The Art Farm — Local services in New York

What? The Art Farm. A combined farm and open play venue for children. The Art Farm offer a wide variety of classes, including cooking and music, and even have their own pre-school program.

Where? 431 East 91st Street. Inbetween 96 St and 86 St stations (both on the Q line, both accessible for strollers). It’s also super easy to get to via the ferry, being one block away from the East 90th ferry port.

When? Open Play is available Monday to Friday, with the choice of session at either at 12.30pm to 2pm, or 1.30pm to 3pm. This allows for a 90 minute open play session, to explore the animals, play with some toys and do arts and crafts activities if you wish!

Cost? $30 per visit. Pretty standard price for a Manhattan open play place I’d say, but actually, this is the only place around with an indoor petting zoo, so it’s very different to your normal open play venues.

Our Rating? 8/10. We’ve been here a handful of times, and as Darcy is getting older she’s becoming more interested in watching animals in their habitats! She loved watching the turtle swim around. Definitely a great rainy day activity on the Upper East Side. The downfall here I think is that the open play times offered normally clash with toddler naptimes.

Anything else? If you’ve got a little time on your hands afterwards, Carl Schurz Park is great for a little stroll, with some incredible views across the east river!

(Review originally posted on the @playinnyc Instagram account...

My son Kerry started at the Art Farm in the city for their 2s program twice a week. He enjoys their arts and crafts, music and singing, baking, story time, and most of all caring for and meeting the animals. I have seen him grow such a special love for animals as a result of his interaction with them at the school. It's ao adorable to see him with no fear get right up close to Bennie their large tortoise, the bunnies, lizards, Guinea pigs and so on. The teachers and administrators were so kind and gentle to him through the extra time he needed to achieve separation. After battling and beating cancer as an infant, he was particularly sheltered and needed some special patience as he became accustomed to the routine of school. The goal was to prepare him for 5 day a week preschool for the fall after he turned 3. Now we see how confident and happy he is when we arrive and he says his goodbyes. He looks forward to school and jumps for joy the days he gets to go. He LOVES his teachers, Miss Lily in particular. He is now doing their summer camp and they do such an amazing job. He loves the experience! We will definitely keep his association with the Art Farm alive...it's such a gem...

I first went here pre pandemic with my then 8 month old. We went for the open play and to see the animals. There were maybe two other children there, both toddlers. My daughter and I played in the open space for a bit. There were many toys for her to choose from. Then we went to the room where the animals were. One employee took us around to each animal, this included: iguanas, birds, a tortoise, a chicken, rabbits, and maybe a few others. My daughter interacted with each animal. It’s was really nice. We’ve since visited again. The home location is under renovation and the temporary location is right on the same block. The experience, of course, is different. I was expecting to go back and see the same animals. (Shame on me for expecting anything to me the same.) That was not the case. A woman came with 4 animals, a lizard, a dove, a gerbil, and beetles. My daughter is now 18 months and this did not capture her attention quite the same. She was much more active and didn’t really want to wait for the animals to come her way in the rotation. There’s still a nice big space for playing as well as arts and crafts. This second time was more on the ok side, but we’ll try...