Hi everyone,
Hope you been getting out and enjoying the sometimes nice weather! We have been seeing some daffodils popping up!
I can’t talk about weekend events without talking about our own A Child Grows in Brooklyn: Brooklyn Baby & Family Expo at St. Francis College that is happening this Sunday April 6th from 11-3! The A Child Grows team has been working hard to get this super fun event organized so if you haven’t checked it out, you should NOW! Meet the Honest Toddler, get free lunch, enjoy the family entertainment, attend seminars while your child plays in the free child care area! See you there!
The first weekend of April is here and it will really feel like spring has arrived because out door events are starting like the Children’s Carnival at Queens County Farm Museum, Little League Opening Day Parade, Food Truck Rally at Grand Army Plaza & Pop-Up Audubon in Prospect Park are all happening!
We have some Easter & Passover events happening like the Brooklyn’s Great Easter Egg Hunt at Brooklyn Plantology and Park Slope PJ Library Passover Puppet Show at PSJC. Also happening this weekend is NPF: Fiddle Fest at Prospect Heights High School. Bello Mania at The New Victory Theater and Sing Back, Brooklyn! With Lloyd H. Miller at the Brooklyn Historical Society!
Make sure to check out the calendar for more events, sing-a-longs and story times that are going on! Remember to check with the event organizer in case there are any schedule changes. Don’t forget if you have an event or a drop in class that you would like to have included on our calendar you can use the form on this link to submit it to us! Also you can like us on Facebook for last minute events and news!
Enjoy our first April weekend!
~ Deirdre (mom to O & C)
Friday April 4th
Toddler Art Class at the Pipsqueak Children’s Shoppe (Bedford Stuyvesant)
Fri April 4th 10:30-11:20am. Free. For 18mths-3yrs. Please RSVP as space is limited, RSVP bkdoodles@gmail.com or call 917-803-2679
Children will explore cognitive themes such as color, shapes, textures and nature in a fun setting designed to enhance development, stimulation and promote creativity. The weekly projects will range from painting to collages to working with clay. A fun class for families looking for an alternative to music and movement classes.
Stroller Tours at Whitney Museum of American Art (UES)
Friday April 4 at 12p-1p. $35 per adult ($25 for Family Series members or Friend-level members and higher). Please note that Stroller Tours are just for parents or caregivers with babies 0 to 18 months.
Registration for this program is required. Register here. Whitney Teaching Fellows, PhD candidates in art history, lead engaging tours of current exhibitions for new moms and dads when the Museum is closed to the public. Crying babies are welcome! Tours will begin promptly at 12 pm in the Lobby. Please plan to arrive at least 10 minutes before the tour begins. Because the museum is closed to the public during this time, we will not be able to admit participants who arrive more than 10 minutes late. The Museum’s cafe, Untitled, opens at 11 am on Fridays. Feel free to drop in for a coffee before the Stroller Tour begins. The Museum will open to the public at 1 pm, directly following the tour. You are welcome to enjoy the Museum galleries and shop after the tour.
Rolie Polie Guacamole Sing-A-Long FREE TRIAL at Hank & Jojo (Fort Greene)
Fri April 4th 1215-1p. Ages 6m+. Free. Please reserve your space by emailing info@hankandjojo.com.
You know them already from their Summer concerts in Fort Greene Park and all over Brooklyn. Now, Rolie Polie Guacamole creators Frank Gallo & Andrew Tuzhilin have developed a unique music and movement class for children 6 months and up! Clap, stomp, shake, hop, and dance your family upside down!!! The songs are a mix of children’s standards & Rolie Polie Guacamole originals. Each class is concluded with singing a book. And by the way, their most recent album Houses Of The Moly won a parents choice award! (Class runs on Fridays from 12:15-1:00PM beginning Friday, April 18, 2014 for 6 straight weeks.)
For more Friday events please click here!
Saturday April 5th
Brooklyn Little League Opening Day Parade & Programming
Sat Apr 5th starting at 10a. Free.
Celebrate the coming of Spring and the crack of the first bat as Brooklyn Little Leaguers and their parents march through Park Slope and into Prospect Park. The ceremonial first pitch of the season will be thrown at the Prospect Park Bandshell. The parade begins at 7th Avenue and Carroll Street. Join Brooklyn Little Leaguers as they parade through Park Slope and throw the ceremonial first pitch of the season at the Bandshell. Also that day, Alliance volunteers will take part in a spring cleaning of the Park, raking leaves, edging pathways and removing litter from natural areas. The Alliance will also celebrate another great season of family programming at Lefferts Historic House, the Audubon Center at the Boathouse and Pop-Up Audubon with games, activities and exhibits
Sing Back, Brooklyn! With Lloyd H. Miller at the Brooklyn Historical Society (Brooklyn Heights)
Sat April 5th 11an-12n. Ages 5-10y. Free.
