Places to Go and Things to Do for Kids - East Hampton Library

Places to Go and Things to Do for Kids

Amber Waves Farm

More than 45 acres across a patchwork of fields in Amagansett and East Hampton, Amber Waves embarks on its 18th season with unlimited potential, on track to become one of the premier educational farm operations in the country. It has grown from a team of two to dozens of farmers, educators, cooks, and market staff; hosts a CSA membership of more than 370 families, leads engaging workshops and programming for children and adults, and features a flourishing market and kitchen in a signature location right on Main Street.

367 Main Street, Amagansett, NY 11930
(631) 267-5664

American Airpower Museum

This is a museum commemorating the World War II big iron birds, especially the P-47 “Thunderbolt.” Some sixty five years ago, the current home of the American Airpower Museum at Republic Airport was a crucial part of the “Arsenal of Democracy”. Home to Republic Aviation, the complex produced over 9,000 P-47 Thunderbolts in Farmingdale.

1230 New Highway, Farmingdale, NY, 11735

The Big Duck

In 1931, Riverhead duck farmer Martin Maurer built this 20-ft. tall, 30-ft. long eye-catcher using concrete (technically, “ferrocement”) applied over a wooden frame. Taillights from a Model T Ford became its eyes, glowing red at night. Maurer sold ducks and eggs from the shop in its belly.

1012 NY-24, Flanders, NY 11901
(631) 852-3377

Brookhaven Volunteer Fire Fighters Museum

1889 Fire House, two floors of Fire Memorabilia, two truck buildings house, 12 fire trucks.

Fireman’s Memorial Park, Route 25 Ridge, NY 11961

Cedar Point Lighthouse and County Park

Cedar Point Lighthouse is located on the south shore of Long Island in Cedar Point Park in East Hampton. The lighthouse is situated on Cedar Island, just off of Cedar Point, between the waters of Northwest Harbor and Gardiners Bay.

Settled in 1651, Cedar Point was once a busy port for shipping farm goods, fish, and timber from Sag Harbor. The historic Cedar Point Lighthouse stood on an island 200 yards from shore when it was built in 1860. Its beacon served to guide whaling ships in and out of Sag Harbor during its hey-day as a major port. The hurricane of 1938 transformed the shoreline, shifting sands to create a narrow, walkable strip that now connects the lighthouse with the mainland.

Suffolk County Dept of Parks, Recreation and Conservation
(631) 854-4949

Children’s Museum of the East End

Interactive exhibits are both permanent and rotating. The permanent exhibit focuses on what makes the East End a special place, with an emphasis on the people and living creatures that inhabit it. Themes include agriculture, fishing, world celebrations, and community.

In addition to the indoor activities, visitors are encouraged to explore outdoor exhibits, mazes and gardens. There is space for year-round workshops, performances, and special events, as well as a permanent art workshop for children to explore their own creativity.

376 Bridgehampton/Sag Harbor Turnpike, Bridgehampton, NY 11932
(631) 537-8250

Free Museum Passes with your Library Card

East Hampton Historical Farm Museum

The East Hampton Historical Farm Museum offers visitors the chance to step back in time and experience local farm life during the 1880s-1930s.

At the East Hampton Historical Farm Museum, we believe that a museum is a place not just for storing unique objects, but rather, it’s a place for people to engage, interact and ponder. This is because education involves active participation which is why we offer a wide array of events and exhibitions that range from celebrational to educational, targeting both adult audiences and the entire family. We invite you to peruse our upcoming schedule and plan to spend a day with us.

131 North Main Street, East Hampton, NY 11937
(631) 405-8574

East Hampton Historical Society

The East Hampton Historical Society illuminates the past and inspires the community through the preservation and interpretation of East Hampton’s history.

The East Hampton Historical Society oversees seven different historic sites located in East Hampton and Amagansett:

In addition to preserving and interpreting its historic properties, the Historical Society fulfills its mission through educational programs, exhibitions, lectures, performances, publications, tours, and special events, and by maintaining a collection of nearly 20,000 artifacts.

101 Main Street, East Hampton, NY 11937
(631) 324-6850

Elizabeth Alexandra Morton National Wildlife Refuge

Elizabeth A. Morton National Wildlife Refuge protects 187 acres on the north shore of Long Island’s south fork in the town of Southampton. The refuge is located near Sag Harbor, and includes a peninsula one and a half miles long, locally known as Jessup’s Neck, which separates Little Peconic Bay from Noyack Bay.

2595 Noyac Road, Sag Harbor, NY 11963
(631) 324-6850

Folly Tree Arboretum

The Folly Tree Arboretum is a cultural archive of trees dedicated to ecological storytelling. Founded in 2013, the Folly Tree Arboretum works to promote an exuberant environmental ethic through art and science. Folly Tree Arboretum produces projects that address human’s relationship to the natural world as well as supports the work of others who are developing new and creative methods of environmental storytelling.

Located in East Hampton, NY, the Folly Tree Arboretum is open to visitors by appointment only from May 1 to October 1.

741 Springs Fireplace Rd, East Hampton, NY 11937
(631) 680-7677

The Green School

In our warm and stimulating environment, we nurture independence, creativity, and consideration in our growing children.

Entering each day through the barn doors, the children step into our magical setting, separated by sliding doors from farm life. Here, in this idyllic atmosphere, they discover and learn hands on as we incorporate science, language arts, and math skills into activities like gardening, art, and animal care.

We offer weekly programs such as: Playgroup, Riding Lessons, Adaptive Riding Lessons, Saturday Camps, Birthday Parties, Holiday Camps, and Summer Camp!

287 Merchants Path, Sagaponack, NY 11962
(631) 237-1148

Guild Hall

Guild Hall is the cultural heart of the East End: a museum, performing arts, and education center, founded in 1931.

