Hi everyone! I hope the Mid Winter recess has been relaxing and you are ready for another fun weekend here in NYC.
This weekend check out BAMkids Film Festival 2021, Black Future Festival at Brooklyn Children’s Museum, Nature Exploration: Owl’s Head Park, Virtual Farmhouse Family Day: Bountiful Butter! with Wyckoff House Museum, Tales of Black Heritage from Around the World, 46th Annual Thunderbird American Dancers Dance Concert and Pow Wow, Black History Month: The Rhythms of Our Roots with Urban Stages, The Jewish Museum Virtual Art Workshop: Picture This! Purim Puppets, Kids Week: Pajama Party in Bryant Park, Con Edison’s Family Science Night, Tales of Black Heritage with Tammy Hall, Nature Scavenger Hunt in Juniper Valley Park, Virtual Kids Week with the Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum and Seal Watch in Lemon Creek Park.
Don’t forget about long running events like Aladdin & the Wonderful Lamp at Puppetworks, the Spineless Exhibit at The New York Aquarium, the The Nature of Color Exhibit at the American Museum of Natural History and the last weekend of the Holiday Express: Toys and Trains from the Jerni Collection at New-York Historical Society Museum.
These are just some of this weekend events so check the calendar to everything going on. Also like us on Facebook for last minute events and updates.
Stay warm, have fun & 30 days until Spring!
~ Deirdre (mom to O & C)
Friday February 19th
Kids Week: Pajama Party in Bryant Park
Friday February 19 920a-1230p. Free. Most programs are designed for kids ages 4-6, but all ages are welcomed. Friday February 19: Pajama Party ~ Dance the day away during our first ever Kids Week Pajama Party! Wear your coziest pjs on ice, make a dream catcher, and watch ice dancers from Ice Theater of New York perform a dream-like routine! See the website for the schedule of events.
Virtual Kids Week with the Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum
Friday February 19th streaming live from 10a-3p. Free. Register here. Kids Week at the Intrepid Museum is going VIRTUAL! Kids Week welcomes kids of all ages and interests to join us for online as the Museum hosts dozens of fun-filled demonstrations, live animal shows, hands-on workshops, musical performances and special guests that the whole family will enjoy. Through themed daily activities, kids can explore space and science, engage with the arts and music, and learn all about animals! Friday February 19th: Space & Science. See the website for the schedule of events.
Tales of Black Heritage from Around the World (virtual)
Friday February 19th 11a-12n. Free. RSVP here. Tales of Black Heritage from Around the World is a fantastic literary journey of stories from the African Diaspora. Storyteller, Tammy Hall, will lead you to many lands in Africa, the Caribbean, and the Americas with wit and wisdom.
Black History Month: The Rhythms of Our Roots with Urban Stages (virtual)
Friday February 19th 4-445p. Free. Youth and families, join Abou on a rhythmic journey from Africa to the US! Listen to the patterns and beats that have moved around the world and been passed down through generations, and then get a chance to try them yourselves. By the end of the workshop, the whole family will be able to drum along using common household objects. Watch live on the Queens Public Library Facebook page.
See all the Friday events here.
Saturday February 20th
BAMkids Film Festival 2021 (virtual)
Saturday-Sunday February 20th-28th virtual. For kids 3-11y. Purchase tickets to individual film programs (starting at $5) or watch all of this year’s films with a with a festival pass (starting at $30). See the website for all the details. Brooklyn’s favorite film festival for kids bursts into the digital space with nine days of family-friendly shorts, interactive arts workshops, performances, dance parties, and more opportunities for families to get creative together! BAM is continuing the local and international partnerships that make this festival special, year after year. International curators offer six programs of superb, imaginative short films from 28 different countries. The incredible dancers of Pilobolus and MOVE|NYC| share their artistry and invite you to join in from home. Teaching artists from BRIC and BAM Education guide your family through interactive arts activities. BAM is partnering with the Colorscapes app to create digital coloring games, as well as offering, digital coloring pages. Plus, BAM is adding a well-earned emphasis on wellness with yoga and somatic breathing workshops for both kids and adults. See the website for details on the films.
Black Future Festival at Brooklyn Children’s Museum (Crown Heights)
Saturday-Sunday February 20th-21st at 10a & 2p. Free with Museum admission. Reserve your timed entry ticket here. Join us for a weekend of reflection and future-forward fun inspired by the national celebration of peoples of the African Diaspora and Black History Month. Àṣẹ Dance Theater Collective will be sharing an interactive dance performance to spark the creative possibilities of a brighter future. In our ColorLab art studio we’ll be making future goggles and creating a community time capsule to record our future dreams and hopes. Learn more about the Black visionaries who help shape a bright future for us all!
