I will be in NYC from Tuesday of Thanksgiving to Sunday with a two year old and a four year old. Are there fun inexpensive things to do and places to eat?

gocitykids.com has a calendar of events as well as suggestions for dining and activities by age.

Museum of Natural History is classic for small kids. Also the zoo in Central Park - and some of the Park itself if not too cold.

I would watch the parade on TV - but you can see the balloons blown up the night before in the park next to the the Museum- I believe it starts about 5 pm- but expect mobs.

In fact, expect mobs the whole time everywhere.

How will the children travel - do you have 2 foldable strollers? (Walking distances will be too far for those little legs.)

You can also check out the web site of the local 24 hours news channel: NY1.com. The often list activities esp for small kids (puppet shoes etc).

If the weather isn;t too cold consider the free Staten Island ferry - kids love boats and you will get a view of the SoL and a great view of the downtown skyline on the way back. For visiting toy stores do it BEFORE Thanksgiving - when local kids are still in school and they are less crowded.

They are the right age for the Childrens Museum but each child should be 1 to 1 with an adult -- it's a fun zoo there -- not easy to follow two at a time

Where is the Children's Museum?

This is kind of an obvious idea, but kids often enjoy watching ice skating (at Rockefeller Center) even though they aren't skating themselves. It is calming to watch the skaters go around.

Children's Museum is 83rd a d Amsterdam. www.cmom.org

Deans for Italian is on 85th off Broadway near Children's Museum and is popular with little ones. NYC has lots of playgrounds with toddler swings and other play equipment. But it probably will be cold.

I checked out the website for the CMOM. It looks great!

I would take them to the Children's Art Museum which is downtown. They have lots to do rather than look at. Also, theme restaurants like Mars 2020 is fun. FAO Schwartz, the toy store, is a must!

I also found a great website that had a page devoted to Thanksgiving and other stuff with discounts. It is called www.nyc-visitor-discounts.com. You'll find some other ideas there too1

CMOM has lots of hands-on activities. Plus special exhibit on now of the original collages done for "Listen to the Wind" the picture book version of "Three Cups of Tea". Amazing art, very inspiring for children and adults.

If you're going to be around the children's and natural history museums, Shake Shack (at columbus and I believe 77th, right behind natural history, essentially) is kid friendly and I think you'd like it, too (unless your vegetarian?)

nytraveler is totally right about them getting tired out, so you may want to plan subway routes/stroller situations ahead of time (unlike D.C. and some other places, there are many subway stops without any elevators/escalators so something to keep in mind with little ones), or see if you can work taxi fares into your budget, although they may be hard to find at that time of year.

FAO Schwartz is still fun even though the outside has changed and it's right by the southeastern tip of Central Park, which is the side the zoo is on.

Also, you may want to check out http://newyorkkids.timeout.com/, which will have even more events listed closer to the date.

Good luck/have fun!