Weekend Planner: May 11-13

Contributor: Meghan Gearino

This weekend’s
edition of fun around town is all about the mamas. From a two-day garden party
(Mr. Sun, please stay!) to workshops for all ages and stages—New York Family wishes you and yours a very delightful Mother’s
Day. —

FRIDAY

Aspiring dancers ages 6-10 should head to Chinatown’s PS 124 to
audition for the prestigious School of American Ballet. Boys and girls are
welcome even without prior training.

FRIDAY-SUNDAY

A Year with Children 2012, the Guggenheim’s newest exhibit,
kicks off this weekend. Bring kids ages seven and up for a special showcase spotlighting
art from their peers. (Friday-Sunday)

SATURDAY-SUNDAY

CELEBRATE
MOM: The New York
Botanical Garden is hosting a weekend-long Mother’s Day Garden Party filled
with croquet, kite-flying, cupcakes and live music for the entire family.

Acquaint your children with the art form
of arias through an
hour-long Introduction to Italian Opera workshop at the Dicapo Opera Theatre.

SATURDAY

For
local kid-friendly fun, Amtrak is hosting National
Train Day at Grand Central. The event will include train tours, arts &
crafts and musical performances. To get on board early, check out our Q&A
about family train travel, which covers everything from where to go to what
to bring.

Enjoy the earth with 15-foot river puppets and
costumes at the Earth Celebrations Hudson River Pageant and Parade. Kids of all
ages can enjoy live music and participate in oyster planting.

CELEBRATE
MOM: French
storytelling, performances and Mother’s Day crafts fill the French Institute’s
Family Saturday, perfect for kids of all ages and their families.

It’s part two of the High Line Kids’
Museum Mornings series, and
this Saturday’s creative partner is El Museo del Barrio. Ages four and up will
dig the bilingual singing, dancing and storytelling.

CELEBRATE
MOM: Create a
Mother’s Day card that will touch the sky! The Skyscraper Museum’s greeting
card workshop is perfect for children looking to DIY this year.

CELEBRATE
MOM: We didn’t forget
about the younger ones! Head to the Sony Wonder Technology Lab for two Mother’s
Day Workshops specializing in homemade gifts: scented bath products and personalized,
take-home gardens.

Climb Mt. Everest (on a slightly
smaller scale!) at
the Rubin Museum of Art’s Peak Experience VII Sleepover. Children ages 9-12 are
invited to learn mountain-climbing safety tips, leadership skills, and of
course, scale a mock Mt. Everest.

Pirate School! Is a hilarious, interactive
performance in all-things buccaneer. Head to the Waterfront Museum where
Professor Billy Bones is sure to school you on how to be a good pirate through
magic, comedy and theater.

CELEBRATE
MOM: For moms who
love to garden, kids ages five and up should head to the Mount Vernon Hotel
Museum & Garden for their Terrarium Workshop. Every mama deserves a
mini-indoor garden surrounded by vintage glass, right?

If
your child loves hands-on
science, stop by the SciTech
Kids Open House on the Upper East Side for a taste of their imaginative camps
and afterschool programs.

CELEBRATE
MOM: socialsklz:-) is
hosting their Manners for Mother’s Day workshop at Whole Foods Upper West Side
where kids ages four and up will learn table-setting and meal-time etiquette
just in time for Sunday brunch.

SUNDAY

CELEBRATE
MOM: Speaking of
brunch Dean Street in
Prospect Heights is offering a great deal for foodie families from
11am-3pm. Kids under 10 eat free!

CELEBRATE
MOM: Have a rockin’
Mother’s Day with 92YTribeca’s Mil’s Trills Collective Moms Celebration. The
band will perform interactive songs with their signature ukuleles for ages 0-5.

CELEBRATE
MOM: Surprise Ma with
a sweet and creepy-crawly treat from Ripley’s Believe it or Not! Mother’s Day
Cupcake Decorating workshop. With toppings like Pop Rocks, chocolate-covered
insects and bacon bits, kids can let their imagination run wild.

NYC Wildflower Week kicks
off this weekend, and there’s a slew of great family events to look forward to
in the coming days. Be sure to check out the Family Flora Walk in Prospect Park
or discover the colorful salamanders in the Bronx’s Urban Forest.

