The famous ones that earn their place, and the cheaper, quieter ones that often end up as the highlight. Seventeen picks across the five boroughs, checked for prices, hours and the nearest restroom.
The best things to do in NYC with kids are the American Museum of Natural History, Central Park's Heckscher Playground and Carousel, the free Staten Island Ferry, Brooklyn Bridge Park, the Bronx Zoo and the Intrepid Museum. For cheaper, quieter wins, add the Roosevelt Island Tram (a subway fare), the SeaGlass Carousel ($6) and the free Queens County Farm Museum.
Checked October 19, 2026. Every price, hour and date below was read that day on the venue's own page. Where a page didn't say (a restroom location, a ride price), we've left it out rather than guess, so open the link before you set off.
The best things to do in NYC with kids are rarely the ones on the fridge magnet. Yes, the Natural History Museum and the Statue of Liberty earn their places, and they're both here. But the days that work with a six and a seven-year-old tend to be built around something smaller and odder: a carousel full of glowing fish, a cable car over the East River for the price of a subway ride, a farm in Queens where the goats outnumber the tourists. This guide mixes the two, borough by borough, with the subway stop, the restroom and the price for each.
We're a British family who come back to New York a lot, and this is the list I'd hand a friend at the airport: seventeen places, eleven famous and six most visitors walk straight past.
Start at Heckscher Playground, west side, 61st to 63rd Streets. It's the park's oldest playground (1927) and its largest at 1.8 acres, with swings, slides, a sand area, adaptive swings and a big rock outcrop that children treat as Everest. The restrooms are in the Heckscher Building next door and open 6:30am to 9pm daily, which in Manhattan restroom terms is practically a luxury hotel.
Then walk two blocks to the Carousel at 65th Street, mid-park: 57 horses and two chariots going round to a mechanical organ, $4.50 a ride, 10am to dusk. Everyone on the platform needs a ticket, including the grown-up holding on. From October 24, 2026, Wollman Rink is open for skating too (children 4 to 12 are $12; 3 and under free).
Practical
The dinosaurs, the 94-foot blue whale and the Gilder Center's canyon-like atrium make this the museum most children ask for by name. It's open daily 10am to 5:30pm (closed Thanksgiving and Christmas). General admission is $37 for adults and $22 for children, with under 3s free but still needing a ticket. New York State residents get pay what you wish for general admission with ID; visitors from New Jersey, Connecticut and everywhere else pay the full price.
Special exhibitions cost extra and have timed entry; pick one at most. Use the Rose Center (81st Street) or Gilder Center (Columbus Avenue at 79th) entrances with a stroller, because at the famous Central Park West steps you'll be folding it and carrying it, like a pack mule with opinions.
Practical
An aircraft carrier parked on the Hudson with a space shuttle and a Concorde on board is, frankly, unfair competition for every other museum. Fall and winter hours (October 1 to March 31) are 10am to 5pm daily, last entry 4pm. Adults pay $38, children 5 to 12 pay $28, and 4 and under are free. NYC residents get 50% off with photo ID and proof of address at the box office. Online tickets are for a 30-minute entry window.
The Growler submarine needs children to be at least 40 inches tall and able to climb through a hatch unaided, and strollers aren't allowed in the sub or the Concorde. There are no restrooms on the flight deck, so plan the bathroom stop in Hangar 3 before you go up.
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A park on 132 concrete tulip pots in the Hudson, with paths that wind up to a lookout about 62 feet above the water. It's free and open from 6am to 11pm until October 31, then 6am to 9pm from November 1 to December 31. Strollers are welcome, there are restrooms near The Glade just past the South Bridge entrance, and children can do a full lap in about twenty minutes and then insist on another.
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The Roosevelt Island Tram is a cable car, and for the price of a subway ride it carries you over the East River, rising about 135 feet above the water with the Queensboro Bridge alongside. The Manhattan station is at 59th Street and Second Avenue. It runs from 6am to 2am Sunday to Thursday and to 3:30am on Friday and Saturday, every 7.5 minutes at busy times and every 15 minutes otherwise.
Why it's worth the detour: it's not in the guidebook top tens, and the ride is three or four minutes of pure delight for the cost of a fare. It takes OMNY and MetroCards at MTA fares, and up to three children 44 inches or shorter ride free with a paying adult. There's no round trip: you pay again to come back.
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Instead of horses, 30 huge fiberglass fish, lit from inside by color-changing LEDs, swirl around in a glass pavilion shaped like a nautilus shell. There's no center pole: four turntables underneath do the work, so the fish drift and glide rather than going up and down. Rides cost $6 (or 10 for $55), sold in person, babies under 12 months ride free, and children under 42 inches ride on a grown-up's lap.
