NYC as Classroom
15 Best Places to Get Scientific with Kids in NYC
Posted on November 7th, 2008 by mommy
The bankers and the artists may get all the press, but NYC is a great city for science too. There are many wondrous places in New York where kids can soak up, explore and create scientific knowledge for themselves. From Science Museums, Programs, Shops and more, we've rounded up the best places for kids to get scientific in New York City. Read more »
Little Naturalists: Playing with Seeds
Posted on August 13th, 2008 by Leslie Day 
The Reason For a Flower by Ruth Heller is one of my favorite children’s books. It teaches us that “the reason for a flower is to manufacture seeds.” My last post was Wildflowers Everywhere, well those beautiful spring flowers have produced many interesting fruit. Fruit is the part of the plant that holds the seeds. Within all of these fruit are seeds you can collect.
Playing with seeds is fun! Collect a number of different fruit and seeds and have your children sort them, count them, draw them, contrast and compare their shapes and colors. Some of the seeds can be put in soil and they will germinate or grow right away. Some might need to be planted outside and go through one winter before they germinate. It’s fun to walk up to a tree and see what surprises are in store for you. But we are not the only ones who need and value fruit and seeds. Our city’s wildlife: seed eating birds, squirrels, chipmunks and other rodents depend upon the fruit and their seeds that our trees produce. Here are some fruit to look for in midsummer. Read more »
Little Naturalists: Wildflowers Everywhere
Posted on July 9th, 2008 by Leslie Day
Photos by Leslie Day
All summer long, New York City is filled with beautiful flowers and gorgeous scents. Mommy Poppins' resident naturalist Leslie Day has put together this guide of local wild flowers for you to look for as your explore your streets and parks and some background science so you can turn a walk in the park into a teachable moment.
Linden Tree Flowers (above)
Everywhere you go on the Upper West Side and on streets that have these lovely trees throughout the five boroughs, you smell the heavenly scent of linden tree flowers. Show your children the leafy bracts that each flower cluster is attached to. When the flowers produce seeds, these modified leaves carry the seed clusters to the ground like little helicopters. At night, when you emerge from the subway, you are greeted with this heady perfume. Follow your nose!
NYC Family Summer Fun Guide 2008
For many New Yorkers, as soon as the weather warms up, it signals a primordial urge to flee, but summer is one of the most fun times to be in New York. In the summer you can take advantage all the City has to offer — amazing beaches, gardens, pools, outdoor concerts and movies, events and activities. And much of it is completely free, turning New York in the summer into one big fest...and we don't mean a big "sweat-fest" — there's a million ways to stay cool and enjoy the summer in NYC with your family.
Whether you are visiting New York for the day, a week or hanging here with your kids for the whole summer, our Summer Fun Guide will tell you everything you need know to have an incredible summer right here in the city with the kids.
Be sure to check out our Free Fun Summer: A free activity a day for the entire summer!
Summer Concerts and Festivals
The Best Grown-Up Outdoor Music Festivals for Families
The Under(play)ground Music Scene
Free Outdoor Shakespeare for Families
Free Outdoor Movies at Waterside Plaza
Water Fun
Best Free and Cheap Swimming pools
Best New Swimming Pools for NYC Kids
Best Free Swimming Pools in Brooklyn
Top 5 Beaches Near NYC for a Family Daycation
5 Water Theme Parks Close to NYC
Best Water Playgrounds around NYC
Best Boat Rides for Families in NYC
Outdoor Fun
Four Excellent Summer Outings for NYC Kids
Where to discover wildflowers in NYC
Free Sports Programs in NYC Parks
Free Summer Sports Activities for Kids in NYC
Free Bike Rentals in Manhattan
Children Blossom at Free Brooklyn Botanic Garden Programs
Go Around to NYC's Nine Carousels
Indoor Activities
The Early Childhood Resource and Information Center
5 Museums You've Never Heard Of
Free Family Museum Programs:
Cool Stuff at the Queens Museum of Art
The Metropolitan Museum of Art
Tips for visiting the Metropolitan Museum of Art with Kids
Day Trips and Daycations
Long Island Farms to Visit with Kids
Farm Fun for City Kids at NY State County Fairs
Day Trips: Long Island's Best Parks
Four Ideas for Day Trips from NYC
Summer Family Travel
Top Resources for Family Travel
Taking a Babysitter on Vacation with You
How to bring your own water on the airplane
Neighborhood Outings and Expeditions Exploring the city is another great thing to do while the weather is warm. Just hop on the train or bus and head to a neighborhood you haven't been to before or would like to explore more. We've got loads of neighborhood outings and expeditions for you to explore in our Neighborhood Guide.
