41 places and programs for kids in and around the East Village, Manhattan (16 free): sports, play spaces, playgrounds. Includes Cooper Union Saturday Program and Cooper Union Summer STEM.
A free Saturday visual arts program for New York City public high school students, held on Cooper Union's East Village campus. Teens take studio classes in drawing, painting, design and more, with portfolio courses for juniors and seniors heading to art school.
High schoolers spend three or six summer weeks in Cooper Union's engineering school working on hands-on projects such as building a calculator from digital circuits, designing iOS apps, prototyping with Arduino and testing water quality. Classes meet Monday through Thursday.
The 14th Street Y has a heated indoor pool with Learn to Swim classes. Babies and toddlers 6–35 months swim alongside a parent or caregiver, and children 3 and older take drop-off lessons by skill level.
A large general bookstore with a dedicated children's book section where kids can browse picture books, early readers, and toys and games. The chain hosts periodic in-store kids' storytimes and author events that are free to attend.
A small, shallow neighborhood pool at Tompkins Square Park in East Village, good for younger kids cooling off in summer. Entry is free and no reservation is needed; bring a padlock for the lockers.
Baby Fingers' Sign & Song classes blend American Sign Language with songs and play, giving babies and toddlers a way to communicate before they can talk. Classes welcome both Deaf and hearing families.
A day camp for ages 3.5-12 mixing basketball, soccer, capture the flag, arts and crafts, STEM and yoga, plus swimming and field trips. Theme weeks and special events round out the summer.
An East Village center offering free programs for girls and gender-expansive youth, including a Maker Shop, media production, performing arts and a planetarium. Middle and high schoolers build, design and create after school.
Girls and gender-expansive youth take free after-school programs in science, technology, media and the arts, including sessions in the club's own planetarium and a hands-on Maker Shop. Middle and high schoolers register for year-round programming.
A small East Village museum telling how neighbors transformed abandoned lots into community gardens and bike-friendly streets. A good add-on to exploring nearby community gardens with kids.
A colorful East Village play space for kids up to age 7 with all-day open play plus enrichment classes in art, music, movement and sensory play. It also hosts birthday parties, kids' night out evenings and community events.
An East Village museum of Ukrainian folk art, embroidered textiles, ceramics and famous painted Easter eggs (pysanky). Seasonal workshops teach families traditional crafts.
Tompkins Square Park in the East Village has playgrounds for younger and older children, set among big old shade trees. The park is a lively neighborhood gathering place.
Summer day camps where boys and girls ages 6 to 15 of any skill level train in soccer technique and tactics, with goalkeeper instruction available. Sessions are held at sites including Brooklyn and Queens.
One of the country's oldest community music schools, Third Street offers East Village kids early-childhood classes, private lessons, youth orchestras and dance. Adaptive lessons and music therapy make it welcoming for children with different learning needs.
An East Village community center and JCC with an Infant and Toddler Center for families with kids 3 and under, a preschool, and summer programs. Parents and little ones join play-based classes and family holiday events.
A community Y in the East Village with a gym used for basketball and other youth activities, plus family fitness and wellness programs. Kids can join sports classes and after-school programs close to Stuyvesant Town.
British Swim School holds lessons at this East Village pool, starting with babies as young as 3 months. Kids move from water acclimation to survival skills like floating and rolling over, then on to stroke development; adaptive classes are offered too.
An inclusive, no-audition theater company based at the 14th Street Y, modeled on London's Chickenshed, where kids of all abilities create and perform together. Classes run from preschool through the teen years.
An East Village boxing gym with a 45-minute kids class for ages 6-13 that mixes fundamentals and discipline with fun. Teens 14 and up take a longer class focused on technique and conditioning.
ISO offers a ladder of youth ensembles, from beginning orchestras and band to the advanced ISO Symphony, so kids can grow from first rehearsals to concerts at major halls. It now operates as part of Third Street Music School.
An East Village dojo teaching traditional Japanese karate, with day and evening classes open to students of all ages including children. Members also take part in community events like outdoor park practice and seasonal gatherings.
The East Village's famed experimental theater runs La MaMa Kids, a program of family performances and interactive workshops drawn from global art forms. Recent offerings include a Philippine dance workshop by Kinding Sindaw and a show called ELEMENTARY.
An East Village theater and puppetry company that blends large puppets, dance and Latin American storytelling in its shows. Its community arm runs kids' workshops where children build and perform with puppets.
LittleGotham lists 41 places and programs for kids in the East Village, Manhattan. The largest groups are 7 sports programs, 5 play spaces, 5 playgrounds.
Yes. 16 of 41 are free to attend, including Cooper Union Saturday Program, Barnes & Noble Avenue A, Tompkins Square Mini Pool.
30 listings are indoors, such as Cooper Union Saturday Program, Cooper Union Summer STEM, 14th Street Y Aquatics.