Central Park Zoo
A small zoo in the southeast corner of Central Park featuring sea lions, snow leopards, penguins and a tropical rainforest building. Admission also covers the Tisch Children's Zoo and a 4-D theater film.
Recurring kids classes that meet on weekends: music, dance, art, sports, STEM and more. 214 listings.
69 listings
A small zoo in the southeast corner of Central Park featuring sea lions, snow leopards, penguins and a tropical rainforest building. Admission also covers the Tisch Children's Zoo and a 4-D theater film.
One of the oldest chess clubs in the country hosts Sunday junior tournaments and runs the Marshall Chess Academy with classes and school-break camps for young players. Kids get to play rated games in a historic Greenwich Village brownstone.
An active caregiver-and-toddler program at the Central Park Zoo where 2- and 3-year-olds move around the zoo, see animals up close and take part in themed activities. Offered as drop-in Sundays or a three-week Saturday series.
Kids explore buildings and cities through drawing, 3D model making, city planning and computer design challenges. Offerings include after-school classes, monthly Saturday family workshops, vacation programs and week-long summer sessions.
A historic wooden cottage in Central Park where handmade marionettes perform short, updated takes on classic fairy tales. Shows run about 40–45 minutes, just right for preschool and early-elementary attention spans.
The Lee Strasberg Institute's youth program teaches kids and teens the fundamentals of Method acting, including concentration, sensory work, improvisation and scene work. Classes meet at the institute's Union Square-area building.
High schoolers with a strong interest in science spend Saturday mornings on Columbia's campus taking college-level courses in subjects across the sciences, math and engineering taught by university scientists. The program runs through the academic year.
The West Village's oldest community music school offers early-childhood music and art classes for kids up to six, private lessons on piano, guitar, strings, voice, drums and more from age four, and children's ballet. Students perform in the school's own concert hall.
Motivated students take small after-school and weekend classes in advanced math problem solving, along with language arts, science and computer science. The focus is on deep conceptual understanding and collaborative problem-solving rather than memorization, and two-week summer camps are offered.
68 listings
A free drop-in workshop series at the Gowanus creative production center where families build tunnel books, design puppets and sculpt miniature artworks. Each session ties into a current exhibition, and no registration is needed.
A compact, kid-scaled zoo in Prospect Park with sea lions, red pandas, kangaroos and a barnyard area where children can see farm animals up close. Easy to cover in a couple of hours with little ones.
The nation's first urban Audubon Center, set in Prospect Park's Boathouse by the Lullwater. Families meet park animals at free Animal Encounter sessions, borrow gear for nature exploration and join beginner bird walks.
Coney Island's big seaside amusement park, home to the landmark Cyclone wooden coaster alongside plenty of gentler rides for small kids such as a kiddie coaster, carousels and bumper cars. Families can also play arcade games and midway games along the boardwalk.
Affordable Saturday-morning recreational league on Pier 5's turf fields for 1st through 6th graders.
Pratt's program for high school students offers Saturday art and design classes in fall and spring, one-day workshops, and immersive summer sessions on the Clinton Hill campus. Teens build portfolio work and can earn college credit.
Little ones take short ballet and hip-hop classes built around play, starting with grown-up-and-me sessions for 18-month-olds. Children then graduate to independent classes sorted by age.
Toddlers and young children learn ballet and hip-hop basics in short, playful classes, with parent-participation 'You & Me' classes for the youngest dancers. Older kids move up to kids-only classes grouped by age.
Little ones take short, playful dance classes that mix ballet and hip-hop, grouped by age. The youngest dancers (18 months to 3) attend with a grown-up, while older preschoolers join kids-only classes; the school also runs dance and theatre camps.
36 listings
An environmental education center in Queens with resident animal ambassadors, nature trails through Alley Pond Park's wetlands and woods, and a big menu of classes. Toddler classes start before age 2, with weekend, homeschool and free programs for older kids.
A zoo in Flushing Meadows Corona Park focused on animals of the Americas, such as Andean bears, sea lions, pumas and bison, plus a domestic-animal area. It is small enough to see everything in a morning.
A Forest Hills karate dojo with Little Dragons classes for ages 3-6, a kids program from age 6, and family classes where parents train with their children. Classes run most weekday afternoons and on weekend mornings.
A martial arts academy with classes grouped by age: Tiny Tots for 3-5 year olds, a children's program for 6-12, and a teen and adult class from 13 up. Motivated students can also join the competition team.
