New York for families: explore the Big Apple with children

Coney Island's Luna Park (Alex Lopez/nycgo.com)

Summer sees New Yorkers start leaving for extended holidays in the Hamptons and elsewhere upstate, which means the city is yours for the taking.

From traffic to restaurant tables, Manhattan in particular is comparatively quiet in July and August, making a family trip that little bit less hectic. Yes, it’s hot but if you know where, there are plenty of places to cool off and kick back with the children in tow.

Ship off

Overlooking the Hudson, the USS Intrepid aircraft carrier (intrepidmuseum.org; adults $26/£17, children 5-13 $19/£13, under 5s free) acts as giant history and science museum, home to space shuttle Enterprise, a submarine and BA’s retired Concorde. If that wasn’t cool enough, this summer you can become a cadet in the new Star Fleet Academy experience and learn about 26th-century technology, in the Star Trek 50th birthday event running 9 July-31 October.

Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum

Arrive imminently, during half-term, and you’ll catch Fleet Week (25-30 May), an impressive floating parade of naval ships, all sorts of military pomp and participatory events, plus a free screening of Top Gun on the flight deck.

And if all that gunmetal leaves you cold, next to the Intrepid (on 43rd street), you’ll find an outdoor play area with giant water sprinklers, and pumps where kids can fire water into troughs, plus a grassy area for parents to recline, with, if needed, a cocktail from the playground’s rather fancy café.

Park life

The Children’s Zoo, Great Lawn and boating lake: all well-loved corners of Central Park (centralparknyc.org). But locals with little ones revere the Billy Johnson Playground (at 67th and 5th) with swings, sand and hills mounted by a massive granite slide. And – rare for most asphalt-broiling city parks – it’s also pretty shady.

Central Park (Marley White/nycgo.com)

Events this summer include the Family Festival, atop the Great Hill (inside the park at West 103rd - 106th Street) with music, puppet shows, story telling and games taking kids out into the “forest” (June – September, Sundays at noon; free).

For older children, the Summer Stage festival (in parks across the five boroughs) sees major hip-hop, rock and indie acts perform al fresco (June-September; various prices).

Be a sport

You don’t have to check in to a five-star htoel to enjoy an outdoor swim. There are 60 public pools across New York (nycgovparks.org), many of them lidos (open late June-September; free entry), including a floating pool on a moveable barge, currently docked in the Bronx.

The pool at Astoria Park, Queens (Joe Buglewicz/nycgo.com)

On the Hudson River, Chelsea Piers sports complex (chelseapiers.com) offers reasonably priced drop-in sessions in everything from swimming to sailing, rock climbing to roller skating, tumbling and gymnastics. Or a 15-minute walk south along the river boardwalk brings you to Trapeze School New York (trapezeschool.com), where you can learn aerial acrobatics high above the shoreline with two-hour lessons in everything from flying trapeze to trampoline and more. From $45 (£30); suitable from ages six and up.

Still too hot in the city? Then ride the F, D, N or Q subway trains for around an hour out to Coney Island, for wide, sandy Atlantic beaches, rickety fun fair rides and foot-long hot dogs.

An education

At the elevated and much-celebrated High Line park, children (0-5 years) can get some educational Lawn Time (thehighline.org; Thursdays, July-August, 10-11am; free). Settle down on this former freight rail track for stories and music from some of the city’s favourite cultural institutions, including New York Public Library.

The Planetarium and dinosaurs at the Natural History Museum (amnh.org), Technicolor pop art at Moma (moma.org) and four floors-worth of games, toys, tubes and slides at the Children’s Museum (cmom.org) are also musts, of course. But this summer don’t miss the final weeks of Pixar: The Design of Story. This behind-the-scenes exhibit at Cooper Hewitt (cooperhewitt.org) has original artwork from such Pixar movies as Wall-E, Brave and The Incredibles, and an immersive Process Lab offering hands-on experience of colorscripts, storyboards and sculptures (to 21 August; adults $16/£11; under-18s free).

Enjoy stories and music on the High Line (Julienne Schaer/nycgo.com)

Eat the Big Apple

New York is a fine place for family dining, with portions that can (and should) be shared. Classic diners serve something for everyone, from matzo ball soup and egg-white omelettes to towering burgers and supersize cookies.

For real value, dine out during Restaurant Week (nycgo.com/restaurant-week; 25 July - 19 August), the bi-annual food event where hundreds of top notch restaurants offer fixed-price menus for $29-42 (£19-28), so you can try posh nosh without the pressure of a hefty price tag.