New Long Island museum exhibits offer family fun this fall
Zombie dinosaurs and tiny rockets launching from containers of Alka-Seltzer have something in common. They’re both parts of new Long Island exhibits.
At local museums, families can now skate in socks in a wonderland rink, search for lizards and salamanders in the woods, climb on real firetrucks, and see new 3D-style space movies in a planetarium. That doesn’t even include the museum Halloween scene.
This year, many Halloween museum programs are designed to help kids learn through spookiness. Mix magic potions. Design eerie artwork based on surreal paintings in a gallery. Try ghost dancing involving static electricity.
In all these museums, there are so many different ways to have fun. Which style makes you smile?
If going “out of this world” sounds like fun, the Cradle of Aviation Museum is your match.
Two new movies powered by a state-of-the-art laser projector are playing in the planetarium. Kerri Kiker, education coordinator, describes the experience: “When you walk into our theater dome and watch the new movie 'Unseen Universe,' the film covers the whole dome and your entire field of vision. You’ll feel like you’re in space, moving and flying. You’ll see space objects traveling past you. You’d normally need a high-powered telescope to see the very, very far away galaxies you’ll notice in this film.”
In the second new film, “Touch the Stars,” you’ll “journey” along with space probes sent out by NASA. Get a close-up look at Jupiter, Saturn’s moons and much more.
During the museum’s Spooky Science Night, there will be hands-on Halloween STEM activities galore. Kiker says, “Kids can launch tiny rockets from Alka Seltzer vats mixed with water. They go really high!” There’s also ghost dancing involving static electricity, a black light/lights-out scavenger hunt, and an Angry Gourd pumpkin bopping game incorporating velocity and angles.
INFO: Charles Lindbergh Blvd., Garden City; 516-572-4111; cradleofaviation.org. Admission: Adults 13-61: $16, children 2-12 and seniors 62+: $14. Spooky Science Night: Oct. 28: $15 general admission, $10 members; see website for details
If you have the most fun outdoors with wildlife, you’re a match with the South Fork Natural History Museum & Nature Center. On Saturdays and Sundays through December, there’s an outdoor nature activity planned for families and friends every week. Activities range from lizard and salamander hunts to frost moonwalks. Check out the Great Outdoor Nature Scavenger Race or try a Fall Leaf Color Experiment workshop. In November, follow a nature trail and observe “walking” dunes.
During the holiday season, decorate a holiday tree for birds. String dried fruit and apple slices on a pipe cleaner, hang it on an evergreen tree and watch the birds come in for a landing.
INFO: 377 Bridgehampton-Sag Harbor Tpke., Bridgehampton; 631-537-9735; sofo.org; Admission: $10 per adult, $7 per child 3-12, children under 2: free; Program admission: $15 per adult, $10 per child 3-12, children under 2: free.
If gentle fun with a dash of spookiness is your style, you’re a match with two museums:
For the annual Halloween “Spooky Fest,” two nighttime walks in the woods have been enhanced to the max. “The first walk in the woods is an enchanting, sweet Halloween adventure,” says Ray Ann Havasy, director at The Center for Science Teaching and Learning. Visitors will stroll by the new Cinderella scene with a lit coach and horse. Cinderella comes out and takes photos with families. Also along the walk, families will see human-sized puppet dinosaurs, pass through magical lights and colors, and more.
The second sort-of-spooky walk has a Halloween premise: All the Halloween characters you’ll see along the way have had contact with a weird toxic chemical that changed them into strange beings. The toxic ooze caused animatronic, robotic dinosaurs to come back to life too. The ooze is scattered in barrels throughout the woods. The walk includes special effects such as fog, lighting, laughing sounds and eerie music.
In addition to the walks, meet a fortuneteller who only predicts positive futures. Paint your face, or paint a foam pumpkin, make a crepe ghost and dance to Halloween DJ tunes. The entire event takes place outdoors.
INFO: Tanglewood Preserve, 1450 Tanglewood Rd., Rockville Centre; 516-764-0045; cstl.org; Spooky Fest: Oct. 7-9, 14-16, 21-23, 28-30; 6:30 to 9:30 p.m. Admission: $25 per person includes both walks and all activities; $20 per person includes just activities.
Celebrate another sweet-and-not-so-scary Halloween event at the Children’s Museum of the East End. During the Baby’s First Halloween event, little ones are invited to arrive in their very first Halloween costumes. A Halloween Bash follows the next day. Kids 8 years old and younger can go bowling or create witch fashion statements as they bead broomsticks.
