Observed
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.
Like what you see? Subscribe to Mommy Poppins through RSS or our free email newsletter and never miss out on all the great stuff going on for kids in NYC.
Linkin' Logs: Everything you should have read last week
Posted on March 2nd, 2008 by mommy
Remember when you had time to sit down and read the paper? It almost seems like that was someone else doesn't it? We thought it would be great to create a weekly round-up of the best kid-related articles in the NY media. Want to share a link? Leave it in the comments or if you want to contribute to next week's round-up send me an email.
Celebrate The Romance of Childhood
Posted on February 8th, 2008 by Nina
In between the fish sticks and temper tantrums we sometimes forget about the romance of childhood. Their joy and fascination with incredibly simple things (like my daughter's recent discovery of scotch tape) or those moments when they are so incredibly empathatic that your can feel your heart breaking. Take some time out this Valentines Day to celebrate the beautiful small moments of being a child by introducing your kids to some classics: Read more »
Vote - Si Se Puede!
Posted on February 5th, 2008 by Nina
Taking your child with you to vote is a great way to teach them about the importance of active citizenship. Read more »
What you need to know about your kids and the internet
Posted on January 21st, 2008 by mommy
Frontline, the PBS documentary news show, is doing an episode tonight about how children today are growing up online. Even though many Mommy Poppins readers have younger children, even some of the preschoolers are starting to go online and I know my 8 year old is starting to Google search for things and look at youtube.
It does concern me because I know how easy it is for ME to have some unwelcome image pop up from an innocent search and it's scary to think what she might accidentally stumble upon.
Growing Up Online focuses on teenagers and the kinds of things that they re doing online that might get them in trouble as well as some of the myths that parents are worried about, like sexual predators. Some of the issues that are discussed are cyber-bullying, uploading sexual images and the different information kids can find online that could be destructive. But, for me, the theme of the show was about how the internet is forcing parents to let go and acknowledge how little control we (will) have over our children and how little we may know about their lives. Read more »
Being a Good Mom Can Make Your Kids Healthier Adults
Posted on January 8th, 2008 by mommy
Apparently hugging and kissing your children is important for more than just making them feel better after getting boo boos. New science is showing that being a nurturing parent could keep them from getting serious illnesses as adults.
A most incredible NOVA episode on PBS called Ghost in Your Genes gave a huge insight into how the environmental effects of our lives, including our prenatal experience and how nurturing our mother was, can actually affect our health and even the health of our grandchildren.
I can't describe half the things that it talked about because it was so dense and informative, but here are a couple of summary thoughts: Read more »
Are you an alpha-alfalfa mom?
Posted on January 3rd, 2008 by mommy
How often do you fantasize about escaping the rat race, moving to the country and spending your days making fresh bread and jam from the berries in your garden?
Every time I start to dream about this I have to do the ol' reality check and make sure my fantasy accurately depicts the garden that I haven't weeded in weeks, the mice that I can't ever seem to get rid of, and the pile of stinking compost on the kitchen counter; because I know myself and, even in the country, I'd be so busy doing 20 million things that all that stuff I idealized about slowing down and doing just wouldn't get done.
There's a new breed of uber-moms - they're the ones who are working their hineys off to live and raise their family in most the ultra sustainable, non-materialistic, anti-consumer, locavore way. And it ain't no picnic, folks. It's a blood sport. Read more »
The Terrible Twos are nothing compared to the F*ing Fours
Posted on September 20th, 2007 by mommy
One of the freaky things about having kids is that you'll be tooling along in your life when, WHAMM!, they'll say or do something that just knocks your socks off and makes everything stop. If you're lucky, you're not too self-obsessed with blogging or reading headlines on I Can Has Cheezburger to notice and you do stop and appreciate the moment and figure out what's really going on in those little brains. This happened to me this weekend.
While I was very busy in the front of the car doing something important like thinking of soup taglines, a little voice chirped up from the back seat. It said something like this:
"You know, I really understand why J is having such a hard time being four. Because I remember when I was four and I had to grow up a lot and go to big kid school and do a lot of stuff for myself and J was just born so he was a baby and got to have everything done for him and I was jealous and it was hard."
OK so her grammar was probably better than my recounting of it, but that was the gist of it. Read more »
How To Teach Kids Manners with Cartoons
Posted on June 29th, 2007 by mommy
When we were looking for eCards for Father's Day, we discovered hoops and yoyo on Hallmark.com. Hoops and yoyo are an animated cat and bunny that sound like the kids from South Park and sport an edgy sense of humor. They have a bunch of funny eCards for different occasions, but now my kids just want to go back and watch the animations. Poking around their site we found these Manners Matter with hoops and yoyo animations. Read more »
Won't Someone Think of the Children!
Posted on March 23rd, 2007 by mommy
Which of these scary AG doll clones is the real doll?
Read the story of six year old Etta (via Consumerist), who was coldly turned away by American Girl Place's hair salon because her doll was a Tarjay "fake" and you can't help but feel a little weepy. But, read the comments written in to her mom's blog post about the incident and you can't help but get a little chuckle.
I am insulted that American Girl did this, That's even less class than Macy's has!!!
Read more »
The Happiest Baby on the Block - The New Way to Calm Crying and Help Your Baby Sleep Longer (DVD)