Guild Hall presents more than 200 programs and hosts 60,000 visitors each year. The Museum holds six to eight exhibitions, ranging from the historical to the contemporary, and focuses on artists who have an affiliation with the Hamptons. The Theater produces more than 100 programs―including plays, concerts, dance, screenings, simulcasts, and literary readings―from the classics to new works. In addition to these endeavors, Guild Hall supports the next generation of artists with in-school and on-site Learning + New Works programs.

158 Main Street, East Hampton, NY 11937
(631) 324-0806

Hither Hills State Park

Hither Hills State Park is sure to be popular with the kids. On just 2.5 miles of beach, you’ll find a softball field, a playground, sand chairs, fishing on a 40-acre freshwater pond, 2 volleyball courts, and even campsites (open April through November).

50 South Fairview Ave, Montauk, NY 11954
(631) 668-2554

Long Island Aquarium

Prepare for a voyage of undersea discovery at Atlantis Marine World —
Long Island’s own full-scale Aquarium. From shark dives to snorkeling,
boat tours to salt marsh explorations, a giant octopus to the Western hemisphere’s largest all-living Coral Reef display…it’s all happening at Atlantis Marine World.

431 East Main Street, Riverhead, NY 11901
(631) 208-9200

Long Island Game Farm Wildlife Park

The Long Island Game Farm Wildlife Wildlife Park features hundreds of animals, including an 18-foot giraffe, red kangaroos, kinkajous, cougars, Barbados sheep, peacocks, and the only lemurs born and bred on Long Island.

489 Chapman Blvd, Manorville, NY 11949
(631)878-6644

LongHouse Reserve

LongHouse Reserve is a 16-acre integrated environment in East Hampton, New York, created by artist, collector and world-renowned textile designer and weaver Jack Lenor Larsen (1927-2020), serving the community with vast open space, programs in art, nature, and wellness, and providing a sanctuary for Long Island and beyond. The sculpture garden, featuring more than 60 outdoor works, encourages exploration and contemplation for new and repeat visitors alike. It is fully open to the public for education and enjoyment, with a next chapter of activating Larsen’s home (a modernist structure based on the Shinto Shrine at Ise) and displaying the extensive craft and design collections.

133 Hands Creek Road, East Hampton NY 11937
(631) 329-3568

Free Museum Passes with your Library Card

Mashomack Preserve

Edged in white by 11 miles of coastline, Mashomack on Shelter Island is considered one of the richest habitats in the Northeast. Just 90 miles from New York City, the preserve covers over 2,350 acres of interlacing tidal creeks, mature oak woodlands, fields, freshwater marshes and underwater lands.

Mashomack has a rich mix of human and natural history. This ancestral land of the Manhanset peoples has housed generations of farmers, fishers and those seeking refuge from the constant bustle of life. Few know that the preserve was once a hunt and game club, and even fewer know that it was nearly transformed into housing developments more than once. Thankfully, The Nature Conservancy, together with the residents of Shelter Island and Long Island, was able to pull together a last-minute effort to save this “Jewel of the Peconic.”

79 S Ferry Rd, Shelter Island, NY 11964
(631) 749-1001

Montauk Lighthouse

The world-famous Montauk Point Lighthouse is located at the very tip of eastern Long Island. Our magnificent lighthouse provides unforgettable 360° views over the Block Island Sound, the Atlantic Ocean and points west. Whether you’re in town for a week or a day, no visit to Montauk is complete without a stop at its historic lighthouse.

2000 Montauk Highway, Montauk, NY 11954
(631) 668-2544

Free Museum Passes with your Library Card

Parrish Art Museum

Founded in 1898 within one of the most concentrated creative communities in the United States, the Parrish Art Museum has been a vital cultural presence on the East End of Long Island from its inception. For more than a century, the Museum has endured and expanded—from a single exhibition hall in Southampton Village built by Samuel Longstreth Parrish to showcase his collection, to its relocation in 2012 to a light-filled, purpose-built facility in Water Mill, New York.

279 Montauk Highway
Water Mill, NY 11976
(631) 283-2118

Free Museum Passes with your Library Card

Planting Fields Arboretum State Historic Park

The original historic estate buildings remain including the 65 room Tudor Revival mansion, Coe Hall, which is open for tours spring through fall. The grounds, landscaped by the Olmsted Brothers of Brookline, Massachusetts, are spectacularly beautiful year round. Educational programs are offered for children and adults. Planting Fields is an ideal location for wedding photography. Also a great place for a picnic and a romp on the lawn.

1395 Planting Fields Road, Oyster Bay, NY, 11771
(516) 922-9200

Railroad Museum of Long Island

Historic Railroad collection including steam engine #39, Diesel engine #1556, Porter engine #1 and 8 other vintage railroad cars. Indoor museum, miniature railroad, working site.

416 Griffing Avenue, Riverhead, NY 11901
(631) 727-7920

South Fork Natural History Museum & Nature Center

This is the only state-of-the-art natural history museum on the South Fork of Long Island. A visit to SoFo provides a day of fun and discovery for adults and children. The museum brings nature indoors, and a walk through the museum is like taking an interpretive nature hike. The museum even furnishes you with a field guide to the exhibits. Each of the displays engages all your senses, making you feel like a naturalist who is exploring a new territory and asking, “What have I come upon?” and “Why is it here”?

377 Bridgehampton / Sag Harbor Turnpike, Bridgehampton, NY 11932
(631) 537-9735

Free Museum Passes with your Library Card

Splish Splash Water Park

The East End water park—voted one of the best parks in America by the Travel Channel.

2549 Splish Splash Drive, Riverhead, NY 11901
(631) 727-3600