Top Kid-Friendly Activities For The Week

Canstruction 2016 will begin this week at Brookfield Place! Photo by Andrew Ross via Flickr.

Move over October! November arrives this week along with numerous family-friendly events. Haven’t made Halloween plans? Here are some of our favorite things happening all over the city this month!

Monday, October 31

Halloween Celebration
American Museum of Natural History
4-7pm
More than 30 of the American Museum of Natural History’s halls will be open for trick-or-treating plus arts and crafts for families with children of all ages. Characters including Clifford the Big Red Dog, Curious George, and Peter Rabbit will be in attendance, as well as magicians, stilt walkers, and even performers from the Big Apple Circus! Costumes are encouraged. Tickets are $14 per person.

Beginning Thursday, November 3

My First Film Fest
Walter Reade Theater at Lincoln Center
Various times
Join the Film Society of Lincoln Center for My First Film Fest, a new film festival for children that is designed to introduce younger audiences to the joy and wonder of movies. The program will feature 13 movie screenings, giveaways, and goodie bags. Kids will be treated to free screenings of “The Dark Crystal,” “Modern Times,” “Where the Wild Things Are,” “Steamboat Bill, Jr.,” and several international selections. Opening night will feature a sneak preview of Dreamworks’ “Trolls.” This event is free.

Canstruction
Brookfield Place
10am-6pm
Check out some awesome art and contribute to a great cause at Canstruction! Engineers, architects, students, and civilians compete to see who can build the biggest and coolest structures out of unopened cans of food. After the winners are crowned, all the food is donated to City Harvest to help feed NYC’s hungry. Previous years’ winners include a Bat-Signal—with an illuminated sky—and a bull charging out of a wall. Last year’s winner used 9,000 cans! Runs through Wednesday, November 16. This event is free; visitors are encouraged to donate at least one can of quality food in lieu of an admission fee.

Beginning Friday, November 4

“Chotto Desh”
New Victory Theater
Various times
One of Britain’s leading choreographers, Akram Kahn, is coming to the New Victory Theater this fall to perform “Chotto Desh,” his lauded autobiographical solo dance piece. Using a compelling mix of evocative dance, visuals, and sound, Khan’s piece follows his life story from the streets of Bangladesh to the stages of London. Telling this cross-cultural story and portraying the experiences of being different, “Chotto Desh” celebrates the resilience of the human spirit in the modern world. Recommended for ages 7 and up. Runs weekends through Sunday, November 13. Tickets start at $16.

Saturday, November 5

World Culture Festival: Epic Stories
Metropolitan Museum of Art
12-5pm
Learn about different world cultures at the Metropolitan Museum of Art this Saturday! During the museum’s World Culture Festival, all ages can listen to stories, watch live performances, and participate in artist-led workshops inspired by global stories. Festivities include a Diwali dance performance by East-West School of Dance, Cherokee and Choctaw songs performed by Martha Redbone, a comic book workshop with Women in Comics Collective, and more. Free with museum admission.

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Child's Play NY Virtual Classes

