Review: First Saturdays for Families at the New Museum

On the first Saturday of each month, the New Museum is free of charge for families from 10 am to noon.  The museum opens an hour early for the families so they can visit a specific exhibit floor.  After the families sees the art on that floor, they go to the top floor, where there is an art activity that relates back to the exhibit everyone saw.  (And afterwards, you can see the rest of the museum if you want)

 The first and only time we ever went with Greyson, our 18-month old, was last month.  I was glad we went because Greyson is so social and it was like a big playdate for him.  Also, it was just one of those days we wanted to get out of our neighborhood and do something different.  Here is my take on First Saturdays at the New Museum, as a parent of a toddler.

 Pros:
-Free
-There aren't enough art-related events for toddlers on weekends in New York (that I know of)
- Any exposure to art for kids is great
-We don't go to the New Museum that often, so this got us to go
-There are really nice views of Manhattan from the 7th floor, where the art activities take place
-There's pretty good people watching.  You realize this is where all the artsy parents are on the first Saturdays of each month.
-You can check out the rest of the museum for free when the museum opens at 11 am (you just have to get to the museum before noon and they say the free tickets are limited)

Cons:
-The art activity on January 5th asked kids to pick two images from a pile and find a connection between the two images and post then post the images connected by yarn on the wall.  I thought it was sort of boring and Greyson did, too.  They also had kraft paper and markers on the floor, which was actually more fun.
-It's hot up there.  The 7th floor (the top floor of the museum) is all windows and it's as hot as a greenhouse up there.
-They say tickets are limited, so it would suck if you got there and they stopped giving out tickets.  It seems like they let a LOT of people in, though.  Maybe call before you go if you're worried about tickets running out.

Will we go back?  Yes, but only if there's a cool exhibit that we really want to see or if we happen to plan to be in the neighborhood that day anyway.