Hi everyone! Tomorrow is Valentine’s Day and it is also President’s Day weekend and the NYC public school kids will start their midwinter recess tomorrow so lots going on!
Head out and enjoy The Little Match Girl at St. Lukes Theatre, Lunar New Year Celebration with Nai-Ni Chen Dance Company at Central Brooklyn Public Library, Farmhouse Family Day: Lantern Lights at Wyckoff Farmhouse Museum, Shadow Theater Workshops: The Art of Chinese New Year at China Institute, Losar Family Day at The Rubin Museum, February Break Discovery Days at Brooklyn Botanic Garden, The Knights: Family Show at BRIC, Kids Week: Find My Way: Maps and Compasses in Marine Park, Family Movie: Abominable at Brooklyn Heights Public Library, 35th Annual Half Moon New York Sword Ale, Black History Month: Harriet at Brownsville Recreation Center, Kids Camp: Curious George at Alamo Drafthouse Cinema, Family Program: Moving Image Studio at Museum of the Moving Image, Crafty Afternoons: Valentine’s Day Owls at Columbus NY Public Library, La MaMa Kids: Folktales of Asia and Africa at The Downstairs, Vacation Week: Found Object Puppetry at The Jewish Museum, Washington’s Birthday Ball: Kick Up Your Heels! at Mount Vernon Hotel Museum & Garden, Kids Week at Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum, Kindermusik Playdate at Lark and Sunset Park Kids’ Cinema Club: Lady and the Tramp at Industry City.
Don’t forget to check out the long running events like Lunar Zoo Year – Year of the Rat in Prospect Park Zoo, Alice in Wonderland at Puppetworks, the 18th Annual Holiday Train Show at Grand Central Terminal, Holiday Express: All Aboard to Richard Scarry’s Busytown at New-York Historical Society, Film Forum Jr. Matinee at the Film Forum, Yeti, Set, Snow! at Swedish Cottage Marionette Theatre and Riddle of the Trilobites at New Victory Theater.
There are even more events this weekend so check the calendar to see everything going on. Also like us on Facebook for last minute events and updates.
Enjoy the long weekend!
~ Deirdre (mom to O & C)
Friday February 14th
Kindermusik Playdate at Lark (Flatbush/Prospect Park South)
Friday February 14th 930-1015a. Ages 0-5. Cost: $20 per child / FREE for Little Virtuosos families! Price includes 45 min class and take home instrument and music download card This is a one-time only playdate that includes Music & Instrument! Let me call you Sweetheart. Share the love with these love-themed activities! We’ll play shakers to “I Love the Mountains,” circle dance to “Love Somebody,” listen to “I Love My Family,” and cuddle and rock to “Let Me Call You Sweetheart.” And you just might find a special song or instrument to love, too!
Black History Month – Movies Under the Stars: Harriet at Brownsville Recreation Center
Friday February 14th 1130a-145p. Free. Rated PG 13. Celebrate Black History Month with NYC Parks and New York City Mayor’s Office of Media and Entertainment at this free family film! Harriet: This powerful biopic centers on Harriet Tubman as she conquers epilepsy, slavery, misogyny, and racism to liberate hundreds of enslaved people, serve in the Union Army and become an icon for freedom everywhere. Directed by Kasi Lemmons (Talk to Me), this award-winning film features Janelle Monáe (Hidden Figures); Broadway stars Clark Peters, Leslie Odom, Jr. and Cynthia Erivo in the title role. Know Before You Go: This movie will take place indoors. Seating is limited. Please arrive before 11:30 am to get your spot for the movie.
Crafty Afternoons: Valentine’s Day Owls at Columbus NY Public Library (Hell’s Kitchen)
Friday February 14th 3p. Free. Children ages 3+ are welcomed. Whoo Loves their Library! Join us as we make and decorate Valentine’s Day owls to our library.
