Coloring books are not only a fun activity for your younger ones, but beneficial to an audience of all age ranges. For older folk, this activity allows for the fear and stress center in the brains to relax. For the younger crowds, coloring pages can help develop fine motor skills.

Welcome to the Discovery Week @ Home Virtual STEAM Activity Fair!

Click on the pictures below to explore and try different activities.

Thank you to our partners at MakerSpace NYC, Parks @ Home Jr., and the Staten Island Museum for sharing activities.

In 2018, Freshkills Park researchers conducted a study to learn more about grassland bird nesting preferences. Currently, a significantly greater number of grassland birds are nesting in an area known as East Mound than in the other areas. One species of special concern, the grasshopper sparrow, has been found nesting exclusively in East Mound.

Make your own kinetic paper animals with Deborah from MakerSpace NYC! How many things can you make from paper? From just one piece of copy paper, you can create a flying animal. Cut pieces and adhere them together so you can manipulate the wings of a paper bird, dinosaur – or any animal you can imagine!

Join Mr. Ted Nabavi, Director of Waste Management Engineering at DSNY, for a behind-the-scenes tour of the Fresh Kills Landfill Leachate Treatment Plant. Leachate, a landfill by-product, is created when water seeps through solid waste. Leachate treatment includes biological and chemical treatment to remove harmful constituents so the treated water can be safely discharged.

Your next online meeting can happen at Freshkills Park! Download the images below to virtually visit the waterways, grasslands, and sweeping vistas of Freshkills Park.

How to add a virtual background to Zoom:

1. Click on the images below to open the full-size image in a new tab.

At 2,200 acres, Freshkills Park is almost three times the size of Central Park and the largest park to be developed in New York City in over 100 years. It also has a significant history as the site of the Fresh Kills Landfill, which was the largest landfill in the world before closing in 2001.

This year Freshkills Park has taken Discovery Day virtual and is excited to host activities and experiences created by the Freshkills Park team and community partners. Near or far, join us for our first “Discovery Week @ Home.”  Throughout the week, learn more about the history, wildlife, recreation, education, and art at the park through virtual experiences.  

Just under 200 years ago, the modern world began the transition from steam power to electrical power.  In 1831, the discovery of an electric current in a wire ignited the second industrial revolution.  While people were initially hesitant to experiment with electricity,  integrating this new form of power into their lives led to more reliable energy, basic lighting and long-distance communication. 

When you think about the most biodiverse places in the world, where do you think about? Maybe the Amazon rainforest or Madagascar? Many are surprised to find out that New York City lies within one of the world’s 36 biodiversity hotspots (the North American Coastal Plain), as defined by the Critical Ecosystem Partnership Fund, a global program focused on providing funding for projects aimed at protecting these areas of extreme biodiversity.

They say that April showers bring May flowers, and that’s certainly on full display during walks through the park in late spring and early summer. Nature is bursting with colorful flowers, sweet smells, and new leaves. At Freshkills Park, the grasslands are full of purple Cow Vetch, yellow Birdsfoot Trefoil, blue-green Little Bluestem.

New York City Parks encompass more than 300,000 acres of land, about 14% of the city.  These parks and open spaces include many restored wetlands that are open to the public.  Some examples include Bush Terminal Park in Brooklyn, Brookfield Park in Staten Island, Swindler Cove in Manhattan, and Soundview Park in the Bronx.

While NYC is on PAUSE, New Yorkers are turning to biking as a safe mode of transportation and exercise. Biking provides an opportunity to immerse oneself in nature while adhering to social distancing guidelines.

As Freshkills Park opens its 2200 acres in phases, bike-friendly infrastructure and programming are central.

Happy National Bike Month!

To celebrate biking in May, we created this Bingo board to document the plants, birds, and people that you may see while biking along the New Springville Greenway or your favorite local park. Click here for a printable version.

A virtual ride down memory lane!

It’s National Bike Month and even if we are on lockdown, biking is a great way to enjoy outdoor time, get some exercise and lift our spirits.  If you want to get a little more competitive, join the National Bike Challenge and log your miles at https://www.lovetoride.net/usa

Each Spring many migrant birds can be seen at Freshkills Park, either returning to spend the warmer months with us, or traveling through to locations further north. One of these returning species is the Osprey (Pandion halibuts). Although a common species today that is growing in numbers, Ospreys faced dramatic population declines in the 1950s and 60s due to the usage of the pesticide DDT.

Have you ever wondered why animals act a certain way? At Freshkills Park, researchers use ethograms to learn more about animals like osprey. In this week’s STEAM @ Home challenge, learn more about your pet, neighborhood birds, or even a mosquito through observing and recording their behavior with an ethogram.

This week, Freshkills Park joins ornithologists and bird watchers to celebrate World Migratory Bird Day (WMBD). World Migratory Bird Day is the brainchild of three major global bird conservation organizations. Not all birds migrate at the same time of year, so the date varies by hemisphere.

The construction at North Park Phase 1 requires the import of about 150,000 cubic yards of soil. About half of that material, referred to as “general fill”, will be used to cover the existing soil and create new topography for the park paths, picnic areas, seed farm and planted areas. 



Soil is a complex, living ecosystem, full of microorganisms, fungi, worms, insects, bacteria, and nutrients, as we learned by watching Dirt! The Movie. Today, we will learn more about how researchers study soil in Freshkills Park and beyond.

Watch this video to learn about soil sampling and invent a device to take a core sample using things you have at home!