Nature Scavenger Hunt in Juniper Valley Park
Saturday February 20th 12n-1p. Free. Location: 80th Street Entrance. Urban Park Rangers connect children with nature to encourage active exploration of the natural world. While nearly all of our programs are family-friendly, this program is specifically designed for young children and families. Get to know the park by hunting for some common and uncommon objects and artifacts. Fun for all ages and a great way to learn more about your park. See the website for Covid-19 protocols.
Virtual Farmhouse Family Day: Bountiful Butter! with Wyckoff House Museum
Saturday February 20th 1-2p. Free. Join Family Programs Coordinator Chloe every third Saturday for step-by-step instructions of our hands-on activity of the month. For our February Farmhouse Family Day From Home, we will be churning our own butter using simple household ingredients. Find out what the Wyckoff family might have used to churn butter in the 1600s as we explore the historical significance of everyone’s favorite dairy product. Get a taste of the farm life as we teach you how to churn your own butter – and why it was such a staple on the Wyckoff farm. We’ll be posting video instructions as well as step-by-step photo slides on Facebook, Instagram and Youtube, so you can follow along at your own pace, beginning at 1:00 p.m.
46th Annual Thunderbird American Dancers Dance Concert and Pow Wow (virtual)
Saturday February 20th 7-830p. $5 general admission. Supplemental donations will be gratefully accepted. Ticketing available here! Recommended for all ages. Theater for the New City will present its 46th annual Thunderbird American Dancers Dance Concert and Pow Wow live-streamed from the Johnson Theater, on February 20, 2021 from 7:00 PM to 8:30 PM. This “virtual Pow-Wow” will be accessible from TNC’s website, www.theaterforthenewcity.net, and available there on-demand until February 28, 2021. There will be dances, stories, and traditional music from Native Peoples of the Northeast, Southwest, and Great Plains regions. The event, emceed by Bessie-winner Louis Mofsie (Hopi/Winnebago), has become a treasured New York tradition for celebrating our diversity by honoring the culture of our first Americans. TNC donates all proceeds from this event to college scholarship funds for Native American students.
See all the Saturday events here.
Sunday February 21st
The Jewish Museum Virtual Art Workshop: Picture This! Purim Puppets
Sunday February 21st 10-11a. Ages 3 and up. Free with RSVP. RSVP for Zoom link, one ticket per family. Zoom information will be sent with email confirmation. Join us for a virtual family tour and art-making experience inspired by our popular Picture This! series designed as an at-home opportunity for families. Discover the story of Purim through whimsical objects, striking masks, and imaginative groggers created by artists in the Jewish Museum’s collection. Get inspired and design your own playful puppet for the holiday or invent your own character using fabric, cardboard, and other materials you find at home.
Seal Watch in Lemon Creek Park (Staten Island)
Sunday February 21s 10a-12n. Free. Registration is required. To register, please visit the Urban Park Rangers registration here. Winter is an amazing time of year to observe seals in Raritan Bay. You may be surprised by what looks like a rock in the distance, is actually a healthy seal. New York City is home to an amazing abundance of wildlife. Our Urban Park Rangers will guide you to the best wildlife viewing spots in the urban jungle. Exploration Series focuses on unique wildlife viewing opportunities during particular seasons. See the website for Covid-19 protocols.
Nature Exploration: Owl’s Head Park
Sunday February 21st 11a-12n. Free. Location: 68th Street and Colonial Road. On this moderately-paced hike, discover the nature of Owl’s Head Park. We recommend wearing comfortable shoes or boots. See the website for Covid-19 protocols.
Tales of Black Heritage with Tammy Hall (virtual)
Sunday February 21st 1-145p. Free. Register here. Join us for Tales of Black Heritage from Around the World with Master Storyteller, Tammy Hall. This program is a fantastic literary journey of stories filled with wit and wisdom from the lands wherever Black people call home whether it’s the Mother Land, Africa or Jamaica, or Venezuela, or Australia, or America.
Con Edison’s Family Science Night (virtual)
Sunday February 21st 1-2p. Free. Registration required. Register here. Join us for Con Edison’s Virtual edition of Family Science Night. These science experiments and activities are perfect for an evening of family fun and learning together. Each registrant will receive a take home science kit and links to instructional videos created by our very own Greenbelt Educators.
See all the Sunday events here.