Family Movie: Abominable at Brooklyn Heights Public Library
Friday February 14th 330-445p. Free. Come to the library for a movie to start the weekend off right! About the movie: “Abominable takes audiences on an epic 2,000-mile adventure from the streets of Shanghai to the breathtaking Himalayan snowscapes. When teenage Yi encounters a young Yeti on the roof of her apartment building in Shanghai, she and her mischievous friends, Jin and Peng, name him “Everest” and embark on an epic quest to reunite the magical creature with his family at the highest point on Earth. But the trio of friends will have to stay one-step ahead of Burnish, a wealthy man intent on capturing a Yeti, and zoologist Dr. Zara to help Everest get home.” Rated PG.
See all the Friday events here.
Saturday February 15th
Kids Week at Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum (Hell’s Kitchen)
Starting Saturday February 15th 10a-5p and daily until Saturday February 22nd. Free with Museum admission. Join us all week long for live animal shows, pop-up planetarium shows, maker spaces, live performances and so much more! Children of all ages and interests will learn more about STEAM through activities and demonstrations designed to educate and inspire. See the schedule of events here.
Opening Day: Survival ~ The Exhibition at NY Hall of Science
Starting Saturday February 15th and ongoing until September 13th. Hours: Monday – Friday, 930a-5p, Saturday & Sunday, 10a-6p. $7 per person, plus NYSCI admission. Free for Members. Become the ultimate survival expert. Test your survival skills. Learn how to build shelter in the forest, find water in the desert, stay warm in the extreme cold. Plus, learn water safety and emergency preparations. Survival culminates in the Adventure Zone Ropes Course and Zip Line, where visitors’ confidence and problem-solving skills are put to the test. Course obstacles and activities teach balance, focus, coordination and concentration while building resilience and determination in the face of adversity. See the website for all the details.
Farmhouse Family Day: Lantern Lights at Wyckoff Farmhouse Museum
Saturday February 15th 11a-3p. Free. Reservations not required, but recommended. To reserve your spot, please register here. Keep your February bright and cheery with a lantern-making Family Day at the Wyckoff House Museum. Light up your winter days with a cozy Family Day at the Wyckoff House Museum. We’ll be exploring forms of light from the Colonial era, and crafting our own tin lanterns to use at home. While you’re here, enjoy toys and games, get comfortable in our reading nook, explore historic crafts and objects, and of course, take a tour of New York’s oldest house! Farmhouse Family Days are always free to the public and open to visitors of all ages. Family Day takes place from 11:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m., with the lantern-making activity beginning at 1:00 p.m.
Lunar New Year Celebration with Nai-Ni Chen Dance Company at Central Brooklyn Public Library
Saturday February 15th 1-2p. Free. Location: Dweck Center. A colorful and vibrant production of dance and music to delight the whole family. Nai-Ni Chen Dance Company celebrate the beginning of the Chinese Zodiac cycle with acrobatic dancers and exquisite music.
The Knights: Family Show at BRIC (Fort Greene)
Saturday February 15th 2p. Tickets: $10 advance, $14 day of show. General Admission: Seated. Members of The Knights form Team Mozart! We invite you to cheer us on as we showcase our talents and demonstrate musical skills. In this one-hour Family Show, you and your little ones will experience classical music in a fun, relaxed, and interactive setting. The Knights are known for connecting with audiences of all ages and educating while entertaining, so even if your little ones arrive sleepy, cranky, wiggly … they’re guaranteed to leave happy and inspired!
See all the Saturday events here.
Sunday February 16th
Losar Family Day at Rubin Museum (Chelsea)
Sunday February 16th 12n-4p. Free Museum Admission for children and accompanying adults. Kick off the year of the Metal Mouse with your family and friends! Celebrate Losar, the Himalayan New Year, with an afternoon of art. Learn about traditional Losar celebrations and this year’s zodiac animal, the creative and adaptable Metal Mouse. Then explore the galleries, get lost in a maze of auspicious symbols, make your own Metal Mouse, construct torma butter sculptures, and let your creativity go wild! See the website for all the event details.
