Spring Travel with Kids: New York City
The Papa family recently spent a week in New York City during our daughter’s preschool spring break. Living nearby in Boston and having family in NYC, we are fortunate to get to the city often, but rarely have time to be tourists and explore new places during our visits. We thought this vacation would be a perfect opportunity to slow down and enjoy all that NYC has to offer families with young kids like ours, AND we were able to keep the trip economical by staying with the grandparents!
Our home base was on the Upper East Side. None of the nearby subway stations were stroller-accessible (a challenge we have in Boston and other cities, one more reason we’re excited about our new project, CitiStroller) so we were glad to have a lightweight Maclaren as our primary stroller. We were also grateful to have two sets of hands to carry the stroller up and down the many stairs–it’s a true physical challenge of everyday parenting, and we’re always impressed with the mamas and papas who do it on their own!
Luckily, we had good weather and lots of activities nearby, so we did tons of walking. We made good use of the playgrounds of Central Park. The very cool park map linked here allows you to select the features you’re looking for, so you can choose playgrounds, restrooms or other park facilities. Here’s an image of Ms. Papa and her dad at a small but fun playground near The Met.
We were thrilled to catch the new Curious George exhibit at The Jewish Museum. It’s a lovely exhibit that explores Margaret and H.A. Rey’s escape from the Nazis and how this and other life experiences impacted the themes in their books. Our daughter loved the cozy reading area with stuffed versions of book characters and copies of all of the Rey’s work. There were many titles we had never seen before, including one by Margaret we purchased and now adore: Pretzel. Pretzel seems to be the inspiration for Hundley on the current PBS version of Curious George. This exhibit has received wonderful reviews, and really is worth checking out if you’re in New York before the show ends on August 1st.
The highlight of our trip was a behind the scenes tour of The Bronx Zoo. Arranged through a family friend who works for the fabulous Wildlife Conservation Society that oversees New York’s wildlife parks, it was truly a once in a lifetime experience.
We got to feed the female Giraffes, who happen to love kale and carrots. Of course our daughter is now much more open to both of these veggies, so the diets of favorite animals has become one of our favorite mealtime topics of conversation!
A close up experience with a miniature fox, ancient turtle (who eats grapes & asparagus!) and an iguana was a big hit with Ms. Papa and her friends!
We ended the day gazing at the graceful flamingos and basking in the Spring sunshine. Such a special day!
Here are some additional resources we used to plan our NYC trip:
- Mommy Poppins- Great NYC blog with info about activities for kids of all ages
- Moomah and Kidville – Indoor activity/play spaces perfect for rainy days
- New York Magazine: Kids Features & Listings
Have you recently traveled to the Big Apple with kids and had a blast like us? Are you a NYC papa or mama with tips for our next visit? Share any and all thoughts in the comments!
-Will & Becca