SLEDDING
Central Park’s Pilgrim Hill (north of the 72nd Street entrance at 5th Avenue) is one of the most popular spots because of its relatively bump-free, steep slope. However, Cedar Hill (enter between 76th and 79th Streets at 5th Avenue) is a less crowded spot that is perfect for beginners and little ones. centralparknyc.org
East River Park (FDR Drive between Montgomery and East 12th Streets) provides moderate slopes and good scenery. nycgovparks.org
Brooklyn’s Fort Greene Park gives sledders a choice between four different hills, offering something to suit every snow bunny’s desire and skill level. fortgreenepark.org
Another popular spot for families is Hippo Playground (at 91st Street) in Riverside Park. Kids can generate a lot of speed on its steep downhill, but the park has accounted for this by putting hay bales at the bottom to prevent speedy sledders from hitting the fence. riversideparknyc.org
At Morningside Park (from West 110th Street and Morningside Drive to 123rd Street), there are hills where intrepid sledders can generate lots of speed. Families that want a gentler ride can head north to St. Nicholas Park on 135th Street. nycgovparks.org
Prospect Park’s most trafficked hill is near the Tennis House at Prospect Park West and 9th Street in Park Slope, Brooklyn. Families can head east to a slope in the Nethermead field, which will give you the feeling of being in the woods for a few hours. prospectpark.org
SKATING
Outdoor Rinks:
Bank of America Winter Village Rink is the only rink in New York City that offers free admission. And if parents don’t feel like hitting the ice, Penguin Skate Aids will help beginner skaters under 10 around the rink. wintervillage.org
The Rink at Brookfield Place overlooks the Hudson River Waterway and offers learn-to-skate, Mommy/Daddy & Me, and Kick Ice Hockey Fitness classes. brookfieldplaceny.com
Lasker Rink in Central Park is twin-rink facility at the northern end of the park that, in addition to offering skates for rental and lessons, is known for its youth hockey leagues for boys and girls. laskerrink.com
In addition to ice time and skate rentals for the public, Prospect Park’s LeFrak Center at Lakeside’s Skate School offers Parent & Me and Tot (ages 1-4) lessons, plus Stick & Puck sessions during which hockey players of all ages can hone their skills—and a youth curling league. lakesidebrooklyn.com
The Rink at Rockefeller Center provides a classic NYC winter skating experience. The rink allows just 150 skaters on the ice at a time, so families can sign up for VIP reservations or rink season passes to skip the lines. therinkatrockcenter.com
The Trump Wollman Rink offers skyline views of the city from the heart of Central Park and boasts the country’s largest instructional skating program for kids of all ages. wollmanskatingrink.com
Indoor Rinks:
The ice skating rink at Aviator Sports and Events Center in Brooklyn has New York City’s only twin NHL-sized ice rinks. It’s open year-round and offers public skating sessions and skate rentals every day along with extended hours on weekends. aviatorsports.com
City Ice Pavilion in Long Island City, Queens, is an expansive rink offering open skating on both weekdays and weekends—not to mention free garage parking. cityicepavilion.com
Sky Rink at Chelsea Piers is New York City’s only year-round indoor ice skating rink. The twin-rink facility boasts great views of the Hudson River. Drop-in skaters are welcome—with skates and helmets available for rental. chelseapiers.com
The World Ice Arena is a year-round rink located in Flushing Meadows, Corona Park, Queens. It offers daily public skating hours, learn-to-skate lessons, youth hockey leagues, and figure skating clinics, as well as a host of other family programming. worldice.com.
