Wanting Suggestions for activities in the city with toddlers

My family (including a 3 year old) are coming to visit and I am looking for suggestions of kid friendly activities and also kid friendly restaurants in Brooklyn and the rest of the city. I don't have any kids and I have a whole week to fill! MANY thanks for any and all suggestions.

When my kids were small we enjoyed visiting the Staten Island children's zoo (there was a pony ride!), the Brooklyn acquarium, and the Bronx zoo.

Subject: Re: Wanting Suggestions for activities in the city with todd

crunchberry wrote: My family (including a 3 year old) are coming to visit and I am looking for suggestions of kid friendly activities and also kid friendly restaurants in Brooklyn and the rest of the city. I don't have any kids and I have a whole week to fill! MANY thanks for any and all suggestions.

I have nightmares like this

I'm not sure what to do with the kid, but I suggest YOU drink a lot /

Depending on how adventurous the kid is, I would say Coney Island. They have lots of kiddie rides.

Yes! Take them to the zoo and feed them to the bears!

Playgrounds with sprinklers are great!

Prospect Park zoo has a decent children section, in addition to the rest of the park being interesting. The sprinkler playgrounds are great with the kids, as mentioned, there are several in Prospect Park. Just riding the subway can be interesting for kids, if they aren't used to that sort of thing. Many of the libraries have story times that are cool. Any of the eye candy places around Times Square are nice. Restaurants would include Mars 2112 and Planet Hollywood, lots of things to look at. Toys R Us there is overwhelming with the indoor ferris wheel, and FAO Swartz isn't too shabby. Depending where they are coming from, a beach trip could be fun. Coney Island has some great kiddie sized rides, as mentioned above. There is stuff to look at here:
http://www.mommypoppins.com/
and the Time Out NY site is good for event searches restricted by kids.

a ride on the SI ferry is a free, low-stress way to see the harbor (for a three year old, read: "be on a BOAT")

I second Bronx Zoo!
Love that place and the childrens zoo section is cool too, I got to pet a Lama yup I'm a kid at heart. They also have feeding time with the Siberian tigers! :cat:

Though I hate to say it, Two Boots in PS is extremely kid friendly and good food, plus tasty sangria.

I second everything Mamacita said. Bronx Zoo would be THE place and, if I was a five year-old, being given actual dough to play with at Two Boots would be the highlight of my year.

We had a 1 and 2.5 year old a month ago. Here's the thread where folks gave me suggestions.

http://brooklynian.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=42254

In reality, the two kids that don't like to be carried (so we had to get strollers) were tiring. The SI ferry was a winner and the Prospect Park Zoo was a big hit--ducks, petting zoo, the prarie dog exhibit, and sea lion show kept the kids smiling.

Coney Island was okay, but probably would have been great had the temps not dropped that day and had us all freezing in our shorts.

Thanks!!!! These are all really great ideas.

events at CPark summerstage, PPark bandshell, seaport, governer's island, moma free fridays, BKLYN museum first saturdays...

All free, all easy to sneak alcohol into as well, just don't get the red wine and fruit punch mixed up.

Subject: kid friendly things

My kids are age 19 and 25 but I remember how much they both loved the puppet shows at 6th avenue and 5th street. Small cozy setting. Playground at Prospect Park was always a big hit -especially if sprinkler was on.

The red hook pool.

Nothing against the Bronx Zoo, but if you live in Park Slope there is really no need to go any further than the Prospect Park Zoo with toddlers. I take my kids (1 and 4) there almost every weekend and the older boy simply loves it. He knows exactly where he wants to go and what he wants to see. The petting zoo is huge too. The Bronx zoo is great, and much, much bigger, but it is a long trip and it gets very crowded.