Exhilarating Things to Do in NYC with Kids

Exhilarating Things to Do in NYC with Kids
There is a dizzying array of things to do with kids in NYC. The Bronx Zoo, FAO Schwartz, Broadway show, and the Central are among the many million things your kids can explore and pass their holiday away in NYC. Picking an activity from the many activities may be daunting as you may not be sure if they suit your kid’s age and interests. For example, preschool children have a small window of time before they get exhausted. Therefore, it’s wise to pick an activity they can maximize. This article will explore 35 activities your kids must do in NYC, including suggestions for various age groups and interests.
1. Central Park
Located at the heart of NYC, Central Park presents various activities for older and younger kids. Older children can go biking using rented bikes while younger kids explore the petting zoo in the Park’s 21 playgrounds. You can take your kids Kayaking on the Hudson River during warmer seasons. They can also enjoy swimming at the boat house, which should provide safety vests. Also in this Park is the Swedish Cottage Marionette Theatre, where your kids can catch up with the daily puppet show.
Location: Manhattan, New York City, stretching from 59th street to 110th Street between Fifth Avenue and Central Park West.
2. Bronx Zoo
Bronx Zoo is perfect for your animal-loving kids because it has more than 600 species around the globe. It presents world-class exhibits, including Congo Gorilla Forest, the Wild Asia Monorail, Tiger Mountain, and the newly added Madagascar. Your kids will love the Gorillas, Giraffes, camel rides, and bug carousel.
As one of the largest and best-run zoos in the world, it attempts to house the animals in expansive and close to natural settings.
Location: 2300 Southern Boulevard, Bronx Park, Bronx, New York 10460, U.S
3. Disney Store – Times Square
A visit to the Disney Store is worth the fun and even cheaper than a trip to Orlando. If your kids are princesses or car fans, they shouldn’t miss out on this store. There are many Mickey and Minnie displays, which would make a lot of fun for your kids if they went on a quest to find them within the store. They can also visit the Imagination Theater for more fun. They can further take snaps with a full-size stormtrooper if they are Star Wars fans.
Location: Times Squaren1540 Broadway, New York, NY 10036 USA
4. M&M’s World
There’s nothing more thrilling to kids than M&M merchandise galore, a 21-foot Miss Green M&M Statue of Liberty, and a two-story wall of colorful candies. Your kids will love chocolate over here, plus the staff is happy to have them play at the stores, so let them unleash their energy before they head back home. You can as well take as many snaps as possible with M&M mascots. However, you can spend money quickly because it’s hard to resist the pressure to buy even a single M&M. Though, you can!
Location: 1600 Broadway, New York, NY 10019, USA
5. Empire State Building
The Empire State Building should be at the top of your list of things to do with kids in NYC. This building features one of the top 10 iconic buildings in NYC. And as one of the tallest skyscrapers in New York, your kids will enjoy an amazing 360 degrees view of New York City, Manhattan, and beyond during a sunny day.
Location: 350 Fifth Avenue; Manhattan, New York 10118
6. Madame Tussauds
Madame Tussauds is a museum of wax figures! By visiting this place, your kids will get the chance to meet world leaders, get inspired by Broadway stars, and even get up close and personal with various famous personalities from sports, television, science, film, music, and culture. They can also say hi to members of the Royal family, including Kate Middleton, Prince Harry, and Meghan Markle.
Location: 42nd Street in Times Square, NYC!
7. Broadway Shows
Theater, among other significant factors, makes New York shine. New York City is exploding with talent, and by visiting this place, your kids should get to appreciate this talent. You will also enjoy being alongside them! Let your kids enjoy all-time classics and hot shows based on their favorite Disney stories, including Matilda, Lion King, Annie (stage musical), Cinderella, and Spiderman, for a little more action. If you go for a show, ensure it is appropriate for your kid’s age. For example, older kids may be impressed by shows like the Six and Beetlejuice. Younger kids may love the Lion King’s dancing wildlife and catchy songs. There are just many shows for every kid at any age.
Location: Midtown Manhattan
8. The BEAST Speedboat Ride
The Beast is a hidden gem where your kids can enjoy speed boat trips up and down lower Manhattan to the Statue of Liberty. It’s a custom-built, 70-foot speedboat that flies at approximately five mph with lots of turns, twists, and splashy actions giving your kids an exciting tour of NYC. This boat has some requirements and conditions. For example, kids must be 40 feet tall and can sit in their seats without assistance. People with back injuries, heart conditions, or pregnant women cannot board because of this ride’s fast, bumpy, and extreme nature.
Location: 42nd Street at West Side Highway
9. Brooklyn Bridge Park
One of the less obvious things to do with kids in NYC is strolling across Brooklyn Bridge Park, which is one of the most iconic features of NYC. Let your kids walk across the Brooklyn Bridges spanning 5989 feet across the popular East River. It is a 30-min walk from lower Manhattan to Dumbo. Its architectural design and spectacular wooden structure are exciting to look at and take photos of your kids and the scenery. Pick a bus line and use MTA buses for scenic rides. You can also get your shots of the Manhattan Skyline by going to Promenade. If your kids enjoy swimming, they can swim in the Brooklyn Bridge Pop-up Pool.
The Brooklyn Bridge Park is an outdoor and waterfront park with sprinklers, playgrounds, and exhilarating views of the Statue of Liberty and NYC.
Location: 334 Furman St, Brooklyn, NY 11201, USA
10. Grand Central Terminal
The Grand Central Terminal is a cavernous space with tons of fun for your little ones. You can enjoy more time with your kids in this iconic train station by visiting the hot shopping spots and restaurants and exploring seasonal toy train displays. If your kids are tiny vehicle enthusiasts, they can delight in seeing the trains drive on the station’s 67 tracks—the station heads to and from communities in Westchester, Bronx, and beyond. Towards the north side of the terminal, your kids can walk the entire length of the platform or scoot on the wide corridors while watching the trains go and come. It hosts a free holiday train(from November to January) for children. Overall this place is the perfect spot for your choo-choo train-loving kids. They can also play conductor, get a science lesson, gaze at the stars in the awesome astronomical mural painted on the ceiling of the Main Concourse, take a tour or go on a scavenger hunt within this space.
Location: Manhattan, New York City
11. Chinatown
Although crowded, Chinatown offers many fun activities to connect with your little kids and introduce them to America’s diverse cultural heritage. Located in the lower Manhattan or Queensway, it’s where you can have this dish (dim Sum), also called Fay Da Bakery, for lunch. There are many other amazing drinks and meals to try out in this place, including bubble tea, a famous Asian drink filled with tapioca pearls. You can also enjoy shopping for exotic wares and other worthwhile items that don’t break your budget. Ensure your kids enters the candy na grocery stores to collect their favorite candy from all corners of the world. They can also visit Columbus Park and shop Meccas, including Pearl Art and Pearl River Mart, a treasure box of Asian home goods.
Location: LowerManhattan
12. Bryant Park
Located between 5th Avenue and Avenue of the Americas between 40th and 42nd Streets, it is loaded with a set of fun activities for your toddlers. For example, its Bryant Park Carousel has fourteen delightful animals, replicas of carousel creatures that revolve around French cabaret music tunes. This carousel ride will provide a gentle and delightful ride for your children. You can catch a film with your kids on the Park’s big lawn, which begins at 8 pm. Movies to watch include Star Wars, Grease, and Beverly Hills Cop, among others.
This small and pretty Park also has a “reading room,” an outdoor space filled with child-sized seating and books. During the summer, literary child events are open to the public. Kids can enjoy story time during the week in a mini-free library in the Kids Corner.
Location: Midtown Manhattan

