Manhattan might be an adult’s paradise, however, there are plenty of places to bring the kiddo-s. Here are just a few spots you can check out this weekend with the little ones in tow.
10. Children’s Museum of Manhattan
This one’s perfect for the little ones: Many of this museum’s exhibits are perfect for children ages six and under, including a new Dora the Explorer play area. With five floors of exciting exhibits, there’s plenty of fun for older kids, too, including the interactive “EatSleepPlay” exhibit. 212 W 83rd St between Amsterdam Ave and Broadway (212-721-1223, cmom.org)
9. Central Park
Let’s be honest, every kid, city kids included love to play in parks, and what better park then the big one! Central Park has plenty of kid-friendly attractions,which include an ice-skating rink/amusement park, Swedish Cottage Marionette Theatre,the Egyptian-themed playground, the carousel, and plenty of workshops. What the park’s zoo lacks in giraffes and zebras it makes up with the colorful birds and frogs in the rain-forest exhibit, the endlessly fascinating penguins and a separate petting zoo (see Tisch Children’s Zoo).. Between Fifth Ave and Central Park West from 59th St to 110th St (212-310-6600,centralparknyc.org)
8. Brooklyn Bridge Park
Brooklyn Bridge Park is very different from Central park. The Pier 6 Playground has wonderfully landscaped play spaces, which include the Water Lab, a stone-strewn area with water underfoot to splash in, and Sand Village, a humongous sandbox with a molecular-looking climbing structure flanked by two long metal slides.WIth clean bathrooms, spots for fishing a food court,and the newly-opened mutli-purpose sports fields at Pier 5, this park is perfection. From Jay St and John St to Atlantic Ave and Furman St, Brooklyn (718-222-9939, brooklynbridgepark.org)
7. Brooklyn Public Library, Central Branch
One of the most exciting children’s rooms in New York is at Central Library—the institution at Grand Army Plaza that was built to look like an open book. The kids’ area on the ground floor has weekday visits for local schools. It also has a very cozy & carpeted room for story times. This place is high tech with a dedicated, kids-only loft with computers, 10 Grand Army Plaza, Prospect Heights, Brooklyn (718-230-2100,brooklynpubliclibrary.org).
6. Brooklyn Museum
The beaux-arts building adjacent to the Brooklyn Botanical Garden has art that will engage New Yorkers of all ages. The past several seasons have seen such kid-friendly exhibitions as “Murakami,” “Keith Haring: 1978-1982,” “Jean-Michel Othoniel: My Way” and now “Gravity and Grace: Monumental Works by El Anatsui” grace its walls. T200 Eastern Pkwy at Washington Ave, Prospect Heights, Brooklyn (718-638-5000, brooklynmuseum.org)
4. Brooklyn Children’s Museum
Upon its founding in 1899, the BCM was the first museum specifically made for children. Today it’s one of the best, with a permanent collection that includes musical instruments, masks, dolls and fossils, and a green building design. Kids have fun learning at interactive exhibits like “World Brooklyn,” 145 Brooklyn Ave at St. Marks Ave (718-735-4400, brooklynkids.org)
3. Brooklyn Bridge
No bridges can compare with the double arches of the Brooklyn Bridge. On a sunny day, the walkway is the perfect span for a stroll, roughly 1 mile of views of the Statue of Liberty, the Manhattan skyline and Ellis Island. If you start on the Manhattan side, you wind up in Dumbo’s Brooklyn Bridge Park; start in Brooklyn and you can finish the day exploring the goodies at J&R Junior. Enter at Cadman Plaza East near Prospect St, Dumbo, Brooklyn or at Centre
St just south of Chambers St in Manhattan (nyc.gov)
2. Brooklyn Botanic Garden
Wooded trails, rose gardens and a Japanese hill-and-pond garden are far more garden-worthy than any other to date. And if nature alone doesn’t do it. the BBG also puts on some of the most colorful (fests in the city, from the Sakura Matsuri celebration to fall’s Chile Pepper Fiesta and Ghouls & Gourds festival. P900 Washington Ave at Classon Ave (718-623-7200)
1. Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM)
The BAMfamily program launched earlier this year. Many of the programs will take place at BAM Fisher, the first new performance spot added to the campus since 1987. Multiple venues in Fort Greene, Brooklyn (718-636-4100, bam.org)
from Mark Cohen’s Lifestyle Website http://ift.tt/1yQUSgE
Mark Cohen NYC 