Family Fun Coming Up This Week in the NYC Metro Area

This week we want to cover all free activities for children from pre-school and younger to the young elementary age set and their families!

Family Fun Coming Up This Week in the NYC Metro Area

Coming up this week from October 18th to October 24th you’ll find these free activities for children and their families in the NYC metro area.

Create Ability: Art in 3-D: Sculpture – MoMA
Date: October 18, 2015
Hours: 11am-1pm
Cost: Free
Ages: Young elementary, Tween, Teen
Address: 11 W. 53rd St. Midtown, NY 10019
Phone: 212-408-6347
Website: moma.org
Description: A program for individuals with learning and developmental disabilities and their families. Each month participants focus on a different theme, exploring various artworks in the galleries and creating artworks in the classroom.
For ages 5-17. There is a workshop for those 18 and older at 2pm.
Space is limited and preregistration is required. For more information or to register, please call Access Programs or e-mail accessprograms@moma.org.

PJ Library Storytime @ JCC Manhattan – JCC Manhattan
Date: October 23, 2015
Hours: 12-12:25pm
Cost: Free
Ages: Pre-school & younger
Address: 334 Amsterdam Ave. Upper West Side, NY 10023
Phone: 646-505-5708
Website: jccmanhattan.org
Description: Celebrate Jewish holidays and traditions in a monthly storytime featuring the PJ Library’s rich selection of books, stories, and songs for children.

Family Fridays – The National Museum of Mathematics
Date: October 23, 2015
Hours: 6:30-8pm
Cost: Free
Ages: Young elementary, Tween, Teen, Adult
Address: 11 E. 26th St. Murray Hill , NY 10010
Phone: 212-542-0566
Website: momath.org
Description: Over two thousand years ago, the Pythagoreans discovered relationships between the shapes of vibration of simple strings and the combinations of sound that please our ears and brains. Since then, mathematicians and scientists have learned a great deal about how sizes, shapes, and nonlinear dynamics of instruments determine their special sounds. Indeed, modern makers use math(!) as they design and build new instruments. Join Dr. Bruce Bayly, a singer and violinist as well as a mathematician, as he demonstrates the math behind the music.
Family Fridays are designed to bring families together to enjoy a diverse array of engaging mathematical activities, promoting interest and enthusiasm among kids and adults alike. The activities are designed so that all attendees, regardless of age, can participate on an equal footing. This program is free to attendees as part of Time Warner Cable’s Connect a Million Minds campaign, so that these enriching experiences will be accessible to as broad an audience as possible. Pre-registration required. Ages 7 and older.

Trick or Treat – Le Carrousel in Bryant Park
Date: October 24, 2015
Hours: 1pm
Cost: Free
Ages: Pre-school & younger, Young elementary, Tween
Address: 40th Street between Fifth and Sixth Avenues Bryant Park, NY 10018
Phone: 212-768-4242
Website: bryantpark.org
Description: A Halloween party with tricks, treats, music and magic. Justin The Magician will bring magic to Le Carousel, and Erin Lee and the Up Past Bedtime Band will perform spooky songs featuring werewolves and monsters in the bubble-bath. Come in costume. They’ll be face-painting, pumpkin-decorating, trick-or-treating, and a costume parade too. Don’t forget to have a ride on the carousel too (tickets required). Rain date: October Sunday, 25 1pm – 2pm

Yippee Skippy Puppet Theater Presents Fractured Fables – Bank Street Bookstore
Date: March 01, 2015 through November 29, 2015
Hours: Every Saturday and Sunday at 1pm
Cost: Free
Ages: Pre-school & younger, Young elementary
Address: 2780 Broadway Upper West Side, NY 10025
Phone: 212-678-1654
Website: bankstreetbooks.com
Description: An improvisational, audience-participation, puppet show with live music, where you choose which classic tales are retold with a twist of comedy. Each show is unique and sometimes features special guests. For ages 3-8.

Wednesdays in Teardrop Park – Teardrop Park
Date: May 06, 2015 through October 28, 2015
Hours: Wednesdays; 3:30-5:30pm
Cost: Free
Ages: Young elementary, Tween, Teen, Adult
Address: Park Place West Battery Park City, NY 10282
Phone: 212-267-9700
Website: bpcparks.org
Description: Come down to Teardrop park for fun-filled afternoons of art projects and games for ages 5 and older.
Each week children can enjoy a different art project; drawing, sculpting, and creating group projects such as murals. The art portion of the afternoon will be led by the Battery Park City Parks Conservancy’s Artist/Educators. BPCPC’s Parks Programming Leaders (specially trained Play Leaders) plan games based on their understanding of the various stages of child development, and teach games that encourage a sense of community through cooperative play. Participating children are always welcomed to suggest games. Parks Programming Leaders are prepared to help get games started with perennial favorites such as red light green light, Mr. Fox, asteroids, Wiffle Ball and four square.
All art materials and play supplies are provided.