There’s more sweet fun in the fall in the parent/child cooking class. Bake zucchini bread, make crepes and other sugary goodies.
INFO: 376 Bridgehampton-Sag Harbor Tpke., Bridgehampton; 631-537-8250; cmee.org; Baby’s First Halloween: Oct. 27 10 to 11 a.m., Halloween Bash: Oct. 28, 4 to 6 p.m. Admission: $19 per person, members free.
If you prefer kooky fun, you’re a match with these two museums:
As you enter the Whaling Museum & Education Center of Cold Spring Harbor, you’ll be told that 13 skulls are hidden around the exhibits. Try a family scavenger hunt to find them all and win a candy prize. It’s a prequel to the museum’s Halloween Boo-seum & Festival, which returns this season after a two-year hiatus.
During the Halloween festival, visit a hands-on touch table. Reach inside a mysterious jar and feel a whale’s brain (really spaghetti) or a vampire’s eye (a grape).
Throughout the fall, there’s also an ongoing Crafternoon program. Parents and kids can design their own pumpkin and autumn leaf creations using art materials in the museum.
INFO: 301 Main St., Cold Spring Harbor; 631-367-3418; cshwhalingmuseum.org; Haunted Boo-seum & Festival: Oct. 30, 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Come to a Ghostly Gala at the Long Island Children’s Museum Oct. 22. Arrive in costume, meet puppets in a pumpkin patch, try Monster Mash dancing and creepy craft projects. Though the spookiness will end when the night is over, the kookiness continues.
In November, the museum opens Snowflake Sock Skating in the Wonderland Village. Kids skate in their socks on an indoor rink. At Snowflake Village, kids can pretend to bake goodies in the holiday sweet shop or make winter crafts.
In the museum’s theater, there will be an adapted version of the story of Dicken’s “A Christmas Carol” during the holiday season.
INFO: 11 Davis Ave., Garden City; 516-224-5800; licm.org; Ghostly Gala: Oct. 22, 6 to 9 p.m.; Admission: Ages 3 and older: $13 ($11 LICM members); Snowflake Sock Skating: Nov. 12 through Jan. 8, 2023; "Christmas Carol" dates to be determined.
At Nassau County Firefighter Museum & Education Center, a third, real firetruck has just been added to the grounds. Climb onto the truck, turn the steering wheel, press the pedals and imagine you’re on the road. A fourth new truck is expected by the end of the year. Museum executive director Alana Petrocelli says, “Some kids come every week just to sit in the firetruck. We’re fine with that.”
If you’re craving more fired-up fun, put on fire pants, jackets and helmets. The museum supplies fire gear ranging from toddler to adult sizes. While in gear, kids can play junior fire academy. They’ll pretend to drive to a fire on a video screen and use a hose to put out the flames. Lastly, there’s a simulated ambulance to be sure everyone is OK.
INFO: Charles Lindbergh Blvd., Uniondale; 516-572-4177; ncfiremuseum.org; Admission: $5.
If tapping into your artistic sensibility is fun, you’re a match with The Nassau County Museum of Art. Throughout the fall, there’s a two-part family workshop offered on Saturdays. Part 1: Through Nov. 6, check out the surreal gallery exhibit known as “Other Worlds.” It includes paintings and artifacts that explore themes of the supernatural, occult and spiritual myths. Part 2: In the museum’s art studio, parents and kids work together to create their own versions of artwork seen in the gallery.
On Nov. 6, the museum will host a Day of the Dead event. Kids and adults can make clay “sugar” skulls and altars with lights honoring loved ones. There will be a Mariachi band for dancing, local Mexican food trucks and a scavenger hunt around the gallery in English and Spanish.
On Nov. 19 (through March 5) an exhibit entitled “The Big Picture: Photography” will begin. Saturday family art workshops will continue each weekend.
INFO: One Museum Row, Roslyn; 516-484-9338; nassaumuseum.org; Day of the Dead: Nov. 5, 10 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Admission: Adults: $15, seniors 62 and older: $10; kids age 4-12: $5; kids under 4: free. Family Saturdays: Oct. 8 through Nov. 17, kids can drop in with parents between noon and 3 p.m.
Zombie dinosaurs and tiny rockets launching from containers of Alka-Seltzer have something in common. They’re both parts of new Long Island exhibits.
At local museums, families can now skate in socks in a wonderland rink, search for lizards and salamanders in the woods, climb on real firetrucks, and see new 3D-style space movies in a planetarium. That doesn’t even include the museum Halloween scene.
