26 Fun Things to do in New York with Kids

New York City.

It's my favorite city ever and one of the few places that I'm happy to visit over and over again on vacation. With so many amazing places to visit around the world I like to spend my vacation time visiting somewhere new, but there's something about New York City that always draws me in.  There's always something new to see, something new to taste, something new to experience. You could visit over and over again and never do the same things twice. There really is something for everyone no matter where your interests lie.

While I find New York to be a very family friendly destination, I often see questions pop up in travel groups about just what to do and where to go while visiting there with kids. So today I thought I'd share twenty six of my favorite kid friendly activities in New York City.

Some of these are popular destinations on every visitor's list, while others are lesser known in tourist circles, but still definitely worth a visit.

So here they are, in no particular order, my top twenty five things to do when visiting New York City with kids...

Ava's Travel Journal

We've already had a look at all the fun we had on our recent trip to Ottawa, Montreal, Quebec and New York but now I thought I'd show you our trip from Ava's perspective.

As Ava was away from school for almost two weeks she was given a pack of school work to keep her busy and to prevent her from getting behind in her work. Part of her work pack was keeping a travel journal. This was a great way for Ava to document her favourite parts of our trip and to practise her writing.

Here's a look at our trip through Ava's eyes...

"I went on an airplane. I flew to Ottawa. I watched 1 show then I went to sleep."

New York City: Part 3

Our last full day in New York was a busy one. We certainly crammed a lot of fun into a short time!

We started the day with bagels and coffee (how else would a day in New York start?) and hopped on the subway to Brooklyn. Seeing Manhattan from across the water is always amazing and the girls were pretty excited that we were a little bit closer to the Statue of Liberty. They desperately wanted to  go visit their favourite green lady up close however we just didn't have the time on this quick trip. Our view of her from Brooklyn was a pretty good one and the girls were happy with that.

Ava's favourite green lady

What a view

New York City: Part 2

Our second full day in New York got off to an earlier start. Tonight we'd be staying with our friends Daniela and Sam so we packed up what we needed for the night and headed from the east side to the west side via Central Park. The girls were pretty happy to walk through the park after being surrounded by buildings for the last few days.

Ava in Central Park

Lola in Central Park

New York City: Part 1

Back to the vacation posts...

After we collected our new visas in Ottawa we hopped on a plane (well, two planes) and headed to New York City for a quick visit with friends and to show the girls my most favourite city in the whole world.

We're very lucky to have good friends living in New York. And even luckier that they were happy to have us come stay a night or two - or three! Big thanks to Mylee & Richard and Daniela & Sam for putting us up and for showing us around the city they're all lucky enough to call home.

We arrived in New York late in the day and headed straight to Mylee and Richard's place for a catch up and a home cooked dinner. There's nothing better than a home cooked dinner when you're traveling. Don't get me wrong, I love going out for dinner but after a week of kid friendly restaurant food a home cooked dinner hits the spot.

We woke the next day to a beautiful morning; sunny with clear skies and just a hint of the approaching Winter weather in the air. I can't get enough of the views in New York. I would be happy to spend hours just looking out the window at the city. At home we have a good view over Berkeley, San Francisco and the Bay, but there's just something about the views in New York that takes my breath away. The colour changes over the buildings through the morning as the sun rose were stunning. My favourite thing about the view from Mylee and Richard's apartment was the fact that I could see the Time Warner Building which I like to pretend is my old home - I stayed there for three weeks back in 2006 setting up a condo for my then boss.

Golden glow as the sun rises

Just an hour later and everything's bright and sparkly