Things to Do in New York City with Kids — Family Events & Weekend Planner
306 family events from official New York City library, park, and museum calendars, plus 1496 kid-friendly spots and ready-made weekend plans.
FamHop tracks 1496 kid-friendly spots and 306 upcoming family events across 19 New York City cities and towns. Most events come straight from official library, parks, and museum calendars like NYC Parks Events, City Parks Foundation (SummerStage), Prospect Park Alliance — real dates, times, and official links, refreshed every week. Biggest coverage: New York City (2 spots · 1098 events), Queens (14 spots · 780 events), New York (587 spots · 59 events). Pick a few stops, build a 3-stop weekend plan, and share a link so co-parents and friends can vote.
The Amazing Maize Maze at Queens County Farm — August, Queens County Farm Museum. The Amazing Maize Maze is a three-acre corn labyrinth cut into the fields of the Queens County Farm Museum, a site that has been farmed for over three centuries and is the longest continually farmed land in New York State. Weekend visitors start with a Stalk Talk, then hunt for clues and solve puzzles on the way to Victory Bridge, where the whole labyrinth comes into view. Maze by Moonlight runs on selected October nights, when visitors bring flashlights, and parking on the 47-acre farm is free.
Hong Kong Dragon Boat Festival in New York — August, Meadow Lake, Flushing Meadows Corona Park. Free racing on Meadow Lake in Flushing Meadows Corona Park, where crews of twenty paddle hand-painted teak dragon boats to a drumbeat. One of the largest dragon boat festivals in the United States, paired with a main stage of music and dance, martial arts demonstrations, folk crafts, and an international food court.
National Dominican Day Parade — August, Sixth Avenue, Midtown. Sixth Avenue fills with merengue, bachata, and more than forty floats as over ten thousand marchers celebrate Dominican heritage in one of New York's largest cultural parades. Free to watch, and easy to catch anywhere along the Midtown route.
Outhouse Orchards Apple Picking — September, Outhouse Orchards. The closest true pick-your-own apple orchard to New York City, in North Salem in northern Westchester County, where visitors hand-pick apples, pears, and peaches from the tree from September into October. Different apple varieties ripen on their own schedule across the season, so what is ready changes week to week. Picking is sold by prepaid bag, either a small 15-pound bag or a large 25-pound bag.
Pumpkin Picking at Decker Farm — October, Decker Farm, Historic Richmond Town. Decker Farm, one of the four sites that make up Historic Richmond Town on Staten Island, opens for pumpkin picking on October weekends. Built in 1810 and worked ever since, the 11-acre farm is New York City's oldest continually working family farm and was designated a city landmark in 1967. Visitors search the patch for a pumpkin, take a hayride, try the bungee-powered pumpkin chucking device, and buy fall food from the snack wagon.
Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree Lighting — December, Rockefeller Center. The iconic Rockefeller Center Norway spruce with 50,000 lights and its Swarovski star, lit at a nationally broadcast ceremony in early December and glowing over the plaza daily through mid-January.
Holiday Lights at the Bronx Zoo — December, Bronx Zoo. Millions of lights and about 400 illuminated animal lanterns across six lantern trails at the Bronx Zoo, with a holiday train, snow-tube Freeze Zone, and nightly entertainment from November through early January.
Brooklyn Memorial Day Parade — May, Third Avenue, Bay Ridge. Bay Ridge's Brooklyn Memorial Day Parade — one of the oldest continuously running Memorial Day parades in the country, marching down Third Avenue with veterans' groups, bands, and local organizations.
Thunderbird American Indian Powwow — July, Queens County Farm Museum. New York's largest and longest-running powwow: intertribal dance competitions with dancers from dozens of Indian Nations, plus Native art, craft, and food vendors on the Queens Farm meadow.
Recurring & returning programs in New York City
Brooklyn Memorial Day Parade — Bay Ridge, last held May 2026. Bay Ridge's Brooklyn Memorial Day Parade — one of the oldest continuously running Memorial Day parades in the country, marching down Third Avenue with veterans' groups, bands, and local organizations.
Kids in Motion Superhero Day — St. James Park Playground, last held July 2026. Kids in Motion's Superhero Day at St. James Park — playground games and superhero fun for neighborhood families.
Playground Programs at Kim St. John's Park — Kim St. John's Park Playground, last held July 2026. Playground Programs at Kim St. John's Park — a recurring family program at Kim St. John's Park Playground in New York City.
Playground Programs at Kim St. John's Park — Kim St. John's Park Playground, last held July 2026. Playground Programs at Kim St. John's Park — a recurring family program at Kim St. John's Park Playground in New York City.
Summer Sport Experience: Pickleball — Greenbelt Recreation Center, last held July 2026. Summer Sport Experience: Pickleball — a recurring family program at Greenbelt Recreation Center in New York City.
Summer on the Hudson: Play Dates featuring Zing — West Harlem Piers, last held July 2026. Summer on the Hudson: Play Dates featuring Zing — a recurring family program at West Harlem Piers in New York City.