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The Parent Loop
Because parenting is better when we share the good stuff.
October 2–4, 2026
Weekend Guide
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| Handpicked, budget-friendly happenings on the UWS, plus a few nearby highlights worth the trip. Not everything happening, just the ones I'd text a friend about. Because "What should we do?" shouldn't be stressful. |
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Hi loopers,
October is here, and the city is leaning all the way into fall. A lot of fun events! This weekend brings the first Halloween fun, the opening of Día de los Muertos at the New York Botanical Garden, pumpkin patches, a Latin block party right on West 89th, and more than 100 painted lanterns glowing under the Brooklyn Bridge for the Mid-Autumn Festival.
Halloween and fall events that run all season, plus dates worth bookmarking, are at the end.
Have a friend who wants to sign up? Share the link here and follow @theparentloopnyc for more. Quick tip: click "Read online" (top right) so your reading view doesn't get trimmed. |
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Around The Loop: Little shoutouts, local sightings, and meaningful connections from the week
Halloween Costume Swap WhatsApp group. Have a costume your kid has outgrown or only wore once? Join the group to trade 1:1 with other local families instead of buying new. Parents of kids 4 and up with costumes they've outgrown, we need you! Reply here to join.
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| Friday - October 2 |
| Storytime @ Book Culture on Broadway (2915 Broadway at 114th St), 10:30 AM, young kids. |
| Painted Casitas Design @ Children's Museum of Manhattan, 10:30 AM–12:30 PM & 2–4:15 PM, ages 0–6. Kids build a little scene inspired by the handmade casitas of Caribbean folk art, plus Peruvian Inspired Weaving at 2:45 PM. Museum admission required. |
| Family Storytime: Ukulele Storytime! @ NYPL–Columbus, 11–11:45 AM, ages 0–5. Songs, rhymes and read-alouds, good for siblings of different ages. |
| Community Playdate @ NYPL–Bloomingdale, 11 AM–12 PM, ages 0–5. First come, first served. |
| Mid-Autumn Festival @ Gotham Park (1 Rose St, under the Manhattan side of the Brooklyn Bridge), 1–7 PM Friday through Sunday, all ages. More than 100 community-painted lanterns, art installations, performances, workshops and 20+ local AAPI vendors. RSVP here. The Parent Loop pick! |
| Kids in Motion @ Bloomingdale Playground (Amsterdam & 104th), 2–6 PM, kids. NYC Parks staff lead games, sports and board games. |
| Discovery Tank: Guided Gallery @ Pier 57, 3–6 PM, all ages. Live Hudson River creatures and hands-on exhibits. |
| Family Board Games @ NYPL–Columbus, 3–4 PM, ages 6–12. |
| Little New-Yorkers: Dancing Hands @ New-York Historical, 3:30–4:30 PM, ages 3–6. The story of Teresa Carreño, the Venezuelan pianist who played for President Lincoln, then a craft. Museum admission required. |
| Crafts and Classics Club @ New-York Historical, 5–6 PM, school age. Kids sew an appliqué quilt square while listening to a read-aloud of The Chronicles of Narnia. Included with pay-as-you-wish admission. |
| Movie Nights: Chicago @ Hudson Yards Public Square & Gardens, 6–8 PM. Free popcorn while it lasts. Rated PG-13, so better for older kids or a parents' night out. |
| Movies Under the Stars: Goat @ Fred Samuel Playground (Harlem), 7:15 PM, families. A small goat with big dreams tries to go pro in a sport run by the fastest animals. |
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Giveaway: 2 tickets to Rooted & Ready
Already entered? Please re-enter. The original form was broken, so your info didn't come through. Sorry!
Rooted & Ready is an in-person gathering for expecting and new parents on Saturday, October 24, 1–5 PM in Midtown, with a birth-worker panel and a fireside chat with Neha Ruch, author of The Power Pause. One looper wins 2 tickets, including bites, raffle access and a swag bag.
