Winter Recess Family Activities @ MCNY - Dec 28

When: Saturday, December 28, 2024, 11:00am

This event has passed.

A family smiles for the camera.
Photo by Barnabas Crosby

The Museum of the City of New York welcomes children of all ages and their families to join us this holiday season for winter-inspired activities for all to enjoy!  

This Winter Recess, the Museum will come alive with activities for children and families to enjoy! We’ll celebrate the season with winter-themed learning from the NYC Discovery Lab, daily arts and crafts inspired by objects from the Museum's galleries, storytime, and family tours of Gingerbread NYC: The Great Borough Bake-Off. Make the Museum of the City of New York a part of your family’s holiday tradition by stopping by. 

Drop in anytime! Activities will take place from 11am–4pm from Friday, December 27th through Monday, December 30th.

Event Timeline

 

Gingerbread creation of the Dakota Hotel with a yellow taxi out front with snow and Christmas tree

See it in the Gallery!  
Ongoing 10 am – 5 pm  

Pick up a scavenger hunt and explore Gingerbread NYC: The Great Borough Bake-Off to see the tantalizing New York-inspired creations of more than 20 bakers. Recommended for ages 5 to 12 with a grown-up. Available in English and Spanish. 

A wintery scene with snow on the ground, people in the foreground and multicolored homes

NYC Discovery Lab 

Ongoing 11 am – 4 pm 

Join us this month at the NYC Discovery Lab as we celebrate the winter season in New York City! Learn about the wintertime traditions of New Yorkers past and present. 

A vintage postcard that reads 'Greetings from New York' with featured New York City skyscrapers.

Arts and Crafts Activity of the Day: Make Your Own Art Deco Building

Ongoing 11 am – 4 pm

Inspired by our exhibition Art Deco City: New York Postcards from the Leonard A. Lauder Collection, create your own art deco-inspired building, drawing from objects in the gallery, including costumes, postcards, decorative art, and more. 

StoryTime @ MCNY on a purple background and skyline above the title.

Storytime @ MCNY 

Daily, 11 AM 

StoryTime @ MCNY is a picture-book reading series for families and caretakers with children produced in partnership with the New York Public Library. In this special edition, children will hear a selection of winter-themed stories handpicked by NYPL’s early literacy librarians. 

Three winter holiday themed cakesicles. From left to right: a penguin cakesicle, a reindeer cakesicle, and a winter-inspired cakesicle.

Family Cakesicle Decorating Workshop with Patty Pops

12 PM

Celebrate the winter season in a cakesicle decorating workshop with Petroula (Patty) Lambrou from Patty Pops. Hear directly from Patty about her gingerbread house featured in our annual holiday show, Gingerbread NYC: The Great Borough Bake-Off, and share your favorite holiday memories with one another while making a sweet treat you get to take home - if you don’t eat it first! 

This program is designed for children ages 6-12 and their grownups.

Graphic of two gingerbread people

Gingerbread NYC: The Great Borough Bake-Off Guided Family Tour 

Daily, 1 PM 

The smell of sugar fills the air as learners play “I Spy!” to find details on more than 20 gingerbread recreations of the bridges, bakeries, museums, libraries, and other iconic buildings of New York City while they learn fun facts about the city’s five boroughs.

 

Supporters

Family Programs are made possible in part by the Margaret S. Ogden and Stephen A. Ogden Memorial Fund, Milton and Sally Avery Arts Foundation, Rochlis Family Foundation, and Tianaderrah Foundation. 

The Frederick A.O. Schwarz Education Center is endowed by grants from The Thompson Family Foundation Fund, the F.A.O. Schwarz Family Foundation, the William Randolph Hearst Endowment, and other generous donors.

Join MCNY!

Want free or discounted tickets, special event invites, and more?