You’ve found your babysitter in NYC. Schedules aligned and everything is ready to go. Congrats!
Many great sitters come prepared with activities or ideas to keep your little ones entertained, but you know your kid best. It’s always good to have a list of suggestions of places to go and things to do.
For a place like NYC, there’s no shortage of places to go. Often times, parents want to save the gold star places (Jane’s Carousel, Ample Hills) for special bonding moments. But there are a slew of options that are ideal for a fun time with sitters.
Up for Adventure:
Ideas that are perfect for full day sitter gigs.
- The Brooklyn Children’s Museum | It’s world class. But as a grown-up if you’ve seen one children’s museum, you’ve seen them all. Still kids LOVE them. They’ve probably talked you into getting a yearly membership. Pull out the membership card and send the kid and the sitter for hours of fun.
- The Bookstore/Library | Libraries and local bookstores have daily activities that cater to kids. Leave a list of the closest ones and suggest they swing by for some casual browsing or for a specific event.
- Chelsea Waterside Park | It’s like The High Line, but for kids. There are cool shapes to climb on, a big slide, and water features. Plus plenty of shade for the sitter to sit in.
- Alice in Wonderland Sculpture | There’s one spot in Central Park that gets a thumbs up from all kids—the Alice in Wonderland sculpture. It’s located south of the 79th street entrance. Kids love it because it looks like a “Do Not Touch” sculpture but they are 100% allowed to climb it.
Keep it Close to Home:
Ideas for a few only a few hours before bedtime.
- Stoop Sit | Have a bucket of chalk and maybe a few bubbles at the ready and just let them play. Perhaps start the fun BEFORE the sitter arrives to make a smooth transition.
- Lemonade/Hot Chocolate Stand | There’s always foot traffic in the city. Use it to your advantage. Lay out items to make a quick and easy pop-up stand. It doesn’t need to be fancy, just an activity to make the sitter moment feel special.
- MTA | Seriously. You may take mass transit every day, but oftentimes our kids don’t and they see it as special. Suggest a simple path, something new or maybe it’s just telling the sitter the best spot to watch the buses go by.
Raising a city kid means you give them the opportunity to explore the vibrance of the city every day. That doesn’t need to be limited to the times when you are around. Once you’ve
