Hi everyone
Another fun week of events for the children in NYC!
This week take the kids to Yellow Sneaker’s Hanukah Puppet Show! at Blue Marble Ice Cream, the Olive Pressing Workshop at the Jewish Children’s Museum, Stomp, Clap & Sing with The Pop Ups at the Central Brooklyn Public Library, Taste of Tinkergarten in Prospect Park, Holiday Tree Lighting at Grand Army Plaza, Kids Create: Cosmic Collage inspired by Star Wars! at the Brooklyn Heights Public Library, Grace-ful Ice: Dinosaurs at Grace Plaza, Workshop: DIY Rudolph the Red Nosed Raindeer at littleBits Store and Farm-to-table Dinner with Santa! at Explorers Academy Preschool.
Also check out the ongoing events like Annie at Kings Theatre, Ballerina Swan at Theater 3, The Hard Nut at BAM Howard Gilman Opera House, Child’s Play NY Presents Annie Kids at First Unitarian Congregational Society, The 3 Bears Holiday Bash at Swedish Cottage Marionette Theatre and the 14th Annual Holiday Train Show at Grand Central Terminal.
Check out the calendar for all the events happening this week in NYC! Also remember to like us on Facebook for last minute news and event reminders.
Enjoy the week!
~ Deirdre (mom to O & C)
Monday December 14th
Olive Pressing Workshop at the Jewish Children’s Museum (Crown Heights)
Monday December 14th 1p, 2p, 3p, 4p. Free with Museum admission. Pick…press…pour…and explore the story of Chanukah! Learn about the ancient art of oil-pressing that has been around since temple times as well as other holiday traditions at this hands-on workshop. Participants will choose the best olives, extract the oil and finally light a Chanukah menorah using their hand-made wicks and freshly produced oil. Also check out the ongoing Chanukah Art Festival.
Yellow Sneaker Hanukah Puppet Show! at Blue Marble Ice Cream (Prospect Heights)
Monday December 14th 4-445p. Tickets: $10 per adult/$10 per child. Children under 2 are free. Geared towards kids ages 4-12 but fun for everyone! Join us for Yellow Sneaker’s new Hanukah show, “The Talking Menorah!” One blustery, blizzardy Hanukah, a traveler gets lost in the woods and finds his way to an inn where he can wait out the storm. The only other guests at this inn are the candles from the menorah, and they have many stories to share from Hanukahs past. The storm outside continues, but the traveler is cozy and warm at the inn as the candles share the magic (and the fun!) of Hanukah. This is a brand new show that is highly interactive and features multiples styles of puppets.
Grace-ful Ice: Dinosaurs at Grace Plaza (Midtown West)
Monday December 14th 5-7p & Tuesday December 15th 12n-130p. Free. Live Carving! Join renowned NYC-based artist collective Okamoto Studio as they return to Grace Plaza to transform ordinary blocks of ice into prehistoric creatures! Installation: Tuesday, December 15th 9a–5p. RSVP to our event on Facebook!
For more Monday events please click here!
Tuesday December 15th
Stomp, Clap & Sing with The Pop Ups at the Central Brooklyn Public Library
Tuesday December 15th 11a-12n. Free. Join Brooklyn-based kindie band The Pop Ups for an educational romp filled with DIY creativity, featuring hilarious puppets, crazy dance routines, huge collages, silly dancing bugs, a talking banana, live drawing, surprise costume changes and giant beach balls!
Workshop: DIY Rudolph the Red Nosed Raindeer at littleBits Store (SoHo)
Tuesday December 15th 5p. Free. Here on West Broadway, we are not really sure how Rudolph’s nose shined so bright without littleBits. In this drop-in workshop, you will give Rudolph the best and brightest LED nose he has ever seen. Maybe you will even make it breathe and blink using oscillators and pulses!
Annie at Kings Theatre
Tuesday December 15th at 730p and ongoing until December 20th at various times. See website for dates/times. Tickets: $35-$75. Leapin’ Lizards! The world’s best-loved musical returns in time-honored form. Directed by original lyricist and director Martin Charnin and choreographed by Liza Gennaro, this production of ANNIE will be a brand new incarnation of the iconic original. Featuring book and score by Tony Award®-winners Thomas Meehan, Charles Strouse and Martin Charnin, ANNIE includes such unforgettable songs as “It’s the Hard Knock Life,” “Easy Street,” “I Don’t Need Anything But You,” plus the eternal anthem of optimism, “Tomorrow.”
