Prospect Park Archives - Adventure, baby!

Prospect Park is an oasis of lush greenery for Brooklyn families. The park opened in 1866, and is 585-acres in size, containing Brooklyn’s only lake, a zoo (Prospect Park Zoo) and a carousel. Prospect Park makes for a great center piece to a fun family day out, and we’re here to give you the perfect itinerary.

Breakfast: Bergen Bagels
This tiny bagel shop makes fantastic bagels, fresh with a thick layer of cream cheese. Grab one to go as you’re walking up Flatbush towards the park.
Bergen Bagels: 473 Bergen St, Brooklyn

Morning Activity: Prospect Park Zoo
The Prospect Park Zoo opens at 10am. Hit up the sea lions first (daily feedings at 11:30am, 2pm and 4pm), then the barnyard animals to feed some goats and sheep, and check out if there are any new baby animals. Save the nature trail for the very end to wear everyone out before lunch.
Prospect Park Zoo: 450 Flatbush Ave, New York

Quick Pre-Lunch Activity: Prospect Park Carousel
As you’re exiting the zoo, take a spin on the carousel, newly re-opened for the season. The carousel was carved in 1912, and is one of only 12 remaining carousels created by master carousel creator Charles Carmel.
Prospect Park Carousel: Willink Entrance, Prospect Park

Franny's: kid-friendly restaurants, Prospect Heights, New York, via brunchwithmybaby.com — Tomato, Basil and Buffalo Mozzarella, $16

Lunch: Franny’s
Exit the park and take a two-block walk down Flatbush to Franny’s, a pizza restaurant committed to sustainable agriculture. All of the vegetables, fruits, eggs, dairy, and fish are largely sourced from local and/or organic producers, while all the meats at franny’s are from sustainable sources, containing no hormones or antibiotics. The pizzas are absolutely delicious. Order a no-frills Tomato, Basil and Buffalo Mozzarella and either eat in, or walk back to the park and enjoy your pie while sitting in the sun.
Franny’s: 348 Flatbush Ave, New York

Afternoon Activity: Play In Prospect Park
Right inside the entrance to the park is a huge field, where on any given day you’ll find families playing ball sports and chasing small toddlers. Bring a ball to kick around or stroll around the path to enjoy the natural beauty of the park.

Afternoon Treat: Ample Hills Creamery
A trip to Prospect Park isn’t complete without ice cream, and it doesn’t get any better than a cone of salted caramel or sweet cream and cookies from Ample Hills. The ice cream is made in small batches, using fresh, local, all-natural milk, cream and eggs from local farms. The portions are generous and reasonably priced (kids $2.75, single $4.36). Order a single cone and choose two flavors.
Ample Hills Creamery: 623 Vanderbilt Ave, Brooklyn

This article was first published on mommynearest.com.

Nestled in beautiful Prospect Park is the sweet little Prospect Park Zoo. It’s a tiny zoo – perfect for people like us with a toddler. We saw everything in an hour and 20 minutes with our 19-month-old walking everywhere herself. I don’t like zoos much – I usually find them a bit depressing. The Prospect Park Zoo, however, is filled with well cared for animals and exhibits.

Miss Cheese’s favourite animals of the day were the sea lions, whose exhibit is smack in the middle of the zoo. Make sure you catch the daily sea lion feedings at 11:30am, 2pm and 4pm, to get a really good look at the sea lions performing their natural behaviours with some help from the keepers.

Kids of all ages (including us!) will love feeding the animals in the barn area of the zoo. Cows, goats, sheep, alpacas and chickens are housed in barn-like pens, with slats and holes in some of the fences so you can feed them the designated food. Watch out for the goats and sheep – they are so used to being fed that they climb up onto the fences and reach their long necks over for better access to food – funny for us, but a bit scary for little toddlers. They’re super gentle and tame though, and Cheese had no problem feeding them with animal kibble straight from her little hand. The best bit: baby lambs, just two weeks old. Squeee!!

The other highlights for us were the baboons, housed in a large enclosure adjoining one of the visitors centers, with floor to ceiling glass, and the Discovery Trail, a winding path through gardens and scrub lands, with animal exhibits like prairie dogs and red pandas. Cheese particularly loved the ducks, including eating the duck kibble instead of feeding it to the actual ducks.

Cheese watching the ducks, Prospect Park Zoo.

What to eat: This is the sad part of our post. While the animals are well fed, the humans aren’t. There are a lot of outdoor picnic tables to sit at, but inside the cafeteria lies only vending machines. We highly recommend you bring your own lunch, or leave the park and eat at a nearby cafe or restaurant. Check out our personal fave in Prospect Heights, Gueros, or download this guide to eating in Prospect Heights for a larger directory of places to eat.

Prospect Park Zoo
450 Flatbush Ave, Brooklyn, NY
Phone: (718) 399-7339
Hours: Spring/summer (Mar 23–Nov 3, 2013) Mon-Fri 10am-5:30pm, Sat-Sun 10am-5:30pm.
Fall/winter (Nov 4, 2013–Mar 28, 2014) Daily 10:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m

Prospect Park

A Perfect Day In Prospect Park, Brooklyn

Prospect Park Zoo, Brooklyn, New York