Spending Thanksgiving weekend in New York City is so much fun. First of all, there’s the Thanksgiving Day Parade, definitely the most famous and spectacular of all the T-day parades across the country. Then there’s Black Friday – you know, the day after Thanksgiving, that marks the beginning of holiday shopping season with mondo sales at stores throughout the city. But oftentimes children aren’t so interested in shopping for clothes and kitchen gizmos and what-have-you (shocking, I know). Just in time to appease those holiday shopping -resistant kids, FAO Schwartz is opening their “Muppet Whatnot Workshop.” Yes, FAO Schwartz, that iconic toy store on 5th Avenue. This alone may be worth a family vacation in New York City!
The Muppet Whatnot Workshop is something like Build-a-Bear, albeit with a seriously nostalgic bent for us parents. Come on, I can’t be dating myself too much here; who else watched the Muppet Show when they were kids? Remember Miss Piggy? Professor Honeydew and Beaker? Those muppets were iconic to my childhood, and I know I’m not the only one. The Muppet Whatnot Workshop at FAO Schwartz allows children (well, and me, probably) to design their own muppet, start to finish. Unlike Build-a-Bear, kids choose the eyes and noses as well as body type, hair, and clothes. Pretty fun, and pretty cute too, I must say.
Even if there isn’t a fun NYC holiday family vacation in your travel plans, you can still make and order a Muppet Whatnot online, through FAO Schwartz’s website. Thanksgiving in New York is not in the cards for my family this year; good to know I can still try to convert my kids to the wholehearted Muppet love of their parents’ generation.