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| Saturday - October 3 |
| Wonder in the Woods @ Davis Center at the Harlem Meer, drop in 10 AM–12 PM, all ages. A self-guided scavenger hunt through the North Woods for City of Forest Day, about 30 minutes at an easy pace. Rain or shine; there's one steep hill and a set of stairs. |
| City of Forest Day: The Marvelous Trees of Hippo Playground @ Hippo Playground, Riverside Park, 10 AM–1 PM, all ages. Meet the trees in and around the playground with Riverside Park Conservancy and Council Member Gale Brewer's office. |
| Puzzles & Play @ NYPL–Bloomingdale, 10 AM–2 PM, toddlers through elementary. |
| Central Park Model Yacht Club Races @ Conservatory Water, 10 AM–1 PM, all ages, weather permitting. |
| Performance and Workshop: Ballet Hispánico @ Children's Museum of Manhattan, 11 AM & 12 PM, ages 0–6. An interactive Hispanic Heritage Month dance workshop. Museum admission required. |
| Discovery Tank: Guided Gallery @ Pier 57 and Wetlab Look-ins @ Pier 40, both 11 AM–5 PM, all ages. |
| Storytime with the Author: Jeff O'Lantern @ Books of Wonder (42 W 17th St), 11:30 AM, young kids. Charlie Greenwald reads his new pumpkin picture book. |
| Little Red Lighthouse Festival @ Fort Washington Park (under the George Washington Bridge), 12–4 PM, all ages. Readings of the classic picture book, live music and activities around Manhattan's only lighthouse. The Parent Loop pick! |
| Open Process Art @ NYPL–Columbus, 12–3 PM, ages 3–12. Kids choose the materials and make whatever they like. |
| Movie Nights: Mean Girls @ Hudson Yards Public Square & Gardens, 1–3 PM (moved to the afternoon). Rated PG-13, best for tweens and teens. |
| Gladiators NYC @ Cloisters Lawn, Fort Tryon Park, 1–4 PM, all ages. Medieval-style demonstrations, foam sword and shield play, and quests. An easy pair with the lighthouse festival. |
| Mid-Autumn Festival @ Gotham Park, 1–7 PM. See Friday. |
| Song Bridge @ Josie Robertson Plaza, Lincoln Center, 2:30 PM, all ages. The Young People's Chorus of NYC and a visiting choir from China sing together for a mid-autumn celebration. Just show up. |
| Coding with SciXplorers @ NYPL–Bloomingdale, 2:30–3:30 PM, ages 6–12. Beginner coding on code.org. Online registration required. |
| Meet Sid Sharp: Midnight Manor @ Books of Wonder, 3 PM. A spooky-season picture book about a manor that wakes up after dark. |
| Movies Under the Stars: The Wild Robot @ Jackie Robinson Park bandshell, 6:45 PM, families. |
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| Sunday - October 4 |
| Sketch Jam @ W 72nd St & Riverside Dr, 11 AM–1 PM, all ages. Bring your art supplies for a drawing session led by illustrator Ishita Jain. Some basics provided. |
| Performance and Workshop: Calpulli Mexican Dance Company @ Children's Museum of Manhattan, 11 AM & 12 PM, ages 0–6. Kids learn simple moves from several Mexican dances. Museum admission required. |
| Sunday Story Time: Danza! @ New-York Historical, 11:30 AM–12:30 PM, ages 3–6. The story of Amalia Hernández and the Ballet Folklórico de México, then a craft. Tickets required. |
| Celebración Latina Block Party @ W 89th St between Amsterdam and Columbus, 12–4 PM, all ages. Ballet Hispánico takes over the block with kids' dance classes, student performances, live music, a bounce house, face painting, crafts and Latin American food trucks. Walk-ins welcome. The Parent Loop pick! |
| St. Francis Day Fair @ Cathedral of St. John the Divine (Amsterdam & 112th), 12–2 PM, all ages and all pets. Pet blessings and free pet portraits on the Pulpit Green after the morning service. Moves indoors if it rains. |
| Reading into History: Filipino American History Month @ New-York Historical, 12–2 PM, kids. With the Filipino American National Historical Society. Museum admission |
| Harvest Festival @ Randall's Island Park (Fields 62–63), 12–3 PM, all ages. A pumpkin patch, seasonal cooking demos, live performances and face painting. |
| Atlantic Antic @ Atlantic Ave from Fourth Ave to the waterfront, Brooklyn, 12–6 PM, all ages. Postponed from last weekend's rain. One of the city's biggest street fairs, with a kids' block of crafts, music and active play. Rain or shine. |
