5 Best Family-Friendly Activities In NYC For Spring 2015
Spring is here—at last! Celebrate by taking your favorite wee ones to one of our picks for the best family-friendly activities this season. Unsurprisingly, the majority take place outside. Enjoy! By Jessica Allen.
The Children's Carnival at the Queens County Farm features hayrides, midway games and prizes, entertainment, and carnival rides, all taking place inside an apple orchard. The farm dates back to 1697, and is the city's largest remaining tract of farmland. If you can't make the two carnival weekends, consider the Spring Sheep Shearing in May, or just go over and roam around whenever you can. Saturday, April 11, Sunday, April 12, Saturday, April 18, and Sunday, April 19, from 11 am to 6 pm, $12, tickets required.
Sakura Matsuri, aka the Cherry Blossom Festival, is perfect for kids for two reasons: first, the blossoms are beautiful, and this year's celebratory activities include tea ceremonies, drumming, kabuki dance, bonsai workshops, and samurai sword fighting. Second, the blossoms are fleeting, providing a great opportunity to teach the youth in your life about the importance of enjoying something while it lasts, an antidote to our culture's want-it-all-right-now attitude. Saturday, April 25, and Sunday, April 26, $25, tickets required.
Calling all birders! At the second annual Bronx Zoo Birdathon, newbies and pros alike can spot the various species of bird who call the 265 acres home or who are just passing through as part of the spring migration. (Expect to spot ducks [that's a mandarin duck at right], thrushes, warblers, wading birds, woodpeckers, and several others.) There will be prizes. In addition, Professor Flight will be on hand to answer questions, and you'll be able to stroll around a live bird display in Astor Court. Saturday, May 9, 7 am to 12:30 pm, $30, tickets required.
While New York has tons of green space, it doesn't have too many orchards. But popping a just-picked piece of fruit into your mouth has got to be one of life's greatest joys. Teach your little ones about the joys of healthy (and yummy) eating by heading to Terhune Orchards. Beginning in May, the farm overflows with pickable goodness, including strawberries, cherries, blackberries, apples, and pumpkins. Check the schedule for details, and the calendar for upcoming events, such as a combo storytime-and-asparagus-picking event. Late May, call for details.
The self-proclaimed "biggest block party in New York," the Museum Mile Festival is an awesome extravaganza of culture and fun. For one night in June, nine museums along Fifth Avenue throw open their doors to all who care to enter for FREE. As if that weren't enough, the mile-long festival includes live music, clowns, chalk drawing and other art activities, and tons of pedestrian-friendly strolling (no cars!). Tuesday, June 9, 6 to 9 pm, free, rain or shine.