WINTER CARNIVALS
Celebrate winter at the 42nd Stowe Winter Carnival (January 16-30) in Stowe, Vermont—this year’s theme is “All Stowed In” and features sporting events such as snow volleyball, ski racing, and snow golf. There are also youth hockey games, snowboard half-pipe competitions, fireworks, and a kids’ carnival. stowewintercarnival.com
The Parks Department’s annual Winter Jam (January 23) is “NYC’s Ultimate Snow Day”! Located in Central Park, this fest is completely free and features a snow field (with snow brought in from outside the city if necessary) where participants can go snowshoeing, sledding, kicksledding or learn how to ski or snowboard. There is also a Winter Market where families can refuel on tasty treats from Taste NY. nycgovparks.org
Carnaval de Quebec (January 29 to February 14) in Quebec City, Canada, is the largest winter carnival in the world. It features a remarkable ice palace, canoe races, sleigh rides, and an ice slide that’s nearly 400 feet high. The two-week celebration also hosts parades on select nights. carnival.qc.ca
The Bank of America Winter Village in Bryant Park will host its 2nd annual Winter Carnival this year on February 5-6. Last year’s bash featured a mix of classic winter activities, as well as a Silent Disco! wintervillage.org
Families can head to the 28th annual Newport Winter Festival (February 12-21) for 10 days of good food and good fun in Newport, Rhode Island. Known as “New England’s Largest Winter Extravaganza,” this year’s event will feature a children’s fair, a chili and chicken wing cook-off, and plenty of musical entertainment. newportwinterfestival.com
ARTISTIC AMUSEMENTS
The Children’s Museum of the Arts offers a variety of Gallery Workshops for ages 5 and up during the week inspired by ongoing exhibitions, such as “Tiny Life: Introducing Families to Microbes through Art.” cmany.org
The Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum offers free design workshops for children from preschoolers to tweens. Reservations are required, but while you’re there, check out their exhibit on Pixar, which examines animation art from kids’ favorites like “Toy Story,” “Wall-E,” “Brave,” “Cars,” “The Incredibles,” and more. cooperhewitt.org
The Metropolitan Museum of Art offers a robust slate of programming for teens, with the monthly Art Explore program, which provides ages 11-14 with the opportunity to talk with other teens about art from around the world while traveling through the galleries; Teen Studio art-making workshops, for ages 15-18, which covers arts like manga and printmaking; and the monthly Saturday Sketching sessions, which invite ages 11-18 to sketch in the galleries under the guidance of an artist-instructor. metmusem.org
Open seven days a week, MoMA’s Art Lab welcomes all ages to come and create, centered on a common theme. The current theme is “Process,” which explores the roots of artistic inspiration and allows participants to explore their own creative processes, through activities like designing a chair, sketching a still life, or building a sculpture. moma.org
Families with children ages 3 and up can drop in at the Rubin Museum of Art on Sunday afternoons for art-making activities centered on a monthly theme connected to the Museum’s Himalayan art collection. After crafting, you can take advantage of the 2pm Family Exhibition Tour. rubinmuseum.org
INDOOR SPORTS & PLAY
Families can come to the Field House at Chelsea Piers to play their favorite sport all year long with their wide variety of drop-in activities. Little ones can crawl, jump and roll in a safe environment at the toddler gym. The batting cages allow for fast, slow, or medium-pitch softball and baseball. Open Youth Rock Climbing sessions are supervised by instructors that provide equipment, teaching and supervision for the duration of your climb. There are also soccer fields and basketball courts that offer open play whenever regular programming is not scheduled. chelseapiers.com
Daredevils can head to Long Island City, Queens’ Indoor Extreme Sports to play Archery Tag—think kid-friendly Hunger Games play for ages 10 and up—with family and friends. The venue also offers a variety of Laser Tag games appropriate for age 7 and up, with laser tag fields inspired by video game maps and levels. indoorextremesports.com
Bring your little ones to Klub4Kidz in Williamsburg for a climbing experience geared specifically towards children. The rock wall is only 18 feet high, and the venue has open climbing sessions for children ages 3 and up. When they see the four-tier indoor playground, they won’t want to leave! klub4kidz.com
Families can come to Midtown’s Frames Bowling Lounge to play a game on one of their 28 lanes. They offer a family package on Monday-Saturday until 5pm and all-day Sunday, which includes two hours of bowling and shoe rental for each guest, as well as laneside food. framesnyc.com
Kips Bay’s Modern Pinball offers a wide variety of arcade games from the ’70s to today in a clean, family-friendly environment. Pinball games include everything from “Star Trek” to “Transformers” and “Avatar.” modernpinballnyc.com
TASTY TEAS & HOT COCOAS
