Mid-Hudson Discovery Museum Programs

Mid-Hudson Discovery Museum Programs include exhibits that focus on early literacy, art, early STEM, health, and the local community. The programs also use the Science Revealed! gallery, which features 17 custom-made, hands-on science exhibits that invite full-body physical exploration of motion, air, forces, fluids, and magnetism. Additional program spaces include The Science Center @ MHDM, which advances STEM education, and The Children’s Garden @ MHDM, which teaches families about growing their own food.

• Ages: 0–12 years old
• Schedule: Thursday hours are 12:00 PM to 5:00 PM due to field trips

Mid-Hudson Discovery Museum Programs are part of an independent 501(c)3 not-for-profit educational organization supported by admission and membership sales, program fees, donations, and grants. The organization states a mission to empower children and their families and focuses its programs on school readiness, health and wellness, and community-building. Its galleries feature open-ended exhibits that get kids moving, exploring, building, pretending, collaborating, creating, and discovering in an educationally rich environment, with early learner programs and spaces that foster imagination, creativity, socialization skills, and understanding of the world around them. The museum reports a holistic approach to learning with a broad range of learning activities and experiences and an extended age range of children served through a new science exhibition and richer STEAM programming through age 12.

In 2016, the museum opened The Science Center @ MHDM and The Children’s Garden @ MHDM, and in 2017 it launched the Poughkeepsie Waterfront Market as a public farmers market bringing farm fresh produce to City of Poughkeepsie families, residents, and visitors; this market was permanently closed in September 2025. In 2019, the museum was awarded the international “2019 Leading Edge Award for Business Practice” by the Association of Science-Technology Centers (ASTC) in Toronto, Ontario, for its creation of the Poughkeepsie Waterfront Market. In 2022, the museum extended the age range of the children it serves and opened Science Revealed!. The organization rebranded from the Mid-Hudson Children’s Museum to the Mid-Hudson Discovery Museum as a result of strategic assessment and visioning.

Mid-Hudson Discovery Museum Programs include a Traveling Science program that brings a fun, educational, and interactive program to schools, and a pavilion that offers a variety of events and programs for all ages, including events such as an Arm-of-the-Sea Theater performance. The museum states that it is dedicated to engaging and serving a diverse audience of families from all socio-economic and ethnic backgrounds and of all abilities and needs through special admission and membership programs. It works with school districts to serve as an educational resource for the region that engages, educates, and connects students, teachers, and families. The museum is a member of the American Alliance of Museums (AAM), the Association of Children’s Museums (ACM), the Association of Science-Technology Centers (ASTC), the Museum Association of New York (MANY), and the New York Council of Nonprofits (NYCON).

Last updated May 29, 2026.