At PEM, we want to make it easy for you and your family to connect with art and culture.
Our Dotty Brown Art & Nature Center has a variety of hands-on activities, discovery drawers, games and computer stations. Whatever you choose to do while you’re here — listen to a story during PEM Pals, make a drawing or check out The Pod — we want your visit to be relaxing and enjoyable.
Family Amenities
- Youth 16 and under are free
- The Dotty Brown Art & Nature Center and The Pod, located on the ground level, are easily accessible for strollers.
- The Atrium Café offers several delicious child-friendly food options.
- The coatroom is just inside the museum entrance. A limited number of strollers are available for use.
- Key-operated storage lockers are available in the museum for small bags and personal items.
- Baby-changing stations are located in most restrooms on the ground level.
- A room for nursing parents is located in the Art & Nature Center.
PEM is Certified Sensory Inclusive™
The Peabody Essex Museum partners with KultureCity to promote an accessible and positive experience for visitors with diverse sensory needs. Sensory sensitivities or challenges with sensory regulation are experienced by 1 in 6 individuals, including people with autism, dementia, PTSD and other conditions.
The annual KultureCity certification process ensures that PEM staff members are trained on how to recognize and best serve guests with sensory needs, including how to appropriately and safely handle a sensory overload situation. A limited number of sensory bags, equipped with noise canceling headphones, fidget tools and verbal cue cards, are available at the coatroom for any visitors who may feel overwhelmed by the museum environment. Prior to your visit, adults and children can download the free KultureCity app to view the available sensory features and how to access them.
Family-friendly events
Drop-In Art Activity
Wooden Tiger Painting
1–3 pm Saturdays + Sundays and holiday Mondays in May
PEM Pals
Bee-bim Bop!
Friday, May 2, 2025 from 10:30–11:30 am
Drop-In Art Activity
Dream Theatre Boxes
Fridays in May | 3–4:30 pm
In-person event
SEE ME: Salem Public Schools Student Art Installation
Thursday, May 22–Monday, May 26, 2025 from 10 am–5 pm