Family Fare in NYC
Our first stop was at the Museum of Natural History, which we've visited several times before. But we hadn't visited in the last year since the museum opened its Hall of Human Origins, a look at the evolution of man. It was fascinating to both my kids. My five-year-old couldn't wrap her head around the fact that the hairy, hunched over pre-man was our ancestor. My 10-year-old found it reinforced concepts she'd been learning in school. We ended up spending four hours in the museum, as the kids insisted on not missing the dinosaurs, the minerals, the dioramas and the space exhibits.
The next morning, we visited the Sony Wonder Technology Lab. This is one of those hidden New York gems. In an annex to Sony's headquarters, there is a building that houses a four-story interactive "lab" open to the public and geared for kids. It has all kinds of hands-on exhibits that involve using cutting edge Sony technology, whether that's cutting a music video, playing video games, or directing a news station. It's also free (come when the lab opens at 10 a.m., or make a reservation.) We spent two hours there, but I had to drag my kids out.
After a quick lunch, we saw Blue Man Group downtown. This show, which opened 15 years ago at the Astor Place Theatre in New York, is now showing in a bunch of other cities. I am always struggling to find shows that will appeal to both a 5-year-old and a tween. My 10-year-old rolled her eyes at Beauty and the Beast. My younger daughter, at 4, fell asleep during the Lion King.
Blue Man Group was a perfect choice. While I wouldn't recommend it for preschoolers (some loud noises and surprises, plus the Blue men who walk through the audience, might scare them), the show has mostly non-verbal, physical comedy. So my kindergartener thought it was hilarious. Yet it had enough subversive humor that it also could appear to adults and a tween whose favorite movie is Tim Burton's dark Nightmare Before Christmas.
Stumble It!
posted by pam at 6:02 PM
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