A toy train makes its way around a model of New York’s Yankee Stadium in the Holiday Train Show exhibit at the New York Botanical Garden.

VIA BLOOMBERG NEWS / JOHN PEDEN

NEW YORK CITY — At the New York Botanical Garden, floriphiles take a back seat to the annual arrival of the model railroad. The garden shows off more than 1,000 feet of track, a dozen locomotives and even ladybug and butterfly trains through Jan. 11.

More than what your weird neighbor has choo-chooing around the basement, this is a sprawling installation set in lush landscapes that include 140 replicas of New York landmarks made from plant parts. (Information: 718-817-8700; www.nybg.org.)

Look to New York’s cultural institutions to wear out kids so thoroughly that bedtime is moved up several blissful hours.

Here are some other seasonal options:

American Museum of Natural History

More family-oriented than many families, the home of the life-size blue whale ceiling ornament has added to its bounty with the new Polar Rink for ice skating. Also available in live exhibits: over 500 butterflies and 27 species of lizards and snakes. The annual Origami Holiday Tree features folded-paper ornaments based on about 500 creatures in the museum’s vast collection. Dec. 28 brings a Kwanzaa festival with music, dance and crafts. (Information: +1-212-769-5100; http://www.amnh.org/.)

Children’s Museum of Manhattan

Besides its regular slate of kid-oriented stuff, CMOM (isn’t that the cutest acronym?) has holiday activities starting Dec. 20 that include decorating gift bags, creating tree ornaments and designing a menorah for Hanukkah. The Louie Multicultural Holiday Show is an interactive celebration of Christmas, Hanukkah and Kwanzaa. For procrastinators, there’s a chance to “make holiday wrap using recycled paper” scheduled for Dec. 24. (Information: +1-212-721-1234; http://www.cmom.org/.)

Metropolitan Museum of Art

At New York’s premier art museum, the annual creche features dozens of 18th-century Neapolitan figurines, human and animal, posed in village activities around a tree festooned with angel figurines and their less-fully-fledged putti friends. Amid the elephant, camel, horses, Magi, fruit seller and lute player, you can almost miss the Holy Family. Take home “The Angel Tree” on DVD, with 50 images and background music, for $24.95. (Information: +1-212-535-7710; http://www.metmuseum.org/.)

Cloisters Museum & Gardens

The Cloisters offers an austerely beautiful collection of medieval art and period gardens. It will impress small visitors all the more if you tell them they’re going to invade a castle. A special display uses materials associated with medieval Christmas celebrations. The 13th-century musical drama Daniel is performed Dec. 20 and 21. The surrounding park presents spectacular views of the George Washington Bridge and New Jersey Palisades across the Hudson. (Information: +1-212-923-3700; http://www.metmuseum.org/

cloisters/general.)

Morgan Library & Museum

Besides a dazzling collection of books and manuscripts that grubby little and big fingers can’t readily touch, the Morgan’s current special exhibitions feature elephant Babar in books and more than 170 original drawings, and the manuscript of Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol, which he dashed off in six weeks. There’s a Christmas concert Dec. 12 and caroling throughout the library Dec. 19. (Information: +1-212-685-0008; http://www.themorgan.org/

visit/default.asp.)

New-York Historical Society

The home of New York City’s oldest museum likes to argue that Santa Claus was born in the Big Apple because of the famous poem city native Clement Clarke Moore (1779-1863) wrote to amuse his six children. Known by its opening line, “ ’Twas the night before Christmas,” the poem made St. Nicholas a fixture of U.S. Christmas celebrations. Moore was a founder of the New-York Historical Society, which is displaying the desk on which he is said to have written the poem and a Robert Weir painting of St. Nick (1837). (Information: +1-212-873-3400; https:// www.nyhistory.org/

web/index.html.)

Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum

Mothballed weaponry becomes big military playthings in a unique museum that reopened last month after a two-year refurbishment. Visitors get access to the Intrepid aircraft carrier, a supersonic Concorde and a re-created Gemini space capsule. The aircraft collection numbers 30 things with wings or rotors. Kids can lie in a sailor’s bunk or ride in a flight simulator. The Exploreum offers a children’s interactive zone. (Information: +1-877-957-7447; http://www.intrepidmuseum.org/

Plan-Your-Visit.aspx.)

Ellis Island Immigration Museum

Let’s root for roots. More than 20 million immigrants came through Ellis Island to enter the U.S. The museum, whose 27.5- acre site is part of the Statue of Liberty National Monument, has three floors of audio-visual displays. The American Family Immigration History Center can help ferret out your family’s black sheep and white. Add a family member’s name to the more than 700,000 already on the American Immigrant Wall of Honor for $150. The ferry ride presents some of the best views of New York’s fabled harbor and lower Manhattan. (Information: +1-212-561-4500; http://www.ellisisland.org/.)

Brooklyn Botanic Garden

The 52-acre oasis maintains a Children’s Garden with activities even in winter, such as working in the greenhouse and planting in cold frames. Winter plants are featured in the Steinhardt Conservatory’s Holiday Display, and the C.V. Starr Bonsai Museum is bound to fascinate your own small but perfectly formed sprouts. The Discovery Garden is geared to little ones and parents who like to supervise their brood amid birdsong. (Information: +1-718-623-7200; http://www.bbg.org/.)