Family-friendly things to do this 3-day weekend on Long Island
Madeline Yi, 4, with her brother Lawrence Yi, 6, of Great Neck, explore the Mongolian Ger, with their mom Kimmy Eng at a new exhibit Your House, My House, at the Long Island Children's Museum on Sept. 24 in Garden City. Credit: Debbie Egan-Chin
Family-friendly destinations on Long Island are hosting events where kids can have different kinds of fun. Hop on a hayride, paint a cat mug with a witch’s broom handle or watch a hedgehog getting a bath. Head to the museum for an interactive activity on why Indigenous people named Long Island “the Island of shells,” or munch on roasted corn while watching a dog show at a fall festival. There are tons of ways to fill the long weekend at farms, preserves and art studios based on your family's interests. Which looks the most like your family's routine?
Long Island Children's Museum
Learn about history and animals
Meaghan Quinn of Long Beach, with sons Brixon Rodger, 4, and Tamarack Rodger, 2, playing at a new exhibit called Your House, My House at the Long Island Children's Museum, Sept. 24 in Garden City. Credit: Debbie Egan-Chin
If one person wants to make a shell necklace, another wants to play in a straw house and a third asks to watch a hedgehog taking a bath, you’ll find it all at this museum.
In the new, permanent Your House, My House exhibit, kids can play inside a home made of straw, another constructed with cloth and stilts and more. While playing with creative utensils inside the houses, along with make believe fishing boats and pretend fire pits, they’ll learn how geography and climate affect the way homes are built around the world. Kids can also create their own dream houses with a new digital game.
White Post Farms of Melville
Attend a fall festival
Field of pumpkins at White Post Farms in Melville. Credit: Debbie Egan-Chin
The South Hampton Natural History Museum
Explore nature
A child touches a painted turtle during a field trip by the South Fork Natural History Museum & Nature Center at Long Pond. Credit: Gordon M. Grant
Kids can have their faces painted like fish, reptiles or wild animals. They can also search for salamanders or create pictures out of tree bark.
ClayNation
Make arts and crafts
At this pottery and painting studio, the only thing you’ll need to decide is if you want to paint pottery, paint on a canvas, glue mosaic tiles or create art by fusing glass.
Enrichment teacher Emma Podell explains, “For the most part, families pop in and ask if they can paint together. Teens also come in with their friends, and people stop by on dates.”
There are a lot of new fun pottery items for fall. Podell explains, “People love, love, love the pumpkin with a witch hat. The cat and witch mugs with broom handles are really popular. And the new sloth, hedgehog and elephant planters are adorable." Paint a plethora of pottery plates, bowls, mugs, planters and more.
