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85 Things to Do with Kids in New York During Swine Flu School Closings
With 16 schools now officially closed due to the swine flu epidemic and some more parents starting to keep their kids home in a preventative measure, over 10,000 children are at home this week, and probably more to come.We always wonder what we can do to help when New York CIty families are in crisis. So, we decided to try to help by doing what we do best: providing interesting and educational activity ideas for kids to do while out of school.
One of the themes of this site is that New York CIty is a classroom in and of itself, with wonderful enriching opportunities all around us that can teach children even more than they might learn in a school. If you have the ability, take advantage of these days off to get the most out of this amazing city.
Of course, the point of closing the schools is to stop the spread of the flu, so stay home and make sure your child isn't sick or incubating the flu before venturing out. If your child has signs of flu, is sneezing or coughing, they should stay home (we have lots of activities to do at home too). And everyone should be covering their coughs and sneezes and washing hands frequently.
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85 things to do with kids in New York City during the swine flu school closings:
Reading
Enjoy free programs at the New York Public Library as well as the Queens and Brooklyn Libraries.
Borrow books and even video games at the new Children's Center at 42nd St Library
Read Your Way to a Classic New York City Kid
Social Studies
Learn about cultures through the way they garden at the Brooklyn Botanic Garden
Explore the diversity of New York City at the Brooklyn Children's Museum
Learn about American Indians, Skyscrapers, Colonial History and NYPD at 5 Museums You've Never Heard of
Imagine life at sea on the Intrepid Sea, Air and Space Museum
Be a hero in Ancient Greece at the Children's Museum of Manhattan
Explore New York in miniature at the Queens Museum of Art
Travel to the Himalayas at The Rubin Museum of Art
Discover Mythical NYC
Read Your Way Around the Lower East Side
Science
Stay home an learn with these 5 Best Science Sites for Kids
Make your own lab with Chemistry and Electronics Sets
Who needs school with these 15 Best Places to Get Scientific with Kids in NYC
Yes, you're in the city, but Discover the Nature All Around You (free)
Learn from the animal instructors at the Bronx Zoo
Explore the science of horticulture at the NY Botanical Garden
Walk the gardens at Wave Hill
Get extremely smart about mammals at AMNH's new Extreme Mammals Exhibit
Borrow a free Discovery Kit to study nature from Central Park's Belvedere Castle (free)
Visit the Chinese Scholar's Garden, a children's museum and more at Staten Island's Snug Harbor Cultural Center
Explore the universe at The Hayden Planetarium
History
Visit America's first Hall of Fame at the Hall of Great Americans
See where America's great poet penned Annabel Lee at the Poe Cottage
Imagine the Bronx's past as farmland at Valentine Varian House
Relive Early American life at Lefferts Historic House
Art
Stay at home and craft with these Top Craft and Indoor Activity Sites
Learn about the world's greatest artists through Free Family Programs at The Metropolitan Museum of Art
Get modern at MoMA's free programs
Check out the new installation at the Park Avenue Armory by Ernesto Neto
Learn about the incredibly flexible history and uses of felt at the Cooper Hewitt
Learn what goes into the movies and games you love at the Museum of the Moving Image
Make animations or just draw at the Children's Museum of the Arts
Check out 9 More Free Museum Programs in All 5 Boroughs
Recess
Learn and play at home with Educational Computer Games Sites
Play in the The Secret Glass Garden (free)
Find these 5 Free Indoor Fun Spots
Run it off at Drop-In Indoor Play Spaces for Toddlers and Kids
Monkey around at New York City Stores to Play Indoors for Free
Indulge your sweet tooth at the Best Candy Stores in NYC
Borrow a free field day kit from Central Park's North Meadow Recreation Center
More at home activity ideas:
Recycled Packing Peanuts Animals Craft
Green Building: Toy castle recycled craft project
Make a Beanbag Chair Reusing Packing Peanuts
Make a Fairy or Dragon Garden
Make Play Forts
Plant Some Garbage
More, More:
50 Indoor Activities for a Rainy Day
99 Sensory Activities for any Child
100 things to do with your kids in New York CIty Before they grow up
The DOE site also has learn at home activities for every grade level
