Brooklyn kids guide for locals and visitors

Stop and smell the flowers at BBG, one of the city's most spectacular gardens. With children under 12 receiving free admission, a visit to the Garden is a great way to spend an afternoon in the city without breaking the bank! If you have young children in tow, visit the Discovery Garden to help 'em learn all about plants and garden ecosystems.

Pig Beach is perfect for dates, dinners with friends and even meals with your kids: it offers a mouthwatering menu and both indoor and outdoor picnic-style dining areas, depending on the season. Feast on ultra-delicious smoked meats including beer can chicken, baby back ribs and beef tri tip flanked by sides of purple cole slaw with jalepeno, house-made pickles and mac 'n cheese sprinkled with Goldfish crackers. We'll see ya there! P.S. Your dogs are also welcome in the outdoor seating area. Yessss. All ages.

The reimagined Domino Sugar Refinery opened as a public park in summer of 2018, complete with a huge splash pad surrounded by seating, an industrial playground area, stunning waterfront views—even a taqueria by Danny Meyer (Tacocina) that serves cocktails for the 21+ crowd. 

Komnata Quest offers a wide variety of escape rooms—including several that are suitable for kids ages 12 or 14 and up. Try The Vault, Sherlocked, Doctor Frankenstein or The Robbery that Changed the World for mild scares and a fun family challenge!

When all the kids are screaming for ice cream, take them to Ample Hills Creamery in Brooklyn, where they can try wacky flavors like The Munchies (with pretzels, potato chips, Ritz crackers and mini M&Ms). All of the ice cream on offer (and many of the mix-ins) are made at Ample Hills’ Brooklyn shops using the freshest possible ingredients. As if the promise of a sweet treat isn’t enough, Ample Hills also features a play space stocked with books and a window that offers a glimpse into the production room, so tots can see how their ice cream gets made. 

Other archives may offer broader perspectives on city history, but we love the Transit Museum because it goes deep into one essential element of New York life: the public transit system. Opened in 1976 in a former IND subway station, the museum displays historic artifacts—including a collection of vintage train cars spanning the 20th century—as well as more timely pieces, such as works from the MTA’s Arts for Transit program. We’d be remiss if we didn’t mention Sadie, the fluffy gray cat who controls the space’s rodent population; look for her on the lower-level subway platform, where she’s often found snoozing in an old-timey car.

Every year, the rides at Coney Island open for another season of rollicking good times. In addition to the dozens of attractions and games at Luna, including the famous wooden coaster Clyclone, you'll also want to check out the adjacent beach and Nathan's Famous for a loaded hot dog.

Head to Brooklyn Game Lab in Park Slope to play amazingly cool games (some new, some traditional!), learn new game strategies and meet other kids (and adults!) passionate about games, too. Brooklyn Game Lab has after-school programming for players of all interests, offering Tabletop Lab (modern game play and game design), Lab of the Ancients (Chess, Go, Chinese Checkers, etc.) and Quest Lab (role-playing games including D&D). Kids in these programs can even learn merits to gain a place in the Lab's original game Immortal Wars (plus discounts on electives and birthday parties). Ages 5–15. Brooklyn Game Lab offers two locations just six blocks from each other: 353 7th Ave, Brooklyn; 479 7th Ave, Brooklyn.

Fly high at Streb, where kids can indulge their circus arts obsession with trapeze, trampolines, stunt moves and even parkour! Your kids can learn the basics or work their way up to more advanced training in semester-long classes—all with the help of seasoned professionals. 

Located in Prospect Park's early-20th-century Boathouse, the Audubon Center is devoted to wildlife preservation and education and contains the park's visitor's center, a café and an exhibition area. It is the first urban Audubon center in the United States.

The Gowanus Dinosaur Bar-B-Que is always packed, but the food is worth the wait. Show up before 7pm on weekdays to score one of six outdoor picnic tables and on weekends, put your name in and stroll around the block until the host shoots you a text. Coloring books and temporary tattoos keep the crew busy while you wait for your grub. Kids 12 and under eat cheap, picking from seven mains (like BBQ sliders and crispy chicken fingers) and two sides. You’ll love options like the pork ribs and marinated skirt steak.

When it was founded in 1899, the BCM was the country’s first museum specifically made for children. Today it’s one of the most comprehensive, with a permanent collection of 30,000 objects, including musical instruments, masks, dolls and fossils. Kids have fun while learning (sneaky!) at interactive exhibits like “World Brooklyn,” a pint-size cityscape lined by faux stores where young’uns can weigh ingredients and knead pretend dough at the Mexican Bakery, or shop for cans of Indian ghee and Turkish candy at the International Grocery.

At this interactive wildlife center, your animal lovers can walk along the Discovery Trail and come face to face with red pandas, emus, prairie dogs, river otters and dingos, or explore the Barn and Garden to pet pigs, alpacas and sheep! In the Animal Lifestyles section, you'll also meet baboons, pallas' cats, tamarin monkeys and marmosets, to name a few.