Children’s Basketball (ages 5-6) – Nelson A. Rockefeller Park
Date: July 20, 2015 through October 26, 2015
Hours: Mondays through Oct. 26 (excluding Sep 7. and Oct. 12); 3:30-4:30pm
Cost: Free
Ages: Young elementary
Address: River Terrace and Warren Street Battery Park City, NY 10282
Phone: 212-267-9700
Website: bcpparks.org
Description: A basketball program just for kids. Adjustable hoops are used to accommodate all ages and fun is emphasized over competition. Led by Parks Programming leaders, children do drills and play games to improve their skills. Closed toed shoes required. Ages 5-6.

Preschool Play – Wagner Park
Date: August 03, 2015 through October 26, 2015
Hours: Monday-Wednesday, 10am-12pm
Cost: Free
Ages: BAB, Pre-school & younger
Address: Wagner Park Battery Park City, NY 10282
Phone: 212-267-9700
Website: bpcparks.org
Description: Interactive play on the grass for toddlers, with imaginative toys. Led by Parks Programming Play Leaders, caregivers are coached on providing children with imaginative play opportunities. Come and play with puppets, toy animals, blocks, wooden vehicles, dress up costumes, and more. A story is read aloud to the group at the end of the program. Ages 0-5

Soccer for Elementary Schoolers (ages 5-11) – Nelson A. Rockefeller Park
Date: August 04, 2015 through October 27, 2015
Hours: Tuesdays through Oct. 27, 3:30-4:15pm (ages 5-7); 4:30-5:30pm (ages 8-11)
Cost: Free
Ages: Young elementary, Tween
Address: River Terrace and Warren Street Battery Park City, NY 10282
Phone: 212-267-9700
Website: bcpparks.org
Description: Come and learn the fundamentals of soccer. With an emphasis on fun, coaches implement drills focused on passing, shooting, and footwork and getting to know the basics of the game. Each session ends with a scrimmage, allowing the kids to practice what they have learned, get some exercise, and have some fun in the fresh air. All the equipment is provided. Closed toed shoes are required. 3:30pm for ages 5-7, 4:30pm for ages 8-11.

Birding Basics for Families – Charles A. Dana Discovery Center
Date: September 27, 2015 through October 25, 2015
Hours: Sundays, 10am
Cost: Free
Ages: Young elementary, Tween, Teen, Adult
Address: Inside Central Park at 110th Street, between Fifth and Lenox Avenues
Central Park North, NY 10023
Phone: 212-860-1370
Website: centralparknyc.org
Description: Experience Central Park when it becomes a precious bird habitat and migration hot spot. Bring your family on a guided walk led by Conservancy Discovery Guides and NYC Audubon Society. Learn how to spot our feathered residents that make Central Park their home, and their foreign cousins as they pass through Central Park during their annual migration. Witness firsthand how the Conservancy’s work has made the Park a sanctuary for these birds. Binoculars can be borrowed from the Dana Discovery Center.
Families only, maximum of three children per parent or guardian; no groups. Ages 5 and older. Pre-registration is requested as space is limited, see website for details. Terrain: Uneven, with hills, stairs, and wood-chipped trails and may not be suitable for strollers.
Birding Basics for Families is weather permitting. Please check our website for any changes or call 212-860-1370 for more information.

Alice Live! – New York Public Library for the Performing Arts
Date: October 02, 2015 through January 16, 2016
Hours: Mondays and Thursdays, 12-8pm; Tuesday-Wednesday and Friday-Saturday, 12-6pm
Cost: Free
Ages: Young elementary, Tween, Teen, Adult
Address: 40 Lincoln Center Plaza Upper West Side, NY 10023
Phone: 917-275-6975
Website: nypl.org
Description: To commemorate the 150th anniversary of the publication of Alice’s Adventure’s in Wonderland this multimedia exhibition will trace the history of Lewis Carroll’s beloved Alice stories in live performance from their first professional staging to the present day.
Alice Live! will begin with an examination of Lewis Carroll’s own enthusiasm for entertaining and theatergoing and document the first professional stage production of Alice in London in 1886. Early productions will be illustrated with playbills, advertisements, and photographs, and New York productions will feature prominently in the exhibition. Posters, photos, audio, and video from Alice productions through the years will show developments in costumes, composing, scenic design, acting style, and even theatrical marketing. Alice Live! will cover not just theatre but ballet, opera, music, and even versions of the stories performed on ice and underwater. The exhibit will also include special elements just for children and younger visitors.

How’d They Do That? Materials and Process – The Museum of Modern Art
Date: October 03, 2015 through October 31, 2015
Hours: Oct. 3, 4, 10, 11, 17, 18, 24, 25, 31; 10:20–11:30 a.m.
Cost: Free
Ages: Pre-school & younger, Young elementary, Tween, Adult
Address: 4 West 54th St. Midtown, NY 10019
Phone: 212-708-9805
Website: moma.org/family
Description: For this A Closer Look for Kids, engage in lively discussions and fun activities while looking closely at modern masterpieces and cutting-edge contemporary art. For kids ages five to ten and their adult companions. Tickets are distributed at the Education and Research Building reception desk starting at 10am. First come, first serve.