If you’re planning on bringing the kids to New York, there are plenty of options, including things interesting for the grown-ups as well.

The #1 choice is probably the American Museum of Natural History. From dinosaurs and dodos to live butterflies and the planetarium space show, this museum is good for all ages. The cafeteria in the basement should do you for lunch, and you can expect to spend almost all day here. If you’re coming with more than one child and plan to see the special exhibits and an IMAX show, consider buying a museum membership even for the day because it comes with lots of discounts and lets you skip the entrance line.

Across the street from the Natural History Museum sits Central Park. It’s a great spot to let the kids get their ya-yas out after the museum, with rocks to climb on and much space to run around.

Central Park has many other kids’ options, including the Carousel, ice rinks, the Balto and Alice in Wonderland statues, and dozens of playgrounds.

Some of the city’s major tourist attractions are very kid-friendly, such as the Empire State Building, Top of the Rock, Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island tours, or a walk across the Brooklyn Bridge and a free ride on the Staten Island Ferry.

Most kids are also fascinated with the subway. If you go, try to ride in the very first or very last car of the train whenever possible, because half the time you get one with a big window that lets you look down on the tracks and watch the stations coming or going, depending which direction you’re facing. The key tip with the kids in the subway is to make sure they’re holding your hand in a crowded station and board right next to you so you don’t get separated by closing doors. Then make sure they’re holding onto something when the train’s entering or leaving a station.

As for other museums, there are plenty of options. The Metropolitan Museum of Art does a great Met for Kids guide, which should get you in and out before ennui sets in. I’m not a big fan of the kids’ food options here or immediately around the museum, so you may want to plan your visit accordingly. The Museum of Modern Art has equally poor kids’ food choices, but it does have an outstanding roster of kids’ events. You usually need to plan in advance for those as they book up fast.

A lot of other cultural institutions have events targeted just for kids, including Carnegie Hall, Jazz at Lincoln Center and the New York Philharmonic. Broadway of course wants your love (browse Viator’s list of Broadway show tickets), but this is a harder call than it looks. Producers sometimes set a recommended age limit, though obviously it will depend on your kid: ‘Mary Poppins,’ for example, has been too scary for some children.

As for shopping, the two biggies are the flagship FAO Schwarz near the southeast corner of Central Park and Toys R Us on Times Square. Both have amazing things to look at even if you don’t intend to shop, including massive Lego displays, the Ferris Wheel at Toys R Us, and the dance-on piano and a baby-doll nursery (with live ‘nurse’) at FAO Schwarz that fascinates children (and grown men).

As for where to stay, many hotels have packages aimed at children, including Hilton’s Build-A-Bear special and Ritz Kids at the Ritz Carlton. Remember that, as a rule, NYC hotel rooms are extremely small; don’t assume you’ll have a mini-fridge.

That’s a natural segue to the problem with food. You know and I know that kids know what they like, and they’d like it now. And while this may be the greatest restaurant city in the world, it’s always a challenge to know who’s got a kid-friendly menu within a block of where you are. If you’re tech savvy, you may want to load an electronic food guide onto your cell phone or PDA before you go (such as Vindigo or Zagat) that lets you type in your location and will tell you the closest kids’ restaurants. Alternatively, before you leave home, identify a few picks near locations you know you’ll be. Most restaurants put their menus online, so check them in advance and make sure their definition of a kids menu meets with yours. That said, you can usually buy pizza by the slice on most blocks or a perfectly good hot dog from the street vendors. If you’re going to hit some of the city’s most famous pizza shops (Patsy’s, Ray’s, Grimaldi’s, Lombardi’s, etc.) most don’t do by-the-slice but they are all kid-friendly - just be warned that many do have lines for seats.

Just a few other quick kids’ options: the Nintendo store at Rockefeller Center, the American Girl Place, Dylan’s Candy Bar, helicopter and boat rides, and the Brooklyn Ice Cream Factory, located on the dock just south of the Brooklyn Bridge.

That should get you started planning your trip to NYC with the kids. For more ideas see Viator’s complete list of 100+ things to do in New York City.

–Amy Langfield

This entry was posted on Thursday, February 15th, 2007 at 3:23 pm and is filed under Destinations, Family & Kids, Suggested Itineraries, Travel Inspiration, USA, Canada, Mexico. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

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