Out & About
April 18
Splash Week Swimming Classes
Vanderbilt YMCA, 224 E. 47th St.
Various Times, Free
YMCA Splash Week is a free program created to help people of all ages, especially children, to learn basic swimming skills and water safety practices. Learning water safety and swimming skills helps participants to be safe in and around water. This builds self-confidence and self-esteem which carries over into other parts of life. During Splash Week swimmers learn about the Y's holistic approach combining spirit, mind and body.
212-912-2526 or ymca.org/Vanderbilt
Art Adventures: Organic Shapes
96th Street Library, 112 E. 96th St.
11 a.m., Free
This early childhood program explores formal art themes through story time, body movement, and art projects. Presented by the Children's Museum of Manhattan. For ages 3 to 6 years old with parent/caregiver.
212-289-0908
April 19
The Magic of Images: Writing a Poem
67th Street Library, 328 E. 67th St.
4:30 p.m., Free
Through images ? a pear on a windowsill, a rain-slicked street-we not only see but enter into the world of a poem. Images have the capacity to hold feeling. In this workshop participants will experiment with ways to capture images from memories, dreams and the world around them. By meeting's end they will have written a poem. Hermine Meinhard will be the guest teacher.
212-734-1717
Watson Adventures' Wizard School Scavenger Hunt for Harry Potter Fans
Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1000 Fifth Avenue
4 ? 5:30 p.m., $29.50 for kids, $40.50 adults (includes museum admission)
Join Watson Adventures on a unique scavenger hunt for Harry Potter fans ages 10 & up. Follow in the footsteps of young wizards on a field trip to the Metropolitan Museum of Art in search of art that echoes characters, places and enchanted objects in the famed Harry Potter books and movies.
212-535-7710
April 20
Easter Parade and Easter Bonnet Festival
Fifth Avenue between 49th and 57th Streets
10 a.m. - 3 p.m., Free
Each year on Easter the best of the bonnets are showcased along Fifth Avenue as New Yorkers celebrate the holiday by roaming the streets in their most festive spring gear from 10am to 4pm. The parade marches north on Fifth Avenue, starting at 49th Street, but the best place to watch is from the area around St. Patrick's Cathedral.
Freedom Art Jam: Art and Dance Party for Passover
The Jewish Museum, 1109 5th Avenue
12 ? 4 p.m., Free with admission
Join The Jewish Museum for their second annual Passover extravaganza with art, music, and dancing! Set yourself free to the 60's era tunes of Baby Loves Disco DJs, design a freedom sculpture, hear beloved songs from David Grover & Grover's Gang, create an instrument, add to a giant word poem, and more.
212-423-3337
April 21
Clay Sculpture 101
67th Street Library, 328 E. 67th St.
1 ? 3 p.m., Free
Participants will develop skills in working with three dimensions through the exploration and practice of modeling and sculpting self-hardening clay. They will make sculptures related to themes based on personal interests as discussed in class. They will learn how to model with the fingers as well as assorted clay modeling tools. For ages 55+.
212-734-1717
Stories and Crafts
96th Street Library, 112 E. 96th St.
4 p.m., Free
Come to the 96th Street Library for a session of stories and crafts. For children of all ages.
212-289-0908
April 22
Paint and Plant Kids Event
Museum of the City of New York, 1220 Fifth Avenue
11 a.m. - 2 p.m., Free with museum admission
Celebrate spring at the City Museum by decorating your own planter with a cityscape inspired by photographs from the collection. After decorating your planter, start your very own urban garden with a plant native to New York City. Appropriate for children 6-12
212-534-1672
Elaine Lui Author Event
Barnes & Noble, 150 East 86th Street
7 p.m., Free
Elaine Lui discusses and signs her hilarious look at having a "unique" parent. A wonderful read for mothers and daughters everywhere.
212-369-2180
April 23
When Salt Met Ice: The Ice and Ice Cream Trade in 19th Century NYC Lecture
Abigail Adams Smith Auditorium, 417 East 61st Street
6:30 p.m., $40 Adults, $25 Members, $10 Student with ID
Join us for a tasting and lecture with Robin Weir, author of Ice Creams, Sorbets & Gelati. Hear about the history of the ice trade and how its growth spurred the popularity and availability of ices and ice cream. Learn how it was possible to make these frozen desserts for street sale and for restaurants, including the renowned Delmonico's, in an age before refrigeration. Presented in conjunction with the Culinary Historians of New York. Refreshments included.
212-838-6878
Your Life Calling Author Event
St. Ignatius Loyola, Park & 84th Street
6:30 p.m., $20 by check in advance/$25 at the door
Jane Pauly, author of Your Life Calling: Re-imagining the Rest of Your Life, is speaking as a part of the Boomers & Beyond organization.
212-664-2319
April 24
Women, Children and Play in Central Park Talk
Charles A. Dana Discovery Center at 110th Street between Fifth and Lenox Avenues
6:30 p.m., Free
Join Marie Warsh, Central Park Conservancy's Director of Preservation Planning, for a talk on how the Park was specifically designed to accommodate the needs of children and women as thair mothers and caregivers, and reflected contemporary ideas about the roles and behavior of women in public space in the 19th century. Light refreshments follow.
212-310-6600
Annelies: A Conversation with the Artists
Temple Emanu-El, Lowenstein Auditorium, 10 E. 66th St.
6:30 p.m., $15 general admission, $10 student/seniors
Distinguished British composer James Whitbourn, Grammy-nominated choral conductor James Jordan and internationally celebrated soprano Arianna Zukerman will participate in a special moderated discussion and Q & A with the audience of Whitbourn's internationally-acclaimed Annelies, the first major choral setting of The Diary of Anne Frank.
212-744-1400