Best of New York 2009 • Kids

• New Museum First Saturdays

  235 Bowery, nr. Prince St.; 212-219-1222

  The New Museum has been faulted by certain adult critics for being a little short on exhibition space, but you won’t hear such complaints from the small humans who take it over the first Saturday of every month (the next event is on March 7 from 10 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.). Before the doors swing open to the public, kids of all ages get the run of the place, with museum guides helping them comprehend the contemporary art on display using age-appropriate proxies: color-coded flashcards for a chromatically rich video installation and pocket-size swatches to hint at the painterly grace of Mary Heilmann. At 11:30, kid-appropriate short films (think castles, monsters, hapless robots) are screened in the auditorium downstairs, while the top floor, with its wraparound terrace, becomes a sun-splashed arts-and-crafts workshop.

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