NYC With the Kids
New York City is a thrill for kids of all ages. As you check off iconic sights—the Statue of Liberty, the Top of the Rock, Times Square—make some time for a few of these activities designed to delight the Age 3-and-Up Set.
Theater for Tots
While popular Broadway shows like The Lion King and Mary Poppins are often sold out months in advance, some theater companies cater especially to kids and their families.
New Victory Theater gets the whole family involved in its interactive performances. For example, when the London-based acrobatic troupe Bromance visited, families got into the act by learning acrobatic tricks and choreographed their own secret handshakes.
The Paper Bag Players play to short attention spans with skits, song and dance, mime, and painting and drawing for kids ages 3 through 8. The stage itself looks like a playroom, decorated with cardboard boxes and brown craft paper, sporting splashes of poster paint and crayon.
Catch a Theatreworks USA production based on a popular children’s book series such as the “almost 6-year-old” Junie B. Jones and Pete the Cat, a guitar-playing feline who loves to shred and refuses to be a pet.
Central Park’s interactive Adventure Theater for Kids invites 6- to 9-year-olds to explore castles, streams and troll bridges in a mythical world with fanciful characters. Puzzles, games and crafts to move the story along.
Museum Magic
Kids who might fidget at MOMA or are too young to appreciate the Guggenheim will love the hands-on educational and interactive experiences, ranging from dance to pretend, at Children’s Museum of Manhattan
The American Museum of Natural History, with its towering dinosaur skeletons and massive blue whale suspended from the ceiling in the Hall of Aquatic Life, is a marvel for parents and kids. In the Discovery Room, kids ages 5 to 12 can unearth an Oviraptor nest from a paleontology field site, hunt for exotic animals in a two-story replica of an African baobab tree and inspect fossils, shells, feathers and bones.
And what could be more convenient while you’re staying in one of Deedee’s Apartments than Jersey City’s own Liberty Science Center ? Kids delight in crawling around in suspended play spaces, climbing a skyscraper, creating pixel art on a giant wall installation and observing how tamarin monkeys and leaf-cutter ants adapt to their environments in 12 galleries of interactive exhibits.
A Day at the Beach
When the summer afternoons get sultry, head to the wide, sandy beach at Coney Island in Brooklyn. Stroll the wooden boardwalk and ride “Big Momma”, the famous Cyclone roller coaster in Luna Park. After surviving its 12 breathtaking drops and 27 elevation changes, gorge on Nathan’s Famous hotdogs and homemade gelato at Coney’s Cones.
Park Yourself
When you need a break from the city streets and a place where kids can blow off some steam, Head for Brooklyn Bridge Park, 85 acres (34 hectares) of riverfront promenades, lush gardens and spectacular city views stretching along the East River. Spread a blanket at Pier 6, while the kids have a blast playing on the ropes, slides, jungle gyms, sandbox and water park.
Go biking, row a boat on the lake, stroll the forest paths of the Ramble or bring a Frisbee to a grassy lawn in Central Park. There is so much to do here in all 4 seasons, Central Park deserved its own blog post (or three!). Watch this space.
We can’t leave out Jersey City’s gems—Hamilton Park and Van Vorst Park. Just a few blocks from Deedee’s Apartments, they are great places for your family to wind down after a day in NYC. Seasonal activities include kid’s playgrounds and splash pads, farmer’s markets, crafts fairs and summer film series.
Let Them Eat Chocolate
Your visit to NYC wouldn’t be complete without sweet treats from two of the city’s most iconic chocolate and candy emporiums.
Decked out with oversized lollipop tree, candy cane columns, dripping chocolate shelves and candy-embedded staircases, Dylan’s Candy Bar is home to more than 7,000 confections. Take your sweet time ogling whimsical displays.
The kid’s menu at Max Brenner includes “Max’s Palace Famous Chocolate Mess Party”. Big enough for two children, it includes chocolate mud cake in a chocolate swimming pool, whipped cream mountains, ice cream bowling balls, chocolate rocks and toffee sauce from candy bees.
Stay In and Bond
The best reason for renting one of Deedee’s family-friendly vacation apartments is having space to relax as a family. Rather than tripping over each other in a too-small hotel room and going to bed when your 8-year-old is ready, plan a leisurely barbecue on the patio. Watch a Netflix movie. Play a game of Monopoly or Jenga together. (Deedee’s Apartments are stocked with children’s books and board games.) These moments you spend enjoying each other will be some of the best of your trip.
Here Are a Few of Deedee’s Family-Friendliest Apartments:
Stylishly Restored 3BR Garden Duplex Downtown JC
The ground-floor bedroom, with two single beds, a sitting area with a queen-size sofa bed and a large-screen TV, is roomy enough to double as a children’s playroom. There is a fenced backyard just beyond.
Top Floor 2BR Apartment with Wraparound NYC Views
Kids will be dazzled by the jaw-dropping views of Manhattan and the Hudson River. Club amenities include a swimming pool, game room and barbecue grilling stations. The apartment is steps from Newport Centre Mall.
Lavish 4 BR Duplex w/ Terrace near Grove St PATH
Vacation with another family or bring the cousins and grandparents along. This huge duplex apartment sleeps 12, with separate living areas upstairs and downstairs and a sprawling private backyard.