Looking for the best things to do with kids in New York? The ultimate family city, New York offers world-famous museums, Central Park’s zoo and carousel, and unforgettable experiences in every borough. This local family guide covers New York’s top kid-friendly attractions, museums, outdoor fun, and rainy-day options — plus how to find what local parents actually recommend.

Top things to do with kids in New York

The American Museum of Natural History — with its dinosaurs and giant blue whale — is a bucket-list family attraction, and the Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum (a real aircraft carrier) thrills kids. The Children’s Museum of Manhattan, the Bronx Zoo (one of the largest in the country), and the New York Aquarium at Coney Island round out an unmatched lineup.

Kid-friendly museums & attractions in New York

The American Museum of Natural History, the Intrepid Museum, the Children’s Museum of Manhattan, and the Bronx Zoo lead a world-class family scene, plus the many other museums and the free Staten Island Ferry with its Statue of Liberty views.

Parks & outdoor fun for families

Central Park is a family wonderland — with the Central Park Zoo, a classic carousel, playgrounds, and rowboats — and the city’s other big parks (Prospect Park, the High Line, Brooklyn Bridge Park) and Coney Island’s boardwalk and amusements offer endless fun. For more, see our guide to the best parks and outdoor spots in New York.

Rainy-day & indoor options in New York

On rainy days, New York is unbeatable — the American Museum of Natural History, the Intrepid, and the Children’s Museum of Manhattan are all top-tier indoor destinations.

What local parents in New York recommend

Kids’ favorites, new attractions, and which spots are worth it at each age change all the time — and local parents know the details that listings miss. On Neighborhood Nurturers’ New York community, real New York parents share what their kids genuinely love. For more ideas, see our guide to the best things to do in New York. Join your New York neighbors free and get real family recommendations →

Fitting it into a day in New York

Family spots here range from playgrounds to hands-on museums, and locals know which hold up on a rainy day. What sets New York apart is how close everything sits together. Start near Central Park, work in one of the spots from this guide, and you are minutes from the High Line if you want to keep going. Locals often round out a day out with the kids with a detour to the Staten Island Ferry or a quieter stop at the Brooklyn Bridge walk. Because the distances are short, you can improvise as you go rather than lock the whole day down in advance.

More New York guides

New York rewards people who dig a little deeper. These related guides map the same neighborhoods from different starting points: Free things to do in New York, Parks in New York, Things to do in New York — enough to plan a whole day or two.

Get a local’s take

Guides are a starting point; the current, on-the-ground details come from people who live in New York. Hours shift, favorites change, and residents always know what is genuinely worth it now. Ask New York neighbors directly or join your town community free to hear from real locals.

The family outings that are actually worth it

New York sells families a great many expensive experiences. These are the ones that reliably work, with verified hours and prices.

Jane’s Carousel — Brooklyn Bridge Park, DUMBO

Jane’s Carousel is a genuine 1922 merry-go-round, brought from Ohio, restored, and installed here in 2011 inside a glass pavilion designed by Ateliers Jean Nouvel — a transparent cube with retractable doors looking straight at the East River, Lower Manhattan and both bridges.

$3 a ride. One child under 42 inches can share a ticket with one adult; additional children under 42 inches need their own $3 ticket. From 15 September it runs Wednesday to Sunday, 11am to 5:50pm, closed Monday and Tuesday. At dusk with the pavilion lit it is one of the best three dollars in the city.

Brooklyn Bowl — 61 Wythe Ave, Williamsburg

Brooklyn Bowl opened 7 July 2009 in the former Hecla Iron Works Building and holds 16 bowling lanes, a 600-capacity music venue and a restaurant. Check the show calendar before you plan to bowl — on a concert night the room belongs to the concert.

Time Out Market — Empire Stores, 55 Water St, DUMBO

Time Out Market New York solves the hardest family problem in New York: feeding people who want different things without a reservation. 17 food stalls and communal seating on the ground floor from 8am, four kitchens and an outdoor terrace on the fifth from 11am, with a view of both bridges.

