All Weekend

Sakura Matsuri/Cherry Blossom Festival – Crown Heights
One of our April Go List picks: Celebrate spring and Japanese culture at the Brooklyn Botanic Garden's wildly popular annual fest, which is set in and around its beautiful blooming Cherry Esplanade. The lineup includes Taiko drumming performances, Samurai swords, flower arranging workshops, martial art displays, Japanese pop bands, tea ceremonies and cooking demos. Kid-specific activities include manga drawing, origami, crafts, magic and drumming workshops. Plus lots of revelers come dressed in their best anime-inspired outfits and there's even a cosplay fashion show. Although the fest usually doesn't sell out, the lines often snake around the block so arrive early. $25 for adults, free for children under 12. Rain or shine!

Samantha Spade, Ace Detective: The Case of the Maltball Falcon – Chelsea
We're longtime fans of TADA! Youth Theater, which puts on original children's shows starring talented tri-state area tykes, no adults. The company's new world-premiere musical parodies the old Sam Spade private eye stories. Here a young girl stands in for Humphrey Bogart and a maltball replaces the Maltese Falcon. Parents should get a kick out of all the noir references while children will enjoy Samantha's comedic adventures. $20-$25 for adults, $8-$15 for children. Indoors!

New York Children's Theater Festival: Rescue Rue – Upper West Side
The third annual kids' theater fest kicks off this weekend at the Marjorie S. Deane Little Theater with Rescue Rue, a heartwarming modern-day musical fairy tale about a shelter dog who finds a forever home with a NYC family. Sounds like a great lesson about pet adoption for young children. $18. Indoors!

NYC 19th Century Extravaganza – Park Slope
Go back in time at the Old Stone House's retro fete. Although the event isn’t aimed at families, there's lots for kids to enjoy like vintage crafts, lawn bowling and a Steampunk-themed picnic. Most activities are FREE but a few require prepaid tickets.
 

Saturday, April 26

Street Games – East Harlem
Another April Go List pick: This annual fest in Thomas Jefferson Park is dedicated to the kinds of analog amusements we grew up with back in the '60s and '70s. Leave your iPads and iPhones at home and encourage the kids to try out classics like pogo sticks, hula hoops, yo-yos, hippity hops and Double Dutch. There will also be an old-fashioned soap box derby race, skateboard lessons, a Radio Disney deejay, performances by the Dance Theatre of Harlem and clinics with major league soccer's Red Bulls. FREE. Rain or shine!

Tribeca Family Festival Street Fair and ESPN Sports Day – Tribeca
And another April Go List pick: The highlight of the Tribeca Film Festival's family programming is really two fests in one. The Family Street Fair features contests, bouncy houses, giveaways, performances by Broadway musicals, kids' bands, vendors, food and a slew of other attractions. Along the route, you'll also find one block set aside for ESPN Sports Day, with games, demos, and appearances by pro athletes and sports teams. This year the organizers are adding a G4C Arcade featuring popular video games, live-action games run by the folks behind the annual Come Out & Play Festival, and other strategic fun. FREE. Rain or shine!

A Butterfly for Brooklyn – Park Slope
Get ready for some eye-popping visuals. Judy Chicago, the influential artist known for her large-scale installations, is marking her 75th birthday by producing a pyrotechnic performance piece in Prospect Park. Presented by the Brooklyn Museum and the Prospect Park Alliance, the 20-minute outdoor fireworks and flares display will evoke some of the artist's early feminist imagery in a riot of color that floats and spins in the night sky. FREE. If it rains this evening, we suspect this will be canceled.

St. George Day – Staten Island
Celebrate Earth Day and the arts on Staten Island at this annual fest, which takes place in the St. George neighborhood near the ferry terminal. There's a ton of fun on tap, including local artists selling their wares and leading workshops, live music and dance performances, storytelling and poetry, an Earth Day Zone full of eco info, and an entire area devoted to kids with arts and crafts and a fanciful puppet show that recounts the St. George dragon-slaying legend with a less gruesome ending. The highlight of the day is the 35-foot puppet dragon parade. FREE. Rain or shine!

NYRR Youth Jamboree – Randall's Island
New York Road Runners hosts a no-cost track and field event for children ages 4 and up at Icahn Stadium. No experience necessary. Kids are grouped by grade and gender and get to run, jump and throw. The preregistration cutoff date has passed but you can try to register onsite at 7:45am. FREE. Rain or shine!

Park Slope Family Festival – Park Slope
This annual neighborhood favorite at J.J. Byrne Park is organized by the creative folks at Puppetry Arts. Enjoy live family bands, bike spin art, carnival games, bouncy houses and other kid-centric fun. The first 200 children to arrive snag free goody bags. Free admission but there are fees for certain activities

Prospect Park Fair – Park Slope
Just a few blocks away from the Park Slope Family Festival you'll find this shindig at the Prospect Park Bandshell, which means you can probably hit both. Fun on tap includes a performance by Uncle Majic a.k.a. the Hip-Hop Magician, tunes and music games by DJ Steve Papa, pop-up nature activities by the Audubon Center, 19th-century lawn games courtesy of the Lefferts Historic House and tennis skills with the Prospect Park Tennis Center. Plus there will be top food trucks and giveaways from local vendors. FREE. Rain or shine!

Healthy Kids Day – Citywide
YMCAs across the nation celebrate Healthy Kids Day today with all kinds of FREE family programming. Each branch throws its own party, so check with your local Y for activities and schedule. We know that the McBurney branch in the West Village will have a bouncy house, sports games and crafts. FREE. Indoors!

Carnegie Hall Family Concert: Natalie Merchant – Midtown West
Former 10,000 Maniacs front woman Natalie Merchant went solo two decades ago and since then she's become a mom and released a number of eclectic albums, including 2010's Leave Your Sleep featuring 19th- and 20th-century poems about childhood set to her lush melodies. That's what she'll be performing at this chamber orchestra family concert that includes projected illustrations by Barbara McClintock. $10-$22. Indoors!

See all Saturday events.

 

Sunday, April 27

Morgan Library & Museum Spring Family Fair – Murray Hill
The theme of this annual fete is inspired by the museum's current The Little Prince: A New York Story exhibit. Families can take kid-friendly tours of the display, catch an animated adaptation of the tale, collaborate on a large-scale mural of planets and try on fun costumes. There will also be an interactive performance by the Ben Jam troupe, who will bring characters from Antoine de Saint-Exupéry's beloved children's novella to life. $8 for adults, $2 for children

King Kong with Lin-Manuel Miranda – Washington Heights
Native New Yorker and Tony winner Lin-Manuel Miranda's NYC-centric movie series continues at the glorious landmarked theater with a no-cost screening of the 1933 classic about a really big ape and the girl he loves. Even 80-plus years later, the effects are pretty spectacular, especially that fight between Kong and the dinosaurs. Bonus: Director John Landis will be on hand to introduce the flick with Miranda. The free film is part of the theater's crowd-funding campaign to raise money for a new screen so donations will be accepted. Come dressed to the nines: Audience members decked out in tuxedos or gowns snag a complimentary bag of popcorn. FREE but donations encouraged

LES Kids Rock! The Deedle Deedle Dees – Lower East Side
Catch the debut of this brand-new kids' concert series at the just-opened Manny Cantor Center featuring Brooklyn's own Deedle Deedle Dees. The smartest family band in town croons songs about science and historic icons like author Zora Neale Hurston, aviatrix Amelia Earhart and Revolutionary War great Aaron Burr, so even the grown-ups in the audience learn a thing or ten. $10 per family

Arbor Festival – Flushing
Celebrate Arbor Day at the Queens Botanical Garden with all kinds of nature fun including a petting zoo, pony rides, games and crafts, face painting, composting workshops, garden tours and live music. Free with admission: $4 for adults, $2 for children ages 3-12 but there are additional fees for certain activities

Worldwide Pin Hole Camera Day – Staten Island
The historic Alice Austen House Museum will provide pinhole cameras, paper and the chance to use the darkroom to develop one pic per person. Darkroom reservations suggested. FREE

See all Sunday events.

Don’t forget: There are lots of other options in our Event Calendar.