The Culture Mom’s NYC Events not to Miss with Your Kids and a Ticket Giveaway to see the Little Orchestra Society Lolli-Pops Concert

Here is a list of some of the exciting events for kids being offered all around New York City this month that this Culture Mom highly recommends:

Drop-in Family Programs at the Noguchi Museum February 5th-6th featuring two separate drop-in family programs.  Advanced registration is not required.  During Open Studio, families are encouraged first to explore the galleries, and then to make art in the Education Room in response to this experience. (Sunday, February 6th, 11am-1pm).  Children will also discover possibilities for and unexpected ways of connecting art and play during “Wiggle, Make, and Play: An Art Workshop” with Kate for Families, Ages 2-5.  Noguchi educator Kate Gugliotta is currently authoring a book about ways in which to encourage young children’s art explorations at home.  We invite families with children ages 2-5 to join Kate in participating in fun and playful art activities selected from this highly anticipated book (Saturday, February 5th, 12-3pm).

Swedish Cottage Marionette Theatre’s “A Secret History of the Swedish Cottage” – This marionette show chronicles the wonderful and impossible journey of a little Swedish cottage that travels from Europe to America and grows up to be the puppet theater that so many have come to know and love. Chronicling the cottage from its creation in the forests of Sweden, and through its tumultuous travels to its current home in Central Park in 1877,  join a cast of gnomes, sea creatures and others as they come together to tell this extraordinary fairy-tale inspired by the real history of the 136-year-old Swedish Cottage Marionette Theatre in Central Park.

Show times are Monday through Friday at 10:30am and 12:00pm, with an additional performance at 2:30 pm each Wednesday; and Saturday and Sunday at 1:00pm.  To guarantee admission, purchase tickets online at www.CityParksFoundation.org. Ticket prices are: $5/children under 12, $8/all others.  Tickets are sold at the door, only when available. For group rates, school group reservations, and information on birthday parties, please call 212-988-9093.  The Swedish Cottage Marionette Theatre is located in Central Park at 81st Street and Central Park West, just south of the Delacorte Theater.

The Little Orchestra Society’s next Lolli-Pops™ concert, “Meet the Maestro” at the Kaye Playhouse at Hunter College on Saturday, January 29^th and Sunday, January 30^th.  Step right up and meet the man with the music! Music Director Dino Anagnost, or “Mr. Maestro,” gathers his loveable Lolli-Pops™ characters Bang the Lion, Bow the Panda and Toot the Bird to help little ones find their inner “maestro.” These budding conductors will wave their own colorful batons, leading the Orchestra with the magic language of conducting. Mini-maestros discover musical masterpieces by Beethoven, Dvořák, Bach and Ravel. The program includes excerpts from Symphony No. 9 in D minor by Ludwig van Beethoven; Blue Danube Waltz by Johann Strauss; Largo from Symphony No. 9, “From the New World” by Antonin Dvořák; Fugue in G minor by Johann Sebastian Bach; Bolero by Maurice Ravel; and Washington Post March by John Philip Sousa.

Show times are Saturday, January 29, 2011  10:30am & 12:00pm and Sunday, January 30, 2011  1:00pm & 2:30pm at The Kaye Playhouse at Hunter College $12 and $40.  Contact: The Little Orchestra Society at 212-971-9500 or The Kaye Playhouse Box Office at 212-772-4448 or buy tickets online at www.littleorchestra.org. East 68th Street (between Park and Lexington Avenues).

New York Theatre Ballet presents Cinderella, a one-hour performance that is a perfect introduction to ballet for children as young as three while sophisticated enough for the entire family to enjoy.  Choreographed by Donald Mahler and danced to music by Sergei Prokofiev, Cinderella will be performed at Florence Gould Hall, 55 East 59th Street (between Madison and Park avenues).  Cinderella’s rust-colored kitchen and the glorious ballroom where she dances with Prince Charming were designed by Gillian Bradshaw-Smith.  Bright, opulent costumes were created by Metropolitan Opera Costume Designer Sylvia Taalsohn Nolan.  Before each show, Artistic Director Diana Byer will speak briefly about what it takes to put on a performance in the world of ballet.