For more fun Tuesday events click here!
Wednesday December 16th
Taste of Tinkergarten in Prospect Park
Wednesday December 16th 10a-1115a. Free. For ages 18m-5y. Come join us for a sample of what Tinkergarten class is all about. You’ll get to experience the flow of a class and a sample of the fun learning activities we enjoy each week. Parents, join your child or send your child with another caregiver and learn more about the experience by email. See the website for more information on Tinkergarten classes and to register. Location: Third Street Entrance (Park Slope).
Toddlers Create: Holiday Wreath at the Dyker Brooklyn Public Library
Wednesday December 16th 11a-12n. Free. Would you like to create a holiday wreath? We invite toddlers and preschoolers to join us in this interactive and creative activity, where their small hands will decorate your family’s wreath this holiday season!
Holiday Tree Lighting at Grand Army Plaza
Wednesday December 16th 4-5p. Free. Join Our Lady of Refuge Church and the Catholic Churches of Brooklyn for the lighting of the Christmas tree at Grand Army Plaza.
For more fun Wednesday events click here!
Thursday December 17th
Free Thursday Hours at Brooklyn Children’s Museum (Crown Heights)
Thursdays 2p-6p for all ages. Come join us for our FREE afternoon hours at the Museum, every Thursday of the month! Free hours start at 2p, and the Museum stays open until 6p for all your fun exploring!
Kids Create: Cosmic Collage inspired by Star Wars! at the Brooklyn Heights Public Library
Thursday December 17th 4-5p. Free. Does the opening of the new Star Wars movie keep space on your mind? Same here! Come and create your own cosmic collage with cut out print images of planets, stars and other parts of the cosmic universe. Make a masterpiece!
Farm-to-table Dinner with Santa! at Explorers Academy Preschool (Downtown Brooklyn)
Thursday December 17th 630-830p. One child an adult: $50, additional family member $25. This event also happens Tuesday December 22nd 630-830p. Spend an evening with the jolly guy and enjoy a seasonal farm-to-table dinner buffet featuring local organic produce from Lancaster Farm Fresh Cooperative. Skip the department store lines and set your child’s own pace for a peaceful and low-key photo with Santa. Families are free to bring their own cameras and use our fun photo props to score the perfect holiday photo! The meal will be prepared gluten free & nut free. Special diets can be accommodated. See the Farm-to-table Dinner menu here.
For more fun Thursday events click here!
Ongoing
Child’s Play NY Presents Annie Kids at First Unitarian Congregational Society (Brooklyn Heights)
Tuesday December 15th 5p & Thursday December 17th 5p. Reserve seats of Tuesday here. Reserve seats for Thursday here. For all ages, $5/person. Performed by our players ages 6-9. With equal measures of pluck and positivity, little orphan Annie charms everyone’s hearts despite a next-to-nothing start in 1930s New York City. She is determined to find her parents who abandoned her years ago on the doorstep of a New York City Orphanage run by the cruel, embittered Miss Hannigan. With the help of the other girls in the Orphanage, Annie escapes to the wondrous world of NYC.
Ballerina Swan at Theater 3
Mondays-Wednesdays 11a until December 30th. Also Saturdays & Sundays 11a & 1p until January 3rd. Tickets $25-$45. Best for ages 3-8. Back by popular demand! Ballerina Swan blends dance, theater and puppetry to tell the story of Sophie, a Central Park swan who dreams of becoming a ballerina. Based on the children’s book by former NYC Ballet prima ballerina Allegra Kent, Ballerina Swan features a five-foot dancing swan puppet that wowed children and adults alike during the show’s 2013 run.
The Hard Nut at BAM Howard Gilman Opera House (Fort Greene)
Wednesday-Thursday December 16th-17th. See website for additional performances. For ages 4+. Tickets start at $25. Run time aprrox 2 hours with intermission. Mark Morris Dance Group’s beloved retro-modern reimagining of The Nutcracker—based on E.T.A. Hoffmann’s original story and the comic book art of Charles Burns—comes home to BAM for the holidays. A cascade of wit and wintry beauty featuring Morris’ lyrical modern dance choreography, this lavish, gender-bent love letter to a classic transplants the story from the straight-laced 1890s to the swinging 70s, with raucous parties, dancing G.I. Joes, whimsical costumes, and a Waltz of the Snowflakes like no other. Tchaikovsky’s complete original score, performed live by the 53-piece MMDG Music Ensemble drives this colorful retelling, which playfully preserves the warm spirit of an essential holiday tradition.
