Lee Magill

What better way to welcome autumn than with beautiful hues of red, gold and orange? Make the most of the New York scenery with a few fall foliage cruises. Kiddies—and adults—will love photo ops amongst the trees while sporting cozy cardigans. (We highly suggest bringing a few apple cider-inspired treats along for the ride, too.)   Why not catch Mother Nature in all her glory with falling leaves, crisp breeze and bright skies from a different vantage point? These fall foliage cruises for kids and families up the ante on a favorite seasonal activity.  We'll see you on board (and save you some cider, too).  RECOMMENDED: Full guide to things to do in fall with kids  Looking for more ways to take advantage of autumn? Check out the best apple picking near NYC, find your perfect Jack-o-Lantern while going pumpkin picking near NYC and get into a spooky state of mind with these scary movies for kids (Halloween is right around the corner, after all). 

Here's what to do in Central Park this winter with kids Even the biggest curmudgeons have to admit that these great things to do in Central Park can change anyone's tune—there's so much to do. This two and half mile expanse boasts excitement and activity year round! Whether you're enjoying a snowy walk, checking out a cool sledding hill or heading on an adventure to a show at the Swedish Cottage Marionette Theatre, you're bound to have a great time.

Seeing the Rockefeller Center tree and the nearby Radio City Christmas Spectacular are two of the must-see highlights of the holiday season for New Yorkers and visitors alike. But finding a kid-friendly place to eat in this skyscraper-packed corner of midtown is not always easy. We've put together a list of family-friendly restaurants near the Rockefeller Center tree, from barbecue joints to rinkside eateries, because we know you've got way more important things to do this time of year. Happy holidays!

Update: Call before making a visit, as hours and services are subject to change.  What does it take to be counted among the best ice cream shops in New York? The quality of the ice cream, for one. The creativity and variety of flavors, for another. But more than that, you need to have the right disposition: Ice cream is the ultimate childhood treat, the stuff of lasting memories. In other words, the ice cream shops on this list know they're scooping up magic. It doesn't matter if your kid orders a simple vanilla soft-serve, or a eyes-bigger-than-their-stomach sundae, or one of the best milkshakes in NYC, a visit to one of these ice cream shops and old-school soda fountains will be the highlight of the day! Our advice? Let the kiddos get some playtime in first with a visit to one of the 50 best playgrounds NYC families must visit, or one of the best water playgrounds for kids in NYC. Sometimes it's that easy to have the best day ever.

When you venture to the best kids' library branches in NYC, your pint-sized bibliophiles are bound to get lost in the stacks.  Options abound for curious little ones, whether they're searching for kids' books about NYC or hoping to get involved in the library's coolest free classes for kids. Make a pitstop at each venue's children's room, sit in for a fun storytime and don't forget to go home with a bestseller or two! (Our favorite children's books are sure to inspire a swipe of your library card.) Great libraries for kids are waiting for your family's arrival! Find your nearest location, grab a tote and prepare for an afternoon fit for a wordsmith.  

Even with all the things to do with kids in NYC this winter, we know that the season isn't many people's favorite time of year. Luckily, we hunted down ten wonderful winter day trips from NYC for families so your brood has some worthy travel options to look forward to. We chose locales less than two hours away from the city that revel in the great outdoors, like spots for skiing and sledding; plus others that embrace the indoors, like a tropical-weather water park. RECOMMENDED: Full guide to the best family vacations from NYC Many are accessible by public transportation or car, and we've even got suggestions for family restaurants and places to grab a bite to eat along your journey. Our thinking is, the more fun we have, the quicker winter is bound to be over!

RECOMMENDED: More things to do in the fall with kids However many things to do in New York there may be this fall, we have a penchant for the kid-friendly cultural offerings that NYC museums always seem to put together in celebration of the season of renewal. The crop of shows this fall is wide-ranging, featuring everything from two hands-on building studios (at the Brooklyn Children's Museum and Liberty Science Center) and art made of melted superheroes (at the Japan Society) to a much buzzed-about contemporary artwork fashioned from plush animals (at MoMA PS1). And when you're planning things to do in New York around museum exhibits, don't ever think of it as choosing indoors over outdoors: You can always work in a trip to a nearby park or playground afterward to make your outing as yin-yang as it gets.

RECOMMENDED: More things to do in the fall with kids Museums in NYC are brimming with amazing new shows for families this fall, which look at everything from birds to the history of poison and modern American masterpieces, but also families-only programming that lets parents and their children explore these shows to their hearts' content—and, quite often, get busy creating themselves. You get to spend time with art, spend time with your kids and watch how creative they can be. We've rounded up all the fall family days at museums in NYC we could and are amazed at what we found: lots of super-fun ways to enjoy museums as a family this fall.