| Storytime @ Book Culture on Broadway, 1 PM, young kids. |
| Mid-Autumn Festival @ Gotham Park, 1–7 PM. Last day. See Friday. |
| Urban Wildlife: The Big City Trio @ W 72nd St & Central Park West, 1–2 PM, all ages. Urban Park Rangers take a lighthearted look at pigeons, rats and squirrels. |
| Overlook Concert @ 116th St Overlook, Riverside Park, 2–3:30 PM, all ages. |
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| Halloween, Día de los Muertos and fall: all season, plus dates to bookmark |
| Día de los Muertos @ New York Botanical Garden (Bronx), opening this weekend and running through November 2, all ages. Weekends bring live son jarocho music (11 AM, 12 & 1 PM), papel picado and silk flower making (11 AM–3 PM), and kids' activities in the Children's Adventure Garden (11 AM–5 PM) like potting a marigold. Bring a photo or written memory for the community ofrenda. The parade is November 1 (crafts at 1 PM, parade at 2 PM). Included with the All-Garden Pass. The Parent Loop pick! |
| Boo at the Zoo @ Bronx Zoo, Saturdays and Sundays through November 1, plus Monday, October 12, 11 AM–4 PM, best for toddlers through elementary. A hay maze, carnival games, costume parades, a candy trail (11 AM–2 PM), face painting and a puppet show. Costumes welcome. Included with zoo admission. |
| Halloween Harvest @ Luna Park, Coney Island, through November 1. Pumpkin decorating, trick-or-treating and costumed staff alongside the rides, with a not-too-scary theme for little ones. |
| The Great Jack O'Lantern Blaze @ Van Cortlandt Manor, Croton-on-Hudson, select nights through November 8. Thousands of hand-carved, lit pumpkins. Timed entry from $24. |
| Hudson Yards Movie Nights, Fridays 6–8 PM: Back to the Future (Oct 9), Wicked (Oct 16), Hairspray (Oct 23) and Beetlejuice (Oct 30). |
| Fashioning Paper @ Cooper Hewitt, Oct 10, 11 AM–3 PM. A family program, included with museum admission. |
| Día de Muertos at The Met Cloisters, Oct 11, 10 AM–4 PM, all ages. A bilingual day of art-making, storytime, music and community storytelling. Included with museum admission (pay what you wish for NY State residents). |
| En Familia: Día de Muertos @ El Museo del Barrio, Oct 17, 10 AM–2 PM. Art-making, live music and community altars. |
| Lenfest Kids: Arco @ Lenfest Center for the Arts, Oct 17. Next up in the free time-travel film series. |
| Hablemos: Revolutionary Women / Mujeres Revolucionarias @ New-York Historical, Oct 24, 1–2:30 PM. The Spanish-language family program. Registration required. |
| Halloween Celebration @ American Museum of Natural History, Oct 31, 11 AM–4 PM. Come in costume for music, crafts and candy under the Blue Whale. |
| Historical Hallowe'en Party @ New-York Historical, Oct 31, 1–3 PM. Games, spooky and silly stories, crafts and candy. Tickets required. |
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| Indoor favorites for rainy or chilly days |
| Discovery Room @ American Museum of Natural History, open daily except Tuesdays, pre-K and up. Live animals, fossil assembly and specimens. Included with admission. While you're there, Monarch's Journey is a sweet tie-in to the butterflies of Día de los Muertos. |
| The 81st Street Studio @ The Met, Thursday–Tuesday 10 AM–5 PM (last entry 4 PM, closed Wednesdays), ages 3–11. No museum admission needed. |
| Balloon Museum: DAYDREAM @ Tin Building, South Street Seaport, best for ages 4–12. Giant inflatable art installations you can touch and play in. Tickets required; kids under 3 free. |
| Doll Dressing @ The Museum at FIT (Chelsea), closed Mondays and Tuesdays. More than 170 dolls shown alongside full-size fashion, through January 3. |
| Little Red's Hood @ Swedish Cottage Marionette Theatre, weekends, ages 3–7. $10/$15, advance tickets only. |
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Because parenting is better when we share the good stuff.
The Parent Loop
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| I'm always looking for great sponsors and partners. If your business would like to sponsor or connect with parents, contribute to a swap, or be part of a future The Parent Loop event, just reply here and let's grab coffee! |
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