22 Great Thanksgiving Events For Families This Weekend

Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade

Make sure not to miss the 91st annual Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade that is sure to shine this holiday season with high-flying balloons, the Rockettes, Santa's sleigh, and tons celebrity appearances. The world famous parade floats down Central Park West and 77th Street before heading south along the park and swinging east at Columbus Circle until Sixth Avenue, resuming its route south until it reaches the final destination–the Macy’s on 34th Street. Be sure to get their early to grab a spot and watch all the classic floats you love like Charlie Brown, Spongebob Squarepants, and Pikachu, as well as some new favorites including Olaf, The Grinch from "How The Grinch Stole Christmas" and Paw Patrol's Deputy Chase. Photo: Macy's.com

Thanksgiving Eve Family Celebration at the New York Historical Society

Enjoy an exclusive access to watch the Macy’s Giant Balloon Inflation along West 77th Street. Fun activities and festive treats await you in the Museum, too! Photo: nyhistory.org

Radio City Christmas Spectacular

Nothing is better than spending Christmas in New York better and watching the Rockettes kick their heart out in the "Radio City Christmas Spectacular!" Photo: rockettes.com

Gingerbread Lane 2017 Workshops At NY Hall of Science

Kids can participate in creating their own gingerbread transportation to contribute to Gingerbread Lane 2017. This year’s GingerBread Lane workshops will take you to the road, track, and water with all of the fixings to design a truly sweet car, boat, or train. Each participant will receive a kit with all of the materials that Chef Jon Lovitch uses to create his GingerBread Lane exhibit: gingerbread pieces, icing, and candy. Photo: nysci.org

The Wizard of Oz at Vital Theater Company

Travel back to the Yellow Brick Road with Dorothy, the Scarecrow, the Cowardly Lion, and the Timman to the Great Land of Oz as the Vital Theatre Company presents "The Wizard of Oz," the classic tale by L. Frank Baum. Photo: vitaltheatre.org

The Magic Flute at The Metropolitan Opera House

Families will be sure to watch a family- friendly enchanting tale based on Mozart's musical masterpieces at the Metropolitan Opera House. This spell-binding production conducted by Evan Rogister and Julie Taymor will feature Nathan Gunn as he reprises his beloved role of the bird-catcher Papageno. Photo: metopera.org

George Balanchine's The Nutcracker

Families can watch this classic captivating Christmas ballet of George Balanchine’s "The Nutcracker" at Lincoln Center. Photo: nycballet.com

Polka Dot Festival at Children's Museum of the Arts

Join Children’s Museum of the Arts for a polka dot celebration. This spot-ful festival allows kids to have fun with polka dots as they ask kids to help cover their large Thanksgiving Day dinner with dots in similar fashion to Yayoi Kusama’s work. Photo: cmany.org

Feeding NYC Thanksgiving Food Drive

Give back to the community by volunteering at Feeding NYC, just two days before Turkey Day to help prepare, deliver, and package, to 35,000 New York families in need. Photo: Team Lionesque Group/ Feeding NYC via Facebook

Walking Food Tour: Chinatown Tour

Discover the diverse food and cooking styles of Chinese cuisine while exploring stories of the neighborhood through this multiregional tasting tour of Chinatown. The tour includes 5-6 food samples. Photo: mocanyc.org

A Time for Thanks Exhibit At Museum of the City of New York

Families can learn about the origins of Thanksgiving holiday in New York City and the traditions that have emerged over the years at this free exhibit. Photo: mcny.org

Thanksgiving Recess Workshops: International Chefs on Screen At Museum of the Moving Image

Young visitors of all ages will be inspired to create cooking-related projects from such on-screen culinary greats as Remy from Ratatouille and the Swedish Chef from the Muppets. Projects will include personalized chef hats, food animation, and more! These drop-in activities pair well with exhibition visits and screenings of Ratatouille or The Great Muppet Caper. Photo: movingimage com

Disney’s Ratatouille Film Screening at the Museum of Moving Image

Families will learn that no matter what age and skill level you are, anyone can cook as the Museum of Moving Image presents a screening of Disney’s "Ratatouille." Photo: Disney.com

The Great Muppet Caper Film Screening at the Museum of Moving Image

Stop the presses! A mysterious crime has occured and it’s up to Kermit, Fozzie, and Gonzo crack the case of the jewel thief as they head to London to find out who the great caper is as the Museum of the Moving Image presents a screening of "The Great Muppet Caper." Photo: Pinterest

Sunday Story Time: Bear Says Thanks At New York Historical Society

This week Sunday Story Time is celebrating Thanksgiving at the New York Historical Society! They’ll discuss what it means to be thankful and read "Bear Says Thanks" by Karma Wilson. Children will make a turkey puppet to take home. Photo: nyhistory.org

Transportation Inventions at the New York Transit Museum

Kids can use their imagination and their creativity to plan, blueprint, and build a pint-sized vehicle model from the future at the New York Transit Museum. Materials will provided at the event. Photo: nytransitmuseum.org

Day of Thanks at Queens Museum

In this hands-on workshop, kids will make appreciation tokens with yarn and weaving. They will coordinate the tokens with notes of Thanksgiving and hear Thanksgiving stories. Photo: Queens Museum

Holiday Sale at Queens Botanical Garden

Families can start their holiday shopping early by heading to the Queens Botanical Garden sale. Find unique gifts for everyone on your holiday shopping list at the garden’s annual holiday sale. Photo: queensbotanical.org

Holiday Train Show at New York Botanical Garden

Marvel at the locomotives humming along among familiar sights such as the Brooklyn Bridge, Statue of Liberty, and Rockefeller Center on nearly a half-mile of track at the Holiday Train Show. This year’s train show highlights Midtown Manhattan, featuring iconic skyscrapers like the Empire State Building, Chrysler Building, General Electric Building, and St. Bartholomew’s Church. Photo: nybg.org

Holiday A Cappella At New York Botanical Garden

Celebrate the holiday spirit and listen to a varied mix of holiday music, both familiar and new, and other fresh, popular, and alternative music sung by a cappella musicians. While you are in the visitor center, do some holiday shopping and enjoy refreshments. Photo: Ben Hider/New York Botanical Garden

Erwin Light Up Art Installation at Madison Square Park

See Madison Square Park transform into a spectacular light installation as 900 LED light spheres will be suspended from a square grid of steel poles and cabling over the Oval Lawn twinkling in the moonlight. Photo: madisonsquarepark.org

Family Art Project: Natural Wavings at Wave Hill House

Kids can create autumnal wreathes using fall leaves, cones, seed heads, and pods to create a decorative wreath to hang in their home celebrating fall and Thanksgiving season. Photo: wavehill.org