Martin Luther King Jr Day Weekend Events for New York City Kids: Free Fuzzy Lemons, Lego Building, Kite Festival, More

1/14/10 - By charlotte

My apologies that Winterfest was a complete bust last weekend –I’m hoping the Indian Kite Festival, Himalayan Animal Stories, Lego Building, free music events and other great stuff going on this weekend can help make up for it. Plus check out our separate post on things to do on Martin Luther King Jr Day for more activities, as well as places to volunteer. If you’re looking to use this day of service to aid the efforts in Haiti, we’ve got information on that there too.


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Martin Luther King Jr Day Weekend Events:

All weekend long the Children's Museum of Manhattan and The Brooklyn Children's Museum will be having special Martin Luther King Jr Day activities. See our MLK Day post for more information on these.

The Museum of Natural History is having a special Global Weekend to celebrate their Traveling the Silk Road exhibit. Both days are filled with really cool sounding performances, presentations and family activities that I think you will enjoy. Read the full event description for more details. Free with museum admission (suggested donation).

Also starting on Friday morning at 9am, and continuing for 72 hours (through Sunday), David Blaine will be performing a magic marathon in Times Square to raise money for Haiti.


Saturday, January 16
All Mixed Up!--UWS, Manhattan
The MoMA is showing 4 classic live-action and animated short films (like Fish is Fish and The Emperor's New Clothes) followed by a discussion with the museum educator. FREE

Piccolo Saxo & Cie --Prospect Heights , Brooklyn
As part of the Children's International Film Days at the International School of Brooklyn, Children learn about classical music from a fun animated French movie screening for ages 4 and up. Reservations required. FREE


The Knickerbocker Chamber Orchestra: Peter & The Wolf--Financial District, Manhattan
The World Financial Center puts on this performance of Musical tales and Adventures: Peter and the Wolf & Voyage in the New World, narrated by Neil Gaiman, in the gorgeous WFC Winter Garden. FREE

Himalayan Animal Stories--Mid-Island, Staten Island
Artist and Books for Children founder Rima Fujita reads two stories (one that is a true story of the Dalai Lama's dog) to help kids discover the endangered animals of the Himalayas, and then leads them in writing and illustrating their own animal story. Free with museum admission ($10/adults, $8/children)

Miss Nina January Sing-Along--Park Slope, Brooklyn
Toddlers and preschoolers (and their families) get to give their vocal chords some exercise while they sing a long with Miss Nina. After the show, enjoy a completely kid-friendly brunch with green eggs & ham and apple cider. $5 for the show/person, $5 brunch/person, $1 apple cider/person

Sankrant: Indian Kite Making--South of Chelsea, Manhattan
Celebrate Sankrant, a Kite Festival that marks the begining of the harvest season in India and throughout Southeast Asia, by making sugar candy garlands and mini kites. Free with museum admission ($10/adults, Free/children under 12)

Celebrate Chinese Art & Music--UES, Manhattan
Families get VIP treatment for the Met's Silk and Bamboo: Music and Art of China exhibit. This Saturday, there will be educational workshops, special tours of the exhibition, and Chinese music. Free with museum admission--$20/adults, Free/children under 12

See all Saturday Events

Sunday, January 17
Hands-On Lego Building--Times Square, Manhattan
For Lego-loving kids, this event may be worth the crowds. Kids work with LEGO master builders to construct a giant LEGO mural and 3-D sea creatures like sea horses, dolphins, and fish. L.A.N.S.E, the 5-foot tall LEGO Atlantis Navigational SCUBA Explorer, made entirely from Lego bricks, will be revealed at this event. Heads up: This is a promotional event for new LEGO ATLANTIS, so although the activity is free, know the new products are there to sell. FREE  

Fuzzy Lemons Concert & CD Signing--Lincoln Center, Manhattan
The Barnes & Noble at Lincoln Triangle has been on a roll with the kids events. This weekend, family-friendly (and favorite) rockers The Fuzzy Lemons are in town and bringing you tunes from their new album "To the Moon." Catch them while they're free! FREE

History Club: Hot Dogs--Marine Park, Brooklyn
Hot dogs are an American icon, and arguabely Brooklyn's most iconic food. Sample finer incarnations of the fantastic frankfurter, as you travel back in time from hot dog as German peasant food to hot dog as mass-produced summer staple. FREE

Slavic Soul Party!--St. George, Staten Island
Carnegie Hall's neighborhood concert series presents this funky, groovy, Balkan brass-filled Slavic Soul Party. They are an accoustic mash-up of Balkan and Gypsy sounds with North American music, weaving gospel, techno, funk, dub, jazz and Latin into their Balkan brass. FREE (reservations required)

See All Sunday Events


Looking for more to do on this 3-day weekend? There are even more event ideas in our calendar!

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About the Author

Charlotte Cusumano - Editorial Assistant

Charlotte was born in Staten Island, attended the Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School of Music & Art and the Performing Arts, then Hunter College, and currently lives in her home borough. Although her heart is in New York, Charlotte and her husband-to-be are on a quest to visit all 50 states (we'll have set foot in at least 33 of them by the end of 2011!). When she's not working on Mommy Poppins, she's writing on her tumblr.

More About Charlotte

What do you read when you aren't reading Mommy Poppins?   
I'm one of the few twenty-somethings that still reads magazines. I'm talking print. New York is my favorite by far. I do go online, of course. I frequently visit Serious Eats, Slate, Gawker and various tumblrs.

What do you want to do when you grow up?   
Be an editor! A chef! A travel writer! I'm still pretty undecided.

What's your favorite thing about raising kids in NYC?
I'm not a mom—yet. But I was raised here, so I can say with confidence that families can do anything and expose their kids to everything in this amazing city.