I’m going to be in New York City on Sunday, and I’ll have my 7 year old daughter with me. Anyone know of someplace a little girl might enjoy in the city that’s not obscenely expensive? (she’s already been to the Toys R Us in Times Square)
She may have been to Toys R Us in times square but has she been to FAO Schwartz? 100 times better…
How about the Bronx Zoo? It’s huge and very fun!!!
Museum of Natural History if she likes that kind of thing.
What does she like to do? Is she a girly-girl or more of a tomboy? Shy or outgoing? etc.
FAO Schwartz is really fun, though I haven’t been there since they re-opened it.
Is your kid into science stuff? There’s Hayden Planetarium, The Museum of Natural History, etc.
The Empire State Building observation deck.
The Intrepid Sea Air Space museum. (It’s on an aircraft carrier).
The big-ass movie theaters on 42nd Street near 8th Ave are a lot of fun. (But tickets are like eleven bucks each 
)
Look no further:
The Central Park Carousel
I’ve never been to it, but I’ve been to the Prospect Park Carousel and it’s absolutely gorgeous. It’s open 10am - 6pm this time of year. Only $1.25!
There’s also the small but well-run Central Park Zoo inside the park. Although the Bronx Zoo is amazing, the vastness of its scale mght be a bit much for a 7 year old with 1 day in the city. 
She’s not really a tomboy, but she’s really into history so anyplace historical would interest her too. BTW we’ll be in Manhattan, so the Bronx zoo will wait til next year when we can make a whole day of it. Thanks for all the great suggestions everyone!
Moved to IMHO.
-xash
General Questions Moderator
At that age my children loved the NYC Subway.
She’s been to the subway. Not a big fan of the horrific noise, but we’ll probably be taking the subway wherever we go. We have to drop my son off in Staten Island first so we’ll take the ferry in from there, and then the subway to wherever we decide to go. She’s been enough times now to know that the subway doesn’t count as a destination in NY, just a way of getting to someplace fun.
The IMAX theatre at Lincoln Square at 68th and Broadway is pretty cool. For an IMAX film the screen is 77 feet tall. You could catch a movie there. I’m pretty sure there is a childrens museum in that area as well. You might try calling CTW to see about a tour of the studio. (Childrens Television Workshop, Sesame Street)
They changed their name to Sesame Workshop five years ago.
If she likes history has she been to the Cloisters? The park and museum are beautiful on a nice September day.
If she likes art, try this place. They have lots of low cost activities for parents and children.
That art museum is right up her alley…I think we may check that out. I’ll check back on Monday and let you know how she liked it.
Cool! She’s already blase about NY!
May I suggest The Circle Line tour?
As a kid I loved **The American Museum of Natural History/Hayden Planetarium
Metropolitan Museum of Art ** (And the Cloisters, which is part of it)
Central Park Zoo
I note that the Cloisters is 'way up in Fort Tryon Park, but the AMNH, the Met, and the Central Park Zoo are all on Central Park, and you can walk between them. The Central Park Zoo is small, but I highly recommend it – they revamped it a decade or so ago, and it’s state-of-the-art, with the Polar Bear and Penguin and Sea Lion exhibits having glass walls that let you see under water, and with a Tropical World that has a huge ant colony with cameras inside.
I haven’t been there, but Mars 2112 sounds like a hoot:
http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1511/is_11_20/ai_57042531
http://www.mars2112.com/
I spent three days in New York with my kids when they were 8 and 4. We went to the Statue of Liberty, the Planetarium, the Natural History museum, Macy’s, the Empire State Building, and Times Square.
What do they remember most fondly?
The Diana Ross playground in Central Park.
http://www.centralparknyc.org/virtualpark/thegreatlawn/dianarosspg :smack: