The Under(play)ground Summer Music Scene

Some of your best entertainment this summer will be found for free in parks all around New York. Madison Square Parks' Mad. Square Kids is perhaps the best well known summer kid festival with free children's concerts twice a week throughout the summer, but there are others that you may not have heard of and aren't publicized much outside of their own neighborhoods. We're giving you the inside scoop on the under(play)ground summer music scene in New York City this summer.

Union Square Park’s Summer in the Square Festival has live music, dance, kids programming, yoga and more every Thursday, all summer long. Kids in the Square kicks off on June 26 with Moey's Music Party in concert. Later in the summer you'll see Princess Katie and Racer Steve and the cast of JUMP will present Carnival of the Animals. Before the concerts you can also stop by the Union Square Barnes and Noble for children's book readings and signings.

The Bryant Park Film Film Festival is pretty well known, but did you know that Bryant Park hosts events every day of the week in the summertime and most of it is very kid friendly? Monday night is films,then on Tuesday mornings there’s Storytime readings followed by Classic Kids, performances of classical music by NYC kids. Thursdays at 12:30 is Broadway in Bryant Park. Hear the songs from favorite Broadway shows including The Lion King, The Little Mermaid, Mary Poppins (no relation), Cirque Dreams, and more. On Saturdays children enjoy their favorite books and activities inspired by them in the Word for Word series. On some Saturdays and Sundays there is also Flaubert Frog sing-a-long and games by the carousel. Check out the full schedule.

The Central Park Sandbox Program is a kids music festival that takes place in 16 playgrounds throughout the Park from July 7th through August 15th. With two concerts a day, every day, it's your best bet for free kids entertainment without the crowds. The performers are all teaching artists and include the Central Park Brass and GlobalArts to Go, storyteller Dan Kitrosser, and the not to be missed Moey’s Music Party with hits like New York City Kid and I Gotta Go Potty.

Madison Square Parks' Mad. Square Kids has concerts in the park every Tuesday and Thursday morning. has an incredible line-up this summer. Headliners include the Deedle Deedle Dees coming up this Tuesday on June 17th, AudrRox!, The Paper Bag players and more. Bring the kids swim suits for after the show because Madison Square Park Playground has a great water feature too and, of course, then there's lunch at the Shake Shack.

But if you really want the Under(play)ground music scene the place where it's really at is the little neighborhood parks. These concert series aren't widely publicized outside of their own neighborhoods, but slick parents (read, Mommy Poppins readers) know where to find these hot venues:

Carroll Park Concert Series: With Audra Rox!, Uncle Rock, and Lloyd Miller and The Brooklyn Phonebook (his all-kid back-up band) the Carroll Park concert series clearly rocks.

Washington Market Park’s 2008 Summer Family Concert Series hosts kid concerts every Thursday evening. Families can picnic on the lawn while listening to the Brady Rymer, Uncle Rock, and this Thursday, June 19 will be The Dream Jam Band.

Astoria has two local playground concert venues, Athens Square Park on Tuesdays and Dutch Kills Playground on Wednesdays. Both concerts start at 10:30 AM and include performances of The Piccola Opera's Little Red Riding Hood, and Louis Bauzo's Salsa Festival.

The Summer Sundays Series in Travers Park in Jackson Heights brings the Swedish Marionettes' "Cinderella Samba" this weekend and Columbian music next weekend.

Last year Cobble Hill Park held family concerts on Thursday evenings, but they haven't posted anything yet. We hope they will continue and will keep you posted.

Do you know of a local playground children's concert series? Share it in the comments!