A monthly sing-a-long event for the whole family featuring songs, stories, skits, movies, and more. Join Lloyd H. Miller in singing and dancing about Brooklyn’s fun and sometimes quirky history!
Brooklyn Boogie Brunch at Littlefield (Gowanus)
Saturday April 5th, noon to 4:00pm. $12
Entertainment for the whole family – in the heart of the Gowanus. Featuring Captain Kirk Douglas & Mark Kelley of The Roots, Songs for Unusual Creatures, Chicha Libre, Gilmar Gomes and Blue Lightning.
The very first Brooklyn Boogie Brunch, to take place a few paddle strokes away from the Gowanus canal, is a family event designed to keep both kids and parents inspired and entertained. The multi-generational party will include music for adults to dance to, music performed by kids, music about unusual animals performed on unusual instruments, Brazilian drumming, and a set by Captain Kirk Douglas and Mark Kelley of The Roots. Other activities will include face painting, art projects and a raffle with prizes including tickets to the Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon. Local Brooklyn restaurants are providing brunch food. All proceeds will benefit PS 295 – The Studio School of Arts & Culture, which lies at the intersection of the South Slope, Windsor Terrace and Sunset Park.
Brooklyn’s Great Easter Egg Hunt at Brooklyn Plantology (Canarsie)
Saturday, April 5th 1P-4P. FREE Family Fun! Brooklyn Plantology will be host in our Second Annual Brooklyn’s Great Easter Egg Hunt on Saturday, April 5th. Join us from 1:00 PM – 4:00 PM for our fun take on a classic Easter Egg Hunt for children aged 2 – 12. We’ll have lots of fun, family activities including games & prizes and a special visit from the Easter Bunny! No need to worry about inclement weather, all activities will be held inside our store and heated greenhouse.
Fiddle Fest at Prospect Heights High School
Sat Apr 5th 2-4p. Adults $7 and children under 12 $3.
Noel Pointer Foundation’s annuals Fiddle Fest! 200 fresh-faced NPF musicians are about to invade Prospect Heights. Featuring in school students, youth orchestras, guitar ensambles & teaching artist.
For more Saturday events please click here!
Sunday April 6th
A Child Grows in Brooklyn: Brooklyn Baby & Family Expo at St. Francis College (Brooklyn Heights)
Sun April 6th. 11a-3p. Tickets start at $15. See website for all the details on demonstrations & seminars.
The 2014 Brooklyn Baby & Family Expo is a kid-friendly event for families with children up to age 8, showcasing invaluable resources and products in a exciting and comfortable location. Enjoy free lunch, free child care and family concerts! Seminars throughout the day! Connect with Parents! Sample Products! Attend Seminars! Win Prizes! And all gift bags come with a $20 Uber gift card so you get a free ride home to help haul all of your prizes!
www.achildgrows.com/expo
Passover Family Bash at Kings Bay Y North Williamsburg
Sun April 6th 10a-12n. Free.
Join other Russian speaking families from the neighborhood in celebration of our Passover Family Bash!! Featuring activities such as: Singing and Dancing Russian Songs, matzah and drinks, activities for the whole family, participate in a Passover story from PJ Library & MORE! RSVP HERE!
Little Laffs at the Jalopy Theatre (Carroll Gardens/Red Hook)
Sunday, April 6th. Show starts at 10:30 (First Sunday of every month) Tickets: $5 Kids, $10 Adults (Includes FREE Bloody Mary or Mimosa), $25 Family. Little Laffs, “Big Fun for Little Ones” is a fun and entertaining variety show for kids ages 3-9, that mixes juggling, balloon art, music, comedy, and more. Located at the Fabulous Jalopy Theatre in Carroll Gardens/Red Hook, Brooklyn. Join us for an afternoon full of Little Laffs! Little Laffs – Big Fun for Little Ones! Starring: Cardone the Magician Mike “Ballooniac” Gold, Keith Bindlestiff – Juggling, Rolie Polie Guacamole – Music
Food Truck Rally at Grand Army Plaza (Prospect Heights)
Sundays, April 6th 11 a.m. – 5 p.m. (normally First and Third Sundays – see website for details)
Come taste the delights of NYC’s food trucks. Head to Grand Army Plaza on the first and third Sunday to sample treats from New York’s best food trucks.
Park Slope PJ Library Passover Puppet Show at PSJC
Sun April 6th 4p. Tickets are $10 for kids, and adults get in for free.