Summer Camps Just looking at all this make you exhausted? It's not too late to find a camp. Check out our Camp Guide.
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Indoor Activity: Lefferts Historic House
Posted on June 19th, 2008 by mommy
Reader, Carmen, submitted this great indoor activity tip. Thanks, Carmen!
Take a trip back to the late 1700's without ever leaving Brooklyn. The Lefferts House is one of a very small number of farmhouses to survive from Brooklyn's Dutch settlement period, over 300 years ago. This family-friendly destination features hands-on craft activities, a gardening program and furnished rooms to reflect daily life in the 18th century.
What my daughter and I enjoy best is the child's room, just off the entrance. Here, young ones can dress as they did on days past, play 'I Spy', color a mural, and play with toys and games from that time. Read more »
Little Naturalists: Tragedy for Red Tailed Hawks
Posted on June 3rd, 2008 by mommy
Mom in New Nest
This year, as Mother’s Day dawned I awoke with a sense of anxiety. The red-tail hawk babies had not been seen in the nest for 2 days. I received email after email Saturday afternoon and evening from hawk-watching friends that the parents were bringing food into the nest, but no little white heads popped up; no perfect little hawk-shaped beaks opened. I emailed my friends Lincoln Karim and Beth Bergman, both professional photographers and passionate hawk and nature watchers, saying that I would run to the nest early Sunday morning. At 7am I raced out of the boat with my binoculars and up to Riverside Park to the nest tree, a honey locust standing along the on-ramp to the northbound West Side Highway. There I ran into Cal Vornberger, a renowned urban wildlife photographer (The Birds of Central Park). Together we looked up and saw the mother hawk but no babies. Read more »
Little Naturalists see Nature All Around in NYC
Posted on April 28th, 2008 by mommy
You don't have to move to the suburbs to experience nature right in your own backyard. Here in New York City we have more nature all around us than most people realize. I asked Leslie Day, author of Field Guide to the Natural World of New York City, to give NYC parents some ideas for how to find, experience and learn about nature with kids in New York. Read her article below for NYC nature activities; and I highly recommend her book, with detailed information on the flora and fauna of NYC and where you can find them, as an excellent resource to help you get more nature out of NYC with kids! Read more »
Real Grown Up Art Exhibits That Kids Will Like Too
Posted on March 13th, 2008 by mommy
We all love a good kiddie show. Sure. But every once in a while it's great to go to a real grown up museum and see real art and remember what it feels like to have a full working brain, and speak a sentence that has more than three words and isn't about scrambled eggs.
Through some confluence of the gods there happens to be quite a few art exhibits running right now (real art exhibits in real museums) that not only can you get away with bringing your kids to, but they might actually really enjoy. Art exhibits where children will experience them on a kid level and you can enjoy them on another level with that part of your brain you'd forgotten you had.
Below is a summary of 5 different art exhibits worth checking out??”for yourself and with your kids: Read more »
Psst. Pass it on: StoryCorps
Posted on March 10th, 2008 by mommy
If you've walked through Grand Central Station or in lower Manhattan's Foley Square, you may have seen the StoryCorps booth sitting there and wondered what it is for.
What is Story Corps? Here's what the website says:
StoryCorps is an independent nonprofit project whose mission is to honor and celebrate one another??™s lives through listening.
By recording the stories of our lives with the people we care about, we experience our history, hopes, and humanity. Since 2003, tens of thousands of everyday people have interviewed family and friends through StoryCorps. Each conversation is recorded on a free CD to take home and share, and is archived for generations to come at the Library of Congress. Millions listen to our award-winning broadcasts on public radio and the Internet. StoryCorps is one of the largest oral history projects of its kind, creating a growing portrait of who we really are as Americans.
Read more »
Video Post: The Museum of Money
Posted on January 27th, 2008 by mommyThe Museum of American Finance just opened last weekend in Lower Manhattan. Mommy Poppins and Co. went to check it out and see if it was cool for kids. Watch our video post to find out. Read more »
The Happiest Baby on the Block - The New Way to Calm Crying and Help Your Baby Sleep Longer (DVD)
