Activities Advice Articles
With Little Kids: Ideas for Family Movie Night!
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- Parent Category: Parenting Advice
- Category: General Parenting Advice, Indoor Activities For Yucky Days, Book & Movie Lists For Kids, Tweens and Teens
What to watch with your little ones on family movie night!
Classes & Activities for Kids & Families
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- Category: Advice - Activities, Activities Advice Articles
Looking for activities for your kids, tween or teen? From afterschool programs to sports classes, ideas for fun in the winter/ fall/ summer, this page points you in the right direction of where you can get ideas & suggestions from fellow PSP members!
Top Tips for Hiking in the Age of Coronavirus
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- Category: Advice - Activities, Activities Advice Articles, Summer Fun
Home is the safest place right now, but as the weather continues to warm up and cabin fever hits in full force, venturing into the great outdoors is growing more and more appealing. NYC is already struggling with overcrowding in our much-loved parks, so if you want to maintain social distancing while enjoying the fresh air, hitting the trails can be a wonderful option. We hope this advice sourced from PSP members will help you stay safe while immersing yourself in nature!
Activities and Classes Advice
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- Parent Category: Advice - Activities
- Category: Activities Advice Articles
Music Classes--Advice from a Music Teacher
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- Parent Category: Advice - Activities
- Category: Activities Advice Articles
Words of wisdom about choosing music classes from PSP member who is a music teacher, a former violinist and opera singer.
Summer Activities - Suggested by members
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- Parent Category: Advice - Activities
- Category: Activities Advice Articles, Summer Fun
What to do with all this free time!
Apple Picking via Public Transportation?
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- Parent Category: Advice - Activities
- Category: Activities Advice Articles, Fall Fun
Want to go Apple Picking but you don't have a car? Here are a few options:
NOTE: The actual apple picking only takes less than an hour-- so consider another activity (many farms have harvest days and corn mazes) so you don't travel 4 hours for a very short visit.
IPhone Apps for kids
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- Parent Category: Advice - Activities
- Category: Activities Advice Articles, Technology & Kids
Recommendations from the PSP community on iPhone apps their kids love.
Snow Fun Advice
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- Parent Category: Advice - Activities
- Category: Activities Advice Articles, Winter Fun
12 tips of making snow days manageable in Brooklyn!
Thinking Outside the Sand Box
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- Parent Category: Advice - Activities
- Category: Activities Advice Articles, Playgrounds, Parks & Spaces
Tips for playing in the sandbox, from the expert nannies in the Slope!
Subway by Christoph Niemann
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- Parent Category: Advice - Activities
- Category: Activities Advice Articles, Kid Friendly New York
A book review of Subway, by Christop Niemann
Tips for Snowy Fun-- 2013
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- Parent Category: Advice - Activities
- Category: Activities Advice Articles
Here's the best of our collective wisdom to help make your snow day nuthin' but fun.
Foul Weather Friends - Fun Ideas For Yucky Days
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- Parent Category: Advice - Activities
- Category: Activities Advice Articles, Indoor Activities For Yucky Days
Indoor Activity Ideas for those bad weather days in Park Slope!
We ♥ Winter
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- Parent Category: Advice - Activities
- Category: Activities Advice Articles
A Park Slope parents shares her tips for playing in the snow in Prospect Park.
Brooklyn Tours
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- Parent Category: Advice - Activities
- Category: Activities Advice Articles, Kid Friendly New York
Here are a few tours ideas and NYC activites suggested by PSP Members on how to get to learn more about Brooklyn.
Kid-approved Art, Museum & Music Events
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- Parent Category: Advice - Activities
- Category: Activities Advice Articles, Kid Friendly New York
PSP members share the cultural experiences their family has enjoyed!
It's Sooo Hot in the City! Cheap (or free!) Activities To Do With Kids of All Ages in NYC during the summer
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- Parent Category: Advice - Activities
- Category: Activities Advice Articles, Summer Fun, Kid Friendly New York
Are you looking for fun ideas with what to do with your toddlers & Kids this summer? Here are some tips & suggestions that PSP Members have shared. Do you have any you would like to add? Let us know!
PSP Member Recommended Family Friendly Day Hikes
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- Parent Category: Advice - Activities
- Category: Activities Advice Articles, Advice - Activities, Summer Fun
Lake Minnewaska is a favorite hiking destination for PSP members. Photo via here.
PSP Member Recommended Family Friendly Day Hikes!
Coney Island
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- Parent Category: Activities Advice Articles
- Category: Summer Fun
PSP member, blog writer and photographer Amber Ceffalio visited the aquarium & Coney Island last weekend, and post Sandy, is still an ideal outing for young ones.
