What’s that they say about idle hands again? With the right activities, you can keep the kiddos happy and give yourself a summer vacation, too.

Wild Life For Bored Kids

The nature programs at Alley Pond Park will grow on yawning kids.

Animals, art, vegetation, rocks, cooking, landscapes, tie-dye making and more await the throngs of children who register for the kids’ summer programs at the Alley Pond Environmental Center in Douglaston.

The park is filled with a diverse range of wildlife and rock formations thanks to the glacier that carved it out eons ago, and the folks at APEC take advantage of the natural wonder to enrich the lives of kids from throughout the region.

Register now to take advantage of the summer fun (or just to get the kids out of your hair for a few hours).

Some of the highlights this season include:

Man-Eating Plants Kids ages 7-12 will explore the park July 16 to see some of the carnivorous flora, and will get to take home a little snapper of their own.

Mad Scientist Floral Findings Kids ages 7-12 will perform a series of fun scientific experiments using household supplies.

Wee Sprouts This program for 18-24-month-olds allows children to pet animals, enjoy free play with environmental toys, go on mini-nature walks and have a snack.

Summer Nature Kids Designed for kids entering Kindergarten or first grade, this program dabbles in an assortment of activities including games, crafts, activity walks, and will develop a better understanding of nature. (Six sessions in July, another six in August.) (BR)

There are plenty more programs for kids, special events for families, and all sorts of activities throughout the summer. For more information go to www.alleypond.com, or call (718) 229-4000.

 

Lovably Low-Tech

Gumby comes to his own interactive exhibit at the Museum of the Moving Image this summer.

Your kids may have read about it in history books: Before computer-generated imagery, filmmakers had to use stop-motion photography to get animated characters onto the big screen. It was grainy, it was jerky, but it was downright beguiling, too.

If they don’t know yet, you can school them in the good old days at the Museum of the Moving Image’s Gumby! Exhibition beginning June 18. The simple clay character, along with his horse, Pokey, were introduced by creator Art Clokey on the Howdy Doody show 50 years ago.

The exhibition will feature various Gumby television shows from all five decades, as well as a collection of props, prototypes, and toys. And if the kids can wrap their heads around the technology, an animation stand will allow visitors to make their own stop-motion movies.

Clokey himself will be in attendance on opening day for a special showing of Gumby: The Movie, the 1995 feature film debut of the miniature green guy. (If you have trouble remembering it in theaters, it may be because another animated film grabbed most of the attention the year of Gumby’s release-Toy Story.) (JP)

Museum of the Moving Image, 35th Ave. at 36th St., 718-784-0077. Gumby: The Movie, with Art Clokey in person, will be shown Sat., June 18, at 2 pm and 4 pm.

 

Back To The Soil

The Queens County Farm Museum is a good pick for berry-harvesting season. Tribune Photo by Ira Cohen

Not that long ago, before the borough was covered with houses, apartment buildings and shopping centers, farming was the mainstay of life in most of Queens.

There’s a place where that tradition still exists. The Queens County Farm Museum still grows crops and raises animals, mostly for the benefit of its visitors. Dating back to 1697, the 47-acre Farm Museum is the last farm of its kind in all of New York City.

Though there are no regular classes held when school is not in session, the Farm Museum offers a variety of activities throughout the summer to entertain the kids and may teach their parents a thing or two in the process.

On June 26, from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. is the Berry Festival, a free event that features picking fresh strawberries, blueberries and raspberries. There are hayrides, games for kids and special tours of the farmhouse and outlying buildings.

Two-week sessions are offered beginning July 6, July 20 and Aug. 3 for the Children’s Summer Program. The class includes animal education and arts & crafts for kids ages 6-10.

The weekend of July 29-31 features the 27th Annual Thunderbird American Indian Midsummer Pow-Wow, with display of the indigenous cultures of Queens and beyond. More than 40 nations are represented in this annual event held in the apple orchard of the farm property. (BR)

For more information on these and other activities at the Queens County Farm Museum call (718) 347-FARM or go to www.queensfarm.org.

