A walk around the block becomes a trip around the world in the new World Brooklyn exhibit, because Brooklyn is home to everyone from everywhere!
At the heart of World Brooklyn is a vibrant cityscape—shrunk to a child's scale—lined by a series of kid-sized shops.
In the Stationery Store, you can join in Chinese New Year festivities, build a lantern from hong-bao (red envelopes exchanged during the holiday), step inside a traditional lion costume to make it leap and dance, or try your hand at Chinese calligraphy.
Next door, in the Mexican Bakery, you can run a giant mixer, weigh ingredients, shape your own pretend “dough,” or celebrate the traditional Dia de los Muertos (Day of the Dead) holiday.
Stroll down the pint-sized street and stop in at the International Grocery, stocked with products from around the world, including cans of ghee from India, ackee from Jamaica, and candy from Turkey and Poland. Grab you shopping cart and pick up shopping lists for a special meal, such as a kosher Shabbat or a Kwanzaa celebration—or play cashier and ring up your friend's groceries.
In the West African Import Store, you can "shop" for African health and beauty products, groceries, instruments, jewelry, dolls, textiles, masks, and furniture. Create your own adinkra cloth patterns with magnetic stamps, construct slat chairs and pegged stools in the store’s workshop, or try your hand at drumming.
"Fly" over the Caribbean in the Travel Agency or visit a Mas Camp—short for “masquerade”—where you can decorate your own Carnival costumes or try on an elaborate parrot costume worn in a parade.
Make play pizza and serve up spumoni at the Italian Restaurant, or tune up the Vespa scooter parked nearby.
In the Global Beats Theater, you can sell play tickets, applaud from the audience, or perform on stage. Life-size video projections of local performance troupes invite children to dance along to traditional Russian ballet, Irish step dance, Arab debkah, Bangladeshi folk dances, and more.