It is not often that the first lady of the United States makes a visit to New York City, let alone to the Bronx.

But that is exactly what Dr. Jill Biden did on Wednesday when she toured the Bronx Children's Museum with Bronx native and Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor.

What You Need To Know

  • First Lady Dr. Jill Biden took at tour of the Bronx Children's Museum on Wednesday along with Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor, a Bronx native

  • The tour comes just months after the museum secured a permanent home in the South Bronx

  • The museum is open three days of the week on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday, and initial admission is free

  • The museum features art installations, classrooms, a performance space and interactive exhibits

The tour started with a group of second graders singing an original song about healthy eating and mental health complete with choreography and some splits.

"For those young people who performed today, I think they are going to remember this for the rest of their lives. They're going to say, 'I got to not only perform for the first lady, but I met her.' I think things like this are important for young people to see and understand the whole process," Althea Stevens, a City Councilmember who represents the Bronx, said.

Local celebrity Sonia Manzano, who played “Maria” on Sesame Street, was also in attendance. She attended the same school as the students who performed.

The Bronx Children's Museum was originally founded in 2005, but has not had a permanent home since last December.

The museum serves thousands of children every year with a focus on children from infancy to fourth grade.

As part of the tour, Biden was shown a variety of exhibits including the Waterways exhibit, which teaches kids about local bodies of water and allows them to interact with a running stream.

She also toured The Block and Casita exhibit, a local meeting space where children can pretend to have a picnic, barbecue food and grow vegetables in a community garden.

The museum aims to encourage learning, curiosity and imagination.

"Every child should be able to dream big, to explore, to look at the intersection of culture in education. So to get that recognition from our first lady, Dr. Jill Biden, who is an educator. She is a teacher. She understands the value of education and culture together,” Bronx Borough President Vanessa Gibson said.

The Bronx Children's Museum also includes classroom spaces, a performance area and fine art installations, as well as after school programming.

The museum is open three days of the week on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday. Initial admission is free.