Family Activities, Excursions and Day Camps for February Break in Westchester
Midwinter break (February 21-25) is right around the corner, and if you’re not headed to a sunny island (damn you parents who booked a vacation!), then you probably need some inspired ideas. With chilly temperatures and COVID-restrictions, it’s not easy to keep kids occupied during midwinter break in Westchester so we came up with some ways that your family can survive the week.
Day Camps for Midwinter Break in Westchester
These enriching local day camps are perfect for working parents—or any parent looking for a respite from their darlings during midwinter break. All venues follow COVID safety protocols—and will keep your kids far from brain-draining video games, at least for a few hours.
Little ones can learn to read at the Clairmont Advanced Winter Sight Word Bootcamp (for ages 5-7) in Irvington. Kids learn how to read, write and spell sight words with art activities, wiggle dances, live music sing-alongs and classic games like Zingo Bingo and Mother May I. Lessons include phonic awareness, sound/letter correlation, consonants and vowels. 9 am-12 pm; $375
The New Rochelle Racquet Club offers half day and full day indoor tennis lessons for young players of every skill range. Their pros will help kids practice their backhands and learn to serve. Flexible lesson times are available from 9 am to 3 pm, and adults are welcome to join too. $85 for a two-hour session; Email [email protected] for more information or to sign up.
Don’t let the winter chill keep the kids inside. The Greenburgh Nature Center’s Winter Discovery Camp (grades K-3) encourages kids to bundle up and explore the outdoors. Animal encounters, forest exploration, story time, crafts and nature games will teach kids about the wintery world around them. 9:30 am-1:30 pm; $400/$425 for the week.
Busy parents can drop their kids off at The White Plains YMCA for a full day of fun. With a wide range of games and activities for all ages, the week-long camp allows kids to spend their midwinter break playing and learning under the supervision of caring role models. 8 am-6 pm; $60 per day.
The Jacob Burns Film Center in Pleasantville is offering two online courses for older kids who want to be creative over their midwinter break. In Filmmaking 101, high school students will create a short film while learning how to pitch ideas, storyboard and edit. The five-day class ends with a screening for friends and family. In Adventures in Animation (grades 6-8), students learn how to use stop-motion animation to bring their imagination to life. $225/$250 per week.
The Hilltop Hanover Farm in Yorktown Heights is hosting a three-day morning camp for kids to explore animals, greenhouses and pastures, and to engage in activities like snow painting, seed games and greeting the goats. $45 per day.
The Pelham Art Center offers your artistic offspring a variety of classes, from acting to a mixed media mashup to acrylic painting. Classes run from Tuesday to Friday for two to three hours (at different times) so kids can enroll in more than one of these inspiring courses. Prices vary.
Get your little gymnast twisting and tumbling at Gymcats’ midwinter break holiday camp (ages 4-13) in Yonkers. From 9 am until 2 pm, kids will be rotating through beam, mat and bars while learning new moves. $89 for three days.
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Local Adventures for Midwinter Break in Westchester
If you can afford the time, take your kids on a special excursion in Westchester. For example, start the week off on a delicious note with a cup of flavored cocoa at the Ashokan Center’s Hot Chocolate Festival (February 19-20), where there are also campfires, ice sculpting, a blacksmith demo and live music.
Or take the kids ice skating at one of Westchester’s best ice skating rinks. There’s nothing like lacing up only to fall, laugh and fall again while a three-year-old laps you.
The Pound Ridge Library is putting on kid-friendly shows like the hilarious Ivan the Magician (February 22). On February 23, the library teams up with the New Canaan Nature Center for a lesson on how animals make it through the winter—apparently, migration and hibernation are only some of the ways animals survive the coldest season.
On February 24, take the kids to see the incredible artwork by local teens at the Katonah Museum. The featured high schoolers helped curate, install and market the exhibit.
On February 26, the Westchester Children’s Museum in Rye hosts marine biologist Kyle, from the Marine Education Center, who introduces kids to the tide pool and a live sea critter. On February 27, visit Muscoot Farms in Katonah for a 30-minute tree-tapping demo. Families learn how to extract the sugar from the trees and make the sap into syrup. And who can resist a little natural sweetness, especially during February?
Finally, if you’re ambitious enough to head into the city, check out our guide to NYC midwinter recess activities. There’s plenty to keep your family busy and warm when school is out.