The American Museum of Natural History — Central Park West at 79th St

The obvious one, and obvious for good reason. Check hours and ticket prices directly rather than through a third-party listing — both change, and a wrong number costs you a morning.

The free family day that beats most paid ones

This is the genuinely best-value plan in New York and it costs almost nothing.

Buy the picnic at Zabar’s, 2245 Broadway at 80th Street, open 8am to 7:30pm Monday to Saturday and 9am to 6pm Sunday. Bagels, cream cheese, fruit, whatever the children will actually eat.

Walk two blocks east into Central Park — 843 acres — and eat it on the grass. Enter above 90th Street if you want space rather than crowds.

Or go west to Riverside Park along the Hudson, which is quieter, longer and the one Upper West Side families actually use.

Total cost: lunch. This is what living here is actually like, as opposed to what visiting here is sold as.

Parks, by what your children are like

Room to run: Prospect Park in Brooklyn, designed from 1865 by Olmsted and Vaux — the same pair who did Central Park, and the version Brooklyn will tell you they got right. Its plan set out a large open meadow, a hilly wooded section and a lake district, and it is far less crowded than Central Park.

Views and something to do: Brooklyn Bridge Park beneath DUMBO — lawn, waterfront, the carousel and both bridges in one place.

A short outing between other things: The High Line, free, 7am to 10pm in warmer months and to 8pm in winter. Avoid 11am to 4pm at weekends, when it is congested and too narrow to get past a slow crowd with a stroller.

Wide open water: Marsha P. Johnson State Park at 90 Kent Ave on the Williamsburg waterfront, facing the skyline.

Markets and eating out with children

Smorgasburg Williamsburg, Saturdays 11am to 6pm at Marsha P. Johnson State Park, is close to ideal for a family: free to enter, dozens of vendors so everyone gets what they want, open air, and no requirement to sit still.

Brooklyn Flea DUMBO under the Manhattan Bridge Archway at 80 Pearl St runs Saturdays and Sundays 10am to 5pm, April through December, and being covered it survives light rain — which matters more with children than without.

Chelsea Market at 75 9th Ave, open 7am to 10pm daily in the old Nabisco factory where the Oreo was invented, is the indoor equivalent and a genuinely good wet-weather option.

For sit-down meals, the Upper West Side is the most family-tolerant neighborhood in Manhattan by a distance — bigger rooms, earlier tables and nobody minding a lively child. Downtown, Joe’s Pizza at 7 Carmine Street solves lunch for any age in about four minutes.

Rainy days

Chelsea Market, Time Out Market and the museums are the obvious answers. Less obvious: the Chelsea galleries in the west 20s are free, warm, and open to anyone — and older children frequently find contemporary art far more interesting than adults expect. They run roughly Tuesday to Saturday and are closed Sunday and Monday.

Brooklyn Bowl covers the run-around-indoors requirement, and the city’s libraries are free, warm and welcoming.

Getting around with a family

The NYC Ferry is the best-value family ride in the city. An ordinary fare, and it gives you the skyline from the water — the same view sold at a large markup as a sightseeing cruise. The DUMBO and North Williamsburg runs are the good ones.

The Staten Island Ferry is free and passes the Statue of Liberty.

Strollers and the subway are a real problem. Many stations have stairs only. Plan step-free routes in advance, or use buses, which are slower but level.

Two neighborhoods a day, maximum. The most common family mistake in New York is scheduling four landmarks across three boroughs and spending the day underground with tired children. Walk one area properly instead.

Frequently asked questions

What are the best things to do with kids in New York City?

The American Museum of Natural History, the Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum, Central Park’s zoo and carousel, the Children’s Museum of Manhattan, and the Bronx Zoo.

What can you do with kids in New York on a rainy day?

New York excels indoors — the American Museum of Natural History, the Intrepid Museum, and the Children’s Museum of Manhattan are all top-tier.

What do local parents recommend in New York?

NYC parents share their kids’ genuine favorites by borough and neighborhood in our community.