NYC Public Swimming Pools
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- Parent Category: Activities Advice Articles
- Category: Summer Fun
NYC's outdoor public swimming pools open the Friday after NYC public schools start their summer vacation. Here is important information of what to bring, where to go, and more.
When:
Outdoor pool hours are from 11:00 a.m. through 7:00 p.m., with a break for pool cleaning between 3:00 p.m. and 4:00 p.m. Early bird and night owl lap swim hours are also available at select sites.
What to Bring:
- Don't forget a sturdy combination lock. Everything other than water, a towel and bound summer reading material is required to be locked away. You are required to lock your belongings up with a sturdy combination lock when you head out to the pool.
What Not to Bring:
- Leave food, glass bottles, electronic devices, and newspapers at home (according to the NYC parks and recreation website, "unbound periodicals tend to blow around and create litter, food can be messy to clean up after, and there’s too much water around to make sure your electronics stay safe. Just to be on the safe side, we also recommend leaving valuables like jewelry and credit cards at home.")
- No floaties, If you are thinking of bringing floaties, it’s safer to leave them at home and have your little one stay in the shallow end of the pool until everyone they learns to swim (if you are looking for swimming lessons, here are PSP member recommendations for classes)
What to Wear:
- A swimsuit is required to enter the pool area. NYC parks and recreation may check men’s shorts for a lining if they can’t tell if they are wearing a bathing suit. If you need to cover up from the sun, NYC Parks and Recreation recommends you "throw on a plain white shirt or white hat and you’re set. We don’t allow shirts with colors on them on the deck."
For the Kids:
- Babies or toddlers should wear swim diapers
- Some recreation centers may be able to find a place for you to park your stroller, but they can’t keep an eye on it for you. Park at your own risk.
From our members:
What parents have to say about Public Swimming Pools
Where to take Swimming Lessons
Important Links:
NYC Parks & Recreation information about pools
General Safety Reminders About Drowning
Note:
Indoor pools are open year-round. YAY!
2014 NYC Youth Guide to Summer Fun
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- Parent Category: Activities Advice Articles
- Category: Summer Fun
a PSP member shared that the NYC Guide is now available to download! "This indispensable guide is a collaborative effort between New York City
Agencies, museums, youth groups, libraries, arts organizations and cultural institutions. Many of these events are free or low cost.
And for some more PSP member suggestions of summer activities for kids, tweens and teens, go HERE.
Coney Island - what the kids say!
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- Parent Category: Activities Advice Articles
- Category: Summer Fun, Tween & Teen Activities
Sabrina and Samantha Van Putten had a recent adventure to Coney Island...
Camping with Babies and Toddlers
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- Parent Category: Activities Advice Articles
- Category: Summer Fun, Activities Advice Articles
Our outdoorsy members share what they like best and least about camping with babies - and share a few tips about making a camping trip a success. We also added PSP member ideas of what to cook and how to simplify a camping routine!
Hot Weather Food Strike
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- Parent Category: Activities Advice Articles
- Category: Summer Fun, Eating, New Parent Eating
"I got a great responses to my question about good foods for a hot weather food strike," shares a PSP member. "Some won't work for my pasta-hating, cheese-rejecting vegetarians, but I got several requests to post to list and I've included all responses below, from Mom to Two who subsist on breakfast and air..."
The PSP Guide to Socially Distanced Summer Fun
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- Parent Category: Activities Advice Articles
- Category: Summer Fun, Activities Advice Articles, Kid Friendly New York
Even with our city on the verge of reopening, heading out for a far-flung vacation is likely not in the cards this summer. Fortunately, as the mercury continues to rise, our local area presents plenty of possibilities for a summer “staycation.” Below, check out PSP’s recs for lockdown-friendly fun.
Safe social distancing in the park! Image source: Wikimedia Commons
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Fall Fun: It is Apple Picking Time!
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- Parent Category: Activities Advice Articles
- Category: Fall Fun
image made available here via a Creative Commons license
Park Slope Parents has an extensive list of apple and fruit picking destinations HERE with tips & suggestions from fellow parents. Make sure to call these places before you trek out (we got to one place and they were out of apples in one field and not opening another one for a few hours!).
NOTE: As one member pointed out, "In my experience, the actual picking time is an hour or less. So it may be a good idea to schedule another outdoor activity collocated with or nearby to an orchard. The better to enjoy a fall day, and increase the ratio of outdoor family time to drive (& traffic) time."
Columbus Day is a DOE school holday, so if you don't make it out in the next few weekends, perhaps that's a day for an adventure!
Don't have a car? We've got a list of places you can get to by public transport here.
Now all we need is the perfect Apple Pie recipe...
Taking Fall Photos of your Kids
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- Parent Category: Activities Advice Articles
- Category: Fall Fun, Home Life
It's FALL and the leaves are beautiful right now. Take some time to use the backdrop of the fall to get some great photos of your family.
