How to spend holidays in New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Connecticut

Planning a children's summer holiday is like managing a large corporation: a day here, a couple of hours there, stopping to eat, finding a toilet nearby, stopping the bus or free parking - all this so that the child is not tiring, interesting and informative.

To help parents who are still contemplating where to go in the summer with children, ForumDaily has drawn up a plan of the most interesting events and a guide to not so much common and famous parks and museums in North-East America.

New York: night at the museum and master classes

The undoubted “hit” of this season is the opening in American Museum of Natural History exhibitions of mummies. If your child is interested in ancient history and culture, then the halls with ancient Egyptian and Peruvian mummies will please him. Another exhibition designed for young biologists and naturalists is Inside You. Children will learn a lot about the world of bacteria and how the human body works in general and the gastrointestinal tract as a whole. Visually and informative.

For fans of the movie series “Night at the Museum” there is a unique opportunity to spend the whole night here. The program is open to children from 6 to 13 years, from 5.45 hours of the evening to 9 hours of the morning you leave your child (alone or with his friends) under the supervision of museum staff.

The ticket price - 145 dollars for one or 125 dollars for a group of fifteen people - includes: a light dinner and breakfast, a folding bed, a search for fossils in the dark, a movie. Also, museum staff provide an opportunity to get acquainted with these wild animals. Night at the museum is a very popular project and places are bought up quickly. This program works up to Halloween, so if you do not have time to get on it now, do not worry.

One of the most famous museums in New York offers a wide range of programs for children of different ages. Metropolitan.

Firstly, this is ToddlerStorytime, designed for babies from 18 months to 3 years. Museum staff read a book to children, draw with them, then suggest they go in search of “treasures” on the subject of the book. The program is free, so the number of listeners is limited, according to the principle of who first came - he took the best place.

The ArtTrek program offers 7-11 children over the years to get to know the masterpieces of world painting. It takes place every Saturday, but at different times - so it’s best to check in advance on the museum’s website.

Medieval legends and tales of kings, princesses and knights can be heard at special seminars in Cloisters - a medieval castle, a branch of Met.

Museum of moving images (or the Museum of Cinema) invites children of four years to master classes, where they will be taught to create flipbooks and painted optical toys, as well as to understand computer animation and video games.

Also, children will learn how projectors work, how a video tape moves, how to make feature films. For those interested in cinema, the museum offers summer campdivided into several thematic sessions - 475 dollars for one or 2.400 dollars for all six.

In bookstores every day there are special classes with kids. The store employees are reading a book, discussing it with the audience, offering to draw a picture impressed by what they heard. Such classes are free, but it is better to specify the time in advance.

Babies are welcome in the Barnes & Noble chain of stores, as well as in small bookstores - Books of Wonder (18 West 18^th Street), Greenlight (686 Fulton St., Brooklyn), Bank Street Bookstore (2780 Broadway, New York). Exactly the same classes are held in the district libraries, and to visit them does not require a membership card). The most interesting thing for them will be children until 4-5 years.

5 Zoos for every taste

In New York there are five zoos, the largest is located in the Bronx (besides, it is the largest zoo within the city in all of America!) Here you can have a fun and exciting day, and still go back to the next to see something new. The Bronx Zoo is very reasonably divided into parts of the world: Europe, Asia, Africa and America.

In each "part" grows the flora that is inherent in this particular continent, and live the animals and birds that are distributed there. In total, there are more than four thousand animals that represent 650 species from around the world. A huge “plus” is that there are no cages, animals walk around the territories allotted to them absolutely calmly, they are protected from tourists only by low fences or - as is the case with predators - thick glasses.

At the entrance you get a map of the zoo and then you need to decide where to go - jungle, Himalayan highlands, Congo monkey forest, bird world, reptile world, African savannah, wild Asia, mouse town, butterfly garden ... In a word, as I wrote above, One day does not get around! By the way, this is the only zoo in New York where there is a sign in Russian! Guess which one? It is installed next to the entrance to the Tigers' reserve and reads: “Caution! Tigers are near! ”

At the zoo on Staten Island, a huge reserve for Amur (Far Eastern) leopards was finally opened - the construction of a three-story dwelling cost 3 million 545 thousand dollars and is the largest in the country.

The habitual habitat of leopards has been recreated in detail here. Staten Island Zoo is a member of the international animal rescue program Species Survival Plan (SSP) - Amur leopards are the rarest cats in the world. In 2014, the leopards were 80 individuals, of which 70 in Russia (57 individuals lived in the Land of the Leopard National Park).

