Halloween and Day of the Dead Virtual Events from The Museum of National History | NYC

@AMNH Online Costume Contest: Starting today , the Museum is asking those on social media to share a picture of their Halloween costumes (all ages and pets welcome) and tag @amnh on Instagram and Twitter , for a chance to win four tickets to the Museum, with entry to special exhibitions T. rex: The Ultimate Predator and The Nature of Color . Costumes will be judged on originality, detail, creative use of materials, and (most importantly) theme, with a special focus on the best natural history-inspired costumes! Submit a photo by Saturday, October 31, at 7 pm ET. Learn more about the costume contest here.

October 22
2 p.m. ET
Watch Party: Spooky Critters! : Viewers can get into the Halloween spirit by meeting scorpions, spiders, roaches, and other creepy crawlies. During the watch party of this pre-recorded video, entomologist Lou Sorkin will share fun facts about arthropods. Viewers can join the Watch Party here.

October 27
2 p.m. ET
Watch Party: In The Field with Bat Researchers : Spooky season continues with a watch party of a pre-recorded video with Museum Curator Nancy Simmons and Research Associate Angelo Soto-Centeno, who will discuss their work studying bat evolution and bat ecology, including field expeditions to Belize and Cuba. Viewers will find out what it takes to study bats in the wild and at the Museum, using scientific collections that include fossil and living species. Viewers can join the Watch Party here.

October 29
2 p.m. ET
The Scientist is In: Fossil Skeletons : Join paleontologist John Flynn, Frick Curator of Fossil Mammals in the Museum’s Division of Paleontology, to explore some of the most compelling mammal fossils in the Museum's collection in this family-friendly program. Find out about the management of fossil skeleton specimens, fieldwork and discovery of new species, the evolution of mammals and Mesozoic vertebrates, methods for geological dating, plate tectonics and biogeography in this family-friendly program. A link to join the live program will be provided in advance here .

November 1
12 p.m. ET (English)
1 p.m. (Spanish)
The Scientist is In: Day of the Dead Special Edition: Join Mexican archaeologist Veronica Perez and Director of the Museum’s Center for Biodiversity and Conservation Ana Porzecanski for this online family-friendly Day of the Dead celebration. Find out about this special Mexican holiday when we honor those who have left the Earth and the extinct animal species, such as the monk seal, golden toad, and the O'ahu Akiaola, that the Museum commemorates on this special occasion. A link to join the live program will be provided in advance here .

The American Museum of Natural History is open to onsite visitors, with advance ticket reservations available on amnh.org or through the Museum’s Explorer app . Additional digital programming and resources are also available to the public, educators, and learners from K-12, with amnh.org/explore serving as a hub for regularly updated content. Audiences can also stay connected with the Museum on Facebook at facebook.com/naturalhistory , on Instagram at @AMNH , on Twitter @AMNH,and on Tumblr at amnhnyc .

Friday, October 23
8 p.m. ET

Family Friendly Halloween Trivia!
We're celebrating this Halloween in style! How you ask? By testing your knowledge of everything spooky and scary, creepy and crawly, fun and festive! Come test your skills in this family friendly (teams encouraged) game of skill, wit and plenty of laughs. Register yourself or play as a team, all are welcome. After you register you will receive an emailed invitation to join a Zoom chat. The entire game can be played online via Zoom. All you need is a computer and a piece of paper.

Thursday October 29
4:00 - 5:00  p.m. ET
Free HALLOWEEN Cook-Along for Kids

Kids can make Peanut Butter & Jelly Spiders alongside Banana Ghosts and Pumpkin Tangerines! Costumes encouraged, and caregivers can cook along. A Culinary Educator welcomes those ages 4-8. Recipes will be provided in advance via email, so that ingredients can be gathered for an hour full of fun, creativity, and of course, creepy thrills!

