Halloween events for kids in NYC: The biggest pumpkins come to the Bronx
We’re big fans of the New York Botanical Garden’s family-friendly Spooky Pumpkin Garden filled with more than 100 jack-o-lantern scarecrows. There’s no better time to see them than Giant Pumpkin Weekend, when the biggest pumpkins you’ll ever see go on display with special events and talks with growers. They’ll remain on display through Oct. 31. Oct. 20-21, 10 a.m.-6 p.m., free with admission, nybg.org
Halloween events for kids in NYC: Celebrate the dearly departed
Mexico has a different way to commemorate the dead. Families are invited to take part in the 3,000-year-old tradition of Día de los Muertos, a lively celebration of loved ones who have passed, beginning with a fun processional led by Danza Azteca Chichimeca from Central Park’s Dana Discovery Center to El Museo del Barrio, where you’ll find sugar skull workshops, interactive storytelling, face-painting, art-making and live Mexican folk music. Oct. 20, noon-5 p.m., free, elmuseo.org
Halloween events for kids in NYC: Fall fun every weekend
The Bronx Zoo’s annual family-friendly Halloween party Boo at the Zoo is going on every weekend through Oct. 28. In addition to all the usual animal and adventure fun, find magic shows, costume parades, live music, a corn maze, hayrides, crafts and sessions about many of the animals associated with Halloween. bronxzoo.com
Halloween events for kids in NYC: Go ‘Batty’ in Astoria
Astoria’s third annual Batty Over Halloween Celebration brings all-ages fun to Astoria Park with free pumpkin crafts, costumed characters, performances by Dave Jay and the Fiddle Foxes, a photo scavenger hunt, balloon art and face painting. Sunday, Oct. 21, 12:30-2:30 p.m., Great Lawn at Astoria Park, centralastoria.nyc
Halloween events for kids in NYC: Visit a historic pumpkin patch
Feel like you’re in New England just an eight-minute ferry ride from Manhattan on Governors Island, where the Pumpkin Point patch awaits on the last two weekends of October in Nolan Park. It’s free to visit (though there’s a small fee to take one home), with live music, pumpkin painting for kids, a beer garden and fall treats like mini pies. Families can also come for free Trick-or-Treating at the island’s historic houses on Saturday, Oct. 27, from 1-3 p.m. Oct. 20-21, Oct. 27-28, 11 a.m.-5 p.m., govisland.com
Halloween events for kids in NYC: Trick-or-treat in a museum
You already love exploring the halls of the American Museum of Natural History — so why not get some candy for it? Kids can trick-or-treat through 30 halls, meeting performers and doing crafts along the way, plus performances and photo ops by Curious George, Clifford the Big Red Dog and the Big Apple Circus. Oct. 27, 2-6 p.m., $16, amnh.org
Halloween events for kids in NYC: Do a turn on the catwalk
Brookfield Place’s all-ages Halloween Bash is taking the spook factor out of ghosts with how-to workshops by Double Take Labs, plus a Costume Catwalk, trick-or-treating at designated shops and tons of entertainment from live music to Coney Island Sideshow performers. Oct. 27, noon-3 p.m., 230 Vesey St., free, bfplny.com
Halloween events for kids in NYC: A less intense haunted house
Want all the haunted house fun but in a more family-friendly way? NYC Parks’ annual free Hallowscream! awaits, turning the Chelsea Recreation Center into a creepy interactive maze with fog, light effects and jump scares. Parental discretion for kids under 13 advised. Oct. 27, 4-7 p.m., 430 W. 25th St., free, eventbrite.com
Halloween events for kids in NYC: Harvest some fun at Ghouls & Gourds
Bring your little pumpkin to the Brooklyn Botanic Garden’s annual music and harvest festival Ghouls & Gourds. Expect tons of nature- and Halloween-themed fun like rutabaga skeeball, helping to build a giant spiderweb and “Brooklyn’s wackiest costume parade,” plus two stages of concerts and interactive performances. Oct. 27, noon-5:30 p.m., free for kids under 12, $20 for adults, bbg.org
Halloween events for kids in NYC: Two Halloween traditions in one place
Take part in Haiti’s Festival of the Ancestors at Socrates Sculpture Park with special activities and performances. There’s also traditional Halloween fun including costume making, crafts, face-painting, animal blessings (bring your pets!) and a dog costume contest. Oct. 27, noon-4 p.m., free, socratessculpturepark.org
