Flushing, Queens with Kids: Best 25 Things to Do for Families Including Dim Sum, Historic Houses & Flushing Meadows Corona Park

Primarily a residential neighborhood located in north-central Queens, Flushing has a bustling commercial center along Main Street filled with a wide variety of restaurants, chain stores and culture spots like Flushing Town Hall. The neighborhood is particularly well known for its Chinatown section around Main Street and Roosevelt Avenue, where you'll find lots of dim sum eateries, specialty shops and the borough's annual Lunar New Year Parade every winter.

But Flushing, like all of Queens, is a true melting pot with residents and businesses from a multitude of diverse backgrounds. It's also home to many lovely landmarked buildings built in different eras and architectural styles. You can walk through history at the 17th-century John Bowne House, the Victorian Voelker Orth Museum and iconic relics from two 20th-century World's Fairs held in Flushing Meadows Corona Park.

This month, we'll offer an in-depth look at everything Flushing, Queens has to offer families, including our favorites spots to play, explore and experience with kids. We're also highlighting the major family attractions in the Willets Point section of Flushing Meadows Corona Park, like the Queens Museum and Citi Field. For the purposes of our posts, our geographical boundaries are 20th Avenue to the north and Flushing Meadows Corona Park to the south, Grand Central Parkway to the west and Utopia Parkway to the east. We kick off our coverage with the top 25 things to do with kids in Flushing, Queens.

1. Introduce your kids to dim sum at one of many Asian restaurants in Flushing Chinatown like Red Bowl Noodle Shop, Joe's Shanghai, Asian Jewels Seafood Restaurant and Diverse Dim Sum
2. Ring in the Lunar New Year at Flushing's annual parade, one of the biggest celebrations in NYC
3. Explore the Flushing section of the 897-acre Flushing Meadows Corona Park, where you'll find many attractions like the Unisphere and others relics of two World's Fairs, plus the Hong Kong Dragon Boat Festival every August
4. Visit the recently overhauled Queens Museum, which is home to the iconic Panorama and offers free-with-admission drop-in family art workshops on Sunday afternoons
5. Catch a Mets game or a theatrical spectacle like Cirque du Soleil at Citi Field featuring great food vendors like Mama's of Corona and Shake Shack
6. Commune with nature at the Queens Botanical Garden, which is FREE to visit November through March
7. See a kid-friendly show at the Queens Theatre, which has a wonderful family series
8. Hit the ice year-round at indoor skating rink World Ice Area
9. Take a dip in one of our favorite indoor pools: the Olympic-size Flushing Meadows Corona Park Pool
10. Try to hit a hole in one at the Flushing Meadows mini-golf course
11. Make like Katniss at Queens Archery
12. Go bowling at kid-friendly neighborhood alleys Jib Lanes and Whitestone Lanes
13. Catch world-class tennis matches at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center, which kicks off the U.S. Open every August with the activity-packed Arthur Ashe Kids' Day
14. See what's happening at neighborhood hot spot Flushing Town Hall, which hosts frequent performances and art workshops for kids, including super-popular Halloween and Lunar New Year celebrations
15. Marvel at the historic 19th-century Voelker Orth Museum, a bird sanctuary and Victorian garden that has monthly family programs
16. Hit the playground in Weeping Beech Park and then check out the green space's two historic houses: the 18th-century Kingsland Homestead, home to the Queens Historical Society, and the 17th-century Bowne House, currently being restored but scheduled to reopen to the public in spring 2014
17. Learn about African-American inventor and electrical pioneer Lewis H. Latimer at his historic house
18. Or go on a DIY architectural tour of the past: Flushing is home to many historic houses from the Dutch Colonial era to the early 20th century, including landmarked buildings still in use today like the Neo-Gothic Flushing High School and the castle-like Flushing Armory, currently used by the NYC Police Department
19. Sip assorted flavors of homemade bubble tea at Ten Ren Ginseng & Tea
20. Check out everything the 237-acre Kissena Park has to offer, including three playgrounds, a golf course, basketball and tennis courts, fishing and lots of nature
21. Head to the Flushing Library for storytimes and other FREE lit-themed fun
22. Hit the New World Mall, one of the largest indoor Asian malls in all of the Northeast, for foods, wares and home decor from all over the continent
23. Pose for a pic in front of the colorful "Flushing's World Fair" mural at the 40th Road entrance to the Flushing-Main Street LIRR station
24. Watch a kid-friendly performance at the Kupferberg Center for the Performing Arts
25. Enroll in a wide variety of classes for the whole family at the Flushing YMCA

Read all of our posts about exploring Flushing, Queens with kids.