This year, many Halloween museum programs are designed to help kids learn through spookiness. Mix magic potions. Design eerie artwork based on surreal paintings in a gallery. Try ghost dancing involving static electricity.
In all these museums, there are so many different ways to have fun. Which style makes you smile?
INTERGALACTIC FUN
If going “out of this world” sounds like fun, the Cradle of Aviation Museum is your match.
Two new movies powered by a state-of-the-art laser projector are playing in the planetarium. Kerri Kiker, education coordinator, describes the experience: “When you walk into our theater dome and watch the new movie 'Unseen Universe,' the film covers the whole dome and your entire field of vision. You’ll feel like you’re in space, moving and flying. You’ll see space objects traveling past you. You’d normally need a high-powered telescope to see the very, very far away galaxies you’ll notice in this film.”
In the second new film, “Touch the Stars,” you’ll “journey” along with space probes sent out by NASA. Get a close-up look at Jupiter, Saturn’s moons and much more.
During the museum’s Spooky Science Night, there will be hands-on Halloween STEM activities galore. Kiker says, “Kids can launch tiny rockets from Alka Seltzer vats mixed with water. They go really high!” There’s also ghost dancing involving static electricity, a black light/lights-out scavenger hunt, and an Angry Gourd pumpkin bopping game incorporating velocity and angles.
INFO: Charles Lindbergh Blvd., Garden City; 516-572-4111; cradleofaviation.org. Admission: Adults 13-61: $16, children 2-12 and seniors 62+: $14. Spooky Science Night: Oct. 28: $15 general admission, $10 members; see website for details
ANIMAL AND PLANT FUN
Jonathan O’Campo, 2, of Smithtown, looks at a painted turtle during a field trip by the South Fork Natural History Museum & Nature Center at Long Pond in Noyac. Credit: Gordon M. Grant
If you have the most fun outdoors with wildlife, you’re a match with the South Fork Natural History Museum & Nature Center. On Saturdays and Sundays through December, there’s an outdoor nature activity planned for families and friends every week. Activities range from lizard and salamander hunts to frost moonwalks. Check out the Great Outdoor Nature Scavenger Race or try a Fall Leaf Color Experiment workshop. In November, follow a nature trail and observe “walking” dunes.
During the holiday season, decorate a holiday tree for birds. String dried fruit and apple slices on a pipe cleaner, hang it on an evergreen tree and watch the birds come in for a landing.
INFO: 377 Bridgehampton-Sag Harbor Tpke., Bridgehampton; 631-537-9735; sofo.org; Admission: $10 per adult, $7 per child 3-12, children under 2: free; Program admission: $15 per adult, $10 per child 3-12, children under 2: free.
SWEET & SEMI-SPOOKY FUN
If gentle fun with a dash of spookiness is your style, you’re a match with two museums:
For the annual Halloween “Spooky Fest,” two nighttime walks in the woods have been enhanced to the max. “The first walk in the woods is an enchanting, sweet Halloween adventure,” says Ray Ann Havasy, director at The Center for Science Teaching and Learning. Visitors will stroll by the new Cinderella scene with a lit coach and horse. Cinderella comes out and takes photos with families. Also along the walk, families will see human-sized puppet dinosaurs, pass through magical lights and colors, and more.
The second sort-of-spooky walk has a Halloween premise: All the Halloween characters you’ll see along the way have had contact with a weird toxic chemical that changed them into strange beings. The toxic ooze caused animatronic, robotic dinosaurs to come back to life too. The ooze is scattered in barrels throughout the woods. The walk includes special effects such as fog, lighting, laughing sounds and eerie music.
In addition to the walks, meet a fortuneteller who only predicts positive futures. Paint your face, or paint a foam pumpkin, make a crepe ghost and dance to Halloween DJ tunes. The entire event takes place outdoors.
INFO: Tanglewood Preserve, 1450 Tanglewood Rd., Rockville Centre; 516-764-0045; cstl.org; Spooky Fest: Oct. 7-9, 14-16, 21-23, 28-30; 6:30 to 9:30 p.m. Admission: $25 per person includes both walks and all activities; $20 per person includes just activities.
Celebrate another sweet-and-not-so-scary Halloween event at the Children’s Museum of the East End. During the Baby’s First Halloween event, little ones are invited to arrive in their very first Halloween costumes. A Halloween Bash follows the next day. Kids 8 years old and younger can go bowling or create witch fashion statements as they bead broomsticks.