<span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: bold; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Child's Play NY is a Brooklyn-based company founded in 2009, committed to offering a diverse array of theater arts classes for children. They believe studying the art of acting encourages kids to be even more creative, collaborative and compassionate human beings. Since its inception, Child's Play NY has touched the lives of hundreds of students, worked inside dozens of schools and is consistently ranked as among the top theater arts programs. It is the 2019 winner of Brooklyn Family's Choice award for Best Performing Arts Class. &nbsp; <span style="color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: bold; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Fall/Winter 2020-21 Virtual Class Guide<span style="color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">: &nbsp; <span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; text-decoration: underline; text-decoration-skip: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Make a Movie Class <span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Experience creative fulfillment and movie magic with Child&rsquo;s Play NY! Kids get to make and star in their own film, with professional actors, directors and designers. From development to design to editing choices too, kids can take ownership over the creative process. Their friends and family get to celebrate their accomplishments at a final watch party premiere! Deep project-based learning and peer-connection is at the heart of this 9-week experience which can be done remotely or in-person. &nbsp; <span style="color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; text-decoration: underline; text-decoration-skip: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Fall and Winter Virtual Classes &nbsp; <span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Hogwarts School (grades 1-3): Come get sorted into your favorite house, jump on your Firebolt and let&rsquo;s make some magic! Class culminates in a movie montage featuring our original scripted work from the session. &nbsp; &nbsp; <span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; text-decoration: underline; text-decoration-skip: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Create Your Own Class <span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Make your own custom group to support social-emotional growth and play. Child&rsquo;s Play NY provides a dynamic teacher and their lauded curriculum that puts peer-interaction at the front and center. Custom classes are a special way to nurture what your child loves most and share that excitement with their friends, in-person or online. &nbsp; <div style="caret-color: #222222; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Playwriting (Grades 4-6)</div> <div style="caret-color: #222222; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Students will use their creativity, compassion and confidence to build a story they can carry with them for the rest of their lives. Individually, each student will craft a play, and together they will workshop their scenes, exercising their acting, directing, and most importantly, imagination skills. Over the course of the sessions, students will learn the basics of playwriting and be able to present any and all parts of their theatrical story. All classes will include individual assignments and collaborative opportunities. Each day will be structured so that all participants have the chance to learn and study other writers&rsquo; work, write for 10-15 minutes and share their words with each other. By the end of the semester they will have used their bodies, intellect and imagination to come up with an original play. By being confident, vulnerable and creative with each other and actively supporting and encouraging each other&rsquo;s work, students will emerge with meaningful connections to each other and a strong sense of their writing and collaborative abilities. Class culminates in a montage and packet of students&rsquo; original work. </div> <div style="caret-color: #222222; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">&nbsp;</div> <div style="caret-color: #222222; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Musical Theater Lab (Grades 4-6)</div> <div style="caret-color: #222222; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Learn how to be a triple threat in this dynamic class for budding performers with Child&rsquo;s Play NY. Students focus on songs, dances and characters from Broadway&rsquo;s most celebrated and kid-friendly shows. They work alongside professional performers with years of experience bringing their passion to children. Class culminates in a movie showcase of scenes and songs. Join for the full session, or enroll as a drop-in! </div> <div style="caret-color: #222222; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">&nbsp;</div> <div style="caret-color: #222222; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Shakespeare Scene Study (Grades 3-5, 6-8 and 9-12)</div> <div style="caret-color: #222222; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Young people become confident with Shakespeare&rsquo;s world, language and characters as they learn how to interpret a role with technique and courage. Classically trained professional actors assist the players in their physical, vocal and emotional transformations. All Shakespeare teaching artists are classically trained professional actors and have performed Shakespeare both on and off Broadway and in regional theaters across the country.</div> <div style="caret-color: #222222; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Students jump into the worlds of Shakespeare in this robust mash-up of improvisation and classic text scene study class. After learning the plot and characters from several plays, they rehearse and memorize scenes from the original text. New material, devised by the cast, adds a contemporary through-line to their show and highlights the universality of Shakespeare&rsquo;s themes. Class culminates in a movie showcasing their work.</div> <div style="caret-color: #222222; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">&nbsp;</div> <div style="caret-color: #222222; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The Big Twist: A New Musical (Grade 1-4)</div> &nbsp; <div style="caret-color: #222222; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In this acting class, students get to perform a brand new musical based on The Wizard of Oz. The Wicked Witch of the South wants to return Oz to a time when WITCHES reigned supreme, and all was evil. Summoning a dark magic Tornado, the Wicked Witch of the South sends Oz hurtling into an alternate Oz. With the Yellow Brick road destroyed, the Wizard left powerless, and the citizens of Oz scattered to the Wind, our heroes are forced into unlikely partnerships to stop the Witch and restore the world to order. The Wizard of Oz meets The Tempest. &nbsp;Class culminates in a premiere of a movie starring the students, filmed over the last few days of the session.</div> &nbsp; &nbsp;

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.

Yuletide Factory

Fill your hearts with circus cheer&mdash;the merry daredevils of Cirque Mechanics (Zephyr, 2023) are back with an industrial-strength spectacular for you and your kin. Sparkling with holiday spirit, the ever energetic ensemble of acrobats transforms a drab assembly plant into a holly jolly Yuletide Factory! From the wonder of the German wheel to festive flips from the trampoline wall, they dash and dance through a pageant of powerhouse stunts with grins and goodwill. It&rsquo;s high-flying fun, comfort and joy for the whole family!