Tips:
- Take photos of leaf fights and kids throwing leaves up in the air.
- Look for contrasting colors (bright yellow leaves against a dark colored rock).
- Have the kids lay down in the leaves or buried in the leaves. (For older subjects take photos from head to toe to avoid double chins!)
- Kids don't have to be in fall colors-- other colors such as blue and green "pop."
- Photograph during sunrise or sunset for the best light and color.
- Photograph outdoors when your shadow is longer than you are, usually in the afternoon (Today near the 9th Street Playground the sun was going behind the buildings around 4:00)
- Take photos with the sun coming through the leaves but use a tree trunk or something else so so there's no direct light going into your lens.
- If you are taking portraits, consider turning on your flash to get both the leaf color AND your kids faces. Okay, it's a bit 80s, but use the sun to backlight your hair from behind (using a flash to light up your face-- but stand back so the flash isn't too stark. Lay on the ground with your subject above you so you get the leaves and tree limbs as part of the background. (Double check that there's not a big limb as a horn).
Okay-- more techy stuff:
- Use a Polarizing lens if you've got one.
- Underexpose your shots slightly
- Use portrait mode to blur the background.
- Use your macro setting to shoot close shots of light shining through the leaf with the veins showing through.
- Use a short depth of field in order to blur the leaves and JUST get the color while keeping the person in focus.
FINALLY-- Go with another family and swap taking a family portrait-- it's good to have the WHOLE bunch of you. And Moms-- make sure to get photos of yourself!
ENJOY THE FALL!
- Susan Fox
Movies Your Kids Should See to Better Understand their Parents!
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- Parent Category: Activities Advice Articles
- Category: Indoor Activities For Yucky Days, Tween & Teen Activities, Book & Movie Lists For Kids, Tweens and Teens
This was based on a thread on the PSP Tweens Group. Movies Your Kids Should See to Better Understand their Parents! (Be sure to also check out our other list, Classic Movies You Want your Tween to See While They Are Tweens)
Best Science Museums, According to PSP Members
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- Parent Category: Activities Advice Articles
- Category: Indoor Activities For Yucky Days, Tween & Teen Activities
The following quesiton was asked to the Park Slope Parents group: "My rising 6th grader has summer homework to “visit a science museum and write a journal entry describing what you saw and what you learned from it”. What’s your favorite Science Museum?"
Here are their votes!
Family Bucket List: Chinatown Lunar New Year Parade and Festival
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- Parent Category: Activities Advice Articles
- Category: Kid Friendly New York
If you’ve never taken the kids to the Chinese New Year Parade, put it on your bucket list of family excursions in New York City!
Starting in Little Italy and going through Chinatown to Sara D. Roosevelt Park at Canal and Forsyth streets. Dancing dragons and lions, floats and drummers will be part of the parade that ends with craft and food stalls in the park.
How Young Is Too Young to Attend Concerts?
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- Parent Category: Activities Advice Articles
- Category: Kid Friendly New York , Activities Advice Articles, Behavior and Discipline
Park Slope Parents was invited to take part in a roundtable discussion about whether young children should attend concerts.
The Best Kept Secret...
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- Parent Category: Activities Advice Articles
- Category: Hidden Treasures
Tourist Activities for Tweens & Teenagers
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- Parent Category: Parents of Tweens
- Category: Tween & Teen Activities, Activities Advice Articles, Kid Friendly New York
So you have a teenager (or tween) coming to visit or you are looking for something fun to do with your own energetic young adult. What are some fun, slightly more grown up and erm, "cooler" things you can do with them? Here are some suggestions from local moms & dads.
Boardgames You Can Actually Play With Your Kids
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- Parent Category: Parents of Tweens
- Category: Tween & Teen Activities, Indoor Activities For Yucky Days, Activities Advice Articles, Advice - Activities
Park Slope Parents share the favorite boardgames they like to play with their kids.
Classic Movies You Want your Tween to See While They Are Tweens
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- Parent Category: Parents of Tweens
- Category: Tween & Teen Activities, Book & Movie Lists For Kids, Tweens and Teens, Indoor Activities For Yucky Days
Movies recommended on the PSP Tween Group.
December staycation? More ideas of what to do with Kids in NYC over the Holidays
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- Category: Holidays and Special Events, Christmas, Winter Fun
Planning a staycation over the December holidays? Here PSP members share ideas of what to do with kids in New York City during the December school break.
Sledding Safety Tips
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- Parent Category: Safety
- Category: Safety in the Slope, Child & Family Safety, Winter Fun
Sledding can be A LOT of fun. But it can also cause A LOT of injuries. Each winter, almost 21,000 children or teens end up in the emergency room because of a sledding accident (source: NBC news). Park Slope Parents has pulled together some tips to help you sled SAFELY.
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