Youth and Families

The 9/11 Memorial & Museum typically offers a variety of programs for visitors with children. All activities use age-appropriate language to help children learn more about 9/11 and how people responded to the attacks. Because of COVID-19, all onsite programs have been temporarily cancelled. Visit the events calendar for up-to-date program offerings.

A teenage girl and a woman create a name impression at the Memorial by rubbing charcoal over a sheet of paper placed on an inscription. Other families beside them do the same along a bronze parapet inscribed with victims’ names.
Photo by Jin S. Lee
Two girls are engaged in an art activity in a classroom setting while a woman sharing their table looks on attentively.
Photo by Jin S. Lee

Activities at Home

We know parents and caregivers are home with children during the COVID-19 pandemic and are looking for meaningful learning activities to do together. The 9/11 Memorial & Museum is pleased to offer a number of activities that can teach your children about courage, compassion, resilience, and hope.

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Two young girls sit on the floor as they paint a mural about the events of 9/11. They share a paint palette as they brush a colorful picture that features the Pentagon, Twin Towers, trees and hearts.
Photo by Jin S. Lee

Activity Stations: Temporarily Cancelled

Drop-in programs connected to specific artifacts and themes in the Museum. Designed to spark conversations between children and their caregivers, our current activities offer age-appropriate entry-points into the history of the World Trade Center and 9/11 and its aftermath.

Activity stations are available on Saturdays during the school year and during extended school holidays in the Museum’s Education Center.

A man, woman, boy, and girl watch as two Museum employees display artwork at the Art Cart on the Memorial. It’s a warm day and sunshine falls on the trees and buildings in the background.
Photo by Jin. S. Lee

9/11 Memorial Art Cart: Temporarily Cancelled

The 9/11 Memorial Art Cart offers free, self-guided activities on the Memorial to help children discover the stories and symbolism behind the 9/11 Memorial and the rebuilt World Trade Center site.

The 9/11 Memorial Art Cart is made possible in partnership with the New York Life Foundation.

A woman with a backpack holds a young girl with a ponytail as they both look at one of the Memorial’s reflecting pools on a sunny day. Green oak trees and buildings are seen farther afield.
Photo by Jin S. Lee

Talking to Children about 9/11

Terrorist attacks and acts of violence in the United States and around the world evoke strong emotions and prompt understandable questions. Children might be feeling these emotions and considering these questions for the first time. The following tips have been prepared as broad guidelines to help parents and adult caregivers navigate these difficult conversations.

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Teen Ambassador Program

A unique, yearlong learning opportunity that builds leadership skills and offers a behind-the-scenes look into the 9/11 Memorial & Museum.

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A young woman holds a gold-colored squeegee as she speaks to several women at the Museum. She stands beside a destroyed elevator motor from the Twin Towers.

Virtual Field Trips

Take your class on live, interactive tours of the 9/11 Memorial & Museum led by Education staff via Zoom with time for questions throughout.

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A woman wearing a face mask stands in front of the Ladder 3 firetruck in the Memorial Museum. Another woman films the scene with her smartphone.