Friday, October 30
10 p.m. ET
Family Friendly Halloween Trivia!
We're celebrating this Halloween in style! How you ask? By testing your knowledge of everything spooky and scary, creepy and crawly, fun and festive! Come test your skills in this family friendly (teams encouraged) game of skill, wit and plenty of laughs. Register yourself or play as a team, all are welcome. After you register you will receive an emailed invitation to join a Zoom chat. The entire game can be played online via Zoom. All you need is a computer and a piece of paper.

Saturday, October 31
6:00 - 7:00 p.m. ET
Halloween with R.L. Stine

You are invited to a hair-raising Halloween Party! R.L. Stine, Scholastic and the Novel Neighbor are teaming up to bring you a socially distant way to celebrate.

Get ready for a party that’s jam-packed with fun activities:

• A reading of a never-before-heard scary story by R.L. Stine
• Q&A – Ask R.L. Stine a question!
• Goosebumps trivia game
• Spine-tingling facts about the series

This event will be streamed on Saturday, October 31 at 6pm Central/7pm ET to the Novel Neighbor’s YouTube and Facebook pages.

Mark Your Calendars for Closer-Than-You-Think November!

Voting is now open for the 13th Annual Children's & Teen Choice Book Awards!

Kids and teens across the country are invited to vote for their favorite books in four different categories:

Thursday, October 22
Rossini’s La Cenerentola
Starring Cecilia Bartoli, Ramón Vargas, Simone Alaimo, and Alessandro Corbelli, conducted by James Levine. From October 27, 1997.

Friday, October 23
Verdi’s Falstaff
Starring Mirella Freni, Barbara Bonney, Marilyn Horne, Bruno Pola, and Paul Plishka, conducted by James Levine. From October 10, 1992.

Saturday, October 24
Rossini’s Le Comte Ory
Starring Diana Damrau, Joyce DiDonato, Susanne Resmark, Juan Diego Flórez, Stéphane Degout, and Michele Pertusi, conducted by Maurizio Benini. From April 9, 2011.

Sunday, October 25
Strauss’s Der Rosenkavalier
Starring Renée Fleming, Elīna Garanča, Erin Morley, Matthew Polenzani, Marcus Brück, and Günther Groissböck, conducted by Sebastian Weigle. From May 13, 2017.

Monday, October 26
Verdi’s Don Carlo
Starring Renata Scotto, Tatiana Troyanos, Vasile Moldoveanu, Sherrill Milnes, and Paul Plishka, conducted by James Levine. From February 21, 1980.

Tuesday, October 27
Handel’s Agrippina
Starring Brenda Rae, Joyce DiDonato, Kate Lindsey, Iestyn Davies, Duncan Rock, and Matthew Rose. From February 29, 2020.

Wednesday, October 28
Verdi’s Simon Boccanegra
Starring Adrianne Pieczonka, Marcello Giordani, Plácido Domingo, and James Morris. From February 6, 2010.

Thursday, October 29
John Adams’s Nixon in China
Starring Kathleen Kim, Janis Kelly, Robert Brubaker, Russell Braun, James Maddalena, and Richard Paul Fink, conducted by John Adams. From February 12, 2011.

Friday, October 30
Mussorgsky’s Boris Godunov
Starring Ekaterina Semenchuk, Aleksandrs Antonenko, Oleg Balashov, Evgeny Nikitin, René Pape, Mikhail Petrenko, and Vladimir Ognovenko, conducted by Valery Gergiev. From October 23, 2010.

Saturday, October 31
John Corigliano’s The Ghosts of Versailles
Starring Teresa Stratas, Håkan Hagegård, Gino Quilico, Graham Clark, Marilyn Horne, and Renée Fleming, conducted by James Levine. From January 10, 1992.

Sunday, November 1
Philip Glass’s Satyagraha
Starring Rachelle Durkin, Richard Croft, Kim Josephson, and Alfred Walker, conducted by Dante Anzolini. From November 19, 2011.