Concerts and Shows for Kids in New York City

What is on that a child will actually sit through, and the standing answers for when nothing is. All-ages is not the same as for children, and this page keeps them apart.

In Manhattan 2 listings

In Brooklyn 9 listings

Queens, the Bronx and Staten Island 1 listing

Further out, and usually easier to get a ticket to.

The rooms that program for children all year

Four places in New York treat children's programming as the main event rather than a matinee afterthought, and they are the honest answer to this question most weeks.

• Rock and Roll Playhouse runs music-for-kids sets built on real catalogues, the Grateful Dead, Bowie, the Beatles, at venues around the city including Brooklyn Bowl. Doors early, over by lunch, dancing expected.
• Carnegie Hall and Lincoln Center both run family concert series through the school year, properly programmed and properly short.
• Brooklyn Center for the Performing Arts at Brooklyn College runs an afternoon family season that is the best value in the city for this.
• The New Victory Theater on 42nd Street is the only large New York theatre built entirely around work for young audiences. Not concerts, but the same job.

Reading an all-ages listing

"All ages" on a New York club listing means nobody will be turned away at the door. It does not mean the show is for children, and at a 9pm doors, 10pm set, it almost never is. The things worth checking before you commit:

• Door time, not set time. A 7pm door usually means the headliner is on at 9. An 11am or noon door is a genuine family show.
• Running time. Family programming runs 45 to 60 minutes on purpose.
• Whether a child needs a ticket. Policies vary by room and by promoter, and under-twos are often free on a lap. The venue page, not the ticketing site, is where this is stated.
• Volume. A rock room is loud enough to need ear protection for a small child, and most family series are mixed quieter. Bring the muffs anyway.

December is the exception

From late November the calendar fills with Nutcrackers, holiday spectaculars and family matinees across all five boroughs, and the problem inverts: too much rather than too little. The Christmas page has that season in one place, and the holidays hub covers the rest of the year's run.

Free, and usually better

Public library branches run music and story programming for small children in every borough, free, all year, and it is consistently better than anything you can buy a ticket to at that age. Summer brings free outdoor programming in the parks. Neither shows up on a ticketing feed, so neither shows up above. Check your branch and your park conservancy.

Know a family show in New York that belongs here? Send it over. Every submission is read by hand, and if we list you we would love a link back.