5 Fun and Educational Places to Bring Your Kids in New York City
Beyond its abundance of attractions like the Empire State Building and Statue of Liberty, New York City has plenty to offer for people of all ages with wide-ranging interests. Parents with young children can spend weekends relaxing at one of the many area beaches, visiting theme parks, or taking in games at iconic venues like Madison Square Garden or Yankee Stadium.
Parents looking to provide their kids with fun yet educational experiences, however, should visit one of these five venues.
1. The GIANT Room
Perfect for parents looking for an indoor educational experience for their children, the GIANT Room has a wide range of engaging activities. Children from ages 3–12 are encouraged to bring their curiosity about STEAM (science, technology, engineering, art, and math) and their artistic abilities to the GIANT Room, located in the Chelsea borough of New York City.
The GIANT Room is a neighborhood hub where kids and their parents can create, code, learn, get messy, and experiment with art and technology. Within the walls of the GIANT Room are four main modules that focus on different areas of creation. In one, children can write stories and even publish books, and in another, they can build new inventions that can be useful to the environment.
Children can also create works of art in the Blank Canvas room. Kids can go wild with their imagination and add their own piece of creativity to a monthly community art piece that is displayed in the GIANT Room’s very own art gallery. The popular space hosts workshops about technology, art and design, and science and varies in price from free (single workshops) to $250 (day camps).
2. Bronx Children’s Museum
This newly opened children’s museum, located in the Bronx, is home to a 35-foot-long water table, where children and their families can play and learn about the waterways in the city, including the Bronx River, Harlem River, and Orchard Beach.
The Bronx Children’s Museum is focused on getting children more familiar with their neighborhood surroundings. An interactive play station that resembles the Bronx borough, complete with a farm stand and a bodega, encourages kids to play and create stories, while a library corner encourages children to hone their literacy skills while reading up on local Bronx public figures, such as Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor.
The Bronx Children’s Museum requires advanced registration to attend and is only open three days per week, but is worth the wait with all of its interactive and educational activities for children up to 10 years old.
3. American Museum of Natural History
Kids will be captivated by the magnitude of the dinosaur fossils and the life-size, 100-foot blue whale model that hangs from the ceiling at the American Museum of Natural History (AMNH). Located in the Upper West Side, the museum is home to the most impressive display of dinosaur fossils in the world and also displays life-size models of Neanderthals throughout the Hall of Human Origins. Other areas include the Hall of Biodiversity and the Hall of Ocean Life.
The AMNH is great for children of all ages, including toddlers. Families can work together to complete a range of scavenger hunts. In the Museum of Natural Hysteria Scavenger Hunt for Kids, children are tasked with finding the answers to quirky questions about the museum’s artifacts, which allows them to learn about natural history in a fun and engaging way. Other must-visit areas for children include the Discovery Room and the Hayden Planetarium, which is considered one of the best in the US.
4. Hunters Point Library
Hunters Point Library is an especially great attraction for parents with young children, as it not only has an impressive selection of books for young readers but also boasts fantastic children’s programs, including Thursday STEAM Afternoons, Saturday Pre-K Music, and Toddler Times. Located in Queens, the beautifully designed, $40 million public library opened in 2019 and is worth the trip for its architecture alone.
Parents can make the visit to Hunters Point Library a full-day excursion by arriving via ferry from Hunters Point South Landing. Other attractions near Hunters Point include the Skyscape museum, the Gutter bowling alley, and the Sculpture Center art gallery.
5. Taste Buds Kitchen
Taste Buds Kitchen is a great place to provide your kids with a hands-on learning experience while being supported and instructed by culinary professionals and “kid experts.” It’s a perfect place for birthday parties or private events, but also offers cooking camps for children between the ages of 4–17.
Held during the summer months and other times when children are on vacation from school, the camps are three hours and cost $115. Children create recipes from scratch while learning essential kitchen skills and participating in fun games and challenges. They can also take home their creations. Children between the ages of 4–8 focus on kitchen safety and the fundamentals of mixing and measuring, while those between the ages of 9–13 learn advanced baking and cooking techniques.
