The Temple of Dendur will be closed on Tuesday, June 9 and Thursday, June 11.

Plan your visit
Tickets
English
DonateMembership
Tickets
A chalk-line illustration of an art detective points her magnifying glass at a microscope; hands reach towards the microscope while a crew of bugs and a fingerprint ghost look on

MetKids Microscope

See the science behind the art (and the art behind the science!) at The Met.

About

MetKids Microscope is a show about the science behind the art (and the art behind the science!) at The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Learn true stories about real discoveries from scientists at the Museum, and do some experiments on your own!

Sign up for Family Programs newsletters to get updates on activities, events, and content you can share with your kids.

View previous seasons

Episodes

A sparkling, silver suit of armor with a box of onlookers in the background.
Video
How Did Armor Protect Knights?
What makes a helmet so strong and durable? Learn the tricks of the trade behind knights’ shining armor.
June 5
A knight made of tin foil battles a dragon drawing on a blue background with the word "create."
Video
How to Design Your Own Armor
Design and create a suit of armor using household materials.
June 5
A person stares into a chemical flask filled with a green liquid and three angry monsters.
Video
Poisonous Colors in Art
Beauty is pain? Meet the scientist who invented a green pigment that turned out to be deadly.
June 5
A tie-dye colored monster with drawn-on features on a green background with the word "create."
Video
How to Make a Color Monster
See where color comes from, then make like Dr. Frankenstein and create a color monster!
June 5
Illustration of screaming mandrake on a dark background with flowers.
Video
Are Magic Plants Real?
Some medieval people believed plants had magical properties. Is there a seed of truth hidden in these legends?
June 5
A page of pressed flowers and a drawing of medieval botanists examining plants on an orange background with the word "create."
Video
How to Make a Magic Garden
Travel back in time to invent your own magical plants and herbs.
June 5
Illustration of a horse trotting on a black-and-white screen in a cinema
Video
Was this the First Motion Picture?
Let’s roll back the tape to learn the history of the earliest moving images.
June 5
Colorful Post-It notes drawn with flora and fauna on a gray background with the word "create."
Video
How to Make a Flipbook
Become a film director and create your own mini motion picture.
June 5
A spotlit, blue-green beetle poses on a carpet.
Video
Art and Fashion Made from Bugs
Learn how artists were inspired by jewel beetles and the unexpected places we can find them at The Met.
June 5
A magnifying glass and drawings of flora and fauna surround the word "create" on a red background.
Video
How to Make Rainbow Art
Create iridescence at home using nail polish.
June 5

About Season 3

Screeching plants, deadly colors, and clothing made with bugs! Learn about the fascinating and downright bizarre stuff behind artworks at The Met—then experiment on your own.

Credits

Director/Writer/Producer: Emma Vecchione
Producer: Rachel Smith
Head of Marketing and Digital Content: Gretchen Scott
Senior Content Strategist: Joan Thompson
Senior Manager of Media Production: Skyla Choi

Animation Director: Lisa LaBracio
Character Designer: Mia Incantalupo
2D Animator and Illustrator: Luca Mancuso
Illustrator: Tara Sunil Thomas
Animator and thumbnail designer: Arnesh Kundu
Additional drawings: Neve N. Tabet, Rosario S.
Compositer: Lisa LaBracio

Narrator: Rachel Smith
Episode consultants: Carly Still, Julia Perratore, Christina Westpheling, Marina Ruiz Molina, Ted Hunter, Tess Hamilton, Jonathan Farbowitz, Lydia Aikenhead, Yana van Dyke
Education consultants: Zev Slurzberg, Jaime Song, Chelsea Kelly, Christina Westpheling

Composer: Austin Fisher
Sound recordists: Casey Schreiner, Rick Theroux, Heidi Hussa, Christa Majoras
Sound mixer: Dave Raymond

Rights and Permissions: Julie Zeftel, Laura Barth
Fact checker: Maura Fox

Special thanks: Inka Drogemüller, Jane Parisi, Mary Helen Josephine, Karen Vidangos, Micah Pegues, Tina James, Jonathan Lee, Mayra Menjivar Gonzalez, Marco Leona, Carolyn Riccardelli, Anna Serotta, Glenn Petersen, Jeff Rosenheim, Lauren Rosati, Shirin Fozi, Mellissa Huber, Navina Haider, Maryam Ekhtiar, Elizabeth Zanis, Diane Lake, John Guy, Kate Swanson, Brandy Bajalia, Heather Riedy

MetKids is supported by

Logo for Bloomberg Philanthropies with the tagline "Driving Digital Innovation in Arts & Culture"

More Series from The Met

A vibrant painting features two figures with stylized faces in a cityscape, surrounded by colorful buildings, with an overlay of text that reads 'HARLEM IS EVERYWHERE.'
Harlem Is Everywhere
A podcast about the art and legacy of the Harlem Renaissance.
A black-and-white still from the 1928 film Behind the Scenes: The Working Side of the Museum, which depicts the superimposed image of an old-fashioned time-card machine over the face of a wall clock
From The Vaults
Audiovisual materials from the Museum’s extensive archive.
Grid of nine black and white photographic portraits of artists
The Artist Project
What artists see when they look at The Met.