Show times are on Saturday, February 12 @ 11am & 1pm and Sunday, February 13 @ 11am, 1pm & 3:30pm.

Jazz at Lincoln Center’s Jazz for Young People continues with “Who is Louis Armstrong?” with trumpeter, educator, and composer Sean Jones and special guests. Through a mix of music, narration and hands-on interactive activities, Jones will invite families to explore Armstrong’s life and music. We’ll learn how he taught the world to swing, improvise a solo, scat-sing, and how he brought soul and good feeling everywhere he went.  Repertoire may include “When the Saints,” “Potato Head Blues,” “Lazy River,” “Heebie Jeebies,” and others. Recommended for ages 6 to 12.  Come early and join in the Atrium for live music, tasty treats, and family-friendly activities at the Time Out NY Kids Family Fest.  Young artists are invited to craft collages in the style of Louis Armstrong.  Instrumentalists ages 8 and up are encouraged to bring their instrument to the Nesuhi Ertegun Jazz Hall of Fame for a workshop on how to solo.  Events are 12noon-2pm.

Show times are on Saturday, January 29, 2010, 1pm & 3pm at the Rose Theater at Frederick P. Rose Hall, home of Jazz at Lincoln Center, Broadway at 60^th Street, New York, NY.  Tickets for the Jazz for Young People concert are $12, $20, and $28 and can be purchased through jalc.org or CenterCharge at 212-721-6500, open daily from 9am to 9pm.  Tickets can also be purchased at the Jazz at Lincoln Center Box Office, located on Broadway at 60^th Street, ground floor.   Box office hours are Monday through Saturday from 10am – 6pm and Sunday from 12pm – 6pm.

“Bring Your Own Kid” to 92YTribeca every Sunday for great music that both parents and kids will enjoy. It’s the series designed with the hipster parent in mind, and a chance for their rock and roll offspring to let loose. There’s lots of space for kids to dance and for parents to schmooze over brunch and coffee (our cafe will fill all your culinary needs). So whether you’re a mom, dad, or just the babysitter, pack up the posse and come on in for some tunes that will keep both adults and the little ones rockin’.

Here is one upcoming date with one of my kid’s favorite singers:

Sun, Feb 6, 11 am, $15 / Children under 2 free ELIZBAETH MITCHELL

Elizabeth Mitchell and Daniel Littleton’s heartfelt music will warm up even the chilliest winter day. In a peaceful yet powerful way, she reintroduces us to the songs we thought we knew so well with homespun renditions of songs by Woody Guthrie, Bob Marley, The Velvet Underground, Vashti Bunyan, Gillian Welch and more. Many of the songs bring to mind traditional, bluegrass, and folk music. As always, their music has the quiet sweetness and intimacy of people performing for an audience of one very small person.

92YTribeca is the 92nd Street Y’s downtown arts and culture venue in New York City . Opened in October 2008, 92YTribeca presents music, comedy, film, theater, talks, classes, family events, and Jewish community and holiday programs in a versatile, street-level, modern space at 200 Hudson Street.  In addition to the mainstage and screening room, the venue houses an art gallery, lounge, bar, café, seminar and meeting rooms, and free Wi-Fi around the space. With programs developed by a professional curatorial team in partnership with staff, local artists and arts organizations, new-media companies, fellow presenters, and community and cause-based organizations, 92YTribeca aims to engage a diverse community of young people from around the New York area with smart, relevant programming that encourages participation and conversation. For more information, visit www.92YTribeca.org.

Now on the Culture Mom, you can enter to win a family pack (4 tickets) to The Little Orchestra Society’s next Lolli-Pops™ concert, “Meet the Maestro” at the Kaye Playhouse at Hunter College on Saturday, January 29th at 10:30am and noon and Sunday, January 30th at 1 & 2:30pm. Ticket prices range from $12-$40.   Here is how to win: