Taking the Kids: Playground or museum?

Did you know The Bronx is the only one of New York’s five boroughs connected to the mainland. To get to Manhattan, Queens, Staten Island, or Brooklyn, you have to take a tunnel or a bridge.

NYCGO.com, Timeout.com, NYMetroParents.com and MommyPoppins.com are all websites that can tell you what’s going on and when. The Citymapper app tells you which subway or bus to ride to let you know where you are going and what you are eating. Have you tried a slice of pizza folded in half, Chinese noodles with chopsticks, a hot salted pretzel or hot dog from a street vendor?

Some neighborhoods are known for the food of those who live there. Besides Little Italy, you will find Italian food on Arthur Avenue in the Bronx; Astoria in Queens is known for its Greek community and Greek restaurants and shops. Flushing, Queens, is sometimes called the “Chinese Manhattan.” Jackson Heights, Queens, is home to many South Asians and a good place to try Indian dishes.

Explore one neighborhood at a time, including playground stops, of course, and smaller museums. There are some 150 to choose from, from the most famous like the American Museum of Natural History and the Metropolitan Museum of Art (both with many special family programs) to one of the newest, The Museum of Broadway.

The oldest children’s museum in the country, The Brooklyn Children’s Museum in the Crown Heights neighborhood, is the city’s largest cultural institution designed especially for families with many special programs that help empower children. Love the kid-sized World Brooklyn where kids can play in kid-sized shops based on real ones in Brooklyn neighborhoods, taking on the roles of shopkeeper, baker, grocer, shopper, etc.

There’s a museum located in a historic firehouse devoted to the history of firefighting in the city (the New York City Fire Museum); one to math (The National Museum of Mathematics); fashion (the Museum at Fashion Institute of Technology, which features rotating exhibits by students and a gallery of fashion dating back to the 18th century); historic toys and dolls at the Museum of the City of New York); and immigrants (The Tenement Museum is on the Lower East Side, housed in historic tenement apartments, it tells the stories of different immigrants who lived here a century apart — Jewish, Chinese, Puerto Rican, Italian and German among them).

Also recommended: The Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum is on a restored World War II aircraft carrier.

Look for special areas designed for kids and families, as well as special programs. The Brooklyn Botanic Garden has a discovery garden for young naturalists with hands-on experiences. In the summer, there are kids discovery stations. Explore the special kids’ site at the American Museum of Natural History and download the family guide to The Met.

Take a tour aimed at families. Big Apple Greeter (www.bigapplegreeter.org) is an organization of volunteers that gives visitors free tours of different areas of NYC, based on your interests. Ask for a kid-friendly tour.

“You see pictures of the Empire State Building and all of these other places,” said Scott, who was visiting from Arizona, “But when you see the real thing, it’s cool!”

That’s for sure.

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(For more Taking the Kids, visit www.takingthekids.com and also follow TakingTheKids on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram where Eileen Ogintz welcomes your questions and comments. The Kid’s Guide to Philadelphia and The Kid’s Guide to Camping are the latest in a series of 14 books for kid travelers published by Eileen.)