970s, from Silver Blues to Roller Skating Barbie, that reflect the loosening of the dress code and the counterculture movement
Dolls with the bold styles and bright colors of the 1980s, such as Lilac and Lovely, and that speak to historical moments from the decade, such as Astronaut Barbie
Examples that […]