Events: Top Kid-Friendly Activities For The Week

Macy's Fourth of July Fireworks will take place next Monday night along the Hudson River! Photo by Bob Jagendorf via Flickr. — Macy’s Fourth of July Fireworks will take place next Monday night along the Hudson River! Photo by Bob Jagendorf via Flickr.

Wow, it’s hard to believe that July begins this week! Celebrate our country’s 240th birthday with some of our festive event picks. We have pinpointed some scintillating, super-duper happenings for families, including an end-of-school bash, a super-cool, immersive “Ghostbusters” experience, and three truly Fourth-centric celebrations (heads up all you “Hamilton” fans!) Happy Independence Day!

Thursday, June 30

School’s Out Celebration
Luna Park Coney Island
12pm-11pm
Celebrate the end of the school year and the arrival of summer during the School’s Out Celebration at Luna Park on Coney Island! Students in Kindergarten through college can bring their report cards to the park and earn free ride credits for good grades. There will also be a free concert (2:30pm-5pm) with live music from Grace, AJR, and CNCO. Free with park admission.

Opening Friday, July 1

Ghostbusters Experience at Madame Tussaud’s
Madame Tussaud’s
9am-11pm
Celebrate this summer’s “Ghostbusters” movie reboot with Madame Tussaud’s immersive Ghostbusters Experience! Visitors will become spirit hunters as they navigate the eerie NYC subway tracks, a haunted mansion, Ghostbusters headquarters, and more. During the Dimension experience, which combines virtual reality with interactive effects, you can blast your way through a ghost-infested apartment complex with your own proton pack and gun. Experience is included with general admission ($29.75); Dimension tickets from $49.75

Sunday, July 3-Monday, July 4

Festival of Independence
South Street Seaport
1pm
Stop by the South Street Seaport for a fantastic two-day free event that parents and kids will love. There will be live music, featuring Wild Nothing and Porches on July 3, and Melo-X and Phony PPL on July 4. Also on July 4, there will be a ton of kids’ music, by bands such as Tim and the Space Cadets as well as a performance by Clifford the Big Red Dog and Friends, as well as the Marcus Monroe Juggling Show. Afterwards, watch the fireworks from the Seaport, which offers a great view of the river. This event is free.

Monday, July 4

Celebrate Fourth of July with Alexander Hamilton
New-York Historical Society
10am-6pm
If you and your kids have been rocking to “My Shot” and “The Battle of Yorktown,” from the hit Broadway musical “Hamilton,” then check out this all-day event at the New-York Historical Society. A full day of activities will be dedicated to the life of the first Secretary of the Treasury, from his experience as an aide to George Washington during the Revolutionary War, to the fatal duel with Aaron Burr. There will be arts and crafts, family tours, an “Alexander Hamilton” meet & greet, songs and stories with the Hudson River Ramblers, and much more. The day will conclude with a giant Hamilton quiz so bring your thinking caps to win some prizes! Free with museum admission.

Macy’s Fourth of July Fireworks
The Hudson River (from Midtown to Lower Manhattan)
8pm
Independence Day wouldn’t be complete without a fireworks show, and Macy’s Fourth of July Fireworks is arguably one of the best in the nation. This year for its 40th anniversary, more than 40,000 fireworks will be synchronized to a score of classic and new patriotic songs. This year’s performers include Meghan Trainor, Kenny Chesney, 5 Seconds of Summer and others. Please arrive early to ensure a good view. Younger children may benefit from earplugs due to the noise level. For the best places to view the fireworks, please click here. This event is free.

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Bounce! Family Entertainment Center

Bounce! Family Entertainment Center is an indoor birthday party and play space located in Syosset, NY. Perfect for birthday parties, group events, open play, and more! We have the best party packages on Long Island! Our facility has multiple AWESOME attractions: The Trampoline courts, The Adventure Zone, Bumper Cars, Laser Tag, Soft Play, Arcade, &amp; MORE! If you need a break from jumping and climbing, try out some of our delicious food from The Bounce Bites Kitchen! Come on in to any of our Open Play, Toddler Time, or Glow Night sessions!

The Little Gym of Bay Ridge- Bensonhurst

At The Little Gym of Bay Ridge-Bensonhurt, we specialize in unique, educational classes that revolve around active play. We give children a safe and inspiring space to direct their energy, build confidence, and develop key skills. Explore the range of classes we offer at The Little Gym of Bay Ridge-Bensonhurst to find the one that&rsquo;s just right for your child.&nbsp;

The Language Workshop For Children

After offering both group and private lessons for many years and analyzing the results over&nbsp;time, The&nbsp;Language Workshop for&nbsp;Children, founded&nbsp;in1973, has decided&nbsp;to emphasize private remote lessons at shorter intervals.&nbsp;Our skilled educators&nbsp;will&nbsp;focus their attention exclusively on the&nbsp;unique needs, learning style, and interests of your child.&nbsp;This allows a&nbsp;bond&nbsp;to develop&nbsp;between teacher and student, which&nbsp;has been&nbsp;shown to&nbsp;drastically improve retention.&nbsp; OUR METHOD&nbsp; Developed by the pioneers of language education for children, our programs bring decades of&nbsp;experience to your living room with individualized, active language classes. Each lesson is based on proven methods and materials perfected to capture your&nbsp;child&rsquo;s attention during the ages when he/she absorbs information the fastest. &nbsp;&nbsp; While other online language classes rely on videos for passive learning, we deliver interactive, and engaging lessons with native-fluent teachers. In addition, all our teachers are certified in the Thibaut&nbsp;Technique which has been featured&nbsp;in the New York&nbsp;Times, the&nbsp;Wall Street Journal, and many other well-respected&nbsp;publications.&nbsp;&nbsp; Our short one-on-one lessons give kids the chance to focus, hear pronunciation clearly, and practice speaking in their target language.  THE PROCESS&nbsp; First, students have a short meeting with our Director&nbsp;Francois&nbsp;Thibaut, in&nbsp;English, with&nbsp;their parent(s)&nbsp;present.&nbsp;Mr. Thibaut&nbsp;will determine&nbsp;the best course of study, including&nbsp;class length and&nbsp;frequency, the&nbsp;right&nbsp;teacher, lesson&nbsp;format and materials (or action games for younger students.) Then the learning&nbsp;begins!&nbsp;Mr. Thibaut will continually check in on your child&rsquo;s learning to assure they are getting the most&nbsp;of&nbsp;their&nbsp;classes.&nbsp; OTHER OFFERINGS&nbsp; We can also help your child prepare for: the French subject tests for SAT, AP &amp; CLEP, the European DELF/DALF, the Canadian TEF and other standardized testing, college entry exams, studying or traveling abroad,&nbsp;cultural changes when moving abroad,&nbsp;and much more!&nbsp; &nbsp;