Sunset Park Kids’ Cinema Club: Lady and the Tramp at Industry City
Sunday February 16th 1030a doors open, 1130a film begins. Free. Register here. Location: indoors on the Factory Floor in BLDG 1 (entrance on 268 36th Street). Every Sunday, Industry City hosts the Sunset Park Kids’ Cinema Club with Rooftop Films. Join us on February 16th for a free, family-focused screening of Disney’s original animated classic, Lady and the Tramp! Lady and the Tramp: In this cherished Disney classic full of humor and heart, perfectly pampered Lady and street-smart Tramp embark on thrilling adventures with an unforgettable cast of characters. Experience a memorable bella notte in one of the greatest love stories ever told.
Washington’s Birthday Ball: Kick Up Your Heels! at Mount Vernon Hotel Museum & Garden
Sunday February 16th 1-3p. Tickets: $15 Adults, $10 Members and Children under 12. In honor of Presidents’ Day, celebrate the birthday of our Nation’s First President as New Yorkers did in the 19th century. Costumed dancers will perform and teach traditional country dances and encourage everyone to join in. Festivities include toasts to George Washington and historic refreshments, including Washington Cake and Cherry Bounce. Museum tour and a family scavenger hunt are also included. Reservations required. Purchase tickets here.
Vacation Week: Found Object Puppetry at The Jewish Museum (UES)
Sunday-Tuesday February 16th-18th and Thursday-Friday February 20th-21st 1-4p. For ages 3 & up. RSVP recommended. Included with Museum Admission; admission is free for children 18 and under. Create a whimsical puppet after viewing the imaginative work in the exhibition Rachel Feinstein: Maiden, Mother, Crone. Find inspiration in Feinstein’s innovative use of materials and form a unique character using wood, cardboard, and found objects.
Shadow Theater Workshops: The Art of Chinese New Year at China Institute (Financial District)
Sunday February 16th & 23rd 2-330p. Tickets: $20, $10 non-member. Chinese shadow performance has a history going back 2000 years. The traditional shadow theater uses beautifully carved and colored animal-skin figures, manipulated behind cloth screens to portray vivid episodes from history, religion, literature and folktale. In these workshops, Chinese Theatre Works artists will introduce participants to this fascinating art form (the root of all motion picture media) and lead them in designing and building their own shadow figures! Purchase tickets for February 16th here & for February 23rd here.
See all the Sunday events here.
Monday February 17th
Kids Camp: Curious George at Alamo Drafthouse Cinema (Downtown Brooklyn)
Monday February 17th 10a, Tuesday February 18th 1p & Wednesday-Thursday February 19th-20th 1230p. Rated G. 86 min. All Kids Camp screenings are Pick Your Price – $1, $3 or $5 with 100% of ticket sales donated to IMPACCT Brooklyn. Based on the cherished book series by H.A. and Margret Rey, CURIOUS GEORGE follows the adventures of Ted, the Man in the Yellow Hat (Will Ferrell) as he attempts to save the Bloomsberry Museum by sailing to Africa in search of the “Lost Shrine of Zagawa.” While traveling, he meets George, a mischievous little monkey who decides to follow Ted back to his home, consequently changing his life forever. Bubbling with hijinks, this colorful film truly captures the enduring spirit of Curious George.
February Break Discovery Days at Brooklyn Botanic Garden
Monday-Thursday February 17th-20th 1030a-1230p. Admission is free on winter weekdays. Explore habitats from around the world and have some hands-on science fun during the midwinter school break. Families can learn together at stations inside BBG’s Steinhardt Conservatory. Kids use their senses to investigate plants and objects firsthand and find out how plants survive in environments ranging from deserts to rainforests alongside volunteer Discovery Docents. Explore the lush conservatories on a scavenger hunt and pot up a plant to take home. Note: Activities are the same each day, but feel free to come for a repeat visit.
Family Program: Moving Image Studio at Museum of the Moving Image
Monday-Sunday February 17th-23rd 11a-4p. Free with Museum admission. Recommended for ages 4 and up and their adult companions. Moving Image Studio is the Museum’s drop-in space where visitors of all ages can create media and other projects. Families are welcome to stop by and experiment by performing in front of a green-screen or create live animation works using lego sets. Themes are inspired by the core exhibition Behind the Screen and the special exhibition Envisioning 2001: Stanley Kubrick’s Space Odyssey.
