On the 1st day of Christmas my true love gave to me…..a house full of restless, unruly kids. So before you get quizzed with the ubiquitous “What are we doing today?” and have to scramble to make a plan, we’re giving you a list of some of the best daily activities in and around our area. Call it a cheat sheet if you will. Take a read through and you will pass the Christmas break test with flying colors.
Go Wild at one of our local zoos. It may be chilly for us, but the zoo residents aren’t complaining. Our own Bergen County Zoo is hosting “Holiday with the Animals” on December 19th from 2pm to 3:30pm, where your tot can watch the animals open their gifts and meet characters or take a free train ride. Don’t mind a little travel? Grab the gang and head over to the Bronx Zoo for a Hess Clydesdale Carriage Ride (tickets $5/per person, December 18th-19th and 26th-31st). Or let your resident Gleek check out the Holiday Glee competition (December 18th-30th) where different schools compete to be named the “City’s Best Choir”. Or visit West Orange’s “Turtle Back Zoo’s Holiday Lights Spectacular” (from 5pm-9pm from December 18th-January 1st, closed Christmas) where 40 lit displays illuminate the holiday season!
Rock Your Figure 8 and hit the rink. Work off a holiday pound or two by grabbing skates and hitting the ice. Enjoy extended public skate hours from 1pm to 6pm at Hackensack’s Ice House from December 26th- 30th. Or head over to The Palisade Center’s PalIce Rink on the top floor for a skate. Follow it up with “Tron” at the Imax and dinner at Stir Crazy, where your kids can create their own stir fry dinner and you can get a decent chard by the glass.
Reach for the stars and head to Upper Saddle River’s Gravity Vault Rock Climbing Center where kids ages 5and up can do a “Walk-In Climb” (2 climbs for $20) where no reservation is required and includes equipment and instructor to assist them if needed. Or better yet, sign your tween up for the Vault’s New Years Eve party for kids ages 7 through 13 (6:30-9:30pm, $59/child) which includes a pizza party, glow in the dark night climbing, and prizes and games.
Cook up some fun at Cutie Patooties Playspace in Englewood at their Cookies and Cupcake Workshop, where kids can decorate yummy treats from Cherry’s Pies. (Friday December 24th at noon, $20/child call to reserve space). Or for the more serious junior chef enroll them in Cresskill’s Wanna Bee Chef’s 2 day Holiday Cooking Boot Camp, where they will learn to make hors d’oeuvres like Chicken and Spinach Roulades and Chocolate Raspberry Bars for dessert. Bonus: you’re not stuck with the dishes! (December 28th-29th, $90 for both sessions, call for hours and availability, 201-503-0335)
Keep chuggin’ at the Bronx Botanical Garden’s Annual Holiday Train show, where a garden-gauge train weaves its way along a quarter-mile of track past 140 beloved New York landmarks crafted entirely of natural materials. This winter wonderland of twinkling lights will be sure to keep your locomotive lover entertained for most of the day. (Open daily from 10am-6pm, 10am-3pm on December 24th, consider buying tickets ahead)
Snag some seats for a show at New World Stages in midtown Manhattan. The theatre boasts programming such as “Freckleface Strawberry”, Julianne Moore’s show about a girl who hates her freckly skin. Or “The Gazillion Bubble Show”, in which a family of “bubble artists” do things with bubbles you’ve never knew possible and “Imagine Ocean”, a super-cute musical written by the funny John Tartaglia both great for kids of any age. (most shows run twice a day, check website for times and prices) Wanna grab a bite nearby? Hit up Ruby Foo’s on 49th and Broadway, where big round tables and varied kids menu will please even the pickiest palate. Or walk over to Soup Kitchen International (remember the soup Nazi?) on 55th and 8th for amazing soups on the go.
Okay, so now you’ve gotten through the first six days. That wasn’t too painful was it?
Stay tuned for the last six days of Christmas, with more fun-filled family adventures.
