City Treehouse

City Treehouse is an indoor playspace. The main feature is a water table that allows you to build your own dam and offers baskets full of water toys to play with. Nearby, there is a treehouse with a slide and a star cave below. There are also two adjacent rooms - one with toys for infants and younger children to play with and another with mats and balls. In addition, City Treehouse offers a number of unique classes. Although it is a drop-in playspace, it is best to call and reserve a spot.

Food Recommendations -

City Bakery is located on 18th Street between 5th and 6th Avenues. They are family friendly and offer many options such as a salad bar, pizza and mac and cheese. Be sure to grab the best chocolate chip cookie ever while you are there.

Apple Picking in NY - Masker Orchards

We recently went apple picking at Masker Orchards. Masker Orchards is located 55 miles from New York City. This is by far the biggest orchard I had ever been to and offers many fun activities for children. Upon entering, you drive through the main road and can pull over to stop and pick apples along the way. There are also many quieter spots. The views of the valley are phenomenal.

Masker's features pony rides, barnyard animals, wagon rides, a maze, a haunted house, and face painting. They offer a refreshment stand with lunch options and apple cider donuts. Masker's also has a delightful country store with apple pie, apple butter, a variety of jams, honey and kitchenware. It is a flat rate of $25.95 for a pretty big bag of apples.

Union Square Park Playground

The Union Square Park Playground has a lot of features that are not found in other parks. There is an entire section devoted to toddlers with climbing equipment, slides and a sandbox. The park floor is covered with rubber checkerboard tiles, cushioning any falls. The section for older children has a number of spinning rides, a metal dome for climbing; as well as other creative climbing structures, a tunnel slide, and a sprinkler for the summer months.

Food Recommendations -

Heartland Brewery is located on Union Square West and 17th Street. They provide children with a coloring page and crayons. They also have a good sized children's menu.

The most well-known Farmers Market in the city is in Union Square and operates on Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturdays. It is a great place to pick-up a sweet as they have plenty of delicious baked goods.

Chelsea Piers' Little Athletes Exploration Center

Little Athletes Exploration Center is located at the Field House at Chelsea Piers. This drop-in indoor playspace offers a wide variety of activities such as slides, a tunnel, ramp and stair climbing structure, and a ball pit. Nicely air-conditioned for hot days and also great for cold months!

Food Recommendations-

Chelsea Market is located between 15th and 16th Streets and runs from Ninth Avenue through Tenth Avenue and offers a number of different food options. Don't miss out on Fat Witch brownies or L'Arte del Gelato after your meal!

Battery Park City

The Nelson A Rockefeller Park in Battery Park City is a beautiful oasis in the city as it is adjacent to the water. It is larger than most playgrounds in the city and appeals to children of all ages. There are play areas for older children, toddlers, and infants. The park has a great water area for the summer months with hippo and elephant sprinklers, in addition to a water table behind the sprinklers for more water fun. The jungle gyms feature climbing nets and bridges. Another attraction is the pedal driven carousel.

Teardrop Park is nestled between buildings on Warren Street and Murray Street, east of River Terrace. The park features the most pristine sandbox in the city, a huge slide, a water play area, and many nice grassy areas to lounge.

Food Recommendation -

Le Pain Quotidien is located across the street from the park at 2 River Terrace and has outdoor seating. This chain is very family friendly. This particular location offers free milk for children, as well as the children's menu available throughout the city.

Central Park Zoo

The Central Park Zoo is located on 64th Street on the East Side of Central Park. The zoo is a very manageable size and has a nice layout. Among the attractions are a snow leopard, polar bear, penguins, sea lions, and monkeys. Be sure to catch the sea lion feedings and shows at 11:30am, 2pm and 4pm each day.

The Children's Zoo is a great place to get up close to the animals. This separate area located adjacent to the zoo houses rabbits, ducks, turtles, cows, pigs, alpacas, sheep and goats. Children's imaginations can run wild as they hop into adorable bunny ears and climb into turtle shells. These also make for great photo opportunities. Feeding the sheep and goats is always a highlight. Don't forget to bring your quarters!

Madison Square Park

Madison Square Park is one of my favorite in the city and has a number of events for kids throughout the year, as well as an outstanding playground. The Moira Ann Smith Playground at Madison Square Park has a circus theme and appeals to a wide age range. The waterwheel and alphabet block sprinklers were quite popular this Memorial Day weekend. During the summer, the park has Arts and Crafts in the playground on Tuesdays through Saturdays from 10am-12:30pm and 2pm-4:30pm. The park also has a kids concert series running from June through August on Tuesday and Thursday mornings at 10:30am. To view the schedule, click here.

Food Recommendations -

The original Shake Shack is housed in Madison Square Park and is a convenient and delicious pick for burgers, hot dogs, fries, and frozen custard.

Blue Smoke, another great Danny Meyer restaurant is located at 116 East 27th Street (between Park and Lexington) and an extremely kid-friendly restaurant. Upon arrival, children are presented with Wikki Stix and a pig shaped cookie to decorate with sprinkles (the cooked cookie is given at the end of the meal). They also have a pretty large kids menu.