SPRING BREAK NYC
This one is for NYC readers, or those who will be in NYC sometime between now and April 5, This exhibit is open from 10 AM-5 PM and is FREE.
Camera Obscura
The activity included can be done anywhere. I'm not going to include directions in this post, but the activity that would be fun for kids to do, would be to make their own camera obscura or pinhole camera with a shoebox or oatmeal can. There are numerous directions on the internet on how to do it. Just Google it. I want to do this activity, but would love for the kids to be able to actually be able to develop their pictures.
We spent some time in the Flat Iron District today. We went to a museum which I'd rather leave for a separate post. What I'd like to tell you about today is the Camera Obscura in Madison Square Park. I found out about this exhibit in TimeOut NY and while I didn't think we'd be able to see it, it definitely seemed interesting. Turns out the museum was right nearby and if I didn't have a younger sibling peering over my shoulder while I was trying to find something fun and inexpensive for hard to please ages (read 11 and up). I probably would have missed it, as I was overtired and had not realized they were both in the same area.
As we're heading back from the museum to the subway, said sibling pipes up, hey let's walk through the park. We didn't, but then he points out the exhibit, and we're not in any rush to get home, so I ask the others if they would like to check it out. They're okay with it.
We walk to this industrial looking cylindrical sculpture. There's a line. It's not very long. We wait. Around 7 people seem to be going in at a time. Some kids are confused, convinced it's going to be boring. One of the adults point outs that everybody comes out smiling, even the kids. I notice he's right. Sure enough those same kids come out smiling. Finally it's our turn to go in.
Bird Sculpture
I'm not sure how long this sculpture is up for, but the kids found it interesting, it's a bird made out of both real and fabricated nails with rose hanging from it's beak. I thought it was a nice piece of art. The kids liked it enough to want a picture with. One of them wanted to know if a person would be able to sit inside it (theoretical question as the sculpture is a bird and not a chair.) I said Probably, I think it's strong enough.
Other things to take a look at in this area are: The Flat Iron building of course, there's real gold on top of one of the buildings. One of the kids actually pointed out that it looked there was gold on top of the building and a double decker bus comes along and starts talking about it. That's how I know it real gold. They did mention what KT it was, but I'm scared I may be remembering incorrectly. They also pointed out the Chrysler building for them and be sure to point out the Empire State building in the distance. Thank you double decker bus for coming along just then. They also liked the leopard in the window of the Flat Iron building. It was on the left side of the building, the building's left. Near the downtown subway station. Here's a link if you want to explore more of the neighborhood.
FLAT IRON WALKING TOUR BROCHURE
SPOILER ALERT STOP READING HERE AND COME BACK AFTER YOU VISIT:
SPOILER ALERT OUR EXPERIENCE!
SPOILER ALERT!
SPOILER ALERT!
We go in with another family. We squish together and the docent asks us what we see. The kids respond that they can see buildings and trees. She asks us about the up on top what do we see, and the kids say cars, people. She points out the Flat Iron building. Everything is upside down. She says if it wasn't so cloudy and overcast outside then we would be able to see colors. It was drizzling a bit while we were waiting. One of the kids is playing around with the hole. You can see she changes the aperture and the picture becomes more in focus when she does this, you see more branches and the image becomes sharper and more defined. She also told us about the artists making it so you have a panoramic view of what's happening in the park. She asks if anyone has any questions. I don't remember all the questions that were asked. I asked if anyone has ever taken photo paper in with them. She said not that she knows of. But someone could probably do it, just make sure you have a friend to cover up the hole because you can't expose the paper too long to light. It's really like a second. Then I see red, a bit of blue, some white and I point it out. I guess the sun came out. The red and white are people walking. When we come out we see a pair wearing red and white and realize it's the same people we saw when we were inside the camera. The kids and adults found it pretty cool. Possibly even cooler than the museum we went to, plus it was FREE unlike the museum!
This one is for NYC readers, or those who will be in NYC sometime between now and April 5, This exhibit is open from 10 AM-5 PM and is FREE.
Camera Obscura
The activity included can be done anywhere. I'm not going to include directions in this post, but the activity that would be fun for kids to do, would be to make their own camera obscura or pinhole camera with a shoebox or oatmeal can. There are numerous directions on the internet on how to do it. Just Google it. I want to do this activity, but would love for the kids to be able to actually be able to develop their pictures.
We spent some time in the Flat Iron District today. We went to a museum which I'd rather leave for a separate post. What I'd like to tell you about today is the Camera Obscura in Madison Square Park. I found out about this exhibit in TimeOut NY and while I didn't think we'd be able to see it, it definitely seemed interesting. Turns out the museum was right nearby and if I didn't have a younger sibling peering over my shoulder while I was trying to find something fun and inexpensive for hard to please ages (read 11 and up). I probably would have missed it, as I was overtired and had not realized they were both in the same area.
As we're heading back from the museum to the subway, said sibling pipes up, hey let's walk through the park. We didn't, but then he points out the exhibit, and we're not in any rush to get home, so I ask the others if they would like to check it out. They're okay with it.
We walk to this industrial looking cylindrical sculpture. There's a line. It's not very long. We wait. Around 7 people seem to be going in at a time. Some kids are confused, convinced it's going to be boring. One of the adults point outs that everybody comes out smiling, even the kids. I notice he's right. Sure enough those same kids come out smiling. Finally it's our turn to go in.
Bird Sculpture
I'm not sure how long this sculpture is up for, but the kids found it interesting, it's a bird made out of both real and fabricated nails with rose hanging from it's beak. I thought it was a nice piece of art. The kids liked it enough to want a picture with. One of them wanted to know if a person would be able to sit inside it (theoretical question as the sculpture is a bird and not a chair.) I said Probably, I think it's strong enough.
Other things to take a look at in this area are: The Flat Iron building of course, there's real gold on top of one of the buildings. One of the kids actually pointed out that it looked there was gold on top of the building and a double decker bus comes along and starts talking about it. That's how I know it real gold. They did mention what KT it was, but I'm scared I may be remembering incorrectly. They also pointed out the Chrysler building for them and be sure to point out the Empire State building in the distance. Thank you double decker bus for coming along just then. They also liked the leopard in the window of the Flat Iron building. It was on the left side of the building, the building's left. Near the downtown subway station. Here's a link if you want to explore more of the neighborhood.
FLAT IRON WALKING TOUR BROCHURE
SPOILER ALERT STOP READING HERE AND COME BACK AFTER YOU VISIT:
SPOILER ALERT OUR EXPERIENCE!
SPOILER ALERT!
SPOILER ALERT!
We go in with another family. We squish together and the docent asks us what we see. The kids respond that they can see buildings and trees. She asks us about the up on top what do we see, and the kids say cars, people. She points out the Flat Iron building. Everything is upside down. She says if it wasn't so cloudy and overcast outside then we would be able to see colors. It was drizzling a bit while we were waiting. One of the kids is playing around with the hole. You can see she changes the aperture and the picture becomes more in focus when she does this, you see more branches and the image becomes sharper and more defined. She also told us about the artists making it so you have a panoramic view of what's happening in the park. She asks if anyone has any questions. I don't remember all the questions that were asked. I asked if anyone has ever taken photo paper in with them. She said not that she knows of. But someone could probably do it, just make sure you have a friend to cover up the hole because you can't expose the paper too long to light. It's really like a second. Then I see red, a bit of blue, some white and I point it out. I guess the sun came out. The red and white are people walking. When we come out we see a pair wearing red and white and realize it's the same people we saw when we were inside the camera. The kids and adults found it pretty cool. Possibly even cooler than the museum we went to, plus it was FREE unlike the museum!
