The Big Summer Fun Guide

To help
you decide how to laze away your family’s summer days, we’ve assembled a guide to
the best outdoor happenings, and believe us, there are plenty! No matter what
your family’s interest or summer schedule, we bet you can fill your weekends
and free days with some of these great activities and adventures. —

If your
family loves to jam out to sweet tunes in the sunshine, check out our round-up
of the best outdoor concert series for kids and families—they’re happening in
parks all over the city, and most of them are free!

If your
kids are aspiring movie critics, peruse our compilation of family-friendly
outdoor movie screenings; the films range from recent releases (like “Bolt”
and “Night At The Museum”) to educational TV programming (like The Discovery
Chanel’s “Life” Series) to classics from days gone by (like “Auntie Mame”). Most
screening are free, and some even throw in free popcorn!

City parks are synonymous with summer, and NYC has an inexhaustible amount of green space ( and great amenities) for families to enjoy. Check out our ultimate parks guide here, filled with the best new playgrounds, picnic spots, and guides to parks both around the corner and across the river.

For
many city sports fans, summer means one thing—baseball season! New Yorkers are
lucky to have not one but two minor league teams based in the city, the Staten Island Yankees and The Brooklyn Cyclones. Both teams offer the
excitement of professional baseball for affordable prices. What’s more, these
stadiums frequently treat visitors to prizes, giveaways and post-game fireworks.

Of course, we know that even with all the fun happenings
around town, sometimes it’s nice to get out of the city and head to the beach,
so we put together a list of our favorite nearby coastal destinations, all of
which are accessible by car or train and less than an hour away. Some are
beloved and popular locales, like Jones Beach, while others just might be uncharted adventures, like Water Taxi Beach in Long
Island City.

Looking for another way to beat the heat? Check out list of our favorite local water parks.

Golf is great in New York City, especially for kids. Here’s our list of the best mini-golf and driving ranges. 

Of course, with the busy schedules of summer, parents need a night off to relax and have some fun, so we put together some inspired ideas for easy summer romance in NYC, from ping pong tournaments at a hip celeb-owned club to

Finally, what better way to cap
off a fun-filled summer day than a trip to an ice cream specialty shop? New York has dozens of shops with unique recipes and special city
histories. Here are a few of our favorites.