Industry City introduces Winter Family Weekends

Who says there are no winter activities for kids?

On Saturday, January 21, Industry City kicked off its Winter Family Weekend program, which included events and activities for children and their parents. The free program will be featured every weekend until the end of February.

The Brooklyn Children’s Museum was featured with special exhibitions and activities.

“This weekend was a kickoff and it was good to see a lot of people come down,” said Director of Community Engagement for Industry City Cristal Rivera. “We’re doing a partnership with the Brooklyn Children’s Museum. They brought their ‘Our City’ exhibit that talks about neighborhoods and what contributes to them and how to maintain healthy, happy ones. They also brought the Brooklyn Block Lab, which focuses on STEM related learning.”

“We’ve been at Industry City since December and there’s been so much enthusiasm and feedback,” said Petrushka Bazin Larsen, vice president of programming and education for the Brooklyn Children’s Museum. “Families want us to be there longer. With the weather, indoor space is a big need for kids who need to play in a safe, comfortable way. Industry City gives us that space.”

Rivera stressed the importance of collaborating with outside programs. “For us, it’s really exciting to work with the Brooklyn Children’s Museum,” she said. “It’s about opening the gallery to our community in Sunset Park and having the community come in and experience something interactive in our gallery that is targeted towards children.”

Industry City also brought in non-profit group BRIC for storytelling, face painting, an arts tech lab and puppets. “We always love collaborations so for us it was a no-brainer,” she added. “We like to leverage what other institutional and non profit organizations are doing and give them space here where they can host these things instead of duplicating something that’s someone is doing well.”

So far, the program has been a hit. “I just got an email from someone saying how much they enjoyed the Brooklyn Children Museum here,” Rivera said. “So the demand is overwhelming. We’re always thinking of different ways to engage and integrate families in the community into what is happening in our overall culture of Industry City.”

There were plenty of highlights for the kids and adults. “The story time session we had with the museum was a highlight. The parents got involved and were  dancing with the kids as part of the lessons,” she said. “You come back and have a different experience every time.”

“We have content that’s relevant and appropriate for kids,” added Bazin Larsen. “This partnership allows us to show our programs to families who don’t want to go to Brooklyn Bridge Park or Crown Heights. We want to serve all Brooklyn kids.”

 

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