City Of Water Kids!

One of the many things I enjoyed about City of Water Day was watching all the kids who were there having an absolutely wonderful time, with nary a beeping blooping box in sight. Instead -

There were stories being told in the old-fashioned way.

You could watch a woodcarver with mallet and chisel, coaxing feathers from wood

There were water bottles in dire need of decor

There were river creatures to meet --

Fresh, sweet cider to be pressed --

Dances that needed dancing,


You could even learn to fish!

And here are the groups that were running each activity, with the exception of the dancing, which was just a spontaneous moment, and the water bottles, where I just plain forgot to see who was running that stand. I'm quite sorry I didn't get them as I thought that was a rather clever way to encourage kids to drink tap water instead of bottled, which is a very simple thing to do for the environment here in NY where our tap water is so good.

Storytelling was by the New York Storytelling Center

The woodcarver was from the South Street Seaport Museum

The river creature display shown above was from The River Project (there were other, similar displays which had a similar effect on the kids)

The apple cider pressing was being run by the Wyckoff Farmhouse Museum

And the fishing lessons were given by I Fish NY.

These were just a fraction of the things to do, too. No bored children there. Maybe a few children cranky from plain old tiredness towards the end of their busy busy outdoor day on the island - but no boredom!