Shadow Box Theatre Presents: Little is Big at PS 3 The Bedford Village School (Bedford Stuyvesant)
Weekdays until Wednesday December 23rd. For individual tickets $10 in advance/$15 at the door. Group: $8. For more info and reservations call 212-724-0677. Recommended for pre-K to 3rd grade. In an enchanted landscape beneath the sea, the little fish Spinny and his friends face up to a big bully of a fish – and find courage, tolerance, and the true meaning of friendship. Following the puppet show, the audience joins in an inspiring “Sing Out for Peace”.
Gingerbread Lane at New York Hall of Science (Flushing Meadows)
Ongoing until Sunday January 9, 2016. Tuesday–Friday 930a–5p & Saturday & Sunday 10a–6p. Free with Museum admission. Museum closed on Christmas Day. Marvel at homemade gingerbread houses made entirely of edible gingerbread, royal icing and candy. The houses are drafted, designed, baked, planned, built and decorated by chef Jon Lovitch over the course of an entire year. GingerBread Lane has won the Guinness World Record for the largest gingerbread village for 2013 and 2014 and will compete for its third consecutive Guinness World Record this year. Lovitch’s creation will again contend for this year’s Guinness World Record. The all-new 2015 version of GingerBread Lane will cover 500 square feet and will have more than 1,050 houses and structures including a double-decker carousel reminiscent of one on the Coney Island boardwalk in days past and the S.C. Kringle & Co. Department Store which hearkens back to Gimbels department store in the early 1900s. GingerBread Lane 2015 will also have new twists like The Pumpkin Spice Latte Coffee Shoppe, The EveryDay’s Thanksgiving Café, a second train (for the first time), and a 10-square-foot candy factory you can see inside of as you climb the stairs to view GingerBread Lane. While the exhibition’s layout and composition change yearly, GingerBread Lane always includes Eggnog Bay, Gum Drop Row, Peppermint Central Park, Candy Cane Place and Toffee Boulevard. As a grand finale, Lovitch will give away all houses on January 10.
Holiday Train Show at The New York Botanical Garden (Bronx)
Ongoing until Monday January 18th. Various times and prices. See website for information. Advance reservations are strongly recommended as tickets do sell out. Purchase tickets here. NYC’s Favorite Train Show Is Bigger Than Ever! Enchanting model trains zip through a display of 150 landmarks, each re-created with bark, leaves, and other natural materials—all under the twinkling glow of the Enid A. Haupt Conservatory. Marvel at G-scale locomotives humming along among familiar sights such as the Brooklyn Bridge, Statue of Liberty, and Rockefeller Center—surprising at every turn—on nearly a half-mile of track. This year’s exhibition features 3,000 square feet of additional exhibition space, making room for dozens of new trains, bridges, and tracks; a captivating short film of the show’s behind-the-scenes magic; and a stunning multisensory finale of light and sound. Explore a winter wonderland across our 250 acres with special tours, musical performances, and activities for kids, plus take care of your gift list at NYBG Shop and stop for a bite at one of our exciting new dining venues. Don’t miss this one-of-a-kind holiday outing!
14th Annual Holiday Train Show at Grand Central Terminal (Midtown East)
Ongoing until February 21st. M–F: 8a–8p, Saturday and Sunday: 10a–6p. Free. Location: NY Transit Museum Gallery Annex and Store Shuttle Passage. Presented annually by the New York Transit Museum, this popular model railroad exhibition features Metro-North, New York Central, and subway trains departing from a miniature Grand Central Terminal on a 34’-long, two-level “O” gauge layout. The Museum’s store and booth at the Holiday Fair also offer great gifts for your holiday shopping. Transit gifts are available online at www.nytransitmuseumstore.com.
The 3 Bears Holiday Bash at Swedish Cottage Marionette Theatre (Central Park)
Daily until Wednesday December 30th. Showtimes are Monday – Friday 1030a & 12n with additional shows Wednesdays at 230p and Saturday and Sunday at 1p. Tickets are $7/children and $10/adults. The Three Bears Holiday Bash is a variety show that celebrates the holiday season in song, dance and puppetry. This production quickly becomes a comedy of errors when Baby Bear invites Santa to star in Mama and Papa Bear’s annual holiday show. The audience also gets to join in on the fun with a “12 days of Christmas” sing-a-long during the performance! Purchase tickets here.
To see all the events click here for the calendar!