Color Factory NYC is a Must Visit for Children and Adults!
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New York City is home to some of the most famous museums in the world, but it’s one of the less well-known museums that we think you should add to your next New York itinerary.
There are so many fun photo spots throughout the museum!
There are free photo-booths through the museum to capture some really awesome shots!
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Color Factory, NYC is an interactive art museum that celebrates the senses and taps into the joy of colour (no, I am not spelling that wrong, I am Australian)! The museum has over a dozen immersive exhibits aimed to make you engage your various senses, and to bring joy to people of ALL ages.
Did you know there are also Color Factory locations in Houston and Chicago!
Situated in SoHo, it makes for a perfect half a day stop during your next New York City trip. As a note, the museum is constantly changing the theming of each of it’s rooms, and some of these change based on the season! Therefore, the different interiors we experienced may differ to what you will see on your next visit!
TICKETS & PRICING
There are two different ticketing options for Color Factory NYC. The first, and cheaper option will be a timed-entry ticket. Essentially, when you purchase your tickets, you will select a time and this is the time you can enter the museum. The alternative option, which is great if you are wanting to be more flexible with your plans, is an any time ticket. This will cost you a little extra, but will allow you to turn up any time during the museum’s opening hours on the date you have selected!
As of writing this article, the timed tickets generally seemed to be $48 USD, whilst the any time tickets are $69 USD.
We made an entire video of our experience at Color Factory, NYC! You can check out the full video here!
The Experience
When we entered the museum we were already given our first treat of the day, a delicious packet of jelly belly jellybeans! Seems fitting, given jellybeans are colourful and it’s a colour-based museum, right! You will be able to check your coats and bags before being given a bit of an introduction to the museum. The museum is designed such that once you leave one room, you cannot go backwards. So make sure you take your time in each room, as you won’t be able to go back. Throughout the museum there are also opportunities to get some special treats, so it is noted again to just take one, and that obviously once you have touched one, to keep that one.
We were pretty excited and it was only the first photo-booth!
Once you enter, you will be given a QR code to scan and enter your details. All throughout the museum are free photo booths and all you need to do to use them is scan your QR code and the photos will be sent to you at the end of your visit! It is noted to take one QR code per adult, as there are certain areas in the museum where you will have to separately scan your QR code.
Once you’re all set up, it’s time for your second treat of the day - this time it was a macaron. There were 9 different flavours to choose from, and let us tell you, it was actually a really hard decision! When we visited, the flavours on offer were raspberry, passionfruit, lemon, pistachio, coffee, chocolate, vanilla bean, vanilla and blueberry. Once you’ve selected your macaron, make sure you don’t miss the first photo booth!
TIP: If you do have any dietary requirements, the staff will ask you to let them know before you begin the experience. Additionally, each time there is a treat, there will be a place card on the wall with the ingredient list, so if you want to be extra safe you can check for yourself.
Moving into the next room, it was time to test our sense of smell. The walls were lined with colours, each with it’s own scent hole for you to smell. On the walls were hints as to what the smell might be, and then it was up to you to guess! Fortunately, there weren’t really any traditionally bad smells, so it was quite a pleasant experience! As far as we could tell, both scent holes per colour contained the same scent, just at different heights.
So many different smells!
Heading into the next room, Rosh and I were sent through separate doors. When we got inside, it looked a little like a prisoner visitation set-up that you’d see in the movies. We sat opposite each other with a glass panel between us, and were instructed to put on the headphones and listen to the instructions. The objective of this room was to create connection with the person across from you, without verbally communicating. This included noting down which colour you felt best represented them at that time, and even a blind drawing exercise. If you’ve never done something like this, essentially you put your pen on the paper, and then from that point on you only look at the person across from you, as you attempt to draw a portrait of their face. The results were as expected, but we had a lot of fun with it.
Looking for ideas of other things to do in NYC? Check out our full video on what to do in New York City!
As we moved on, it was time for another treat, and this time it was a salt water taffy. It was suggested that you pick the colour that you had chosen for the other person in the previous room. If you want to make sure you get a flavour you like, you can check the ingredient place card on the wall which did list the flavours and the ingredients in each!
The next room was louder than the previous ones, and this time the sense we were engaging was sound. There were a whole bunch of xylophones in the room, each designed in a different colour of course. Each of them played slightly different sounds and while this wasn’t our favourite room, we can imagine this would be a kids dream! What we didn’t mention earlier, is that each room will have a sign on the wall outlining the inspiration behind the room and what it is trying to achieve. While I’m sure kids don’t care too much, as adults, we enjoyed reading these!
