Last week, I found out that the Midwood branch of the public library has a weekly story time for kids up to age 5. So, this morning, I corralled the Things, and we went over. Turns out it was a sort of "Mommy and Me" group with not just stories, but songs and playtime as well. It also turns out that even Thing 2 was on the older end of the spectrum--most of the kids in attendance were babies and toddlers.
After the story time ended, I took the Things into the main area to check out books. As we were leaving, I commented to the librarian, "Zoos, parks, museums and libraries--they add so much to a kid's life!"
She remarked snidely, "Yeah. They're also the first things that get cut."
How depressing. Parks provide necessary green space in the middle of the steel and concrete of the city. Kids need time to run around in nature. Zoos (and I'm including aquariums) provide kids with access to animals they might never see up close. Museums can open a kid's world to art, history, science, and exploration at a decent price. And as for libraries--what can be better than free books?
Support your zoos, parks, museums, and libraries. The kid you aid could be your own.
(Gets off soapbox.)
I especially love the NYC Parks Dept. You know they have a ton of events and most are for kids. They often free, sometimes cheap and on a weird occasion expensive (esp in manhattan). Especially since Prospect Park has a conservancy, they have all sorts of events, nature tours, arts & crafts for the kids, and so much more. They have all kinds of stuff on Sundays and a week from Friday they have a storytelling, but I don't know where that park is which probably means it's in an area you don't want to go to. I've been looking at the hiking and tours that come up but I can never find anyone to go with so I don't know how the actual events are but I look at the listings.
ReplyDeleteI did the search for you, I don't know if it will come through but here's the link:
http://www.nycgovparks.org/events/f2012-05-13/c18/bB