For the Hamptons parents that know, they know. CMEE is where it’s at for kids. The Children’s Museum of the East End is not really named properly. It should be called “Awesome Kids Place in Bridgehampton”. CMEE is awesome and I just figured that out.
There is an endless amount of things for kids to do in the summertime, but in the wintertime, you’re limited to libraries and a few key Hamptons spots for kids. CMEE is one of those spots and it’s not on everyone’s radar. What’s cool about CMEE is that it’s basically a large indoor playground with cool interactive exhibits that your child can get into in a clean, supervised and structured environment. My daughter was AMPED when we got there. I could tell she was super excited and it was just such a pleasure as a father watching her jumping around on the slides or pushing buttons on the fire truck exhibit.
The museum is large enough to get lost in and is filled with a ton of creative activities and themed rooms. My daughter and I did it all while we were there. After playing in a makeshift ice cream shop and being amazed by an air machine that would shoot plastic balls up high into the air, we went into the reading room and sat down together on a comfortable mat and within a few pages of “Llama Llama Red Pajama” she was out like a light.
CMEE takes Covid precautions very seriously, but it’s not in an annoying way. You register for a time slot online to play in the museum and when you sign up for your slot, a perfectly cleaned museum is ready for you and your kids to basically run around and play in for a few hours until your time slot is up. Once the slot is up, the staff does a full clean and they do it all over again. Masks are worn inside and there are sanitizing stations throughout.
It’s a lot of fun just to run around the museum, but there are some other programs there that you can sign up for and there is a huge outdoor space as well to play in if you dare to venture out into the cold. Some of the classes include Wednesday Dance classes for 45 minutes and on Fridays they offer an art class in the morning.
If you’re local and you have a child, the smartest thing to do is buy an annual membership to the museum, but if you just want to try it out, it’s $19 a person for the day. An annual membership however, which includes free admission for two adults and up to 4 dependent children, is just $200.
If you’re a parent in the Hamptons, you MUST get involved with CMEE. It’s a great organization.
For more info, visit www.cmee.org