13. FAO Schwartz
Your kids will find it interesting to walk around this 20000-square-foot-store because it’s one of the greatest toy stores in NYC that presents the dance-on piano, the life-sized toy soldiers guarding the doors, and the iconic clock tower. Some of its in-store experiences, including magic, show, and pretend grocery store, will inspire you and your kids to enjoy some playtime together.
There are plenty of toys to purchase and the opportunity to take perfect snaps.
Location: 30 Rockefeller Plaza, New York, NY 10111, USA
14. American Museum of Natural History
Your kids will love everything about this museum, including dinosaurs and whales. However, try not to visit on the weekend. Some of the most iconic sights include a big blue whale suspended from the ceiling, animals of the wild, wild west, and a stampeding herd of elephants. There’s also a collection of lions, giraffes, and countless other animals roaming the African savanna.
15. The Children’s Museum of Manhattan
The CMOM is a major museum whose exhibitions and programs exist to spark children’s imagination, curiosity, and intellect. It instills early childhood magic in their exhibits. Suppose your children are ages 3-10; they can make, create, and play in this museum, Inside Art. Those newborns to ages six will explore the Superpowered Metropolis. The fun activities include climbing through the original 3-D artwork and making Art to take home. They can also explore a comic book inspired by NYC with superpowered pigeons. There is a lot of other fun, including creating city sounds in the magical subway car and checking out a collection of realistic portraits of remarkable American women made using gouache paint on watercolor paper.
16. The Queens Hall of Science
It is a great science museum with lots of fun and hands-on activities. It works well for kids ages 13 & 14 or teens, especially if they are interested in science, technology, and space. They can walk around the huge diorama of NYC, the Unisphere from the 1964 World’s Fair, catch movies in the small theatre, or play tennis in the National Tennis Centre steps away, where the US Open is played.
17. State Island Children’s Museum
This museum hosts many exhibits for kids to make light dances, run a conveyor belt, climb a rock wall, build a house, captain a ship, perform shows, and send a video postcard. Their exhibits are appropriate for kids of various ages and include Block Harbour, Big Games, Bugs and other Arthropods, Graden Terrace, Great Explorations, House About It, and others.
18. The Intrepid Sea, Air and Space Museum
This museum allows kids to explore history, service, and science. It has the Exploreum, a fully interactive exhibit space where kids can climb into a real Bell 47 helicopter and land a space shuttle. They can also enter the only guided missile submarine open to the public – Growler and get an up-close look at the space shuttle Enterprise and British Airways Concorde. The museum is the perfect destination to walk the decks of the exceptional aircraft carrier Intrepid and see 28 aircraft and the world’s fastest military jet.

