Winter Break has officially begun for many of us in the New York area, and if you’re not off to the beach or the mountains, don’t fret…and don’t stay home! There’s plenty going on in and around New York City. Many museums in the NYC suburbs offer special events and programs during Presidents week. And many places in NYC offer Winter Break events as well. Don’t feel trapped by the monotony of no school days – below are some Winter Break city highlights to help you have fun with the kids during this weeklong recess.
February 20-25
Every year the Intrepid puts on their wildly popular KidsWeek, a weeklong festival of special activities designed for Winter Break. This year’s theme is The Science of Art & Games. Let the games begin! Learn all about how games are designed and the role the imagination plays in the development of them. Through interactive displays you can play cutting-edge digital games as well as design your own games. Special guests will offer performances, demonstrations and activities. For a full calendar of events see the link above.
February School Vacation Week at the New York Historical Society
February 18-26
Each year the New York Historical Society has a week of special programming for Presidents Week. Come learn about our nation’s history and our Founding Fathers and Founding Mothers. Search for objects and images on a special presidential hunt throughout the museum in the Presidential Scavenger Hunt (all day). Have fun making arts and crafts at Presidential Crafts (1-3). Presidents Day itself, February 20th, is the Presidents Day Family Trivia Spectacular. Test your knowledge of U.S. History – for all ages – and prizes included!
Boogie Down Break Week at the Children’s Museum of Manhattan
February 18-25
The Children’s Museum of Manhattan does something super-fun each year for Winter Break. This year it is all about celebrating dance, music and community. Get down and shake your booty in their popular Dance Party series, including Pop, Rock ‘n Roll and Latin music. In Game Changers your little engineers can design their own playground game. And create an imaginary machine, along with other participants, in Make Me a Machine (pre-sign-up required 1 hour before in the lobby).
***
If you’d like additional ideas for things to do with the kids, see my Top 10 Family Attractions in Manhattan as well as my Top 5 Family Attractions in the Bronx. All kids love experimenting with science at the fabulous New York Hall of Science, and for some train and subway fun the under-the-radar New York Transit Museum is always a hit. Finally, one of our favorite things we’ve recently done is catch the amazing views at One World Observatory as well as walk around the beautiful Oculus.
Enjoy the break wherever your adventures may lead you!
Has to be the boogie down sessions for me. What a fun idea.
Author
Dance parties are always the best ;).
Wow they all sound like great activities Corey – how to choose!! Another great list.
Author
Thanks Joy – we’re lucky to live in an area with so much to choose from ;).
It’s nice to see special programming for kids. We have ‘March Break’ rather than winter break and museums are overrun!
Author
Thanks Jay – we also have Spring break which sometimes falls in March – this year it’s in April. Sometimes I complain about all the days off the kids have from school and then realize it’s more time to travel or head into city.