Top 20 Places to Take Kids in and around Brooklyn - 2023
Every May and June, thousands of local parents, grandparents, and caregivers weigh in on their favorite local places to take kids. This page is where we showcase the 2023 list of winners for the Brooklyn area.
Of course, there are literally hundreds of wonderful places to take your kids in our area, not just this year's winners! After you check out the list, make sure to find great things to do on our packed daily calendar, sign up for our free weekly e-newsletter, and visit our Everything That's Free page for lots more ideas.
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1. Luna Park in Coney Island
Luna Park in Coney Island is the largest amusement park in New York City and its most famous playground with a heritage that stretches back more than 120 years. Luna Park in Coney Island provides New Yorkers and tourists from around the world an unforgettable seaside experience with family-friendly attractions and entertainment, shopping and dining on the scenic landmarked boardwalk, thrill rides and special events. Luna Park in Coney Island lights up the famous Coney Island skyline with its timeless charm, historic landmarks, and exciting novelties. Adjacent to nearly three miles of sandy beaches, two and a half miles of boardwalk and other top attractions, Luna Park in Coney Island, which employs more than 1200 people, offers over 50 games, rides and roller coasters and is a fun-filled world-class destination for all ages.
2. Brooklyn Children's Museum
Founded in 1899 as the world’s first children’s museum, Brooklyn Children’s Museum (BCM) is New York City’s largest cultural institution designed especially for families. Proudly based in Crown Heights, Brooklyn, BCM serves 300,000 children and caregivers annually with exhibits and programs grounded in visual arts, music and performance, natural science, and world cultures.
3. Brooklyn Botanic Garden
Brooklyn Botanic Garden is an urban botanic garden that connects people to the world of plants, fostering delight and curiosity while inspiring an appreciation and sense of stewardship of the environment.
4. Brooklyn Museum
The Brooklyn Museum is an art museum located in the New York City borough of Brooklyn. At 560,000 square feet, the museum is New York City's second largest and contains an art collection with around 500,000 objects.
5. My Local Library
Of course, the libraries in the Brooklyn area are not really ONE place, but MANY places... but it's important to emphasize how valuable libraries are for family learning and fun. The libraries in our area are wonderful about posting their events to the KidsOutAndAbout calendar so you always can get ideas for free things to do with your kids that celebrate education and imagination. KidsOutAndAbout.com takes this opportunity to salute the wonderful children's librarians who serve our community with such dedication. They're proud that locals voted them to the list of best places to take kids this year!
6. New York Transit Museum
Founded in 1976, the New York Transit Museum is dedicated to telling and preserving the stories of mass transportation – extraordinary engineering feats, workers who labored in the tunnels over 100 years ago, communities that were drastically transformed, and the ever-evolving technology, design, and ridership of a system that runs 24 hours a day, every day of the year.
7. Prospect Park
Prospect Park is an urban park in the New York City borough of Brooklyn. The park is situated between the neighborhoods of Park Slope, Prospect Heights, Prospect Lefferts Gardens, Flatbush, and Windsor Terrace, and is adjacent to the Brooklyn Museum, Grand Army Plaza, and the Brooklyn Botanic Garden. With an area of 526 acres. Prospect Park is the second-largest public park in Brooklyn, behind Marine Park. Designated as a New York City scenic landmark and listed on the National Register of Historic Places, Prospect Park is operated by the Prospect Park Alliance and NYC Parks.
8. New York Aquarium
The New York Aquarium is the oldest continually operating aquarium in the United States, located on the Riegelmann Boardwalk in Coney Island, Brooklyn, New York City. It was founded at Castle Garden in Battery Park, Manhattan, in 1896, and moved to Coney Island in 1957. The aquarium is operated by the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) as part of its integrated system of four zoos and one aquarium, most notably the Bronx Zoo. It is accredited by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA). As part of WCS, the aquarium's mission is to save wildlife and wild places worldwide through science, conservation action, education, and inspiring people to value nature.