Kids ages 5 to 14 join age-and-weight divisions of tackle football, learning fundamentals and teamwork through regular practices. The fee bundles uniform, equipment, insurance and transportation.
Kids work at their own pace through a game-based coding curriculum, earning colored belts as they build increasingly complex games. The center also offers robotics sessions and seasonal STEM camps, including AI-themed programs.
Saturday-morning basketball training on outdoor courts in Oakland Gardens, with a short session for ages 4-6 and a longer one for ages 7-15. All skill levels are welcome and private training is available.
Kids advance through a belt-based after-school curriculum in coding, robotics, digital design and AI, using gaming PCs, 3D printers, robots and drones. The center also runs holiday STEM camps, hackathons and an AI Studio where students build their own projects.
A late-1700s farmhouse in Flushing that hosts rotating exhibits on the history of Queens neighborhoods. Kids under 12 visit free, and the adjacent Weeping Beech Park makes for a short outdoor stop.
20 listings
A parent-and-child play program mixing gymnastics and music activities designed around each stage of early development. Classes are kept small, and the space also hosts parties and weekend play by appointment.
A family-friendly Halloween celebration at the Bronx Zoo with costume-friendly activities and themed fun spread across the park, included with regular admission.
Small caregiver-and-child music and movement classes for babies and toddlers, split into age groups from 6 months to 3 years. A separate Prelude Prep class gets 4- and 5-year-olds ready for private lessons.
The borough's first children's museum, with hands-on galleries where kids explore Bronx nature, culture and communities through building, pretend play and art-making. Sessions are timed, so families book a morning or afternoon block.
A community arts center and gallery on the Bronx River offering after-school and Saturday art classes for kids and teens in pottery, printmaking, comics and more. Exhibitions spotlight local and emerging artists.
One of the largest city zoos in the country, with habitats like Congo Gorilla Forest and Tiger Mountain plus the Bug Carousel, Butterfly Garden and seasonal Wild Asia Monorail. Plan a full day and pick a few areas with young kids.
An immersive rainforest walk inside the Bronx Zoo where families watch a troop of western lowland gorillas through large viewing windows, plus okapi, mandrills and colobus monkeys along the trail.
An indoor Asian rainforest habitat where kids spot tree kangaroos, gibbons, gharials and tropical birds among waterfalls and dense greenery. A good warm stop on cold or rainy days.
An indoor exhibit in a restored historic building showcasing lemurs, Nile crocodiles, hissing cockroaches and other animals from the island of Madagascar.
21 listings
Housed in a historic Grymes Hill mansion, this cultural center offers kids hands-on Italian cooking classes and beginner Italian language lessons. School, scout and camp groups can book programs with Italian games, music, dance and gardening.
A 1680 stone manor at the southern tip of Staten Island where a failed 1776 peace conference tried to end the Revolutionary War. The surrounding park has beaches, trails and a visitor center, making it a full-day outing.
Students work through a personalized plan built from an initial skills assessment, getting small-group help from instructors on everything from number sense to algebra and test prep. Kids can also bring school homework to get support during sessions.
Kids learn Brazilian jiu-jitsu and self-defense in beginner and intermediate-advanced classes held every weekday afternoon, with extra sessions on weekends. The academy welcomes all ages and skill levels.
A Staten Island boxing gym with all-ages group classes on weekday evenings and Saturday mornings, where kids train alongside the club's regular sessions. Private training is also offered.
A Staten Island art school offering children's art, cartooning and anime drawing, mixed media and portfolio development for young artists. Summer camps run in July and August.
Staten Island's long-running Music Together provider holds family and babies classes at Oakwood Heights Community Church. Children up to five sing, move and play instruments with their caregivers in 45-minute sessions.
North Shore families take Music Together classes at Spotlight Studios on Forest Avenue, with morning, afternoon and early-evening options. Babies, toddlers and preschoolers sing and play instruments alongside a caregiver.
Preschoolers ages 3-5 and kids ages 6-12 each have their own taekwondo and kickboxing classes several evenings a week plus Saturday mornings, and teens train in the later evening slots. The school is led by Master Sal Giglio, a 9th-degree black belt.
164 classes meet on Saturdays, including Alley Pond Environmental Center, Central Park Zoo, Marshall Chess Club Junior Programs.
114 classes meet on Sundays, including Alley Pond Environmental Center, Central Park Zoo, Marshall Chess Club Junior Programs.
214 listings: Manhattan (69), Brooklyn (68), Queens (36), the Bronx (20), Staten Island (21).