100 things to do with your kids in NY before they grow up

Posted on January 2nd, 2008 by mommy

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It’s New Year’s, time to set goals and contemplate how we can make this year different from the year before. This year I want to focus on spending more meaningful time with my children and do more to take advantage of living in New York. To that end, I have created what I call a Life List for Raising NYC Kids.

A life list is a list of things you want to achieve in your lifetime. This life list is all the things I hope to experience with my kids in New York before they grow up. Not just the stuff that is fun to do, but the stuff that I think will be important to do with them. The things that will shape them and be formative in their experience as little New Yorkers. The things that they will remember as adults and cherish as part of the cool experience of growing up in New York.

Now, off I go to wring every drop of goodness from that damp, dirty rag that is New York City…

Life List for NYC Kids
(or 100 things to do with your kids before they grow up)

  1. Visit the NY Hall of Science
  2. Go on an audition just for the heck of it
  3. Wave to the cameras on The Today Show
  4. Have tea at the Plaza
  5. Ride the Shark Boat
  6. Climb the Statue of Liberty
  7. Ride the row boats in Central Park
  8. Go to Dylan’s Candy Bar
  9. Go to Economy Candy
  10. Get locked up at the Police Museum
  11. Go kayaking on the hudson
  12. Take the ferry to Sandy Hook beach
  13. Ride a horse-drawn carriage in Central Park
  14. Have dim sum in Brooklyn’s Chinatown
  15. Go hiking in the Staten Island Greenbelt
  16. See the new Liberty Science Center
  17. Go fishing in the East River
  18. Go on a fishing boat from Sheepshead Bay
  19. See the money train at the Transit Museum
  20. Go to the Brooklyn Children’s Museum
  21. Get a taste of country life at the Queens Farm Museum
  22. Ride on a tug boat
  23. Sail on the historic schooner Pioneer
  24. Sail in the hudson
  25. Take a helicopter ride
  26. ride the Cyclone before it’s gone
  27. Grab the ring at the Coney Island carousel
  28. Spend my wad at Dave and Buster’s Arcade
  29. march in the Mermaid Parade
  30. Go to a Brooklyn Cyclone’s game
  31. Fulfill a child’s wish through operation santa claus
  32. See the ballet
  33. Watch a dress rehearsal of an opera at the Met
  34. Sleep over at the Bronx Zoo
  35. See the unicorns at the Cloisters
  36. Go horseback riding
  37. Go sledding in Central Park
  38. Cross-country ski down a city street
  39. Bike across the Brooklyn Bridge and get ice cream at the Brooklyn Ice Cream Factory
  40. Take the Roosevelt Island Tram
  41. See the piano dancers at FAO
  42. Visit the Sony Wonder Technology Lab
  43. Children’s Museum of Manhattan
  44. Children’s Museum of the Arts
  45. Sketch at Metropolitan Museum of Art
  46. Stargaze at the Hayden Planetarium
  47. See the rest of the AMNH after the dinosaurs and mammals
  48. Visit the top of the Empire State Building
  49. Take an art class at the MoMA
  50. Chinese Scholar’s Garden in Staten Island
  51. Cherry Blossom Festival at the Brooklyn Botanic Garden
  52. Holiday Train Show at NY Botanical Garden
  53. Check out the Queens Zoo
  54. See the wandering wallabies at the Prospect Park Zoo
  55. Watch a movie under the stars
  56. Madame Tussauds
  57. Try all the flavors at the Chinatown Ice Cream Factory
  58. Look up relatives in Ellis Island
  59. Visit new waterside playground in Chelsea
  60. Get colonial at the Fraunces Tavern Museum
  61. Do a medieval workshop at Cathedral of St John the Divine
  62. The Lower East Side Tenement Museum
  63. See the rollerbladers perform in Central Park (just West of the Sheep’s Meadow)
  64. Fly a kite on the Sheep Meadow
  65. See Shakespeare in the Park
  66. Going biking on Governor’s Island
  67. Find the secret Downing Street Playground in the Village
  68. Explore Battery Park City Parks from the South Cove to Penny Park
  69. Ride the Staten Island Ferry
  70. Have knishes and egg creams at Yonah Schimmel’s
  71. See the giant buddha in the Mahayana temple
  72. The Skyscraper Museum
  73. Play vintage video games at The Museum of Moving Image
  74. The Museum of the American Indian
  75. Buy comic books at Forbidden Planet
  76. Free concert in Madison Square Park and Get lunch at the Shake Shack
  77. Buy flowers from the flower district
  78. Buy wholesale toys in the wholesale district (27th and 6th)
  79. Swing Clubs at the Chelsea Piers Driving Range
  80. Climb the rock wall on Broadway
  81. Visit the Science Barge
  82. Visit the Intrepid
  83. Test out the Whispering Gallery at Grand Central
  84. Coney Island Arcade
  85. Cook our own food in a Korean restaurant
  86. Sail boats on the boat pond in Central park
  87. Billy Johnson Rustic Playground in Central Park
  88. Explore Belvedere Castle
  89. Medieval Festival in Fort Tryon Park
  90. Ride the carousel in Bryant park
  91. See the to scale panorama of the City of New York at the Queens Museum of Art
  92. Get Egyptian at the Brooklyn Museum of Art
  93. See the new Greeks and Romans at the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
  94. Go ice skating in Prospect Park
  95. Riverbank State Park carousel
  96. See the holiday lights in Dyker Heights
  97. Take a trapeze lesson
  98. See the Macy’s Thanksgiving Parade balloons get inflated
  99. Watch the circus elephants march into town
  100. Swim in the floating barge pool

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Filed under: By Age: Baby, By Age: Big Kids, By Age: Little Kids, By Age: Toddler, Indoor Activities, Outdoor Activities

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14 Responses to “100 things to do with your kids in NY before they grow up”

  1. izzy's mama, on January 2nd, 2008 at 10:08 am Said:

    Great idea for starting the New Year. I have wanted to make a list like this (though not quite as comprehensive and with appropriate eats nearby!)