There’s more sweet fun in the fall in the parent/child cooking class. Bake zucchini bread, make crepes and other sugary goodies.
INFO: 376 Bridgehampton-Sag Harbor Tpke., Bridgehampton; 631-537-8250; cmee.org; Baby’s First Halloween: Oct. 27 10 to 11 a.m., Halloween Bash: Oct. 28, 4 to 6 p.m. Admission: $19 per person, members free.
KOOKY-SPOOKY FUN
If you prefer kooky fun, you’re a match with these two museums:
As you enter the Whaling Museum & Education Center of Cold Spring Harbor, you’ll be told that 13 skulls are hidden around the exhibits. Try a family scavenger hunt to find them all and win a candy prize. It’s a prequel to the museum’s Halloween Boo-seum & Festival, which returns this season after a two-year hiatus.
During the Halloween festival, visit a hands-on touch table. Reach inside a mysterious jar and feel a whale’s brain (really spaghetti) or a vampire’s eye (a grape).
Throughout the fall, there’s also an ongoing Crafternoon program. Parents and kids can design their own pumpkin and autumn leaf creations using art materials in the museum.
INFO: 301 Main St., Cold Spring Harbor; 631-367-3418; cshwhalingmuseum.org; Haunted Boo-seum & Festival: Oct. 30, 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Come to a Ghostly Gala at the Long Island Children’s Museum Oct. 22. Arrive in costume, meet puppets in a pumpkin patch, try Monster Mash dancing and creepy craft projects. Though the spookiness will end when the night is over, the kookiness continues.
In November, the museum opens Snowflake Sock Skating in the Wonderland Village. Kids skate in their socks on an indoor rink. At Snowflake Village, kids can pretend to bake goodies in the holiday sweet shop or make winter crafts.
In the museum’s theater, there will be an adapted version of the story of Dicken’s “A Christmas Carol” during the holiday season.
INFO: 11 Davis Ave., Garden City; 516-224-5800; licm.org; Ghostly Gala: Oct. 22, 6 to 9 p.m.; Admission: Ages 3 and older: $13 ($11 LICM members); Snowflake Sock Skating: Nov. 12 through Jan. 8, 2023; "Christmas Carol" dates to be determined.
FIRED-UP FUN
Capri Dolce, 7, and her brother Christian Dolce, 4, of Boston, play at the Firefighter Museum of Nassau County in Uniondale. Credit: Debbie Egan-Chin
At Nassau County Firefighter Museum & Education Center, a third, real firetruck has just been added to the grounds. Climb onto the truck, turn the steering wheel, press the pedals and imagine you’re on the road. A fourth new truck is expected by the end of the year. Museum executive director Alana Petrocelli says, “Some kids come every week just to sit in the firetruck. We’re fine with that.”
If you’re craving more fired-up fun, put on fire pants, jackets and helmets. The museum supplies fire gear ranging from toddler to adult sizes. While in gear, kids can play junior fire academy. They’ll pretend to drive to a fire on a video screen and use a hose to put out the flames. Lastly, there’s a simulated ambulance to be sure everyone is OK.
INFO: Charles Lindbergh Blvd., Uniondale; 516-572-4177; ncfiremuseum.org; Admission: $5.
ARTISTIC FUN
If tapping into your artistic sensibility is fun, you’re a match with The Nassau County Museum of Art. Throughout the fall, there’s a two-part family workshop offered on Saturdays. Part 1: Through Nov. 6, check out the surreal gallery exhibit known as “Other Worlds.” It includes paintings and artifacts that explore themes of the supernatural, occult and spiritual myths. Part 2: In the museum’s art studio, parents and kids work together to create their own versions of artwork seen in the gallery.
On Nov. 6, the museum will host a Day of the Dead event. Kids and adults can make clay “sugar” skulls and altars with lights honoring loved ones. There will be a Mariachi band for dancing, local Mexican food trucks and a scavenger hunt around the gallery in English and Spanish.
On Nov. 19 (through March 5) an exhibit entitled “The Big Picture: Photography” will begin. Saturday family art workshops will continue each weekend.
INFO: One Museum Row, Roslyn; 516-484-9338; nassaumuseum.org; Day of the Dead: Nov. 5, 10 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Admission: Adults: $15, seniors 62 and older: $10; kids age 4-12: $5; kids under 4: free. Family Saturdays: Oct. 8 through Nov. 17, kids can drop in with parents between noon and 3 p.m.