Halloween events for kids in NYC: A slightly haunted walk in the park
Prefer to meet the ghouls, witches and zombies of Halloween in broad daylight? They’re waiting for you on a child-friendly (ages 7-12) haunted walk through the woods of Prospect Park’s Lookout Hill. For your bravery, you’ll be rewarded with a Halloween Fair on the Nethermead, where you’ll find themed activities and food trucks. Still got energy to burn? Head to Brooklyn Boo! in Albee Square for a dance afterparty from 2-5 p.m. Oct. 27, noon-3 p.m., free, eventbrite.com
Halloween events for kids in NYC: Three days of Halloween fun
The Children’s Museum of Manhattan makes Halloween last three days with activities from zombie dancing and a museum-wide costume parade to making your own ghost toy and learn how magicians perform the impossible. Oct. 27, 28 & 31, 10:30 a.m.-4:30 p.m., $14, cmom.org
Halloween events for kids in NYC: Learn the science behind Halloween scares
While the supernatural may not be of our real, the New York Hall of Science is teaching kids how to bring it to life at a day of special workshops. At Dead or Alive, kids can make their own fake vial of blood, make a monster come to life with stop-motion animation and build a costume, plus live music, prizes for costumes and the ever-popular Pumpkin Chucking. Oct. 28, 1-5 p.m., free with admission, nysci.org
Halloween events for kids in NYC: Set your fears adrift
One of NYC’s most unique Halloween celebrations is Central Park’s annual Halloween tradition that sets jack-o’-lanterns adrift on the Harlem Meer. The day begins with a Halloween parade of costumed little ghouls followed by ghost stories and crafts. Show up early and bring your own pre-carved pumpkin to be part of the Pumpkin Flotilla, a canoe-led processional that takes all the glowing gourds on a twilight tour of the lake. Oct. 28, 4-6:30 p.m., nycgovparks.org
Halloween events for kids in NYC: Have a historical Hallowe’en
Journey back to the past at the New-York Historical Society’s Hallowe’en Party just for kids and families with fortune tellers, creepy crafts, Gilded Age ghost stories — even the candy is old-timey. Your ticket also includes entry to the new Harry Potter: A History of Magic exhibit. Oct. 28, 5-7 p.m., $20 per person, nyhistory.org
Halloween events for kids in NYC: Walk the trick-or-treat trail
Meet the plants that hunger for flesh at the Queens Botanical Garden, where Halloween means a trick-or-treat trail, crafts, a kid-size hay maze, magic show and dance party. The garden also has its largest-ever pumpkin patch and seasonal bites like roast corn and drinks including cider. Oct. 28, noon-4 p.m., free with admission (pumpkin patch extra), queensbotanical.org
Halloween events for kids in NYC: Ride to fun
Got some rail-loving tots? The New York Transit Museum is doing up a whole subway car in neon lights for its Halloween party for kids, plus shadow puppets, make your own mask and more train-themed fun. Oct. 30, 6-8 p.m., $10 adults, $5 kids & seniors, nytransitmuseum.org
Halloween events for kids in NYC: Parade then play
Make sure your costume game is on point for the 28th annual Washington Square Park Children’s Halloween Parade. Families are invited to gather at the fountain for a lively march through the grounds; afterward, find free performances, games and rides on West Third Street. Oc. 31, 3-6 p.m., free, washingtonsquareparkconservancy.org
Halloween events for kids in NYC: Sweet on Midtown
The East Midtown Partnership welcomes families with kids ages 12 and under to trick-or-treat through 80 neighborhood shops and restaurants this Halloween. From 3-7 p.m., costumed revelers are invited to stop by the welcome booth at 919 Third Ave. to get a free map of participating businesses, snap a pic in a photobooth and get some finishing touches from face painters. Oct. 31, 3-7 p.m., free, eastmidtown.org
Halloween events for kids in NYC: A trick-or-treat parade
Brooklyn’s own Halloween parade doubles as a trick-or-treat route. Everyone from all boroughs is invited to march in costume from Seventh Avenue and 14th Street to the Old Stone House, with businesses along the route giving out treats to kids and homes along the route decking out their stoops in Halloween finery. Oct. 31, 6:30 p.m., free, parkslopeciviccouncil.org
