10 Great Things to Do With Kids in New York City This Weekend, August 28-30 (mostly free)

8/28/09 - By Anna Fader
This is it, folks. The last weekend before Labor Day Weekend. And some of my favorite activities are going on: the Still Hip Bag Sale, Adventure NYC...from the brainy Metropolitan Opera outdoor HD screening to the jocky Arthur Ashe Kids Day...from a cool jazz festival to a really cool ice skating show...plus fairs, parties and more.

Note: Due to the possibility of another tropical storm heading our way this weekend, make sure to check the website or call to see if outdoor events are being canceled.

OUR LATEST VIDEOS

Arthur Ashe Kids Day
USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center, Flushing, Queens
Saturday , August 29, 9:30am-4pm
FREE for activities, $10 for show.

Free interactive tennis activities for kids of all ages all morning, followed by a stadium show featuring Will Ferrell and Jordin Sparks, tennis matches and contests with Andy Roddick and Maria Sharapova and more, much more.

Metropolitan Opera Summer HD Festival
Lincoln Center Plaza
Saturday, August 29-Monday, September 7
FREE

The Metropolitan Opera will be screening ten family-friendly operas in HD for ten consecutive nights on the plaza of Lincoln Center. 2800 seats will be available first come, first served each night.

Adventures NYC
Central Park, enter at 72nd St, NYC
Saturday, August 29, 12-4pm
FREE

Dedicated to reminding New Yorkers about the amazing opportunities for outdoors activities right here in the City, Central Park becomes an enormous urban adventure playground for one day during Adventures NYC. Start with rock climbing, paddling at the kayaking center, biking yoga, arts and crafts. Move onto watching Swiss Army Culinary Cooking Challenge--renowned chefs face off to test their culinary survival skills. Then catch the high flying trampoline stunts and the Streetbeats Group. And much more. If you ride your bike over, leave it at the Transportation Alternatives bike valet for free.

Ice Theater of New York
World Ice Arena, Flushing Meadow Park
Saturday, August 29, 7pm
FREE

Cool off with a free Ice Skating show featuring a talented line-up of figure skating up and comers including a duet done to Johnny Cash’s “ I’m An Everywhere Man” which includes some western skating and a cowboy hat. Show followed by open skate.

Charlie Parker Jazz Festival
Marcus Garvey Park (124th and Mt Morris Park) & Tompkins Square Park (E 8th and Ave A)
Saturday, August 29-Sunday, August 30, 3pm
FREE

The Charlie Parker Jazz Festival annually assembles some of the finest musicians in the world who reflect Parker’s musical individuality and genius, to promote appreciation for this highly influential and world-renowned artist. The two days of free concerts take place in neighborhoods where Charlie Parker lived and worked, in Harlem’s Marcus Garvey Park and the Lower East Side's Tompkins Square Park.

The Math Midway
Urban Academy, 317 E 67th St
August 29-30, 10am-5pm rain or shine
FREE

The Math Midway exhibition provides an interactive, hands-on tour of mathematical concepts, using a carnival style. The individual exhibits include exciting and surprising activities that relate math principles to games and events you would find at a typical carnival, fair, or circus.

Aviator Sports Summerfest
Flatbush Avenue, Just South of Belt Parkway, Exit 11S
Thursday, August 27-Sunday, August 30
FREE ADMISSION

Enjoy an end of summer fair with rides, food, games, sports, music and more. There will also be basketball and football skills competitions.

Solar One Family Day
2420 FDR Drive, East River at 23rd St.
Saturday, August 29th, 10am-12pm
FREE

Activities include learning about and tagging monarch butterflies, exploring cell structure and microorganisms with the return of the BioBus, worm composting demonstration with Lower East Side Ecology Center and Kevin from Nature’s WILD Encounters who will be bringing native animals for children and adults to learn about.

Carl Schurz Park End of Summer Party
Carl Schurz Park, East End Avenue at 86h St
Saturday, August 29, 1-3pm
FREE

Enjoy the playground, sprinkler pit and arts & crafts from 1-2 PM with a concert by ANNIE AND THE NATURAL WONDER BAND from 2-3 PM.

Still Hip Fall Bag Sale
283 Grande Avenue, Clinton Hill, Brooklyn Sunday, August 30th, noon-3pm
Buy a bag for $15-$18 and load it up with as much as you can from cool re-sale shop Still Hip's summer and overstocked fall and winter inventory. The store's play area will be set up with bins and tables filled with clothing in every size, as well as maternity clothing, toys and gear. You can purchase bags for $15 or $18 each to fill with whatever you want from the bag sale area. Doors at noon, so get there early.

Don't forget the Dutchess County Fair and other fairs are going on this weekend just outside New York City.