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Things To Do in NYC This Weekend: Film Fest, Black History, New Museum Exhibits and More

The Black Future Festival at the Brooklyn Children's Museum invites kids to reflect, act, and look toward the future. Photo courtesy of the museum
The Black Future Festival at the Brooklyn Children's Museum invites kids to reflect, act, and look toward the future. Photo courtesy of the museum
2/19/20 - By Drew Kristofik

Whether you've just returned from a family vacay, or you've been in the city for all of midwinter break, this weekend offers a chance to visit the Children's Museum of Manhattan's new Superpowered Metropolis exhibit or try some engineering activities at NYSCI, which just debuted a Survival exhibit. You've even got one last chance to check out Kids Week at the Intrepid before it rolls to a close on Saturday.

The New York International Children's Film Fest kicks off this weekend. While the School of Visual Arts Theater is the main hub, families can also catch the kid flicks at the Alamo Drafthouse in Brooklyn and Scandinavia House in Manhattan. A very cool (and FREE!) alternative is the 90-Second Newbery Film Fest on Saturday.

Black History Month is quickly coming to a close. Still, this weekend's activities include an extraordinary Black Culture Fest at the Children's Museum of the Arts, interactive performances, crafts, and a scavenger hunt at the Museum of the City of New York, plus the Black Future Fest at the Brooklyn Children's Museum.

Other unbeatable options include performances by Gustafer Yellowgold and Pete the Cat, the National Museum of the American Indian's the Art of Storytelling, and BAMKids' Teknopolis, where kids can experiment with technology in a series of virtual reality and multi-sensory installations. Oh, and the American Museum of Natural History is all about polar bears Sunday.

Need more ideas for family-friendly fun to fill your weekend? Our packed Event Calendar and Winter Fun List are here to help.

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Explore the trains at Superpowered Metropolis at CMOM. Photo by Jody Mercier
Explore the trains at Superpowered Metropolis at CMOM. Photo by Jody Mercier

Things To Do With Kids in NYC All Weekend

BAMKids Teknopolis 2020

Boerum Hill, Brooklyn
Teknopolis returns to the BAM Fisher for its fourth year with an ambitious new program designed to inspire creativity, connect with the future, and encourage a renewed sense of play. READ MORE

CANCELED: SVA: New York International Children's Film Festival Screenings

Chelsea
The New York International Children's Film Festival screens a wide variety of films from around the globe, specifically for children, at theaters in Manhattan, Brooklyn, and Queens.  On the advice of public health experts on COVID-19 best practices and in the interest of making health the utmost priority, NYICFF has made the difficult decision to cancel all events and screenings for NYICFF's final weekend, March 14th and 15th. READ MORE

Black Future Festival at the Brooklyn Children's Museum

Crown Heights, Brooklyn
Black Future Festival at Brooklyn Children’s Museum is a week of reflection and looking forward, inspired by the national celebration of peoples of the African Diaspora and Black History Month. READ MORE

February School Break: Engineering Week

Corona, Queens
NYSCI staff and engineering partners from NYU’s Tandon School of Engineering join forces for a week of engineering activities. READ MORE

Superpowered Metropolis: Opening Weekend and Break Week

Upper West Side
Superpowered Metropolis: An Early Learning City is a hands-on, interactive, and colorfully, immersive exhibition where kids are the heroes! Step into a playful, comic book version of New York City where a lively team of pigeons, Zip, Zap, and Zoom, serve as your guides to fun and learning. READ MORE

Celebrate Black History: Rooted in Plants

Bronx Park, the Bronx
Celebrate Black History Month by learning more about the plants of Africa and how they are used throughout the US. Investigate seeds native to Africa, explore traditional Nigerian dying techniques, and create a mini plant-zine inspired by the original plant bulletin author and botanist, George Washington Carver! READ MORE

Survival: The Exhibition, Opening Week

Corona, Queens
Test your survival skills, learn how to build shelter in the forest, find water in the desert, and stay warm in the extreme cold at this brand-new exhibition.  READ MORE

Family Art Project: Swamp Spectacles and Marsh Marvels

Riverdale, the Bronx
Create spectacle-art of the plants and animals that make up these rich, biodiverse ecosystems by crafting large-scale puppets and float-like structures. READ MORE

