What to do in NYC with Kids

One of the questions I receive most often is ‘what do I do in NYC with kids?’ And after 4+ years of raising two little New Yorkers in Manhattan, we’ve finally curated a list of our favorite things to do as a family!

Normally, we spend most of our days walking around aimlessly, eating whatever sparks our fancy, and simply meandering in and out off different shops or museums. {with of course, stopping at many play grounds along the way.} But we also have a bunch of go-to locations we love to visit with our boys. Each weekend we normally start walking in lower Manhattan {where we live} and slowly meander up to Central Park- yes, it’s a very long walk, but we enjoy aimlessly strolling. Find my Manhattan neighborhood descriptions here to help decide where you might want to explore!

These are our top recommendations of things to do in NYC with kids {for reference, I’m writing this as my kids are 2 & 5}.

Keep in mind- most places will not let you use their toilets unless you are a customer {and some stores won’t even then}. So if you have young kids- use toilets when you find them! Bryant Park {at 42nd and 5th Av} usually has pretty clean bathrooms.

In Central Park

We love exploring all of Central Park, but these are a few highlights!

• Central Park Zoo
• Central Park play ground (Hecksher Playground is one of our favorites)
• Boat Pond (I always just called it the Stewart little pond, but I believe it’s called the model boat sailing pond or something)
• Bethesda Terrace always has artists & often big bubble blowers. It’s just a beautiful spot we always ended up at
• Bow Bridge for people watching and animal watching
• The ramble is a more outdoors-y part of the park that feels a bit more unkept and the boys loved walking those paths
• Sheeps Meadow is fun for running around
• Ride the carousel

Museums

• American Museum of Natural History
• Met – Cayson loved all the knights
• Children’s Museum of Manhattan
• Intrepid – the boat on the Hudson River is really cool!
• Brooklyn’s Children Museum
• New York Transit Museum (a fun way to explore old subway trains!)

In Brooklyn

• Walk Brooklyn Bridge
• Toss  Rocks at Pebble Beach
• Ride the carousel in Brooklyn

Some of my favorite Viewpoints

• Empire State Building (they redid the experience of going up so it’s more fun- although it’s not my favorite viewpoint of the city. But it is iconic)
• SUMMIT One Vanderbilt (interactive with kids)
• Top or the Rock (cliche but still one of my favorite viewpoints)
• One World Observatory
• The Edge at Hudson Yards

Favorite Neighborhoods for Strolling

• Greenwich Village
• West Village
• Meatpacking District
• Chelsea
• SoHo (although very crowded)
• Gramercy
• Hell’s Kitchen
• 5th Avenue {between 42nd and 59th for the luxury store experience at Christmas}
• Upper West Side
• Upper East Side

find more information about the different NYC neighborhoods here

Other Suggestions

• Playgrounds- there are playgrounds literally EVERYWHERE. Some of our favorites were the ones in Central Park, Battery Park (near seaglass carousel is a fun playground with huge slides, but all of battery park is pretty and fun to run around in), Hudson River Pier 51, East River Park Playground, Brooklyn Bridge Playground, Chelsea Waterside play ground, 
• Walk the highline for fresh air, car free walkways and pretty views.
• Broadway – might be a bit old for the kids but there are also off- off broadway versions made for kids. Most we saw are down in the village area
• Classic Harborline Cruise- We love taking these! They ride around Manhattan for pretty views and you get a complimentary drink. This was always one of our favorites. We brought snacks too.
• Seaglass Carousel in Battery Park
• Bronx zoo
• We always attended reading times in the NYPL near us, but that’s kind of a basic local thing to do. But could be fun if you’re looking for a kid specific thing. There are also kids music classes in the park, but again they are usually a more local thing. 
• Alice’s Tea Cup is a fun, casual afternoon tea place
• Run around Seaport
• Many streets in Meatpacking district are pedestrian, so we liked walking around there and eating here too
• Times Square- ha obviously the worst place on earth but it is quite the site to see for a young kid.

What would you add to this list?

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find more NYC posts here