I have a love-hate relationship with New York City. I absolutely love the vibrant culture and the fact that you never run out of things to do in the city. At the same time, I absolutely hate how dirty and expensive the city can be. Yet New York is a place I seem to have to go back to over and over. At the end of my sophomore year in college, I did a summer internship and lived in New York for 3 months. After grad school, my husband and I went back for the ball drop on New Years Eve. When I was at Deloitte, I stayed in the heart of Manhattan for a project for about ten months. Last week, we returned from New York once again, but this time with our daughter.

My daughter was fascinated about an Ellis Island simulation she had in second grade and wanted to see it in person this summer. Few of her classmates also took a trip to NYC for the same reason. From our trip and the stories we’ve been hearing from others, I’ve compiled this list of top activities to do with children in NYC.

1. Visit the Statue Of Liberty and Ellis Island

The whole purpose of our trip was to go to visit the National Museum of Immigration in Ellis island. If you are a first timer, you can’t go to New York City with children and not take a trip to the Ellis Island and Statue of Liberty. Both attractions are free, but require a ferry ticket from Statue Cruises (the only ferry that make stops at the attractions). The cruise departs from Battery Park. Kids enjoy the ferry ride as well as the historical sites.

Self-guided audio tour is available for visitors to learn about the Statue of Liberty while exploring the grounds of Liberty Island as well as the Statue’s museum. Park Rangers also provide English-language guided tours throughout the day. Advanced tickets are required to climb to the top of the statue on a first-come, first-served basis. There are 195 stairs to get to the pedestal. Prepare and challenge your kids ahead of time if you would like to climb and forgo the elevator.

We absolutely loved the Statue of Liberty Museum. The museum has an immersive theater, various historical artifacts including the original torch from 1876. The best part of the museum is that it allows visitors to share what liberty means to them through interactive panels. It was a fascinating experience.

Visiting the immigration museum at Ellis Island was even more rewarding. The excellent museum is set up to show the experience of America’s many immigrants.

Plan to spend 5-6 hours at Liberty Island and Ellis Island, especially with school-aged kids and teens.

2. Spend Time at Central Park

Explore America’s first public park in your own way. Stay on the pedestrian streets and let kids stop to play at will. Between a zoo, one of the many playgrounds, a conservatory garden and so much more, children will never want to leave…and you might not, either. It’s the perfect place to escape the chaos of people, honking taxi’s and cars that cover the city day and night.

3. Visit a Museum

NYC is home to some pretty incredible museums and it’s hard to decide which one to take your kids. My daughter loves art, so we wanted to visit Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), but it was closed for the summer. We’ve heard from a few of the parents that their kids didn’t enjoy The American Museum of Natural History so we didn’t try that.
We visited Children’s Museum of Manhattan(CMoM) and absolutely loved it. The interactive museum may be small, but it packs a punch and great for children 10 and under. We spent a lot of time at the an Art Lab which provides daily hands-on activities. CMOM has also found a way to entice even the youngest of children into learning about living a healthy lifestyle through it’s “EatSleepPlay” exhibit. The Let’s Dance exhibit/dance space gives children the opportunity to dress up in costumes from around the world. Children can play instruments from an array of cultures, and even get down with their own choreographed performances.

4. Eat From Halal Carts

You can’t go to New York and not try the the street food from a plethora of halal food carts. My daughter was super excited to see halal food in every street corner. 

5. Walk/Bike the Brooklyn Bridge

The Brooklyn bridge connects Manhattan and Brooklyn and has a walking and cycling path along with the road for the cars. It is one of the oldest suspension bridges in the USA. I highly recommend going about an hour before sunset for some spectacular pictures. The views are breathtaking when you walk from the Brooklyn side towards Manhattan. Take the subway to High Street-Brooklyn Bridge and the pedestrian walkway entrance is an easy walk from there. There are plenty of benches along the walkway to sit and enjoy the views. My daughter stopped along the way for yoga stretches and loved the walk.

Mom Tip : Buy your kids ice cream before starting the walk.

6. Visit Times Square

Times Square may not be typically associated with child friendly attractions but the location bustling with lights has a lot of kid friendly attractions. Our hotel was in Times Square and my daughter loved climbing the stairs at the TKTS booth our first night in NYC.
She also loved the giant M&M store where you can taste a tons of varieties of M&M’s, find out what M&M personality you are with the “Color Mood Analyzer” and much more. The Hershey’s Store lets children create their own candy mix and personalize a giant Hersey’s Kiss. Madame Tussaud’s wax museum in Times Square allows children and families the opportunity to get up close to models of their favorite stars.

7. Watch a Broadway Show

We watched Disney Aladdin, the hit Broadway Musical at New Amsterdam Theater. It was absolutely mesmerizing!!!  The best thing about the show is the Genie who is very talented and entertaining. The stage and props are brilliant, the scene with the carpet is breathtakingly beautiful and magical. The show was a highlight of the trip for sure.

They provide boosters so it was easy for my daughter to see over the tall people ahead of her. If you are looking for last minute tickets, TKTS has discounted theater tickets and they are the only discounted tickets I would recommend purchasing.

We planned to go up to Top of Empire State Building, but ran out of time. I loved the views from the top when I went more than a decade ago and hope to take my daughter in our next NYC trip.

Pin The NYC Recommendations with Kids