38 places and programs for kids in and around Midtown, Manhattan (12 free): sports, play spaces, stores. Includes Grand Central Terminal and Nintendo New York.
Nintendo's two-level flagship at Rockefeller Center, where kids can try the latest Switch games and browse Mario, Zelda and Pokémon merchandise. Upstairs, a small display shows off vintage Nintendo consoles.
Three stacked levels of indoor and outdoor decks atop 30 Rockefeller Plaza give kids wide-open views of Central Park and the Empire State Building. Add-on experiences include a rotating open-air SKYLIFT platform and a photo op on a replica steel beam.
The Beaux-Arts train station where kids can spot constellations on the Main Concourse ceiling, test the Whispering Gallery and watch trains come and go. Official 90-minute guided tours explore hidden corners.
The children's room on the ground floor of the landmark Stephen A. Schwarzman Building, stocked with picture books, chapter books, audiobooks and kid-only computers. It hosts story times, music and theater performances, and visits from authors and illustrators.
A multi-floor observation experience above Grand Central where mirrored rooms and art installations surround kids with reflections of the skyline. Visitors can also take Ascent, an all-glass elevator that climbs the outside of the tower.
The historic Midtown art school offers drawing and painting for kids 8-12 and classes for teens such as figure drawing, materials exploration, comics and portfolio development. No experience or entrance exam is needed.
Families ride up to the open-air 86th-floor deck, and optionally the glass-walled 102nd floor, for panoramic city views. On the way up, an exhibit floor walks kids through how the skyscraper was built and its pop-culture moments.
A large seasonal outdoor rink in Bryant Park where families can skate for free with their own skates or rent a pair, with skate aids for little ones. Group and private skating lessons are offered, plus holiday shops and free skating shows.
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.
An interactive fire-safety center run by the FDNY Foundation where kids climb aboard a real-looking fire truck, try on firefighter gear and meet a firefighter. A presentation with a simulated smoke-filled hallway teaches what to do in a fire.
A large escape room venue at Rockefeller Center with dozens of themed games at different difficulty levels. Families can pick lighter adventures like Scooby-Doo or a pirate quest, and a special Kids Mode tailors games for ages 7 to 14.
LEGO's Fifth Avenue flagship lets kids design their own minifigure, fill cups from the Pick & Build wall and turn a portrait into a brick mosaic. Preschoolers can join free Little Builder classes, and the store runs special events throughout the year.
A Midtown art studio offering hands-on experiences like fluid art, spin art and a splatter room, plus youth and teen art classes. Parents and kids can also book sessions to create together.
A Midtown museum of TV and radio where families can pick classic cartoons, kids' shows and historic broadcasts from a huge archive and watch them in private consoles. Admission is free with a suggested donation.
A two-level doll store where kids can style their dolls, get salon services for themselves and their dolls, and eat at a café with special doll seating. It also hosts birthday parties and a doll repair 'hospital'.
A musical theater training program where young performers take multi-week workshops, weekend master classes and summer intensives taught by Broadway professionals. Younger kids work on singing, dancing and acting together in Triple Threat, while teens focus on audition technique.
Kids can spot famous paintings like Starry Night, then explore colorful sculpture and design galleries and the rooftop-like sculpture garden. MoMA runs family art workshops and offers family guides for exploring the collection with children.
Families come for free story times and sing-alongs for the youngest readers, while school-age kids use the space for reading, computers and homework after class. The Children's Center on SNFL's lower level is NYPL's flagship kids' space, offering early-literacy story times, school-age programs, performances, homework help and a youth study room; a separate Teen Center is also in the building.
A free-admission outdoor rink that anchors Bryant Park's Winter Village, with skate rentals, group learn-to-skate classes on weekends and Tuesday afternoons, and private lessons seven days a week. Families who bring their own skates pay nothing.
Families come for free story times and sing-alongs for the youngest readers, while school-age kids use the space for reading, computers and homework after class. This modern, largely below-street-level branch sits across from MoMA, so it pairs well with a museum outing.
Kids and teens train in foundational hip-hop and commercial dance styles at a Times Square studio. Options include 90-minute drop-in open classes, a weekly membership training program, and an audition-based crew.
A training program for serious young musical theater performers that offers summer intensives, winter workshops, weekly classes and college audition prep with Broadway artists, including Tony winners. Students pick electives and finish with a showcase.
The official New York youth academy of Italian club Juventus, with competitive travel teams, a recreational pre-academy and after-school soccer. Kids can also join summer clinics, goalkeeping training and private lessons.
Children learn to calculate with an abacus and then visualize it mentally, building speed with numbers along with focus and memory. Small-group classes blend visual, auditory and hands-on techniques.
LittleGotham lists 38 places and programs for kids in Midtown, Manhattan. The largest groups are 9 sports programs, 5 play spaces, 5 stores.
Yes. 12 of 38 are free to attend, including Grand Central Terminal, Nintendo New York, NYPL Children's Center at 42nd Street.
31 listings are indoors, such as Grand Central Terminal, Nintendo New York, NYPL Children's Center at 42nd Street.