The next room was our absolute favourite, and is the room where we spent the most time, despite actually being quite small in size. Now, we mentioned earlier how some of the experiences and rooms may be different when you visit, and this is one that will definitely be different depending on the time of year you visit. This room is themed by season, and as we were there in winter around Christmas time, it was themed that way.
NOTE: As of now (February 2024), this room is themed for Spring, and it looks incredible! You can check it out on the Color Factory website.
We entered this room and were immediately greeted by the falling confetti from the roof. The room was literally raining confetti. Around the room it was themed for Christmas with a whole bunch of decorated Christmas trees. In our opinion, this was the most fun room for photos, and while it’s fun to take some of your own photos, there are actually THREE different camera set ups in this room. Make sure you don’t forget to look up, because the best one is actually on the roof! This one will actually take multiple photos and turn them into a GIF!
We had the best time trying out different photos and making snow angels in the confetti and if our level of enjoyment is anything to go by, you just know that the kids in the room had an absolute blast. We kept saying to each other, this museum is definitely great for kids (or big kids like us) because it is so interactive.
This room is re-themed depending on the season - we visited in December 2023 and it was Christmas themed!
When you leave the room, there’s a little side room for you to try and remove all the confetti from your body (maybe making confetti angels on the ground wasn’t such a good idea after all), before venturing into the next room. This one required you to go on your own path… literally. The floor was covered in a “choose your own adventure” style set up, where the way in which you answer the questions would determine your path through the room. Ultimately, your path would lead you to a door at the end, where you would be assigned the colour that best suits you. Make sure you have your QR code handy, as you will need to scan it before you enter the room.
TIP: If you are visiting in winter, try not to wear too many layers, or hand in as many as you can to coat check. We had thermals on under our jumpers and pants and we definitely got quite hot!
When you exit your room, it’ll be time to grab a pair of headphones hanging on the wall, and get yourself ready for a little bit of a boogie, because it’s silent disco time! While we didn’t spend too long in this room, we did make use of the photo-booth, and this one also generates a GIF so make sure you have a few different poses ready!
Rosh was assigned the colour purple!
Boogie time!
By now you’ve almost definitely worked up a sweat, so it’s time to head to the next room which is a great place to just stand still and take it all in. The walls are painted in such a way that as the light in the room changes, the art on the wall changes. The art depicts some classic New York landscapes, and it was so cool to see how the entire wall would change into a completely new art piece when the lights would change. This one probably isn’t as interesting for kids, but it is definitely one of the more “traditional” pieces of art in the museum and we definitely appreciated it’s beauty.
Are you spending Christmas in NYC? Check out our video to see what it is REALLY like!
Once you’ve walked through and seen all the different variations of the wall art, make your way into the next room. There are some toilets here, as well as a much needed drink tap! This again wasn’t one of our favourites, and felt a little more like a waiting room while others in your group had a toilet break, but it was still cool nonetheless. The wall had two-sided circular blocks that could be flipped either side. One side had a the name of a colour, with there being one for each letter of the alphabet, and the other had a description of the origins of that colour.
The second to last room in the museum housed three big, colourful pie charts, each representing what it is like to live in New York City. The individual colours on each pie chart also each represented different moods, so we believe the idea was to pick the pie chart that you best related to. If that doesn’t interest you too much, they did of course provide excellent photo opportunities, with the cameras again set into the ceiling!
Who knew you could have so much with a birds eye camera!
The final room of the day is arguably the most iconic. While the whole museum is bright and colourful, the last room is all the one colour, and while it may look to be white, it is actually a very pale blue! The blue is inspired by the blue of the sky that peaks through Manhattan’s skyline. The main attraction in this room is the giant ball pit that even has a slide running into it. This room also has some really cool cameras set up on the roof so make sure you don’t miss those! You will also receive your final treat, which is a delicious cup of ice cream, and you will also get to select a little gift as well - I picked stickers, and Rosh picked a funky straw!
We’d suggest tying your hair up!
SO, Is it Just For Kids?
Absolutely not! As long as you’re willing to let your hair down and have a bit of fun, this museum is perfect for all ages. We honestly had so much, and it was such a nice change of pace from some of the other touristy things there are to do in NYC! While not all rooms will be your jam, you’re sure to find plenty you’ll enjoy, and if you’re a sucker for free treats like us, there are plenty of those!
If you want to check it out and book your tickets, head to the Color Factory website!
