A: Is for the end of Museum madness

To end the month and to incite every New Yorker to explore their own backyards, I'm highlighting 3 lesser known museums. The most well known is Smithsonian’s Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum. Located at 91st street and 5th Ave. Seeking out innovative work from the fields of architecture, furniture, film, graphics, new technologies, animation, science, medicine and fashion "Design Life Now" celebrates emerging ideas. The National Design Triennial is an ongoing exhibition inaugurated in 2000. While viewing these innovative creations until July 29 take a flight of creative fancy. Made to Scale: Staircase Masterpieces
is on view till June 3.

For over 30 years, the Children’s Museum of Manhattan has inspired children. Guided through 5 floors of art, literature, media, science and communications, children learn about the diversity of the world we live while learning about themselves. Settled in at the Tisch building located on the Upper West Side at 212 83rd Dr Seuss, The World of Pooh, Snoopy, Mister Rogers, Arthur, Curious George,Peter Rabbit and Max and the Wild things rain supreme. PlayWorks for ages birth – 4 lets you feed alphabet letters to a talking baby dragon, drive a New York City fire truck, paint on a six-foot art wall, make your way through a crawling challenge course, and connect an air tube puzzle. Encourage your child’s natural capacity to learn and see the extraordinary in the ordinary. Brain Games lasts until April 11 and is for 5 and up. Here you can test your creative problem-solving skills in this hands-on exhibition of more than 40 brain challenges! From Dora, to the city of New York this is truly a wonderful Easter present for you and your kids.

Has the city of New York ever just boggled your mind with its rich history. Where does one go to learn besides PBS? I got the surprise of my life when invited to an opening of Trade at the Museum of the City of NY. Furthest up on museum mile (1220 Fifth Avenue) I wander through the ports of New York and discovered their vital role in building the city. Timescapes: A 25-minute multimedia experience, tracing the roots of growth. Narrated by Stanley Tucci, the film features animated maps and archival photographs, prints, and paintings from the Museum’s collections. New York's richest gift to the world has been its gift of Theater. Highlighted until July 8th costume designer Alvin Colt has been clothing the casts of Broadway and off-Broadway productions with flash for more than 52 year. From his 1944 Broadway debut with On the Town to his ongoing work with the Forbidden Broadway revues, Colt has garnered costume credits on some 90 shows--more than any other costume designer--including Guys and Dolls (1950) and Pipe Dream (1956), for which he won a Tony Award. By far this has been one of my favorite places to visit. These have only been 6 museums in a list of over 50 that I hope you have enjoyed reading about. But don't live vicariously through this column take a day and discover one for yourself. I look out at the Hayden Planetarium and the Natural History Museum from my window and I have only discovered their delights once. There is so much in our world to explore. Lets make it a F.A.C.T. to open our eyes and do more.