Start the Passover season on the right foot with Park Slope PJ Library and the Yellow Sneaker Puppet Company. Designed for children ages 0 – 7, their Passover show, “The Matzah Time Crunch,” will entertain and delight with music and humor. Get ready for this matzah-filled holiday with a matzah-riffic puppet show! Questions? Contact Amy at psjcamy@gmail.com.
For more Sunday events please click here!
All Weekend
Bello Mania at The New Victory Theater (Times Square)
April 4, 2014–April 20, 2014 various times see website for details. For ages 4+. 90 minutes including one intermission. Seats in the Balcony start at $14 ($9 with Member discount) Nock Nock. Who’s there? Back by popular demand, it’s Demetrius Alexandro Claudio Amadeus Bello Nock, the gravity-defying dude with the foot-high hair. Returning to the New Vic stage (and his 44-foot sway pole) in BELLO MANIA, “America’s Best Clown” (TIME Magazine) delivers brand new wacky antics and favorite daredevil tricks. Whether you’re coming back for more or seeing it for the first time, 2013 Drama Desk nominee BELLO MANIA is bound to be the HIGHlight of your spring break.
Children’s Carnival at Queens County Farm Museum
Sat & Sun April 5th & 6th, 12th & 13th at 11a-6p. $11 per person.
Join us for a carnival in our apple orchard. Carnival rides, midway games and prizes, hayrides, and children’s entertainment make this a fun family event. *Carnival rides included with admission. Additional fees apply for all other activities. Height rules apply to 36″ and over.
Prospect Park Carousel Spring Hours
Now until June 29, 2014 Thu–Sun: 12n–5p. $2 per ride, $9 for a book of 5 tickets.
Kick off spring with a ride on the Park’s beautiful 102 year-old carousel. Located in the Park’s “Children’s Corner,” the Carousel features 51 magnificently carved horses, a lion, a giraffe, a deer, and two dragon-pulled chariots. Carved in 1912 by Charles Carmel, one of the foremost carousel designers of the time, and restored by the Prospect Park Alliance in 1990, the Carousel promises that classic summertime amusement will be available for generations of fun. In addition, the Prospect Park Carousel is one of the few in the world that is wheelchair accessible.
A Surprise Inside: Buildings With Secret Powers at at NY Transit Museum (Downtown Brooklyn)
Sat & Sun April 5th & 6th 130p. For 6y+. Free with paid admission.
Is it a school? Is it a library? No…it’s a Powerhouse! The 74th Street Powerhouse, built in 1902, is a quiet building on the outside, but on the inside, it once housed giant, noisy machines working night and day to create the electricity that powered elevated trains throughout Manhattan. Electricity production has gotten much greener since the time of the Powerhouse and we no longer burn coal to create electricity for our transit system. We’ll discuss the Powerhouse and other “superhero” buildings in New York City, and then make our own dioramas of powerful buildings.
Pop-Up Audubon in Prospect Park
Saturdays & Sundays April 5 – October 19, 2014: 12n–5p (except April 19, 20, 26 & 27) Free.
The Prospect Park Alliance presents Pop-Up Audubon, now in its second season, which invites families to directly engage with nature through outdoor learning in locations around the Park. APRIL: Leaf Litter Critters Location: Binnen Bridge (April 5, 6, 12, 13)Audubon Center at the Boathouse (April 19 & 20, 27) Bandshell (April 26)
Peace, Love And Cupcakes: The Musical at Vital Theatre Company (UWS)
Fridays and Saturdays at 7p now through April 26th and additional shows during Spring Break. See website for details. Tickets $30. In PEACE, LOVE, AND CUPCAKES THE MUSICAL, Kylie Carson has a problem. She loves monster movies, zombie thrillers, and vampire sagas but her classmates at her new school avoid her like the Creature from the Black Lagoon! To sweeten up her image, Kylie starts a Cupcake Club. With the help of her new friends they begin spinning out tasty treats. But when Meredith, the most popular girl in school, tries to sabotage the big cupcake party, it may spell the end of the Cupcake Club.
The Art of the Brick at Discovery Times Square (Hell’s Kitchen, Midtown West)
Now until May 11th. Sun-Tues 10a-7p, Wed & Thur 10a-8p, Fri & Sat 10a-9p. Tickets: $19.50/adult, $16.50 kids age 4-12y.
The returs of The Art of Brick!RT OF THE BRICK, and will feature a newly introduced gallery that showcases artist Nathan Sawaya’s In Pieces collection, a multimedia collaboration produced in tandem with award-winning photographer Dean West.
