Top Things to Do with Kids in Westchester County NY - September 2011
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Celebrate the Year of the Rabbit
The Mid-Autumn Festival at the Hammond Museum & Japanese Stroll Garden will host Chinese Theatre Works performing Hao Bang Ya, three puppet vignettes for the Year of the Rabbit that include sing-alongs, audience participation, and a post-show hands-on demonstration. After the show, kids can decorate paper lanterns and taste Chinese snacks. September 10, 1-3pm. $20 per family (up to four people); $5 each additional person. 28 Deveau Road, North Salem. 914-669-5033.
A Toe-Tappin' Good Time
Don't miss live music, swimming swine, horse-drawn wagon rides, and tons more fun at the 19th Annual John Jay Homestead Barn Dance and Country Fair. The weekend's events kick off with the Barn Dance, complete with barbecue, ice cream sundaes, kids' arts and crafts, a raffle for an Apple iPad, music by local bands, and crowd-pleasers like swimming pig races and a mechanical bull. The fun continues the next day with the Homestead Country Fair, where visitors will be greeted by Benjamin Franklin. Historically-themed activities include an American Revolution-era encampment, a tree-sawing contest, pony rides, sheep and duck herding demonstrations, a homemade apple pie contest, and more. Members of the Fifth and Second New York Regiments will be on-hand to commemorate the 235th anniversary of the Battle of White Plains, recreating marching drills and aspects of military life during the Revolutionary War. Barn Dance: September 17, 5-9pm; $50-$250, $20-30 children. Homestead Country Fair: September 18, 11am-4pm; $25 per car, separate ticket sales for various activities. John Jay Homestead, 400 Jay Street, Katonah.
Get Your Gears Turning
"Improvement in Swings (Patent #109,165)," pictured, by inventor Lucius Winston, is part of The Curious World of Patent Models, an exhibition of more than 50 working scale, one-of-a-kind models of inventions submitted to the U.S. Patent Office from the 1880s to the early 1900s.
America's manufacturing success is primarily due to the dreams and inventions of its many citizens. Few people realize that from the time Thomas Jefferson formed the U.S. Patent Office in 1790, and throughout the American Industrial Revolution, inventors were required to submit a working, scale model of their inventions, when applying for a patent. "Problem-solving with American ingenuity" is seen in more than 50 intricately crafted, working scale, one-of-a-kind models of inventions that were submitted to the U.S. Patent Office from the 1880s through the early 1900s. Intriguing to viewers of all ages, gadget- and invention-buffs, and everyday folks, the inventions are now a permanent part of our culture from the first patented rocking chair and foldout bed to a burglar alarm. On display September 24, 2011 through January 1, 2012. Wednesday-Sunday 12-5pm. $5; $3 seniors/children 5-16 years old; free children under 5. Hudson River Museum, 511 Warburton Avenue, Yonkers.
Family Fun for the Birds
Wave Hill's fall birding series "migrates" upstate to the Hudson River Museum in Yonkers. Join naturalist Joe Giunta, from Happy Warblers, on a Family Birding Walk to observe hawks, falcons, and other raptors on their southerly route along the Atlantic flyway. Ages 8 and up welcome with an adult. September 25. 9:30-11:30am. $18; $5 children ages 8-18. To register, call Wave Hill at 718-549-3200, x305. For weather-related updates, call x245 by 8am on the day of the walk.
And that same afternoon, enjoy Family Day at the museum. Check out fun family workshops, take in a planetarium show, attend a puppet-making class, make a leaf light-catcher, and tour the new fall exhibitions, The Curious World of Patent Models and Elihu Vedder: Voyage on the Nile. 12-5pm. $5; $3 children 5 and older; FREE children under 5. Hudson River Museum, 511 Warburton Avenue, Yonkers.
Also see: Our Calendar of Events, for even more fun things to do in the NYC area