9. Coney Island USA
Located in a landmarked building at 1208 Surf Avenue, in the heart of South Brooklyn's amusement district, we’re home to the Sideshows by the Seashore Theater, the Coney Island Museum, and the Freak Bar.
10. Williamsburg Smorgasburg
Dubbed “the Woodstock of Eating,” Smorgasburg is the largest weekly open-air food market in America, welcoming more than 2 million visitors a year to markets in New York, Los Angeles and Miami.
11. Industry City
Industry City is a one-stop destination of experiences, eateries, events and everything in between. An historic intermodal city, IC is comprised of 16 buildings, built on 35 acres of repurposed industrial space. The waterfront green spaces, immersive retail, and public art installations make for an entire day of discovery. The diverse mix of culture and locally born businesses is as authentic a New York experience as it gets. No visit to Industry City is ever the same.
12. Beat The Bomb
Step into real-life video games at Beat The Bomb,
THE WORLD'S CRAZIEST TEAM GAME.
Choose from our 1-hour Bomb Mission Experiences, where teams of 4 to 6 suit up in hazmat gear, dodge lasers, and crack codes to disarm a giant Paint and Foam Bomb, or else…#GETBLASTED! Or rent an immersive Game Bay where you can enjoy drinks and snacks from The Bomb Bar while playing from a library of original Beat The Bomb games.
13. Prospect Park Zoo
The Prospect Park Zoo is a 12-acre zoo located off Flatbush Avenue on the eastern side of Prospect Park, Brooklyn, New York City. As of 2016, the zoo houses 864 animals representing about 176 species, and as of 2007, it averages 300,000 visitors annually. The Prospect Park Zoo is operated by the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS). In conjunction with the Prospect Park Zoo's operations, the WCS offers children's educational programs, is engaged in restoration of endangered species populations, runs a wildlife theater, and reaches out to the local community through volunteer programs.
14. Brooklyn Cyclones Baseball - MCU Park
The Brooklyn Cyclones are a Minor League Baseball team of the South Atlantic League and the High-A affiliate of the New York Mets. They are based in the New York City borough of Brooklyn, and play at Maimonides Park, just off the Coney Island Boardwalk.
15. Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM)
BAM (Brooklyn Academy of Music) is a multi-arts center located in Brooklyn, New York. For more than 150 years, BAM has been the home for adventurous artists, audiences, and ideas—engaging both global and local communities. With world-renowned programming in theater, dance, music, opera, film, and much more, BAM showcases the work of emerging artists and innovative modern masters.
16. Puppetworks
Puppetworks is a marionette puppet theatre located in the historic district of Park Slope in Brooklyn, NY.
17. Brooklyn Bridge Park
Explore the sweeping vistas, rich ecology, expansive piers, and vibrant programming of this special waterfront park. There is something for everyone.
18. Jane’s Carousel
Jane's Carousel is a classic 3-row machine with 48 exquisitely carved horses and two superb chariots. It was created in 1922, the heyday of the American Carousel, by the Philadelphia Toboggan Company (P.T.C.) Designated as PTC. No. 61, it was originally installed in Idora Park in Youngstown, Ohio, then a prosperous steel-making city.
19. Shirley Chisholm State Park
Shirley Chisholm State Park is named in honor of Shirley Chisholm, a Brooklyn-born trailblazer who was the first African American Congresswoman, as well as the first woman and African American to run for President.
20. Fairytale Island
The indoor playground and cafe, the epic play zone in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn. The playspace features a faux sandbox, giant ball pit, two-level Fairytale Island train, swings, slides, trampoline, climbing wall, kids shopping center, and lots of toys (little tikes cozy coupes, bouncy ride-on animals and balls, rocking horse, mega blocks and much more).
The Fairytale Island cafe offers a variety of snacks and drinks to our customers. It's a relaxed environment for the children and parents to eat and drink after the kids burn off steam.
