We
have some exciting days ahead of us. You’ve been buzzing around
preparing for guests and tying the perfect bow. On top of everything else you have
planned with the fam, we’ve done our own holiday prep: 25 ways to spend the days between now and New Year’s. Enjoy! (And let us know what you choose, please!) —
-
Pump a giant heart, get groovy in a laser
dance room and play a foosball game complete with sleep-deprived players
at the Children’s Museum
of Manhattan’s new interactive exhibit, EatSleepPlay™.
-
Share a Sweet & Salty Pizza (decked out in
potato chips and shredded coconut) at the new Dylan’s Candy Bar café, which boasts bright cupcake booths for
cute-as-can-be snacktime.
-
The New York Botanical Garden’s annual Holiday Train Show is a wondrous trip through old New York with charming model trains and incredible wooden replicas of New York landmarks.
-
Channel your inner Fozzie Bear and head to FAO
Schwarz to design your very own Muppet Whatnot Puppet. Or make a beeline
to the nearest AMC and catch those loveable guys (and gals) on the silver
screen.
-
Walk through a diorama of the Martian surface
and explore a full-size recreation of a lunar habitat at the
out-of-this-world exhibit, Beyond
Planet Earth, at the American Museum of Natural History. (And while you’re there,
spend a few minutes at the origami tree!)
-
Share Chip Shop‘s ultimate fried food
experience (from mac ‘n cheese to Snickers) with the kiddos in Park Slope.
Still room for more? Head to Lulu’s for a toy of their choosing—or maybe
even a trim.
-
You might find yourself at MACY*s for a few
reasons over the next couple days: last minute buys, a pic with Santa or
to check out the Make A Wish Foundation windows. But we have another
idea—on December 23 and 24, head to the MACY*s Puppet Theatre and catch a
30-minute performance of Miracle on
34th Street, brought to you by the marionette magic of
Puppetworks.
-
Visit the Children’s Museum of the Arts
glorious new digs in Hudson Square. They’ll be running workshops like Clay
Creatures, where kids can mold their own model of Jack Frost, all throughout
the holiday break.
-
Take a winding stroll through Central Park without an end destination. With the weather
on our side (for now, at least) and the leaves nicely tumbled from the branches—it’s
the perfect mid-afternoon activity to reflect on the past year and prepare
for a new one!
-
Dress up the little ones in a
sparkly-something and go see The
Nutcracker. The American Ballet Theatre will be performing at the BAM
Opera House while the New York City Ballet will be pirouetting their way around Lincoln Center.
-
Tour the expansive grounds (83 acres!) and
second oldest music hall in New York City at Staten Island’s
Snug Harbor—open every day over the next week, except Christmas and New Year’s, from dawn
until dusk.
-
Be the ultimate tourist and catch a high-kick
flying performance of The Rockettes Christmas
Spectacular at Radio City—new costumes, new choreography! While you’re
in the area, do a figure-eight at The Rink at Rockefeller Center or you can outsmart the crowds and color
coordinate your next creation at the LEGO store.
-
More Gaga, please. Seems like we can’t live
without her these days! To get your fix, stroll by the windows
at Barney’s for her oddball (but strikingly beautiful) display. And don’t
forget about the rest of the stores which currently rock everything from
carousels to a jelly bean dress.
-
Speaking of carousels, take a $2 spin around
the recently restored (and glass-enclosed) Jane’s Carousel in DUMBO. Keep
the momentum going with some retro sweets from Dewey’s Candy—be sure to
look up at the lollipop chandelier!
-
Avoid the big-name Christmas trees (and the
crowds that come with them), by stopping at tiny Dante Park in front of Lincoln Center. There perches a 25-foot Norway Spruce with
up-cycled candy wrapper ornaments, hailing all the way from India.
-
Who can argue with a night on Broadway? Family
favorites like Billy Elliot and The Addams Family will be closing
within the next two weeks—so get tickets before they’re gone! Or if
Off-Broadway is more your style, head to the Gazillion Bubble Show (where lasers
and light effects abound), which has a 7pm performance on Christmas Day.
-
In case the weather catches a cold (get it?),
perfect your granny bowl at any of these fine 10-pinned establishments:
300 New
York,
Bowlmor (newly added mini-golf!), Lucky Strike or Sunset Park’s Melody Lanes.
-
It
seems like there’s a Hanukkah concert for kids in every part of town this
weekend—from The Museum At Eldridge StreetThe Jewish Museum—so come
get your fill of latkes and celebrate the rest of Hanukkah in good company.
to
-
If you’ve yet to see Santa (and can’t stay
awake to see him snagging a few of your homemade shortbread)—we’ve always
found the jolly man at ABC
Carpet to do the trick in all the right ways.
-
All next week, the Bronx Zoo will be a-buzz
with winter wonders! Catch an ice sculpting demo, take a Hess Clydesdale
carriage ride or glide down a 6-foot ice slide.
-
Join Ebenezer Scrooge and his three ghosts of
Christmas past, present and future at Literally Alive’s version of A Christmas Carol at The Players
Theatre. No Christmas Eve or
Christmas performances.
-
Get your cozy on by sipping a sweet, warm
treat known as gianduja calda
from Otto’s Pizzeria. This hazelnut hot chocolate is topped with cinnamon
whipped cream!
-
Located right below the High Line, the
Standard Hotel’s pop-up ice rink is sure to bring merriment to the most
novice of skaters.
-
The Museum of the Moving Image will host a
daily workshop, Magic and Movies, for creative tweens interested in
animation and live-action. Afterwards, make a pit stop for pierogis.
-
Our fine-freckled friend has triumphantly
returned to the Manhattan
Movement &
Arts Center. The whole family will laugh at Freckleface
Strawberry‘s loveable charm at she does anything (and everything) to remove her dots in this upbeat musical.
The Big Bonus Tip: The contortionists, aerialists and gymnasts known as The Cirque Shanghai,
the world’s premier company of Chinese acrobats, will be performing their mind-blowing, jaw-dropping daredevil stunts through the holidays at the New Victory.Photo Credit: Reza Nader