Kids Week: Find My Way: Maps and Compasses in Marine Park
Monday February 17th 1-230p. Free. Location: Salt Marsh Nature Center. The kids are out of school, now get them out of the house. Head to the park and join the Urban Park Rangers’ free Kids Week programs. Immerse your kids, and yourself, in the natural world. All are welcome, but programs are geared for ages 12 and younger. Navigate your way through Marine Park. Learn how to use a map and compass for safe hiking, then try out your skills on an orienteering trail! See the website for all the Kids Week events.
See all the Monday events here.
All Weekend
The Little Match Girl at St. Lukes Theatre (Hell’s Kitchen) [sponsored]
Saturdays & Sundays 2p and Thursdays 8p until February 23rd. Tickets start at $29.50. Running Time: 75 (no intermission). THE LITTLE MATCH GIRL, the iconic story by Hans Christian Anderson comes to life in this brand new musical adaptation. set to a contemporary score filled with soaring melodies. It’s New Years Eve, and the Little Match Girl is forced onto the streets to sell matches to support her family. Cold and alone, her wondrous imagination takes her away from the harsh realities and struggles of her daily life. Armed with match sticks and music, she finds the hope we all need.
35th Annual Half Moon New York Sword Ale (various locations)
Saturday February 15th 130p & 330p and Sunday February 16th 1230p, 1245p & 230p. Free. The 35th annual New York Sword Dance Festival (February 15-16) features 12 performing troupes from across the U.S. in an exciting weekend of free, family-friendly performances in public spaces in Brooklyn and Manhattan. The Festival will feature both mystical, stately longsword and vigorous rapper sword dancing, accompanied by live music . The dances are thought to have roots in ancient English rituals, traces of which can still be seen in these present-day displays of skill. See the website for all the event details.
Riddle of the Trilobites at New Victory Theater
Saturday-Sunday February 15th-16th 12n & 5p and Monday February 17th 2p. Additional performances ongoing until February 23rd. See website for the schedule. Tickets start at $17 (2/9 12n all tickets $25). For everyone 6 and up. Running Time: 80 minutes with no intermission. Travel way way way way way back in time! In this live, original musical, set 500 million years ago, all life dwells in one sea and trilobites rule the ocean floor. When young Aphra discovers that the fate of the entire trilobite kingdom rests on her shelled shoulders, she and her arthropod pals must solve the RIDDLE OF THE TRILOBITES before a sea change of epic proportions destroys their home. With humor, heart and eye-popping prehistoric puppetry, this underwater adventure shows us how we can leave our mark on the world when we dare to be brave.
La MaMa Kids: Folktales of Asia and Africa at The Downstairs @ La MaMa (Bowery)
Saturday February 15th 12n & Sunday February 16th 2p. Tickets: $15. For ages 6+. While she is making bread, the hostess discovers that she has guests. As they all wait for the dough to rise she tells them three stories using kitchen utensils to play the characters, in the style of found object puppetry. Audiences love to see egg beaters hop into cloth napkins to become Japanese sisters dressed in kimonos, or watch as a flour sifter becomes an old man, with a cookie cutter for a pet rabbit. Among the many notable characters are wooden salt and pepper shakers as sisters in “The Dragon with Five Heads” from Zimbabwe, 4 steak knives that become the wise man in the Japanese tale “The Lantern and The Fan,” and an unusual doughnut maker becomes the moon goddess disguised as an old women in “The Old Man and the Moon” from Myanmar. Children and adults delight in the imaginative use of everyday objects to portray the characters in the three stories. Folktales of Asia and Africa brings puppetry to its essence, in which common objects of daily use assume fantastic character through the artistry of puppetry and the puppeteer.