In the zoo in Queens, you can see a newborn Andean bear - for the first time a baby of this breed was born in New York! And in the Brooklyn Zoo to attend a training session of sea lions - every day at 11.30 in the morning, as well as at 2 and 4 in the afternoon.

In the zoo, located in Central Park (remember where the beasts of Madagascar ran from?) You can not only admire the snow leopards, but also feed the penguins - a necessary cooling pleasure in the heat.

Pools and amusement parks

With 29 June working pools in the parks of New York - a complete list of all five districts of the city can be found here. The pools operate from 11 hours of the morning until 7 hours of the evening with a break between 3 and 4 hours of the day.

Famous amusement parks are a great idea for a family holiday with children of any age. Carousels are installed in Central Park, here you can ride on water rides, train, jump on trampolines (WollmanRink, CentralPark, entrance from 59 street and SixthAve).

The world-famous park on Coney Island (one of the oldest, it first opened in 1903, earned again after a long renovation in 2010, 1000 SurfAvenue, Brooklyn) offers “roller coaster”, known to us as “American”, swings carousels and other attractions for visitors of different ages.

We are going to the north of the state: Indians and caves

If summer in the city is not very tempting and you want to get out into nature, then in the north of the state of New York there is also something to see. I will list what is in relative proximity to the city (at a distance of 1-3 an hour by car).

Every weekend from August to October, the Revival Epoch Festival takes place in the small town of Tuxido Park.

Locals and guest artists dress in medieval costumes, you can listen to medieval music, buy various interesting souvenirs (weekly and genuine leather notebooks, knives, puppets, and even elf ears), and in the bar try a huge turkey leg baked as Europeans ate in the Middle Ages and corn soup in a bread bowl. Informative and interesting for children of different ages.

If you are interested in the history of the Indians, then I highly recommend visiting the Powe-Wow festival in the Bear Mountain Park 5 and August 6.

Also in the north of the state is a small but very interesting Iroquois Museum, opened by the Council of the League of Five Nations.

Adjacent to the Iroquois Museum are the famous Hove Caves - the oldest caves in the state of New York. Here it is necessary to go down under the ground, so I would not recommend to come here with very young children, so that they are not afraid.

Harvesting fruits and berries on the farm is another interesting entertainment that is available to all family members of all ages.

Farms closest to Manhattan are on Long Island, in upstate New York, in New Jersey and in Connecticut, and thanks to special farm calendar You can find out not only what fruits are already ripe, but where it is better to go after them.

In general, you plan to go on a weekend not only outside the city, but also outside the state, then it is better to decide on the route right away - although the choice of family entertainment is so big that your eyes diverge.

New Jersey: amusement park, safari and real Thomas

The original amusement park is located in the town of WestBerlin and is called Diggerland (100 PinedgeDr, WestBerlin, NJ). Here, as entertainment, it is proposed to drive these tractors, dump trucks, excavators and loaders.

There is, of course, a separate playground for kids, where there are slides, arcade games and even a mini-zoo with dwarf goats. Such is the total immersion in farming.

But the most famous amusement park in New Jersey is, of course, Six Flags Great Adventure (1 Six Flags Blvd, Jackson, NJ). There are both extreme rides - for example, a ferris wheel high in the 15-storey building, sharp on the corners “Russian roller coaster” or 4-D laser shooters dedicated to superheroes, and for children - carousels, mini-trains and swing on chains.

On a special open bus you can go on a safari and look at lions, giraffes and rhinos near and without cells. Here is a large water park, with open and closed areas.

If this is still too much for you, then I highly recommend spending the day with Thomas the train. Blue-eyed Thomas - the favorite hero of Americans from three years to ... He came up with his Englishman Wilbert Audrey back in the year 1943. He entertained his lost son with stories about an animated steam locomotive and his friends — steam locomotives, wagons, helicopters, trucks, living on the fictional island of Sodor. In 1984, the first installment of a series about Thomas was released in England.

Americans, big lovers of everything that is somehow connected with the UK, quickly imbued with tender feelings for Sodor and his inhabitants. With the characteristic Americans' scope, a whole Thomas empire arose: animated series, films, DVDs and CDs, clothes, shoes, bags, umbrellas, furniture, carpets, toys - in short, everything that fans need for happiness.

And, of course, everyone can ride the train, which is carried by the real Thomas - in different states at railway stations, turned into museums, holidays are held throughout the year, which are called “A Day with Thomas” (or “Day Out with Thomas”) .

In the northern states, Thomas arrives only in the summer, so queues are forming among those who want to take a ride and it is better to buy tickets in advance online. 7-9 and 14-16 July, Thomas will roll everyone in New Jersey.

