Things For Kids and Families To Do in New York City October 23 & 24: Halloween, Fairies, Festivals, Ghouls, Gourds and Magic

New York City is the place to be this weekend.  There are hundreds of cool ways to get into the Halloween spirit: lots of free events, costume parades, haunted houses and Boo at the Zoo, and they are all listed in The Mommy Poppins Halloween Guide.  Plus, the awesome Ghouls and Gourd party at the Brooklyn Botanic Garden, The Harvest Festival at Brooklyn Bridge Park and the huge Halloween Benefit for families at the Queens Museum of Art are all happening this weekend. Read on to find out more about these and other events.  And be sure to visit our Events Calendar, it is packed with lots more school fairs, workshops, concerts and all the other exciting goings on that we didn’t have room for here!

Have a great weekend. 

All Weekend:

Enchanted Wave Hill Weekend—The Bronx
Create a magic wand or a fanciful home from natural elements for the tiny fairies, gnomes and elves that will be enchanting the gardens this weekend. Uncover some myths while touring the garden and discover the magic of Jim Keyes, storyteller and troubadour with a harp, mandolin and lute.  Free with garden admission (which is free Saturday till noon.)

Saturday, October 23, 2010

King Manor Museum Fall Festival—Queens
Kids won’t believe how good they have it today after they find out how kids used to have fun a long time ago, hoop and stick or guess how many marbles are just two of the fun 19th century games on deck.  Kids can try their hands at making cornhusk dolls or a scarecrow or try out even period chores like candle dipping, butter churning and cider pressing.  FREE.

Harvest Festival at Brooklyn Bridge Park—Brooklyn
Get the kids in their costumes for this one!  Not only will there be a costumed kiddo parade but there will also be pumpkins to decorate, fall plants to pot, picture frames and masks to make.  Live music (Brooklyn’s own Deedle Deedle Dees), storytelling and face painting round out the fun.  FREE

Myron the Magnificent–Midtown East
This master magician will astonish and astound audiences with his time honored tricks and illusions. FREE

Oíche Shamhna—Midtown West
Celebrate the harvest like the Celts did, with some turnip carving, ghost and fairy stories and Irish fun and games.  Reservations required. $5

Halloween Spooktacular Benefit—Queens
Festive family fun for Halloween that benefits the Queens Museum of Art.  Wear your costume or make one there for the big costume parade and spine tingling photo booth.  Families can also check out the hottest skateboarding tricks, make loot bags, go on special spooky museum tours, enter awesome raffles and just a ton more.  Plus, your admission fee includes a year long membership to the museum.  $75 for a family of up to six members.

Trickster Comic Book Workshop for Kids– Brooklyn
Comic book loving kids will dig this workshop that teaches the techniques of using panels to tell a story, by drawing and developing the characters, and using word balloons and sound effects to make a mini comic. Led by Trickster comic book creator Matt Dembicki.  FREE

Sunday, October 24, 2010

Parade and Pumpkin Sail—Harlem
Don’t miss the amusements in upper Central Park.  The festivities begin with eerie storytelling, move onto crafts and pumpkin carving which lead right into the massive costume parade led by Frankenstein’s Monster and the fleet of floating pumpkins in the Harlem Meer. FREE

Big Green Extreme Halloween– Upper West Side
An excellent Halloween party to raise funds for the kids at PS166 with live magic by Marco: Man of Mysteries, a scary and spooky haunted house, a costume contest, rides and bouncies.  Hot off the grill eats (including some by a top chef) and a giant bake sale. Don’t miss NY Jedi’s light saber duel.  FREE but bring money for the attractions.

Ghouls and Gourds—Brooklyn
This annual Halloween shindig is huge with tons going on: a real flea circus, a festival of vegetables, small and large scale art projects and book signings by over 15 different children’s authors.  Top shelf musical performers like Suzi Shelton, Slavic Soul Party and Moona Luna will keep the party hopping, until it is time for the big costume parade and drum circle where kids and adults can show off their get ups while making tons of noise.  FREE with garden admission.

Outside of NYC:

Apple and pumpkin picking season is quickly winding down, so if you are looking to get yours our U Pick Guide can point you in the right direction.

New Jersey is a perfect place to celebrate the harvest or Halloween. Haunted train trips, pumpkin picking and harvest festivals are all on tap or try the not too scary haunted forest at the Tenafly Nature Center where families can get up close and personal with the nature’s creatures of the night during an evening hike. $10 per person.  Reservations strongly suggested.

Haunted happenings are up in the Hudson Valley where you could try to get a ticket to Blaze or check out the Legend Celebration at Washington Irving's Sunnyside. On your way up take a trip through a Haunted House in Westchester.

There are plenty of haunted houses to choose from and other Halloween hoopla out on Long Island this weekend, like the haunted 1880 Halloween at Old Bethpage Restoration Village where they will be partying like it is Halloween 1880.  $10 for adults and $7 for kids.

Lots more to see in do in the Mommy Poppins Calendar of Events.

If you are planning an event, don’t forget to let us know.  Enter it into our calendar.
 

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