Hi everyone! I hope you are able to enjoy the lovely Spring weather today and you are ready for another fun weekend in NYC!
This weekend check out L.O.S. Kids: From the New World! – Dvořák in America, Irish Arts Center: St. Patrick’s Open Day, New York International Children’s Film Festival, Trash to Treasure at Brooklyn Children’s Museum, MoMath: Pi Day 2021, Nature’s Workshop: Creating Music from Nature in Fort Greene Park, Layer the Walls: Goldine’s Story – A Puppet Show About Immigration, The Jewish Museum: Joanie Leeds, Club CMA with Mackie: Georgia O’Keeffe Watercolors, Just Kidding – ScreenPLAY: Look Up: A Hot Air Balloon Adventure, NYPL: Online Family Storytime at West Farms, Nature Craft with Angel – Make Your Own Bird Feeder Ornaments and “Wildman” Steve Brill Foraging Tour in Marine Park.
Don’t forget about long running events like Reflect at Domino Park, Aladdin & the Wonderful Lamp at Puppetworks, the Spineless Exhibit at The New York Aquarium, Holiday Express: Toys and Trains from the Jerni Collection at New-York Historical Society Museum and The Nature of Color Exhibit at the American Museum of Natural History.
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.
Have a fabulous time this weekend and don’t forget to change your clocks!
~ Deirdre (mom to O & C)
Friday March 12th
New York International Children’s Film Festival (virtual)
Daily until March 14th. Single View voucher — $18 good for a single viewing of any program, on demand, whenever you want. Also available are All Access Pass & All PLUS. See website for details. Join NYICFF March 5th-14th—100% online—for premieres, special guests, and more. The 2021 selection spotlights stories of kids discovering their cultural histories, defining their own identities, and shaping their futures by connecting with the past. This year’s Festival has so much to offer—all online and available nationwide for the first time! See the website for all the details on the films.
NYPL: Online Family Storytime at West Farms (virtual)
Friday March 12th 1130a. Free. Register here. Join us for a live, online program with songs, rhymes, and favorite read-aloud books as we show you that storytime is fun for the whole family. Ideal for caregivers with multiple-aged children. Storytime is a program for parents/caregivers and their children. Both the parent/caregiver and the child must be present during the entire program: unaccompanied adults or children will be asked to leave the program. When registering for this program, parents/caregivers should use their name and information–you don’t need a library card to participate!
Club CMA with Mackie: Georgia O’Keeffe Watercolors (virtual)
Friday March 12th 1p. Free with RSVP. For ages 5-7. Inspired by the intimate yet consuming work of artist Georgia O’Keeffe, artists will explore watercolor techniques and examine details to paint their own oversized flower portrait. CMA Teaching Artist Mackie Saylor leads her popular Club CMA with Mackie class as part of Free Fridays, which provide free access to our most popular CMA Live! classes while amplifying important community topics. See the website for the material list.
The Jewish Museum: Joanie Leeds (virtual)
Friday March 12th 3-4p. For ages 3 and up. YouTube Video Premiere. This performance is Free with RSVP, one ticket per household. YouTube link sent with RSVP. Hear the catchy and empowering tunes of Grammy Nominee Joanie Leeds as she performs All The Ladies, her 2020 release focusing on gender equality, female empowerment, and breaking glass ceilings. These folk tunes aim to inspire people of all ages and gender identities. On the biographical anthem “RBG,” Leeds showers praise on the beloved Supreme Court Justice and, in the fiddle driven “Anything,” reinforces that young girls can be what they want to be. Leeds’ music reminds listeners to be bold and true and to stay united while lifting each other up. Guest artist Jazzy Ash will share her swinging stylings, powerful vocals, and New Orleans inspired grooves during the concert with Leeds. Jazzy Ash will be joined by singer Pam Rocker. Produced by Grammy-award-winner Lucy Kalantari, All The Ladies is presented in conjunction with International Women’s Day and Women’s History Month.
