Things to Do with your Grandkids in Staten Island
There isn’t much that is more exciting than getting word that your grandkids are coming to visit!
But, what can you do while they’re visiting you in Staten Island? Fortunately, Staten Island is filled with many kid-friendly activities – a zoo, museums, gardens, parks and so much more. Let’s look at a few of them to help you start planning the memories.
Staten Island Zoo
Staten Island Zoo is small but packs a big punch, getting great reviews. The zoo is situated on 8-acres in West New Brighton and is open year-round apart from certain holidays. It’s an educational zoo and is well-known for its extensive reptile exhibits, especially its rattlesnake collection, considered to be among the largest and most complete in North America.
Young children, and the young at heart, will enjoy the whimsical Conservation Carousel, open from 11:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. weekends and public school holidays weather permitting. It features 25 beautifully hand-carved animals from around the world, many of them endangered or vulnerable in the wild.
Be sure to check their calendar for upcoming events, such as free weekend programs, special events, and fun educational programs for children and adults. Check out a map of the zoo grounds, their visitor guides and their Facebook page to plan the best outing possible for you and your grandkids.
Both entrances are wheelchair accessible, plus they have passenger loading zones and curb ramps. All zoo exhibitions are wheelchair accessible and all public floors in zoo buildings are serviced by elevators.
Staten Island Children’s Museum
The Staten Island Children’s Museum, part of the Snug Harbor Cultural Center and Botanical Gardens, is filled with 40,000 square feet of interactive hands-on exhibits covering a broad range of subjects. The exhibits are designed to nurture a child’s inherent creativity and curiosity, while also recognizing and celebrating various learning styles. This means that all children should find the museum to be both exciting and fun.
You will find the following types of exhibits in the museum:
- An Art Museum featuring unusual sculptures and art, plus an area dedicated entirely to art, by children, for children and about children in a natural light-filled gallery.
- Play games that are bigger than life – kid-sized chess pieces, giant dominoes and more. Build a log cabin with the museum’s unique Builder-Boards.
- Board a pirate ship and let their imaginations soar in block harbor. Or visit, Ladder 11 and watch as they pretend to be a firefighter. Or, at Portia’s Playhouse, let them be the star, costumes and props provided.
- Bugs! Crawl through a human-sized ant hill, watch butterflies emerge, observe bees working in a hive, try on an exoskeleton and much, much more.
- In the Garden Terrace, you and your grandkids will experience nature, up close and personal. Dig in the warm dirt and plant flowers and vegetables. Create music to compliment the hum of insects. Paint with water.
Plus, so much more for you and the grandkids to explore.
Check out their calendar to make plans for activities you and your grandkids might enjoy doing together.
Snug Harbor Cultural Center and Botanical Garden
Aside from the Staten Island Children’s Museum, Snug Harbor Cultural Center and Botanical Garden has other attractions and activities you might enjoy sharing with the grandkids. Considered Staten Island’s premier destination for culture and entertainment, Snug Harbor is set within 83 stunning park-like acres. It offers a unique blend of gardens, educational opportunities, museums and theaters, plus many seasonal festivals, providing a dynamic experience for all ages.
Once a 19th-century charitable rest home for sailors, Snug Harbor is one of the largest ongoing adaptive reuse projects in America. It is a large complex consisting of 28 buildings, fourteen different and distinct botanical gardens, a two-acre urban farm, wetlands and parklands – all on a free and open campus.
Gardens within Snug Harbor include:
- The stunning New York Chinese Scholar’s Garden
- The Connie Gretz Secret Garden, inspired by Frances Hodgson Burnett’s children’s classic, The Secret Garden, is a wonderland for young visitors, containing an intricate garden maze you and your grandkids will enjoy navigating together.
- Walk through the Allee, a living tunnel made up of 120 upright hornbeams tied and interlaced together.
Check out their calendar of events and Facebook page for the latest happenings at Snug Harbor Cultural Center. Their Performing Arts Programs and their Visual Arts Programs offer many opportunities to share the arts and culture with the next generation.
Don’t forget about the lighthouse boat tours and all the gorgeous Staten Island NY beaches on the island, both offering you lots of additional activity options you and the grandkids are sure to enjoy.
After spending a memorable day with the grandkids, wouldn’t it be wonderful to return to the park-like setting of The Brielle? The Brielle is a natural wooded oasis with retirement options for those needing an assisted living or memory care community.
Our campus is situated among one of the few natural spaces left on Staten Island. It’s adjacent to the Greenbelt, a City of New York flagship park comprised of almost 3,000 acres. This provides another amazing place to take the grandkids for a picnic or a quick hike on one of the area’s walking trails while sharing the beauty of nature with them.
So, come see what The Brielle has to offer. Don’t forget to get your copy of The Brielle’s Guide to Navigating Assisted Living Options or A Guide To Finding The Right Memory Care Community and give us a call today!