In Praise of the Princess, by Jennifer Wright
Calling for Reinforcements: When kids hit a real snag, you have resources. By Danielle Mowery
Playground Art at the Arsenal and Julie Saul Galleries
City playgrounds are every parent’s savior and every kid’s kingdom, as design critic Kim Birks reported for Scooter in 2011. And they are also the muse and inspiration for two art exhibits on view now.
Erik Benson’s show The Park at the Arsenal Gallery depicts playgrounds as both an oasis and an eyesore. Inspired by the playgrounds in his Bushwick neighborhood, Benson’s paintings focus on how playgrounds fit in or stand out in the urban landscape. In some of the works, florescent orange domes of jungle gyms jump out against Soviet-gray buildings in the background. In others, a construction fence blends seamlessly with playground equipment. Read More
![Belvedere Castle [Courtesy of Central Park Conservancy]](http://www.scooterny.com/files/2013/04/Screen-shot-2013-04-04-at-4.00.16-PM-150x150.png)
In Town: Memorial Day Weekend Staycation
Memorial Day Weekend sends an exodus of families bolting the city for Long Island beaches or Upstate retreats. But a change of scene and incredible outdoor recreation can be found right here in the five boroughs. If you’re staying in town, why not enjoy the warmer temperatures and head out for a day of hiking, biking, fishing or horseback riding? These jaunts are so convenient, you’ll be home ordering dinner with your brood by sunset. Read More
![[ashlindseyphotography.com]](http://www.scooterny.com/files/2013/04/kids-in-car-ashley-photography-150x150.jpg)
6 Family Travel Tips You Will Thank Us For This Memorial Day Weekend
Memorial Day weekend marks the beginning of family summer trips. After you have kids, the old adage about the journey being more important than the destination is immediately thrown out the window (along with the bathwater). Many trips are decided based on the question: is it worth being cooped up in a [travel vehicle] for [number of] hours? But it doesn’t have to be that way. These six travel tips will make your family trip a lot less stressful and a lot more fun. Read More
An Unforgettable Visit To Ronnybrook Farm–With Ronny Himself!
Ronny Orlovsky is a nice man. His cows make great milk.
It was the Thursday after July Fourth. Nancy and I were having our regular debate about how to entertain our curious and excitable two-and-a-half year old, Clara Maxine. Clara is a regular consumer of Ronnybrook products; the farm is near our Dutchess County holiday weekend destination. The company’s website offered “visits by appointment,” but was noncommittal as to the farm’s toddler-friendliness. Read More
Charming Magician Seth Dale Dazzles City Kids
Magic, from card tricks to disappearing acts, has always had a way of capturing the attention and imagination of children and adults alike. Seth Dale has made a name for himself as the Charming Magician, amazing and delighting audiences from all around the world.
Seth became interested in magic at the young age of 8 thanks to his grandmother and older brother. “For the holidays, my grandmother bought my older brother a magic kit and got me a bead-making set, so I promptly stole his kit and learned all the tricks,” Seth recounts. Read More
Expo 1 at MoMA PS1: A Child’s Playground in Fluxus
Expo 1, which opened Sunday at MoMA PS1, may just turn out to be the most kid-friendly avant-garde exhibition to come along in a while. The show will get your children excited about art, and you won’t stammer once when they ask, “What’s that?” There isn’t a flying penis in sight. No Christ in piss, no Virgin Mary smeared with dung.
All three floors of MoMA PS1 are filled with installations, sculptures, and films. The exhibit’s grand mission—to address “ecological challenges set against the backdrop of economic turmoil and sociopolitical upheaval”—will surely induce a zombie stare in any child (or parent). But if you ask some kids, “Who wants to see a real pond in an old school building?” they’ll be elbowing each other to be first in line. Read More
Guggenheim and Torly Kid Celebrate NYC’s Child Artists
When checking out the art scene, you can go uptown and visit the big-name museums or you can cruise downtown and see art in all types of places, from galleries to alleyways. Well, the same could have been said last week about exhibits by kid artists.
Uptown at the Guggenheim, A Year with Children opened last week. The featured artists were New York City schoolchildren–all participants in Learning Through Art (LTA), a museum program that sends teaching artists into public elementary schools, where they collaborate with teachers to design projects that explore ideas related to the school curriculum. Read More
Springtime Destinations For Family Travel
There’s no time like Spring to get out of the city with the kids, be it a long weekend or an extended jaunt. Here are five of our favorite getaways with plenty to entertain and amaze the youngest road warriors.
San Francisco
The City by the Bay seems designed for pint-sized travelers. From its crazy hills to cable cars to resident sea lions, there’s something interesting happening around practically every corner. Read More
Raise your kids in… Upper Museum Mile
There’s no doubt Central Park is the center of the city, and you can’t put a price on living across the street. For children living along Upper Fifth Avenue at the top of Museum Mile, the most exotic corner of the park is their front yard.
Relative affordability has made Fifth Avenue below Central Park North an enclave for growing families hoping to put down roots in Manhattan. Whether it’s a mom converting two apartments into one or a nanny pushing a stroller through Central Park Conservatory Garden, the atmosphere has an undeniably familial air to it. Read More
Super WHY! Comes Alive
Super WHY!, the PBS animated children’s show, came alive to a packed house of pre-schoolers waving $20 twirling light objects last Thursday night at the Beacon Theatre.
Making its only New York City appearance, the live stage version of Super WHY! hit all the right notes. Main characters Alpha Pig, Super Why, Princess Presto, and Wonder Red operate from “The Book Club” and refer to classic fairy tales and the alphabet to solve the mystery question “Who has the greatest super powers in the world?” They test skills like “reading power” to search for the answer, which they then enter into the super computer. Eventually, kids in the audience start participating in the three-letter journey to the empowering answer. (The answer to the question, by the way, is “you.”) Read More