See all the Friday events here.
Saturday March 13th
L.O.S. Kids: From the New World! – Dvořák in America (virtual) [sponsored]
The Little Orchestra Society’s 2020-2021 streamed season of L.O.S. KIDS continues on March 13th with Dvořák in America: From the New World.Now in a new streamed format, the innovative L.O.S. concert series is a fantastic way to introduce kids (ages 3-10) to great composers and help them develop a love of orchestral music right in their own homes. This year’s programs are bringing to life a Halloween-themed concert, Humperdinck’s Hansel & Gretel, the music of Dvořák, and Mussorgsky’s Pictures at an Exhibition for a new generation. Each program introduces the audience to composers as people, with selections from their most cherished works, ways in which their music is unforgettable, and fundamentals of music through audience participation. “From the New World! – Dvořák in America” is conducted by L.O.S. Artistic Advisor David Alan Miller. Each streamed concert features specially created videos and animations, performances by accomplished young soloists along with our professional orchestra, and an original script – all designed to enhance audience engagement with the orchestral music that is at the core of all L.O.S. performances. L.O.S. KIDS streamed concerts are available for the 2020-21 season with an L.O.S. Membership. Memberships begin at $199. For Membership details, visit littleorchestra.org/memberships
Trash to Treasure at Brooklyn Children’s Museum (Crown Heights)
Saturday-Sunday March 13th-14th at 10a & 2p. Free with Museum admission. Purchase timed entry tickets here. Transform trash into treasure this weekend celebrating upcycling, recycling, and all its creative possibilities. Become an engineer in our pop-up Land, Sea, and Air Makerspace, and respond to a design challenge to design a vehicle that flies, floats, or drives using recycled materials. Inspired by the work of Ghanaian artist El Anatsui, create a hanging sculpture out of natural and upcycled materials and contribute to a collaborative weaving using discarded plastic and fabric scraps in the ColorLab art studio. This weekend will spark visitors’ creativity to see the treasure potential in the trash around them!
Just Kidding – ScreenPLAY: Look Up: A Hot Air Balloon Adventure (virtual)
Saturday March 13th 11a. Tickets: $12 member, $15 non-member. Purchase tickets here. This super-interactive experience allows you to channel your household’s creativity into an inspiring work of participatory art, where you and your kids become part of the story. Get ready for an exciting at-home adventure from The Gottabees, the creators of the wildly fun, and always hilarious Squirrel Stole My Underpants. This super-interactive experience allows you to channel your family’s creativity into an inspiring work of participatory art, where you and your kids become part of the story through movement, puppetry, theater, and the irresistible power of being ridiculous. In this installment, kids climb aboard a hot air balloon, float among the clouds, and learn how to be a pilot and harness the wind. If the winds are just right, they might even have breakfast with a baby dragon. So clear some space at home, jump into your ZOOM square, and get ready for some fun! Please note that space for this event is limited. A link for the fun will be sent to your email the evening before the event.
Nature’s Workshop: Creating Music from Nature in Fort Greene Park
Saturday March 13th 1-2p. Free. Location: Fort Greene Park Visitor CenterThis winter, join the Urban Park Rangers for our Nature’s Workshop series as we explore a topic in-depth and allow you to develop a skill, participate in a hands-on project, and indulge your curiosity. Discover which trees and natural materials are used to build modern-day musical instruments. Participants may be designated an alternate estimated program start time due to capacity. Please see website for Covid-19 protocols.
Layer the Walls: Goldine’s Story – A Puppet Show About Immigration (virtual)
Saturday March 13th 1-2p. Free. Best for ages 7 and up. Layer the Walls began as a live theater piece that explores stories of a tenement apartment in New York City, that was once home to hundreds of new immigrants. This virtual episode explores the story of Goldine Zuckerman, a Jewish garment worker, who must decide if she is willing to risk it all to join an upcoming strike for workers’ rights. Told through shadow puppetry, this story highlights the power of coming together and how each of us can contribute to a larger goal. Following the performance there is a workshop in which viewers will learn the basics of mime and will use these new skills to explore and understand the daily realities of living in a tenement apartment. View the broadcast at 1 pm on the BPL Facebook page. This pre-recorded program will air on the BPL Facebook page and remain there for 12 hours, then will be taken down.
