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Got your goat: Furry friends at White Post Farms.
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Kids
5 Things To Do With the Kids
(That You Haven't Already Done a Thousand Times Before)
BY SUSAN AVERY
1
WHITE POST FARMS, a large petting zoo
in Melville, Long Island, that's set up like a farm with
barns and stables, is a terrific twofer. Kids will love
feeding goats, rabbits, deer, and other furry creatures
(from wafer cones filled with those stinky pellets), and
parents can shop for fresh produce, pies, and gratuitously
whimsical garden tchotchkes in the adjacent market. (250
Old Country Road, Melville, Long Island; 631-351-9373;
admission $4.)
2
For the rah-rah-sisterhood thing, take a
ride out to Long Island's Mitchel Athletic Complex in
Uniondale and cheer for the NEW YORK POWER, the
area's first professional women's soccer team. Two hours
before game time, hit the Power-Zone, on the north side
of the stadium. It's jam-packed with fun activities,
such as kicking practice, face-painting, concerts, and
radio-station giveaways. At press time, the team was
in second place nationally. (1 Charles Lindbergh Boulevard,
Exit M4 off the Meadowbrook Parkway; 866-powrtix; tickets
are $12-$25.)
3
Take a hike through FOREST PARK,
the Queens version of the Appalachian Trail. Rangers
are available to accompany small groups on one of the
many nature paths, which range from a half-mile to four
miles. Within the dense oak-and-hickory forest, be on
the lookout for songbirds, butterflies, chipmunks, rabbits,
moles, and other wildlife. Two nearby private stables
are filled with horses that know the park's equestrian
trail. Forest Park extends from Woodhaven Boulevard
to Myrtle Avenue, Union Turnpike, and Park Lane South.
(For information, call Forest Park's office at 718-235-4100.)
4
Since sophisticated New York kids have built
models of everything from the Parthenon to the Brooklyn
Bridge by the time they're 12, surely they're ready
for the GUGGENHEIM'S FRANK GEHRY EXHIBIT. This
retrospective of the architect's work incorporates dozens
of delightful models of commercial structures as well
as his own home. There are also wow-inducing sails of
aluminum mesh suspended from the top of the rotunda
and a titanium canopy that extends over an outdoor café.
Call for family programs. (1071 Fifth Avenue, at 88th
Street; 212-423-3587.)
5
Head north to PHILIPSBURG MANOR in
Sleepy Hollow -- a historical restoration -- for a view
(and reenactment) of what it was like to live on a farm
in the 1600s. Your kids won't stop whining about taking
out the garbage? Once they watch demos of the daily
chores of their forebears -- working the gristmill,
weaving, open-hearth-cooking -- maybe they'll get with
the program (for a day or two). (914-631-3992; $8 adult,
$4 kids.)
Photo by Jonathan D. Morris/White Post Farms
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