Join City Bakery in February for their annual Hot Chocolate Festival, featuring different daily flavors throughout the month! Past decadent concoctions have included “On a Peanut Butter Barge” and “Salted Caramel Bonnet.” thecitybakery.com
Try the rich cocoa with a twist at Noho’s Brazilia Café. Their version of hot chocolate is served in a chocolate-dipped waffle cone, combining two of everyone’s favorite desserts. braziliacafe.com
With several locations in Manhattan (plus the original DUMBO, Brooklyn outpost), there are plenty of opportunities to snag a steaming cup of Jacques Torres’ renowned hot chocolate. Made with two percent milk, it’s full of rich melted chocolate. mrchocolate.com
The Plaza’s Palm Court offers a sophisticated Eloise Tea for young city-dwellers. In addition to a selection of fine teas and hot chocolates and dainty sandwiches, the Pink Pink Cotton Candy—spun in-house around a salted pretzel stick—is always a decadent favorite. theplazany.com
A New York institution, the lavish Russian Tea Room has a special children’s tea menu featuring items like PB&J on a blini, red velvet cupcakes with sprinkles, and a whole list of decaf teas. The kids will be delighted by the luxe Russian theme as they sip hot teas from authentic silver holder glass cups on the tea room’s famous scarlet banquettes. russiantearoomnyc.com
A sweet Upper West Side staple, Voilà Chocolat will satisfy the hot chocolate cravings of the most discerning youngsters and adults alike. Slurp on the spiced Daredevil, Banana, or Matcha Green Tea White Hot Chocolate. And don’t forget to check out their chocolate workshops for kids, such as chocolate snowman-building. voila-chocolat.com
A DOSE OF CULTURE
[Editor’s note: For our top event picks in children’s arts and culture this winter, check out our 15 Great Events story,]
During CelebrasiaNYC (January 24-March 12), families can celebrate the Lunar New Year and other Asian New Year festivals with a variety of family workshops and programs at some of the city’s leading cultural institutions, such as the Rubin Museum, the Japan Society, the Museum of Chinese in America, and more. celebrasia.org
Check out the Children’s Museum of Manhattan’s new exhibit, “America to Zanzibar: Muslim Cultures Near and Far,” opening on February 13, which will celebrate the diversity of Muslim cultures in America and across the globe through explorations of Muslim art, architecture, music, design, and more. Accompanying programs include dance and theater performances, art and cooking demos, as well as a variety of other hands-on activities. cmom.org
If you’re looking for some literary fun, there are lots of free readings at independent bookstores and public library branches across the city (you can find a more comprehensive list here), but a few of our favorites include Brooklyn’s Greenlight Bookstore’s Saturday Author Storytimes, and Bank Street Book Store’s daily free story hours. greenlightbookstore.com & bankstreetbooks.com
Who said that math can’t be fun? During the Museum of Mathematics’ family Fridays, kids can engage with exhibits that will engage them with various mathematical concepts. momath.org
Winter is the perfect time to catch a movie with the kids, and luckily the season is filled with kid-friendly film festivals. The New York International Children’s Film Festival is the largest, and spans for nearly a month, from February 26-March 20 (see page 12 for more details). The 18th annual BAMKids Film Festival, which will be held from February 27-28 this year, in association NYICFF, includes pre-film entertainment such as magicians, balloon artists, and other performers. nyciff.org & bam.org
WINTER WILDLIFE
Escape the winter cold with your kids at the Butterfly Conservatory at the American Museum of Natural History. The 1,200 square-ft tropical paradise contains about 500 winged beauties that are fascinating to observe—and it’s more than 80 degrees inside the conservatory’s glass dome! amnh.org
The Central Park Zoo’s Tropic Zone: The Rainforest can be a wonderful escape from the cold. The habitat is filled with exotic animals such as black-and-white ruffed lemurs and blue poisonous frogs, and is constructed to feel like a real rainforest, with trees and greenery hanging above. centralparkzoo.com
Travel to warmer climes at the New York Botanical Garden’s “Wild Medicine in the Tropics” in the Enid A. Haupt Conservatory (opening January 23), or enjoy the balmy temps and beautiful blooms at NYBG’s annual Orchid Show, opening on February 27. nybg.org
If you do feel like braving the chilly temps, you can look for harbor seals and winter birds on the New York Water Taxi’s NYC Audubon Winter EcoCruise throughout the New York Harbor. Every Sunday through March 13, families can board the New York Water Taxi to learn about the harbor seals and the winter birds. nywatertaxi.com
Wave Hill’s conservatory can provide a much-needed dose of warmth and vibrant floral colors in the winter months. Stroll through the Palm House, visit the desert at the Cactus and Succulent House displays, and revel in the humidity of the steamy Tropical House. Be sure to check out some of the nature-themed Family Art Projects held on select weekends. wavehill.org
