Jonathan G.
Yelp
The Children's Museum of the East End was a huge and important addition to Bridgehampton. There was nothing like this anywhere around before and the Hamptons has been full of kids for all of eternity. Finally, when summers were not the only thought, a place showed up directed at children that would be open year-round to enjoy.
This kid museum is well designed inside and out and is an amazing rainy day or hot day option. Everything they have here is pretty much hands-on, meaning your kids can touch and mess with everything in sight which makes life a lot easier when you don't have to interrupt every potential play minute with "don't touch that" or "that is not to play with." The focus on fun, coupled with education and mind-exercising exhibits is excellent here.
The drawback here is that it is much like a one-trick pony. Once you have been here, you don't really need to come back. Depending on the age of your kids, you can get a few visits in, but as your kids get older they are very used to what initially seemed amazing: the fishing pole game, the fire truck, the art room, the game challenge room, the potato chip maker, the fake ice cream parlor. All of those things listed are fun and extremely well-done, but there is not very much in the way of revolving activities and exhibits here.
We come here maybe once or twice a year now and that is enough to keep it fresh. There is a lot of parking and a short walk up to the museum. There is an area to hang your jackets in the winter and the staff is always helpful. The importance of this addition to the child culture of the Hamptons can't be stressed enough, but it would benefit from a little more programming if there were more space to do so.