WonderSpark Puppets: The Case of the Missing Dinosaur at the 14th Street Y
Saturday-Sunday February 15th-16th 11a & 1p. General admission $12, Family Pack (4 seats) $30. Running time: 40 minutes. Recommended for ages 3+. A Dinosaur has gone missing, and only you can find it! Join detective Mystery Max as he searches for clues to find the missing dinosaur. The audience will sing songs and call out to help Max and solve the case. Themes include making friends, saying sorry, and the scientific method.
Lunar Zoo Year – Year of the Rat in Prospect Park Zoo
Saturdays-Sundays 10a-4p in February. Free with Zoo admission. Visit Prospect Park Zoo on February weekends to celebrate the festival of the new moon and animals of the Chinese Zodiac. Meet one of the tiniest rodents in the world, the Eurasian Harvest Mouse and learn how the Wildlife Conservation Society is helping animals in China and Southeast Asia. Special activities and a zodiac scavenger hunt will all be a part of the fun.
Alice in Wonderland at Puppetworks (Park Slope)
Saturdays-Sundays 1230p & 230p until April 5th. For 3y+. Admission for a Child is $10, an Adult $11. 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). Lewis Carroll’s English Adventure with an original song score. Adapted for Marionettes by Nicolas Coppola & Adam Kilgour.
Yeti, Set, Snow! at Swedish Cottage Marionette Theatre (Central Park)
Friday February 14th 1030a & 1130a, Saturday-Sunday February 15th-16th 11a & 1p, Monday-Friday February 17th-21st 11a, 1p & 3p and Saturday-Sunday February 22nd-23rd 11a & 1p. Tickets: $12 adult, $8 child. An original story and production from the Swedish Cottage Marionette Theatre, Yet, Set, Snow! is the story of a young girl named Widget, and her friend, Twig, who encounter a yeti named Pascetti on the first snow day of the winter season. Pascetti, who lives on a mountain top nearby, dislikes the snow. Through songs and snow day activities, Pascetti discovers not only that snow can be fun but also the value of friendship. Note: Accessibility Show Friday 1030a & 1130a. This show will have an ASL interpreter, reduced sound and the lights will be dimly kept on.
18th Annual Holiday Train Show at Grand Central Terminal (Midtown East)
Ongoing until February 23rd 2020. Free. Hours: Monday–Friday 8a–8p, Saturday and Sunday: 11a–6p. Closed for special events and major holidays. Every holiday season, the New York Transit Museum’s Grand Central Gallery plays host to a city within a city with the display of a miniature electric railroad running over, through, and beneath some of New York’s most magnificent landmarks. Celebrating its 18th year of operation, this beloved annual holiday exhibit features model trains traveling along a 34’ long, two-level, “O” gauge model train layout. This year’s exhibit is set against a mural designed by cartoonist Julia Wertz. Departing from a miniature replica of Grand Central Terminal, the Transit Museum’s collection of Lionel trains including Metro-North, Polar Express, and vintage subway train sets will dazzle the eyes of children and adults alike as they make their way past New York landmarks and on to the North Pole!
Holiday Express: All Aboard to Richard Scarry’s Busytown at New-York Historical Society (UWS)
Ongoing until February 23rd 2020. Museum hours: Tuesday-Thursday 10a-6p, Friday 10a-8p, Saturday 10a-6p & Sunday 11a-5p. Free with Museum admission. Holiday Express returns to New-York Historical this holiday season, reimagined to celebrate the 100th birthday of Busytown author and illustrator Richard Scarry. The installation showcases artwork and graphics of Scarry’s characters (like Huckle Cat and Lowly Worm!) from publisher Penguin Random House alongside Jerni Collection toys. Children and adults can also experience dynamic displays exploring the workings of the railroad, the services it provides, and the jobs required to keep people and goods moving.
Film Forum Jr. Matinee at the Film Forum (Lower East Side)
Saturdays-Sundays at 11a until March 15th. ALL TICKETS $9. Advance tickets on sale at the box office and online. Most programs appropriate for ages 5 and up. Classics For Kids and Their Families! February 15th-16th Guys and Dolls