Sawaya’s original Art of the Brick exhibition is a critically acclaimed collection of intriguing and inspiring works of art made exclusively from one of the most recognizable toys in the world — LEGO® bricks. The Discovery Times Square exhibit will be the world’s biggest and most elaborate display of LEGO® art ever and will feature brand-new, never-before-seen pieces by Sawaya. Don’t miss the show named one of CNN’s Top 10 ‘Global Must-See Exhibitions.’
Iván Navarro Opening Weekend at Madison Square Park (Flatiron)
Now until Sunday April 13, 2014. Free.
Site-specific installation of three water towers references the experience of immigration through repeating neon reflections on mirrored walls inside the structures. Madison Square Park Conservancy’s Mad. Sq. Art announces a new sculptural installation for late winter 2014: This Land Is Your Land by Brooklyn-based Chilean artist Iván Navarro. The site-specific installation presents three water towers inside of which neon reflections repeat infinitely. The sculptures merge a staple of the New York skyline with the street-level landscape of the Park. The artist takes the exhibition’s title from the beloved 1940 Woody Guthrie folk song, which is both an American anthem and a vocal pull to the freedoms offered in this country for an immigrant population. The towers are elevated to a height above visitors’ heads, allowing them to walk underneath and look up into each sculpture to view the content within. The exhibition is on view daily until April 13, 2014 in Madison Square Park.
Cinderella by Puppet Works (Park Slope)
Saturdays & Sundays now until April 13th 1230p & 230p. For 3y+. Admission for a Child is $8, an Adult $9. No credit cards accepted. Reservations are suggested: 718-965-3391 (current day or advance reservations) or e-mail us: puppetworks@twcmetrobiz.com (NO same day e-mail reservations). Cinderella – Perrault’s godmother of all fairy tales adapted for Marionettes by Nicolas Coppola
The Little Prince: A New York Story at The Morgan Library And Museum (Midtown East)
Now through April 27, 2014. Tu-Th 1030a-5p, Fri 1030a-9p, Sat 10a-6p, Sun 11a-6p. Free with paid admission.
Readers throughout the world have embraced The Little Prince, Antoine de Saint–Exupéry’s tale of an interstellar traveler who comes to Earth in search of friendship and understanding. Saint–Exupéry wrote and illustrated the story in New York during World War II and it was first published here, in English and French. This exhibition of the original manuscript and watercolor drawings—the most comprehensive ever mounted—explores the American origins of a story that reminds us that what matters most can only be seen with the heart.
Angelina Ballerina The Musical at Vital Theatre Company (UWS)
Sat & Sun now until April 27th 11a & 330p. General tickets $39.50 & premium $59.50. Performances run 1 hour and are appropriate for children between 2 and 10 years old. In ANGELINA BALLERINA THE MUSICAL, Angelina and her friends, Alice, Gracie, AZ, Viki, and even their teacher, Ms. Mimi, are all aflutter because a special guest is coming to visit Camembert Academy! Angelina and her friends will perform all types of dance, including hip-hop, modern dance, the Irish jig and of course, ballet, and they are excited to show off their skills to their famous visitor. Angelina is the most excited of all, but will she get the starring moment she hopes for? Based on the CG-animated series, Angelina Ballerina The Next Steps on PBS KIDS®, ANGELINA BALLERINA THE MUSICAL is a family-friendly show that will have the entire audience dancing in the aisles.
Bessies’s Big Shot at Swedish Cottage Marionette Theatre (Central Park)
Now until June 29th Tue- Fri 1030a & 12n and Sat & Sun 1p. Tickets: $7 children under 12y & $10 all others. For all ages.
Based on the famed PuppetMobile show of the same name, this popular production makes its Swedish Cottage Marionette Theatre debut! Directed by Bruce Cannon and co-written by Douglas Strich, Alexander Bartenieff and Bruce Cannon, this version of the beloved show will feature several new puppets in addition to new and extended scenes. It’s a bird … it’s a plane … no … it’s Bessie the cow! CPF’s original production, Bessie’s Big Shot, follows Bessie the cow’s dream of joining the circus. Can she lift more than Ziegfried, the strongest man in the world? Fly on a trapeze high above the crowd? Train Munson the Monkey? This variety show cheers Bessie on as she attempts the impossible and searches for her special talents.
Mysteries of the Unseen World at the American Museum of Natural History (UWS)
Now until Monday, June 30, 2014. Free with Admission: Adults: $27 & children (2-12y): $16. Member tickets are $13.50 adults; $8.50 children. Free for Voyager-level Members and above. Mysteries of the Unseen World will transport audiences to places on this planet that they have never been before, to see things that are beyond their normal vision, yet literally right in front of their eyes. Mysteries of the Unseen World will be shown in 3D digital and 2D film. (See website for more details & showtimes.)
For a full calendar of events please click here!