Why it's worth the detour: it's yards from the Statue of Liberty ferry line, and most people in that line never notice it. October hours were listed as 11am to 7pm on weekdays and 11am to 8pm on weekends, with shorter evenings in November and December.
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The ferry from Castle Clinton in Battery Park covers both islands. Tickets are $26 for adults and $17 for children 4 to 12, and under 4s are free (pedestal or crown access is 30 cents more, but needs booking ahead). Buy only from Statue City Cruises, the one authorized seller. The first weekday boat leaves at 9am, and the Park Service warns that arriving after 2pm leaves too little time for both islands.
Be ready for airport-style security that can take over an hour at busy times. Strollers aren't allowed in the pedestal, and the crown is 162 steps up a tight spiral, open only to children at least 42 inches tall who climb by themselves. With little ones, I'd save the crown for when they're older (and you're fitter).
Practical
Free, every day, around the clock. The orange boats leave Whitehall Terminal at the tip of Manhattan every 30 minutes at most times (every 15 to 20 minutes at weekday rush hours), and the crossing takes about 25 minutes, sliding past the Statue of Liberty on the way. Nobody sells tickets, so anyone offering you one is up to something.
Everyone gets off at St. George and walks round to re-board, which children find either outrageous or thrilling. The ferry's own advice is to never take a child in a stroller on the escalators, so use the elevators.
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See also Find a playground near wherever you are on our NYC playground map →
Brooklyn Bridge Park is free and open 6am to 1am, and Pier 6 at the southern end is where children should be pointed. Slide Mountain has a long metal slide, Swing Valley has swings for every size and nerve, and Sandbox Village is one of the biggest sandboxes in the park (the Water Lab is seasonal). The playgrounds are open sunrise to sunset.
At the other end, between the Brooklyn and Manhattan Bridges, Jane's Carousel is a 1922 merry-go-round with 48 carved horses in a glass box by the water. It's $4 a ride, and through December 31 it runs 11am to 5:50pm, Wednesday to Sunday only, so don't build your Monday around it. One adult rides free with one child under 42 inches. Walking the Brooklyn Bridge itself is a little over a mile on the span. Walk it toward Brooklyn so the carousel comes at the end.
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The Brooklyn Children's Museum, founded in 1899, is the first children's museum in the United States, built for ages 6 months to 10 years. It's open Wednesday to Sunday, 10am to 5pm, and closed Monday and Tuesday. Admission is $15 per person, and Community Access Thursdays from 2 to 5pm are free (reserve online or claim tickets the same day).
Totally Tots is the toddler zone. Snacks go up on the rooftop terrace. Stroller parking is limited, and the museum asks you to leave the stroller at home if you can.
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Sea lions, sand tiger sharks, cuttlefish and penguins on the Coney Island boardwalk. Fall hours are 10am to 5pm (last entry 4pm) until October 31, then 10am to 4:30pm (last entry 3:30pm) from November 1. Adult tickets are $29.95 to $32.95 and children 3 to 12 are $25.95 to $27.95, depending on the day; 2 and under are free. Every visitor needs a date-specific ticket bought in advance.
Wednesdays from 3pm there's free or by-donation admission, booked ahead: tickets are released on Mondays at 3pm, up to four per order. The aquarium says the average visit is two to two and a half hours.
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An old Dutch farmhouse on the Flatbush Avenue side of Prospect Park, next to Children's Corner and the carousel. It's open free on weekends and public school holidays from noon to 5pm through November 15, with hands-on indoor and outdoor exhibits that tell the story of the Lenape people and of the Africans enslaved by the Lefferts family.
Why it's worth the detour: it's free, it's small enough for short attention spans, and it sits beside the 1912 carousel (with a lion, a giraffe and dragon-pulled chariots among the horses), which runs Thursday to Sunday from noon to 5pm until November 23.
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See also The Brood List: our ranked list of the places worth crossing the city for →
More than 265 acres and over 11,000 animals, with peacocks wandering about as if they bought a ticket. Hours are 10am to 5pm on weekdays and 10am to 5:30pm on weekends until October 31, then 10am to 4:30pm daily from November 1. Tickets start at $28.95 for adults and $20.95 for children 3 to 12 (prices vary by date, and are lower from November to March); 2 and under are free. Reduced-price Wednesday tickets go on sale at 5pm the Monday before, four per order.
Boo at the Zoo runs on weekends until November 1, included with admission, with a costume parade, a candy trail and a hay maze. Holiday Lights opens November 21 on select nights.