19. Brooklyn Children’s Museum
Hosting over 20000 kid-friendly cultural artifacts, this museum is a wonderful place to spend the day with your kids. They also exhibit live plants and animals, natural history specimens, and other award-winning exhibitions. It’s a great choice for rainy or cold days. It also presents streets and shop exhibits that highlight the ethnic diversity of Brooklyn. Your kids will love its imagination playground, a room with big blue foam blocks.

20. New York City Fire Museum
This museum is housed in a 1904 Beaux Arts former firehouse and has a collection of fire-related artifacts and arts from the late 18th century to the present. It has a gallery exhibition that honors 343 fire department workers who died on September 11th and continues to honor those who perish from 9/11-related illnesses. It inspires children to collect, preserve and present the history and cultural heritage of the fire service of New York. They will also learn fire prevention and safety education.

21. New York Transit Museum
This is the favorite museum to ride the subway, including the F train rides. This train museum is housed underground in an actual subway station in Downtown Brooklyn. With a rotating collection of 20 vintage subway cars, the museum provides the perfect opportunity for you and your kids to board, explore and imagine a city’s life past. You’ll love the nostalgia of getting through a transportation time machine while your kids pretend to be train conductors and bus drivers for the day. There’s a collection of exhibits for other indoor activities, including a collection of antique turnstiles, subway cars from the late 18th century, and NYC’s buses and trolleys.
Overall it’s the perfect option for choo-choo train-loving kids.

22. Union Square – Barnes & Noble
It is a chain bookstore with a children’s area on the second floor. The area has an ever-popular train table, kids’ chairs, and tables. Your children will love the impressive selection of toys, games, and educational kits, which is also a part of the store’s science center.

23. NY Aquarium
It’s the only Aquarium in NYC that offers a daily seal show, and every kid will undoubtedly love it. The Aquatheatre shows will undoubtedly leave your kids thrilled. For example, your kids will love the sea lion dubbed Bruiser and his brains, who keep on dancing like an excited toddler, swan diving into the tank, and even blowing your kid’s kisses. The Ocean Wonders – Shark is another exhibit that takes approximately 57,000 square feet of exhibit space in the Aquarium. It presents deep-sea predators, rays, sea turtles, colorful fish, and coral reefs. Your kids should never miss out on the other exhibits, including Sea Cliffs, Spineless, and The PlayQuarium.
24. The Apple Store
Apple store provides a lot of in-store games your kids can play from the comfort of cozy bean bag chairs. There are more than enough computer games to play and free hands-on educational programs and workshops for kids ages six and above. For example, they can learn how to create photo albums, produce movies, and compose songs for free. Apple stores usually have many latest products, although they limit visitors, and some stores are only open for pick-up orders.
25. New York Botanical Gardens (NYBG)
Besides being the largest botanical garden in the US, NYBG is also a teaching place and an educational foundation. And one of the fun things to do with kids in NYC in this place is to take a “forest bath” in the heart of the Bronx, which is barely 20 minutes from Grand Central Terminal. Your kids will love trying to squeeze through a 14,000-year-old boulder as you scramble over it. Take some time to smell the hundreds of roses blooming in this self-named garden.
And Finally, Ensure your Kids Takes the Following Food During your Trip
1. Decadent deserts such as the world-famous Frrrozen Hot Chocolate at Serendipity-3
2. Shake Shack
3. John’s Pizza
4. Dim Sum for lunch in Chinatown
5. Knick knacks in Little Italy
6. Go to Brooklyn Ice Cream Factory for dinner