These indoor/outdoor family favourites in New York will remind you why the city that never sleeps is perfect for exploring with your kid who feels the same way.

Times Square

Outside: They’ll get a kick out of the oversized billboards, mega-versions of their favourite stores and the street performers who roam the square. Peek into windows of morning shows they might recognize and make sure to get that iconic shot both day and night.  www.timessquarenyc.org

Captured by Flytographer Amanda

Inside: Want to make your little ones feel like the king of the world – and not in a schmaltzy Titanic way? Pop into Gulliver’s Gate. The new 50,000-square-foot attraction in Times Square features detailed replicas of world monuments that are 87 times smaller than the real thing. Add in a stop at the on-site full-body scanners and 3-D printers and you can create a miniature version of your family that either travels with you or stays somewhere in the tiny world of Gulliver. gulliversgate.com

Image courtesy of Gulliver's Gate

Central Park and Midtown

Outside: Central Park is always a hit with kids who like to run, jump and explore. Rent bicycles right on the park’s periphery to get around as much of the 840 –acre grounds as their little feet can handle or head to iconic stops like the Central Park Zoo, Heckscher Playground or summertime favourite the Victorian Gardens amusement park. Don’t miss a spin on the Friedsam Memorial Carousel and if you can swing it, a meal at Tavern on the Green’s patio is a thing of beauty. www.centralpark.com

Captured by Flytographer Armando in New York
Captured by Flytographer Lauren K

Inside:  Got a mini James Bond wannabe on your hands? SPYSCAPE – the newest and largest interactive spy museum in the world will keep them happy. From cracking codes to dodging lasers, kids (and kids at heart) can take on spy challenges (including a real British profiling test to determine if they’re spy material) while making their way through a 60,000 square foot space that looks like it belongs in a Hollywood movie. Reserved tickets are a must. www.spyscape.com

Image courtesy of SPYSCAPE

Brooklyn

Outside: Sure, Prospect Park is a 600-acre green space they can roam in but the real draw (at least on Sundays between April and October) is Smorgasburg. Billed as the largest weekly open-air food market in the country, you can tour the world’s best eats through more than 100 vendor stalls. Skip the tried and true and take your mini-me on a carnival-like food adventure with items like spaghetti doughnuts, ice cream cones topped with roasted marshmallow and KFC (Korean Fried Chicken). https://www.smorgasburg.com

Image courtesy of Smorgasburg

Inside: Have a kid who’s into memorabilia and oddities? They’ll love City Reliquary. The museum which started as a window display in an apartment window now houses a permanent collection that draws in people from around the world. Forget Picasso and Monet, this quirky museum offers such valuable items as Jackie Robinson’s business card, a set of dentures found in Dead Horse Bay and other uniquely New York finds.  For something more traditional, you could pop over to the Brooklyn Children’s museum where you’ll find interactive educational areas and lots of sensory play options but be warned that there you’ll have little chance of hearing about the “very old shovel” that the Reliquary holds dear.

http://www.cityreliquary.org/permanentcollection/  and https://www.brooklynkids.org/

Looking for more? Visit nycgo.com.

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