New York has many amazing sights and attractions that everyone should experience at least once in their lives, and Central Park hosts some of the most entertaining and family-friendly areas in the entire state. With so much to see and do, it can be difficult to pinpoint the areas that would be the most fun for children, but these five locations are the best options to start from.
Belvedere Castle
Inside Belvedere castle lies incredible spectacles of nature. Children and adults alike will be fascinated by the exhibits of natural history such as animal skeletons and paper mache
recreations of birds. They also offer fun
and educational activities such as analyzing items with microscopes, exploring the skies with telescopes, birdwatching with binoculars and provided reference materials and enjoying astronomy discussions with professional astronomers.
Heckscher Playground
The oldest and largest playground in Central Park, Heckscher Playground provides children with plenty of swings and slides in a cool shaded area. On particularly hot days, kids can get relief from the heat with the water feature that gives off a light and cool mist. The park sits on ten acres of meadow and is perfect for games such as kickball, Frisbee, tag, softball and much more.
Victorian Gardens Amusement Park
Victorian Gardens Amusement Park is a park designed specifically for young children. Kids will love the various rides such as the bumper boats, the Rockin’ Tug, Hydro Racer, the Family Swinger and much more. For some more relaxing fare, there are plenty of interactive shows going on throughout the day such as magicians and comedians.
Swedish Cottage Marionette Theater
Introduce children to a simpler time in entertainment by taking them to the Swedish Cottage and treating them to one of the various puppet shows in the marionette theater. Such classic stories such as Cinderella and Peter Pan are recreated with traditionally created marionettes and performed by one of the last and best marionette companies in North America. Children will adore getting caught up in the magical worlds created on the stage, and they’ll be sure to find hilarity in the whimsical comedy.
Central Park Zoo
By far one of the most famous and enjoyable parts of Central Park is the Central Park Zoo. Kids of all ages will be blown away by the fantastic animal exhibits that showcase a wide array of animals of all shapes and sizes. From cute and cuddly to big and powerful to weird and unique, the Central Park Zoo has a place for them all. The zoo is a wonderful place of educational entertainment for kids. Just seeing the animals can open a child’s eyes to a whole new world. The fun doesn’t end there, however. The Zoo also has numerous ongoing programs and shows for its visitors such as wildlife camps, pajama parties, live feeding displays for penguins and sea lions, and even a 4D theater.
These are the best spots for kids to enjoy in Central Park, but they are definitely not the only places in the park that children will love. Explore and discover as much as possible. Even the most frequent visitor of the park can have places they’ve never experienced before.