All Weekend
Aladdin & the Wonderful Lamp at Puppetworks (Park Slope)
Friday February 19th 1230p & 230p and Saturdays-Sundays 1230p & 230p until March 28th. Tickets: Children $10 each, Adults $11 each (suggested for ages 3 and up). Aladdin & the Wonderful Lamp from “1,001 Arabian Nights”. Adapted for Marionettes by Nicolas Coppola. Call for Reservations: 718-965-3391 or e-mail to: puppetworksinfo@gmail.com NO same day e-mail reservations please. Performances are @ 25% Capacity, Masks Required.
Holiday Express: Toys and Trains from the Jerni Collection at New-York Historical Society Museum (UWS)
Ongoing until February 21, 2021. Free with Museum admission. Purchase timed entry tickets here. Hours are Fridays 11a-8p, Saturdays-Sundays 11a-5p. Friday 10-11a is for Members and age 65+ and immunocompromised. A magical wonderland awaits visitors with the return of this holiday tradition. Featuring toy trains, figurines, and miniature models from the renowned Jerni Collection, Holiday Express transports young and old alike to a bygone era. The installation includes a variety of toy train stations dating from the turn of the 19th century to the WWII era, showcasing the evolving designs of American and European toymakers. New to the display this year are Marklin’s Onion Dome Station and Grand Station (1904–08). Visitors are greeted by animations and fun facts about the toys on nearby screens, and kids will be delighted by a specially created bench inspired by a sleigh in New-York Historical’s collection.
Ice Skating at Winter Village in Bryant Park
Skating hours daily 8a-10p until March 7th. Admission is free. Skating rental vary by day. Reservations must be made in advance. See website for all the information on skating & the shops. Bryant Park is Manhattan’s winter wonderland. Enjoy New York City’s only free admission ice skating rink, the Holiday Shops, and rinkside eats and drinks at The Lodge Deck.
Indoor Exhibits Open at Brooklyn Children’s Museum (Crown Heights)
Museum hours Saturdays-Sundays are 10a-1p & 2-5p. Museum admission: $13 per person (children under 1 free). Purchase your advanced timed entry tickets online. Play Sessions are Saturdays & Sundays at are 10a-1p and 2-5p. The Museum is closed between 1pm-2pm for cleaning. ColorLab Workshops are one hour long and take place on weekends within Play Sessions. During the AM Play Session (10a-1p), your ColorLab Workshop takes place between 1145-1245p. During the PM Play Session (2-5p), your workshop takes place between 215p-315p. Before and after your workshop you are free to play in the exhibits during Play Session hours. See our ColorLab page for more information on art workshops. Masks required. See website for all the details.
Brooklyn Public Library Vitural Storytimes
Daily usually at 11a & 2p. Free. Sometimes the storytimes are on the Brooklyn Public Library Family facebook page and other times they are on a specific branch facebook page. See the website for all the details.
The Nature of Color Exhibit at American Museum of Natural History (UWS)
Museum is open Wednesdays-Sundays with timed entry tickets are available 10a-4p (museum closes 530p). Exhibit is open until March 8, 2021. Select a General Admission + One or General Admission + All ticket, choose date and time of entry to the Museum, then select The Nature of Color. Reserve tickets here. Our world is awash in color. Color makes the world feel vibrant and alive. But that’s not all. Color helps us make sense of the world. It contains vast amounts of information—about the natural world, and the human world. Come and explore the world of color in this immersive exhibition.
Spineless Exhibit at The New York Aquarium (Coney Island)
Daily 10a-330p (park closes 430p) until March 2021. Admission included with ticket. All visitors must reserve a date-specific ticket in advance. Please check Know Before You Go for details. We have great news: The New York Aquarium is reopening on August 27! Buy tickets to see all of your favorite marine animals today and enjoy summer on Coney Island! Explore Spineless, our latest exhibit, and marvel and the jellies, octopus, and more. Come wave hello to Erie the sea lion and Murphy the Harbor Seal. Relax in Ocean Wonders: Sharks! and watch the rays, sharks, and turtles.
Children’s Museum of Manhattan at Home
CMOM is now open Wednesday-Sunday 10a-5p. CMOM at Home is still ongoing. Activities are sent in a daily email newsletter. CMOM can still be a part of your day through videos, sing-a-longs, games and so much more for you to do together with your family at home! Sign up for emails here. From slime-making, dance parties and being transported to Japan with a recipe for sushi, to making animal puppets from recycled materials around the house, creating a bedtime routine and storytimes, “CMOM at Home” is sure to delight. Each day of the week will feature a different theme: Magical Monday, Move & Grove Tuesday, Our World Wednesday, Artsy Thursday, Feel Good Friday, Storytime Saturday and Surprise Sunday.