  2. Kelcey at the mama bird diaries, on January 2nd, 2008 at 10:49 am Said:

    Girl, when do you sleep?! This is awesome.

  3. Mommy Poppins, on January 2nd, 2008 at 12:01 pm Said:

    Izzy’s Mama,
    Yum. I want a where to eat with kids in NY life list. Please, if you ever do that let’s cross post!

  4. Lindsey, on January 2nd, 2008 at 12:41 pm Said:

    Hey Mommy Poppins and Izzy’s Mama,
    Great post!! I can’t wait to get started.

    Time Out Kids has an awesome list of kid eats. Check it out here:
    http://www.timeout.com/newyork/kids/articles/features/10703/best-in-chow

  5. Roosevelt Island 360 (Eric), on January 2nd, 2008 at 5:50 pm Said:

    For those of you that take your kids on the Roosevelt Island Tram (#40) try to schedule in some extra time to walk down to Southpoint Park to throw a frisbee around, have a picnic, etc and give your kids a 360 degree view of Manhattan and Queens from one of the few undeveloped pieces of land left in NYC.

    And if you come by during the Summer watch for our Saturday Night Summer Movie series on that same stretch of land where you can watch movies with the Manhattan skyline lit up at night. This way you can knock out # 55 as well

    http://rooseveltisland360.blogspot.com/2007/08/my-first-southpoint-movie-experience.html

  6. Kristy Glass, on January 3rd, 2008 at 8:20 am Said:

    Well, 21 off of your list is pretty good with my oldest being 5! Thanks for all the new ideas!

    #33-I tried to see H and G’s dress rehearsal but it was mis-advertised. They had already given away all seats to school groups….so not sure how doable that one is to the average mommy joe and her kids….do you know any insider info on that?

  7. Lori, on January 3rd, 2008 at 9:59 am Said:

    What a great list!! Here’s my submission….

    Go on the Uptown Treasures Tour!! This is FREE (for the bus that takes you around to 8 northern Manhattan attractions) and offered in the Fall.

    101. Climb up the High Bridge Water Tower to the top floor and take in the views of the Harlem River. Just 174 steps up the spiral staircase and great foto opps, esp. of the stairs and views. This is only open on select days, one of them the Uptown Treasures Tour day.

    102. Tour the Morris Jumel Mansion. George Washington’s headquarters during the Revolutionary War. www.morrisjumel.org

    103. Visit the Dyckman Farmhouse Museum on Uptown Treasures tour day and press your own fresh apple cider. www.dyckmanfarmhouse.org

    www.uptowntreasures.org

    Since I’m only living here for a short time, we’ve had to fast-forward our visits to the various places on the list and we’ve seen lots of things in the city that never sleeps. Happy New Year!

  8. mommy, on January 3rd, 2008 at 1:59 pm Said:

    The High Bridge sounds really cool. Great off the beaten track tips. Thanks!

  9. Alyson, on January 3rd, 2008 at 9:28 pm Said:

    Hi There!
    I like your site & energy, but have a HUGE suggestion. Because many of us get way too much email, you should TITLE each of your many many emails. That way, no searching need be done. I’d look and see:

    Mommy Poppins - 100 Things To Do List

    for example and be able to differentiate from the other emails from you I haven’t been able to get to yet and may just erase in a clump out of time frustration.

    It may take you a couple more seconds, but would be deeply appreciated by your readers. Urban Baby and Daily Candy Kids both do that already.

    Happy New Year,

    Alyson

  10. mommy, on January 10th, 2008 at 10:24 pm Said:

    Alyson,
    I know…this has been an issue and a bunch of people brought it up in our reader survey. The service I use doesn’t allow this. I’ve tried. I need ot switch to a different service. I will look into that as soon as I get the site design totally finished. Promise.

  11. Mommy Poppins—Get more out of NYC for kids -- Activities, education, outings, excursions, free stuff and resources for kids in New York, on January 15th, 2008 at 9:40 pm Said:

    […] Popular Posts 100 Things to Do With Your Kids in NY Before They Grow Up […]

  12. Mom101, on January 26th, 2008 at 4:47 pm Said:

    Absolutely wonderful list! I’d add (unless I missed it?) take a walk over the Brooklyn Bridge and have a pizza at Grimaldi’s, and an ice cream at the B’klyn Ice Cream Factory.

  13. Mommy Poppins—Get more out of NYC for kids -- Activities, outings, excursions, camps, free stuff and resources for kids in New York, on March 17th, 2008 at 7:53 am Said:

    […] Popular Posts 100 Things to Do With Your Kids in NY Before They Grow Up […]

  14. j. anderson, on May 18th, 2008 at 10:32 pm Said:

    i love everything on this list except the horse-drawn carriages and the circus. i want to teach my children to be respectful and kind to animals, and those two operations do not cut it.

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