 

A Smashing Saturday

Kids can meet up with tennis legends before the U.S. Open at Arthur Ashe Kids’ Day. Tribune Photo by Ira Cohen

Tennis, kids?

The Saturday before the start of the US Open, Flushing opens its gates to kids looking to participate in the official kick-off event for the final Grand Slam of the year; Arthur Ashe Kids’ Day.

The day-long festival of kids’ activities, including tennis clinics, interactive games and musical entertainment, honors tennis legend Arthur Ashe. It continues his mission to promote education and bring the sport of tennis to children.

Some activities the kiddies will love include a skills challenge, tennis clinics, meeting with tennis legends from around the world and something called Cartoon Network Smash Tennis (which sounds cool, even though we have no idea what it is).

Arthur Ashe was the first African American to win Wimbledon and a U.S. Championship. A well-spoken statesman, Ashe wrote books and was a hero of the African American community. He announced in 1992 that he was infected with the AIDS virus from a blood transfusion during a 1983 heart surgery, and he passed away a year later. In 1997, the new home for the U.S. Open was named Arthur Ashe Stadium. (JF)

Arthur Ashe Kid’s Day takes place on Saturday, Aug. 27 at 10 a.m. at the National Tennis Center in Flushing. Tickets are on sale now, ranging from $10 to $35.

 

The Watery Parts Of The World

When the beach is too far away, a hose won’t do, and you just can’t bring yourself to crack open a fire hydrant, you can always drag the brood through the water sprays at one of Queens’ parks. That’s right. Put on a bathing suit (or leave your clothes on if you’re of the spontaneous ilk) and run wild.

Different parks have different water sprays, so you’ll need to test drive them for yourself to find the ones that suit. (Our favorites are the mushroom-shaped ones, with tiny holes that send water high into the air and crashing down into a cascading waterfall 12 to 15 feet wide.)

Others are fashioned out of arched metal work, gently misting those who meander in and out of its reach.

Parents can sit back and watch their kids revel in a watery oasis amidst the asphalt city. Kids old enough to squirt a water gun float in and out of these watering holes when ammunition runs low. Even those with distinguished manes of graying hair can be seen wetting their silver noggins. (AP)

Here’s a list of some of the parks that have water sprays. For more locations, call 311. Exact park hours vary slightly from park to park. For more information, call 311. Astoria Heights Playground, 30th Rd. and 45th St., Astoria; Dutch Kills Playground, Crescent and 28th St., Dutch Kills; Big Bush Park, 61st St., on the north side of the BQE, Woodside; Alstyne Playground, Alstyne Ave., 102nd St., Corona; Bay Terrace Playground, 23rd Ave. and 212th St., Bay Terrace; Holy Cow Playground, Peck Ave. and Harding Blvd., Flushing; St. Albans Park, Merrick Blvd. and 173rd Pl., St. Albans; Gunn Park, Hillside Ave. and 235th Court, Queens Village.

 

Continued Learning

The New York Hall of Science is one of the coolest spots in Queens every summer.

At the New York Hall of Science, there are countless ways for kids to learn about science through interacting activities and the outdoor Science playground is a great place where children can run, jump and climb and learn about scientific principles that deal with motion, balance, sound, sight, simple machines and sun, wind and water.

As the largest science playground in the Western Hemisphere, the 30,000 square-foot playing ground features more than two dozen elements, an outdoor dining area, landscaped park and a colorful, inviting play surface made of six-inch thick ground rubber.

In one of the exhibits, the Energy Wave, visitors can manipulate a 150-foot series of connected rods and balls in a classic physics demonstration as it relates to waves in motion.

There is also a climbing space net, which resembles the commonly called “jungle gym.” This exhibit allows users to feel how the net responds to weight and the triangular configurations of the rope are strategically placed to give the net its structural integrity. (MR)

The Science Playground is open from March 1 to Dec. 31, weather permitting, for children of all ages with adult supervision. The cost is $3 per person, $2 for groups plus general admission and free to Hall members at the Family Plus and higher membership levels. The New York Hall of Science is located at 47-01 111th St., in Flushing Meadows Corona Park. For more information about the exhibit and the many more hands-on science presentations, call 718-699-0005.