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Hands-on science in the 1964 World's Fair grounds, with a preschool area for under 6s. It's open Wednesday to Sunday, 10am to 5pm (last entry 4pm), and closed Monday and Tuesday except on NYC school holidays. General admission is $22 for adults and $19 for children 2 to 17. Fridays from 2 to 5pm are free with a same-day reservation.
The Science Playground, Rocket Park Mini Golf and the 3D theater are $6 add-ons, sold in person.
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A working farm inside New York City, farmed continuously since 1697, with 47 acres of fields, hens, steers, alpacas, sheep, goats and pigs. General admission is free 354 days a year, it's open daily 10am to 5pm, and feed bags are sold at the Farm Store so your children can be mobbed by goats in the nicest way.
Why it's worth the detour: almost nobody visiting New York thinks to come here, and it's free. The Amazing Maize Maze, a 3-acre corn maze, has its last dates on October 24, 25 and November 1 ($10 to $17), and there's a free pumpkin patch through October 31.
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A public garden on the Hudson with greenhouses, lawns and a view of the Palisades that makes grown-ups go quiet for a minute (children, sadly, do not). It's open Tuesday to Sunday, 10am to 5:30pm, closed Mondays. Adults pay $10 and children 6 and up pay $4, and it's free all day on Thursdays. Weekend Family Art Projects include Web Weavers on October 24 and 25, from 10am to 1pm.
Why it's worth the detour: on a free Thursday it's one of the best-value mornings in the city. A free shuttle runs Thursday to Sunday from the 1 train at West 242nd Street and from Riverdale's Metro-North station. Scooters and balls aren't allowed.
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A ten-minute bus ride from the ferry, at Snug Harbor. Children can slide down a pole and climb aboard a real 1941 fire truck, knock bricks down with a wrecking ball in an unfinished house, and crawl through a giant ant hill. It's open Wednesday to Sunday, 10am to 5pm, and admission is $10 for adults and children alike (under 1 free). Book ahead; adults can't come in without a child.
Why it's worth the detour: most people ride the ferry and go straight back. Add this and the free boat becomes a full day out for $10 a head.
Practical
See also More on a day out across the harbor: things to do on Staten Island with kids →
If I had one day and one choice, I'd do the Staten Island Ferry in the morning (free, and the Statue of Liberty from the water), the SeaGlass Carousel on the way back, then the subway up to the Natural History Museum for the dinosaurs before the afternoon slump. Very little walking, maximum dinosaur.
One ticketed thing a day, maximum. Everything else is a park, a ride or a snack, and the snack is not optional.
Three days covers the big picks without anyone melting down: one in Manhattan, one in Brooklyn and one at the Bronx Zoo or out in Queens. Two days works if you stick to Manhattan and Brooklyn and accept that you'll leave things for next time. Five days lets you add Staten Island and a slow morning, which with small children is a survival strategy.
See also Getting around with a stroller: our NYC subway guide →
One last practical note. Elevators at accessible subway stations go out of service, and weekends bring planned service changes, so check the MTA's elevator status and service notices before every trip with a stroller.
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The American Museum of Natural History, Central Park's playgrounds and carousel, the free Staten Island Ferry, Brooklyn Bridge Park, the Bronx Zoo and the Intrepid Museum are the big ones. Add a cheaper, quieter pick such as the Roosevelt Island Tram, the SeaGlass Carousel or Queens County Farm Museum.
For one day, ride the free Staten Island Ferry past the Statue of Liberty in the morning and spend the afternoon at the American Museum of Natural History. It covers the harbor and the dinosaurs with little walking.
The dinosaurs at the Natural History Museum, a ferry past the Statue of Liberty, a carousel in Central Park or Brooklyn Bridge Park, and a playground in Central Park. If there's time, the Bronx Zoo is worth a whole day.
The Staten Island Ferry, Little Island, Brooklyn Bridge Park, Central Park's playgrounds and Queens County Farm Museum are all free. Wave Hill is free on Thursdays, the New York Hall of Science on Friday afternoons with a reservation, and Brooklyn Children's Museum on Thursday afternoons.
Weekends in the fall bring Boo at the Zoo at the Bronx Zoo (to November 1), the corn maze at Queens County Farm Museum, Lefferts Historic House in Prospect Park and skating at Wollman Rink from October 24. Book timed tickets ahead for museums and the Statue of Liberty ferry.
Three days is a good minimum: one for Manhattan's museums and harbor, one for Brooklyn, and one for the Bronx Zoo or Queens. Five days allows a slower pace and a trip to Staten Island.
Facts checked against 37 pages on Monday, October 19, 2026. Opening times and prices change, so confirm with the venue.