Wild West City is a unique amusement park just an hour from New York (50 LackawannaDr, Stanhope, NJ) - this is a purpose-built model of Dodge City, Kansas, in the way it looked in 1880's. Here you will meet with cowboys, miners, Indians and gangsters.

I was very surprised by the fact that I didn’t find any information about this park in any official guidebook, so there are few tourists here, but the place is quite popular among residents of neighboring cities.

Fans of the “Jurassic Park” will surely be delighted when visiting the seasonal theme park FieldStation: Dinosaurs (OverpeckPark 40 FortLeeRoad, Leonia, NJ).

This is where 32 dinosaur robots are installed, which come to life thanks to the built-in motion sensors. There is also a paleontological laboratory and a cinema in which the 3D film “Journey to the Prehistoric World” is shown.

Pennsylvania: Chocolate Rivers and Wild Animals

Of course, the most famous park in Pennsylvania is Hershey (100 WHersheyparkDr, Hershey, PA). Here you can not only visit the chocolate factory and see how popular sweets are made, but also visit the eponymous amusement park. By the way, there are outlets nearby, which contributes to a true family vacation: father with children to the park, mother to the store!

But if you’ve already been to Hershey and want something new, then welcome to the Tobias Lake Safari Park (760 TobiasRoad, Halifax, PA). It was founded in 1965 by a local resident, Jay Tobias, who sacrificed his own land for these purposes.

The park exists solely on income from tourists and does not receive any financial support from either the state or the state, which I personally consider to be a big mistake for officials - this is one of the most interesting places for family holidays.

During the season (from May to September), about 150 of thousands of tourists visit the zoo - and this is without any advertising in guidebooks!

There are a variety of animals - from domestic hens to lions, tigers and crocodiles. Look at the animals freely walking in the park, go on the old school bus with a sawn roof.

In order not to frighten the animals, buses from bright yellow repainted in protective colors. The sides are covered with rubber - and it is convenient for people to sit, and animals that reach the sides while waiting for a treat are not burned by metal heated in the sun. By the way, you can feed the animals, but only because it is sold in a special shop in the park.

Sesame Place (100 SesameRd, Langhorne, PA) is another amusement park that is rather interesting for children of preschool and primary school age. It is divided into two parts - the water park and the usual rides, and in the evenings there is a parade, which is headed by the favorite of American kids Elmo. By the way, children under two years old can have fun here for free.

The summer season Dorney Amusement Park also provides access to the Wild water Kingdom water park (3830 DorneyParkRd, Allentown, PA). There are water slides for visitors of different ages (total 28 slides), a “children's bay”, fountains in the form of mushrooms, geysers and water cannons.

Connecticut: Science Center and Dinosaur Park

The Children's Science Center in the state capital (250 ColumbusBlvd, Hartford, CT) is a series of floors, each dedicated to a different theme. Here you can get acquainted with the history and geography of the state, learn new things about solar energy and other environmentally-friendly scientific achievements, you can calculate on the computer how many tons of garbage your family throws out, how much is released into the atmosphere and compare with general data for different countries.

A large exhibition is devoted to robots and modern computer technologies, an exhibition about the Solar System is arranged in a separate room. Very useful exhibition for both children and adults, dedicated to a healthy lifestyle in general and healthy eating in particular. For kids up to 7 years there is a separate room where you can play with water, draw, sculpt and build cities of soft cubes.

Connecticut has its own dinosaurs - in Dinosaur State Park (400 WestSt. RockyHill, CT 06067) you can learn more about the different types of these minerals, and in the caves to try yourself as treasure hunters and archaeologists at the same time and try to find fossils or semiprecious stones (all real) !)

Rhode Island: lights on the water

It is the smallest American state, but every summer it turns into a place of pilgrimage for tourists from all the nearby states. For the twenty-third year in a row, a festival has been held in the capital ProvidenceLights on the water».

With the onset of darkness in the very center of the city, where the Providence, Vunaskatuket and Moshassuk rivers meet, huge bonfires are lit on the water. In the central park, Waterplace, paper stars are lit, on which everyone can hang a white ribbon with his desire.

In the park, under a tree, you can light candles in memory of someone or something. It costs relatively inexpensively - ten dollars for candles and a “wishing star”, so by midnight the park turns into a sparkling magical garden.

There is also a music console and after sunset the whole city sounds solemn and, as it seems to me, gloomy music. Mystics also add boats gliding between fires under water — people are wrapped in black cloaks in them, only their faces glow in the dark.

Personally, it all reminds me of the Gothic processions from the movie “The Tale of Wandering,” so if your teenage child enjoys this kind of culture, he will be thrilled to see this festival. Upcoming dates are 8, 20, 22 July, 5 August, 3, 23, 30 September and 4 November.

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