Our list of 25 fun and low-cost things to do with kids on Long Island this April includes family and children’s shows, Earth Day events, outdoor activities, and more in Nassau and Suffolk counties, including Amityville, Bayshore, Bellmore, Centerport, Cold Spring Harbor, East Islip, Garden City, Huntington, Old Westbury, Port Jefferson, Port Washington, Riverhead, Uniondale, and Wantagh.
Poetry Workshops for Kids
Walt Whitman Birthplace, Huntington
April 1-30
Walt Whitman was one of America’s greatest poets, so it’s only fitting that his birthplace be the spot to celebrate Poetry Month. With bunnies, tulips, chicks, butterflies, and Easter eggs for inspiration, children can whip up their very own poems. As added inspiration, there will be a recording of Walt Whitman’s voice reading his poem “America.”
Art Classes with Amy
Three locations: St. Luke’s Lutheran Church, Bayshore; West Islip Community Center, West Islip; First United Methodist Church, Amityville
April 1-19
Budding artists ages 5½ to 12 can tap their inner Picassos at Learn to Draw with Art Teacher Amy. These art classes offer step-by-step instructions to help your child learn to draw landscapes, people, masterworks, and animals. Inspiration and materials, including chalk and oil pastels, watercolors, and markers, are provided.
Disney Live! Mickey’s Music Festival
Nassau Coliseum, Uniondale
April 3
Kids will swoon over the characters and parents will groove to the tunes when Mickey Mouse rocks the stage with a few dozen close friends, including the stars from The Little Mermaid, Aladdin, and Toy Story, in Disney Live! Mickey’s Music Festival. Disney songs are remixed to the sounds of hip-hop, pop, swing, reggae, rock, and country in this jam session that invites the audience to dance, sing, play air-guitar, and laugh along.
Celebrate Earth Day
Nassau and Suffolk counties
Throughout April
In honor of Earth Day on April 22, check out these 14 cool activities for kids and families that celebrate nature and the great outdoors.
Dora the Explorer Live! The Pirate Adventure
The Showplace at The Bellmore Movies, Bellmore
April 6-7, 13, and 20
Plaza Theatrical Productions, Long Island’s largest touring theater company, presents Dora The Explorer Live! Dora’s Pirate Adventure. Dora, her best buddy Boots the Monkey, and the rest of their friends embark on an exciting trip to Treasure Island. Along the way, the audience will use their map-reading, counting, musical and language skills to successfully help Dora reach the treasure. All ends happily onstage with a “yo-ho-ho!” The performance runs for one hour and is followed by a meet and greet with the cast.
Jim West’s Dinosaurs!
Landmark on Main Street, Port Washington
April 7
Have you ever met a dinosaur? At Jim West’s Dinosaurs!, a fabulous new kiddie production, you’ll meet Jim and Fossil, a dinosaur puppet detective, who snoops around to find fascinating facts about dinosaurs then and now. Before our eyes, a box turns into a tyrannosaurus, cardboard becomes a brachiosaurus, and newspaper transforms into an apatosaurus. Featuring the music of Mozart, Beethoven, Mahler, Stravinsky, and Prokofiev, this show offers a fact-filled hour of fun.
Treasure Island
Vanderbilt Carriage House, Centerport
April 6–May 5
Are you brave enough to go on an expedition with a band of pirates? When the Arena Players present Treasure Island, the story of a young boy who inherits a treasure map and sets sail on a high-seas adventure, the troupe will draft an audience member to play the part of a pirate on stage.
Dog Days Weekend
Old Westbury Gardens, Old Westbury
April 13-14
Fido gets his own special weekend at Old Westbury Gardens. He and his canine pals can romp the grounds during Dog Days, while their humans enjoy browsing a variety of dog-themed exhibitors and vendors. All pooches must be on a leash.
Wacky Wednesday
Theatre Three, Port Jefferson
April 19-21
Imagine spending a day in your parent’s shoes—literally and figuratively. That’s just what happens in the play Wacky Wednesday, when a wild wish results in Amanda and her dad switching places and learning that being someone else isn’t as easy as it looks.
Chick-A-Palooza
Garden of Eve Organic Farm & Market, Riverhead
April 20-21
It may be easier to get your children to eat everything on their plates if they know where their food comes from. Just don’t let them get too attached to the chickens at Chick-A-Palooza, where they can learn about chicken-keeping, beekeeping, gardening, and cooking. There will be farm tours and old-fashioned sheep shearing, too. FREE!
Sunjata Kamalenya
Long Island Children’s Museum, 11 Davis Ave., Garden City
April 27-28, April 30, May 1-2
McCarter Theater Center presents Sunjata Kamalenya, a West African theater production about 12th-century Mali. Taken directly from the Mandé tradition and featuring authentic music, costumes, and scenery, this experiential play recounts a saga in which a boy, who is predicted to be king, must fight off the powers of witchcraft and other adversities created by those who want to deprive him of his destiny.
Sheba Ensemble in Concert
Temple B’nai Torah, Wantagh
April 28
The Sheba Ensemble, an all-female music group, brings beautiful chamber music to Temple B’nai Torah in its return engagement. The group, which adds its own unique twist to Jewish music, has traveled from France to New York City, bringing a riveting repertoire of original tunes and Jewish melodies that are punctuated with musical influences such as bossa nova, pop, Middle Eastern, and jazz. These virtuoso players hail from the Manhattan School of Music and have been playing together for the past seven years. FREE!
More Fun
Catch a minor league baseball game in the NYC area
Search for even more fun and low-cost family activities in our full calendar of events