RECOMMENDED: More things to do in the fall with kids Because our love for all things NYC zoo is almost as big as our love for fall, we've put together a seasonal NYC zoo guide for families, with ideas on everything from scavenger hunts to Halloween-themed fun at the city's five zoos—one in each borough. Dress in layers, bring some binoculars and leave yourselves plenty of time for your urban safari: It's got all the makings to be your family's most fun adventure of the season. Hit up a family workshopAll of the city's zoos except the Bronx Zoo are offering a slew of one-off programs that let kids delve deeper into the lives of animals, from the drop-off (Sept 29 at 10am at the Queens Zoo, Sept 30 at 10am at the Prospect Park Zoo) and Celebrate Urban Birds (Nov 3 at 10am at the Prospect Park Zoo, Nov 4 at 10am at the Queens Zoo) workshops to Prospect Park Zoo's Zoo Symphony (Oct 8 at 11am), an exploration of animal sounds, and the Central Park Zoo's Ladybug Release Party (Nov 18 at 9am), a look at how the zoo uses bugs for pest control (yes, really). And because they're so well esteemed, the Staten Island Zoo is bringing back its Dinosaurs and More (Oct 7, Dec 30 at 1:30pm), Breakfast with the Beasts (Nov 11 at 8:30am) and Kid Fun Day (Dec 27 11am–3pm) offerings this fall as well. Look out for new arrivalsSpring and summer may be the time when zoo babies are born, but autumn is when lots of little ones have their big reveals. New on the scene are a Roosevelt elk at the Queens

Summer's nonstop blooming may be a highlight of NYC botanical garden and park visits, but the wealth of offerings and autumnal beauty at the city's green spots make them must-see destinations in the fall too. We've rounded up highlights of the upcoming season's NYC botanical garden and park offerings, from pristine forest trails and food festivals to pumpkin sails and birding workshops, to make picking your family's outings easier than ever. Click through to read our picks for the four best ways to enjoy the great outdoors this fall. 1. Go for a walk in the woodsWhat better way to take in the changing colors of the season than by hitting a leaf-strewn trail under a crisp blue sky? At Central Park's Woodland Discovery Day (Oct 20 11am--2pm), families can take a guided tour of the newly opened "Woodlands" exhibit, then borrow a nature kit—a backpack containing a hand lens, binoculars, colored pencils and two field guides—to explore the nearby North Woods. Among the inhabitants you might spy are raccoons, squirrels and even chipmunks, in addition to more than 200 species of birds. For a more hands-on experience, head to the annual Enchanted Wave Hill Weekend (Oct 21--22 10am--2pm), where little ones can craft tiny houses with sticks and leaves, take in stories about fairies and channel the day's magic in a session of painting on silk. If a bona fide hike is in order, hop the subway or MetroNorth train to the New York Botanical Garden and set off on a walk through the newly resto

When business executive Charles R. Scott turned 40, he was at the top of his game. Yet he began experiencing what he calls "the frustration of wanting to be a better parent." Long trips abroad were taking a toll, and he and his Japanese-born wife Eiko Ikegaya's children, son Sho and daughter Saya (then 7 and 2, respectively), were growing up fast. That sentiment led Scott to reevaluate his priorities and realize that most of all, he says, "I wanted to have adventures with my children." A year later, in 2009, he took a leave of absence from his job at Intel Corporation so that he and eight-year-old Sho could bicycle through Japan, from Cape Soya in Hokkaido to Cape Sata in Kyushu, to raise money for a United Nations tree-planting campaign (Ikegaya is a deputy chief at the UN's Department of Peacekeeping Operations). The 2,500-mile, 67-day odyssey, which father and son planned together, is chronicled in Scott's book Rising Son: A Father and Son's Bike Adventure Across Japan, which came out in December 2012. Nearly four years after the trip, Scott is a full-time dad and family adventurer who makes his living as a writer and professional speaker. The bilingual Sho and Saya, now 12 and 6, attend the UN International School, a stone's throw from the family's residence in Waterside Plaza. You have since taken bike excursions with your wife and kids through Iceland, in 2011, and also Europe, in 2012. Do you have a favorite trip?I loved them all: Japan intimidated me, because I had ne

When it comes to excursions for the kids, MoMA, with its rotating exhibits and cutting-edge installations, may not be the first spot that comes to mind. But its permanent collection, secreted away on floors four and five, chronicles the hundred-plus-year history of modern art so ravishingly that it remains the institution's pride and joy—and deserves to jump to the top of your family's to-do list. Nearly all of its works have kid appeal, but we've selected ten we believe will capture your child's imagination. I and the Village by Marc Chagall (1911)Simultaneously enigmatic and approachable, this work reimagines the agrarian life of Chagall's childhood in Belorusse, which he left behind in emigrating to Paris. The artist's visionary use of color and dreamlike juxtapositions underscore the spiritual connection between humankind and nature in a way that children will grasp intuitively. Fifth floor. The Starry Night by Vincent van Gogh (1889) Kids will be entranced by Van Gogh's use of brushstrokes in what is perhaps the most beloved painting in the museum. It embues the nightscape with a pulsing electric energy that unites earth and sky, matter and spirit, light and darkness. Fifth floor. The Red Studio by Henri Matisse (1911)The French painter's blood-red portrait of his workspace will draw young viewers into the artist's state of mind. All that matters, it seems, is the creative process, a belief Matisse underscores by making the paintings seem more real than the studio itself