Ideas for Perfect Parent-Child “Dates”

Looking to schedule in some quality time with your teen or tween? Choose a “date night” or weekend and try one of these ideas from PSP members to promote lots of bonding and lots of fun. There are also bonus ideas for younger kids—click here to skip to that section.

If you’re a parent in Brooklyn who’s not yet a part of PSP, join our community for help finding more joy in all steps of the journey!

Get sporty or strategic.

-Brooklyn Escape Room

-Mini golf at Shipwrecked

-Axe throwing at Kick Axe in Gowanus
“My son and I went axe throwing at that place in Gowanus. It was a lot of fun.”
“My son and I went ax throwing at Kick Axe too and had a ball.”

-Go-Karts

-Arcade

-Bumper cars or ice bumper cars

-Paintball
"Some friends had their 10th birthday party at Long Live Paintball and it was SO MUCH FUN!! I had a blast both with my 4th grader and the other parents, highly recommend this experience for the 9+ set and their grownups."

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Get creative

-Sushi-making class

-Decorate pottery at Painted Pot

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Good old dinner and a movie at Nitehawk

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Visit a museum that engages their interests.

-Morgan Library & Museum (Murray Hill)
“This weekend, I'm taking my daughter (a budding artist) to the Holbein exhibit at the Morgan Library to see his work, the building, and the incredible books on display.”

-Museum of Illusions (West Village)
“About an hour but super fun.”

-Brooklyn Museum
“I took my daughter to see the Warhol exhibit and we brought colored pencils and paper and stopped to sketch.”

-Museum of the City of New York (East Harlem)
“My 13 year old son and I spent nearly a whole day at this museum. It was fascinating and engaging. We stopped for lunch in the middle. East Harlem. (and you read that right...my 13 year old son spent a WHOLE day with me!!)”

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Grab tickets to a show.

“I keep my eye on Playbill, TKTS, broadway.com and Todaytix. When i see a good deal on a play we might like i get tickets.

We’ve seen School of Rock, Beetlejuice, hadestown, to kill a mockingbird, little shop of horrors, the cursed child and paradise square this way, with a hiatus for the pandemic.

We also see musical movies like In the Heights and Marvel movies when they’re out.”

“Because I'm in theater, I can't emphasize enough the wonderfulness of the ability to return to theater. I took both kids to see "The Lion King" as their big return to theater. I haven't seen it since the 90's. Still doesn't disappoint. My about to be 11 year old daughter has requested tickets to "Beetlejuice" for her birthday. There are many shows that are appropriate for tweens that are open and you can get discount tickets at TKTS or using the app TodayTix.”

“I took my daughter to see Clairo at Radio City a few weeks ago. It was a lot of fun to see a concert together. Dinner beforehand made it even better. Also saw a few Broadway shows when it was 2-for-1 week. I second the theater reco. You can find some relatively cheap tickets lately and there’s nothing like it! Wicked, Company and Hadestown were great.”

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