For even more events and activities this weekend
and beyond, check out our Family Calendar.

And if you haven’t already, click here to register for our free weekly newsletter
which features our favorite events to enjoy every weekend in the city and
beyond.

Joe's Music & Dance Academy

Private and group music lessons &amp; dance classes for Guitar, Bass, Voice, Violin, Viola, Cello, Upright Bass, Drums, Piano, all woodwind &amp; brass instruments, Choir, Preschool Dance, Ballet, Jazz, Hip Hop, Tap, Step, African and Modern Dance and more. Helping thousands of students begin and continue on their musical journey since 1998!

New York Society of Play Summer Camp and Classes

Summer Game Camp There are many who do not feel safe sending their children back out into the world with summer camp, this year. To serve those parents and keep the children connected and stimulated during this challenging time, we are offering NYSP Digital Summer Camp. The name of the game with NYSP Summer Camp is community. We have made a large effort to make our camp feel like a living space, with features including &ndash; - Role-Playing games familiar and new, led by our master storytellers! - Enriching electives such as Chess, World Building, Character Acting, Crafts, Drawing, and more! - Discussion and media screening rooms during lunch! - A digital campus! - Moderated chat hours! &nbsp; Join us for a summer of games, friends, and more! Mon - Fri 10am - 2:30pm &nbsp; Roleplay Expeditions: Dungeons &amp; Dragons No experience is required to join one of our Dungeons &amp; Dragons games. Our game masters have pre-made character sheets, so you'll be able to start playing the game right away! We adapt the rules of traditional Dungeons &amp; Dragons to make them more approachable to children of various ages. Battle in dungeons, search for relics, and make new friends in our one-of-a-kind Dungeons &amp; Dragons workshop!&nbsp; &nbsp; Public games meet once per week, with different groups every time. Private games meet 1 to 2 times per week with the same group of kids. Since the players and the storyteller in the group are consistent, this enables us to tell epic tales of adventure together! &nbsp; Dungeons &amp; Dragons Junior No experience is required to join one of our drop-in Dungeons &amp; Dragons games. Our Dungeons &amp; Dragons Jr. game provides a D&amp;D storytelling experience without character sheets. Battle in dungeons, search for relics, and make new friends in our one-of-a-kind Dungeons &amp; Dragons workshop! A great way to introduce young children to D&amp;D so they can eventually move onto the main game.

Adventuring Portal

<a name="m_-1473885667065203258__Hlk72147528"></a>Adventuring Portal runs Dungeons and Dragons (D&amp;D) games for kids.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;We have created a safe online space for tweens and teens to learn and play D&amp;D. Our D&amp;D Summer Camp session are a one-week experience.&nbsp;&nbsp;Monday &ndash; Friday.&nbsp;&nbsp;Each day will be 3 hours of gaming (with 2 breaks build in).&nbsp;&nbsp;15 total gaming hours for $180.&nbsp;&nbsp;If you have played with us before, you are entitled to 10% off.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Need your kids, nieces or nephews, grand kids or neighbor&rsquo;s kids to be occupied for a bit so you can get work done &amp; take care of your to-do list? Maybe your tween or teen is still a bit isolated and craves connection with their peers? Whether your teen/tween has played D&amp;D before or is brand-new to the experience, this safe space brings players together to have fun and solve problems as a team in ways few other online opportunities do. All our games focus on experiential learning.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Our players leave knowing all the basic game play as well as experiencing: teamwork, bravery, compassion, generosity, negotiation, improvisation, gamer etiquette, strategy, critical thinking, problem solving, cartography and probability - all through online D&amp;D adventuring! We are an inclusive organization and welcome gamers who are LGBTQIA+ and those on any spectrum.&nbsp; All girls&rsquo; groups available.&nbsp; I am a parent, a certified elementary school and middle school math teacher and last summer in the midst of the mess started&nbsp;Adventuring Portal, an&nbsp;online Dungeons &amp; Dragons&nbsp;business&nbsp;for kids. There are so many benefits to playing D&amp;D and I hope you will consider us as a great way for your child to safely socialize, grow as people and have a great time.