July 6, 2023 - Peter Bergen on NYCKP at Battery Park Playscape

Apart from presenting at elementary schools across the city, NYC Kids Project also presents at venues from museums to parks. One such venue was a public event that took place at the Playscape in Battery Park, in lower Manhattan, on the Sundays of 5/14 and 5/21.

I was lucky enough to be able to go to the performance on 5/21. The audience was comprised of kids and adults of all ages - however, the kids were mostly preschool-aged. The audience learned about the differences of puppets such as Renaldo, who is blind, Melody, who has ADHD, and Mark, who has cerebral palsy. A main focus of the event was how, regardless of their differences, the puppet characters could still participate in their favorite activities just as well as everyone else - Renaldo and his beeper baseball team, for example. Another point of emphasis was inclusivity - despite differences in appearance, speech, or anything else, everyone is equal and should be treated as such. Something that really clicked with me was the young age of the audience. As someone who wasn’t diagnosed with ADHD until I was in high school, I wish I had learned about how learning differences can affect people sooner - my academic life and self-confidence were definitely hindered as a result of not knowing. This is why it’s so important that we expose younger children to the ideas that NYC Kids Project promotes - so that kids know that they can reach out if they need help and can respect their peers if said peers need help. Events like Playscape Performs are a great way to cater to such a young audience, so it’s vital that these public events continue to be possible.