See all the Saturday events here.
Sunday March 14th
Nature Craft with Angel – Make Your Own Bird Feeder Ornaments (virtual)
Sunday March 14th 10-11a. Free. Best for ages 6+. Register here. Birds rely on a steady source of food throughout the seasons to survive cold nights, migration, and harsh winters. That’s exactly why this month’s Nature Crafts program will teach you how much fun it is to make your very own bird feeder ornaments to help feed the birds that may be traveling through your yard! Join Environmental Educator Angel Ehlers on this hands-on virtual journey, as she takes you through the easy process of making your own bird feeder from a few simple materials and ingredients. Angel will also teach you about some of the birds that you may be lucky enough to see visit your very own feeder in early Spring!
MoMath: Pi Day 2021 (virtual)
Sunday March 14th starting at 11a. Morning, afternoon, or evening: join us for pi throughout the day! Start your morning off right with some eye-opening pi… Click here to register for these two morning sessions: 11a: “Roping Around the World” and 1130a: “Why don’t we celebrate Phi Day?” 2:00 pm ET (New York): Who needs high tea when you can have pi glee? Click here to register for these two afternoon sessions. 2p: “Probably Pi?” 230p: “What is the value of Pi?” 6:00 pm ET (New York): Pi by night: BYOP…join Alex Kontorovich for an evening exploration — and bring your own (pizza) pi! Click here to register for this evening session.
“Wildman” Steve Brill Foraging Tour in Marine Park
Sunday March 14th 1145a (4 hour tour). Location: Ave. U and Burnett St, SE corner. The suggested donation is $20/adults, $10 for kids under 13. You may call (914) 835-2153 at least 24 hours beforehand to reserve a place or register online. This vastly under-appreciated park offers all the best wild foods of the rich seashore habitat, a great place for everyone to celebrate the beginning of the new growing season. The sandy soil is poor, limiting tree growth, but benefiting plants that can take advantage of the full sunlight, nutrient-poor soil, and relative lack of competition. Many of these species get a head start in late winter and early spring.
Irish Arts Center: St. Patrick’s Open Day 2021 (virtual)
Sunday March 14th 12n-3p. Free (donations accepted). Book ticket here. Irish Arts Center moves our annual open house online this year, with free samplers of our educational offerings for adults and kids alike, a variety of traditional music and dance performances, and a special puppetry workshop with Branar Téatar do Pháistí that will set you up for our community arts challenge this spring! See the website for the schedule of events.
See all the Sunday events here.
All Weekend
Aladdin & the Wonderful Lamp at Puppetworks (Park Slope)
Saturdays-Sundays 1230p & 230p until March 28th and also Wednesday-Friday at 4p. 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.
Reflect at Domino Park (Williamsburg)
Daily 8a-10p until April 15th. Free and open to the public. Reflect, by Jen Lewin, is an immersive, multi-sensory experience that takes inspiration from the dynamic patterns created by organic systems found in nature. Spanning 2,400 square feet, the sculpture consists of three concentric rings, each made up of interactive platforms that respond to visitors’ steps, triggering splashes of light that create an ever-changing composition. The installation will encourage New Yorkers to pause for a moment of reflection and discovery, and inspire connection as the city enters a new era of hope and revival. Reflect at Domino Park allows for multiple individuals to engage with the work simultaneously, while maintaining six feet of social distance, making it an ideal public artwork for this moment.
Ice Skating at Winter Village in Bryant Park
Skating hours daily 8a-10p until March 28th. 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.
Holiday Express: Toys and Trains from the Jerni Collection at the New-York Historical Society (UWS)
Ongoing until April 11, 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.
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.