Alamo Drafthouse Cinema: New York International Children's Film Festival Screenings

Downtown Brooklyn
You don't have to head into Manhattan to see movies entered in The New York International Children's Film Festival. Alamo Drafthouse brings short films to Brooklyn. READ MORE
Science, technology, engineering, arts, math, and fun take center stage at the Intrepid Museum Kids Week. Photo by Janet Bloom
Science, technology, engineering, arts, math, and fun take center stage at the Intrepid Museum Kids Week. Photo by Janet Bloom

Things To Do With Kids in NYC Saturday, February 22

Just Kidding: Gustafer Yellowgold

Upper West Side
Gorgeous full-screen animation accompanies a live band in this multimedia extravaganza. READ MORE

Kids Week 2024 at the Intrepid Museum

Midtown West
Kids Week is back at the Intrepid Museum and the fun is moving full STEAM ahead! Science, technology, engineering, arts, math, and fun take center stage at this annual Midwinter Break fest.  READ MORE

The Art of Storytelling Through the Wonder of Books

Financial District— FREE
The National Museum of the American Indian hosts art activities, book readings, and signings, as well as meet-and-greets with authors Traci Sorell (Cherokee Nation) and Kevin Noble Maillard (Seminole Nation). READ MORE

Family Day: Black Futures

East Harlem
Head to the Museum of the City of New York for storytime featuring books on black joy, enjoy a step workshop with Tajh Sutton, make your own black doll with Clarivel Ruiz, and participate in a scavenger hunt in the Activist New York and City/Game: Basketball in New York exhibitions. READ MORE

90-Second Newbery Film Festival 2024

Prospect Heights, Brooklyn — FREE
Check out the 13th annual 90-Second Newbery Film Festival—a yearly video contest in which kid filmmakers create weird short movies that tell the entire stories of Newbery award-winning books in about 90 seconds. READ MORE

Pete the Cat

Tribeca
TheaterWorks performs a show based on the Pete the Cat series of books by Kimberly and James Dean. READ MORE

Masquerade: Venetian Carnival!

Battery Park City — FREE
The Carnival of Venice is world-renowned for elaborate and colorful masks and for the ancient theatrics of the Commedia dell’Arte. In this workshop, participants make their own character masks and watch a performance by the Kairos Italy Theater in English and Italian. READ MORE

CANCELED: Scandinavia House: New York International Children's Film Festival Screenings

Midtown East
The New York International Children's Film Festival screens a wide variety of films from around the globe, specifically for children, at theaters in Manhattan, Brooklyn, and Queens. READ MORE
Join in some learning and fun on Sunday, February 23, for a celebration of the Black experience at CMA.
Join in some learning and fun on Sunday, February 23, for a celebration of the Black experience at CMA.

Things To Do With Kids in NYC Sunday, February 23

Black Culture Festival

Hudson Square
The Children's Museum of the Arts celebrates the Black experience with workshops and performances inspired by the African Diaspora.  READ MORE

Polar Bears

Upper West Side
On the eve of International Polar Bear Day, head to the Milstein Hall of Ocean Life to learn about polar bear behavior, diet, territory and how climate change has made it a vulnerable species. READ MORE

Illuminating a Story: The Book of Ruth

Midtown East
Inspired by the exhibition The Book of Ruth: Medieval to Modern, families “take a page” from contemporary artist Barbara Wolff and learn how to make pigments. READ MORE

Black History Month: Poetry Hike

Pelham Bay, the Bronx — FREE
Explore the beautiful natural vistas of the Bronx while experiencing the nature poetry of some of the greatest African-American poets, including Maya Angelou and Langston Hughes. Younger kids can participate in an arts and crafts program based on bringing African folk tales to life. READ MORE

Orli Shaham's Bach Yard: Winter Winds

Upper West Side
The internationally acclaimed pianist Orli Shaham and her friends introduce musical concepts, instruments, and the experience of concert-going to children in pre-K through early elementary. READ MORE

Places featured in this article:

New York Hall Of Science
National Museum of the American Indian
Brooklyn Central Library - Dweck Center
BMCC Tribeca Performing Arts Center