Ongoing
Craftsy holiday lovers will have a blast at Make Meaning, where they can celebrate messy in making soaps, decorating cakes, designing costume jewelry, and painting ceramic bowls and platters–all Halloween-themed, of course. For a special treat, drop by on Halloween day for a free lollipop, soap, and glitter tattoo coupon. makemeaning.com
Ongoing
Hit up Times Scare’s Dr. Blood Show anytime this month (or this year) for kid-friendly blood, guts, and gore as the expert magician cuts off his limbs and saws audience members in half. For tweens and young adults, The Haunt, the city’s only year-round interacted haunted house, is the perfect place to enjoy some hi-tech spooks. timesscarenyc.com
October 6-28
(Weekends Only) Boo at the Zoo returns to the Bronx Zoo with everything little hearts could ask for this Halloween. On top of annual favorites like the Haunted Habitat Mansion of ghosts and extinct animals and a hayride through the animated Creepy Hollows town, magic shows, an extinction graveyard, intricate pumpkin carvings, and costume parades will amp up the eerie fun. bronxzoo.com
October 6–31
(Tuesdays-Sundays, plus October 8) The giant sculptures at the New York Botanical Haunted Pumpkin Garden will send delicious chills down little spines. Get more thrills from a spooky parade, a scary puppet show, and lessons on creatures of the night. If you visit on the third weekend of the month, you’ll also see master pumpkin carver Ray Villafane at work. nybg.org
October 6, 20 & 27
Stop by the Sony Wonder Technology Lab for a host of Halloween themed fun. Make creepy critters with LEDs on the first or third Saturday of the month, then return on the 27th for its annual Wonderween celebration—where scary stories, crafts, and movies await. sonywondertechlab.com
October 13-28
(Weekends Only) It’s a Pirate Adventure at the Wildlife Conservation Society’s New York Aquarium’s Annual Ascarium! Bring your little scallywags on a high-seas haunted adventure–sunken ships, spooky Pirate Tales, sea shanties, dancing gypsies and more. Kids in costume get free admission! nyaquarium.com
October 26
The annual Procession of the Ghouls at The Cathedral of St. John the Divine has never been for the faint of heart, and this year especially so. A screening of “Nosferatu,” a 1922 adaptation of Bram Stoker’s Dracula and aptly subtitled “A Symphony of Horror,” will be accompanied by the Cathedral’s grand gothic organ. Afterward, the hallowed halls will echo with the cackle of ghostly ghouls rising from audience to take their place amongst the fantastical creatures lining the great nave. stjohndivine.org
October 26
You’re never too young to start celebrating Halloween. Babies between 2 to 12 months will have a blast during Babies First Halloween Party at Moon Soup. Bring them dressed in costume for music and playtime. Reservations are required. moonsoup.net
October 26
Take timid little ones to the Not-So-Scary Halloween Playground Bash. Catbird Playground in Carl Schurz Park will be the site of this free holiday party. Bring kids dressed in costume for an evening of tricks and treats. nycgovparks.org
October 26 & 27
All ages are invited to the Brooklyn Children’s Museum for a Monster Mash! This two-day Halloween event promises a museum-wide costume parade, arts and crafts, a Michael Jackson Thriller tribute, and more. Kids are encouraged to come dressed in costume. brooklynkids.org
October 26-28
The New York Hall of Science in Queens is the place to be this weekend for haunting Halloween events. This year’s Dead or Alive festivities include pumpkin chucking, a live bat show, piñata decorating, papel picado making, glow-in-the-dark painting, pumpkin carving, a costume contest, and much more. Most activities are free with museum admission. Some require a small fee. nysci.org
October 27
Join the New York City Police Museum for a ghoulish good time at its annual Halloween party. Kids can immerse themselves in making slime, decorating trick-or-treat bags, and winning giveaways while their parents brush up on trick-or-treating safety skills. Children should come in their best creepy costumes! nycpolicemuseum.org
October 27
Get ready for a fun-packed night of ghostly games at Ripley’s Boo-lieve It or Not! Slumber Fest. This eerie overnight experience includes adventures like Ripley’s signature laser beam race and costume contests, as well as snacks, pizza, and breakfast. Come prepared with courage and spooky sleepover necessities. ripleysnewyork.com
October 27
Citibabes is rocking out their Halloween Spooktacular party! Let your costumed kids jam with the band, Rock-a-Baby, decorate a creep-a-licious cupcake, and pose for a portrait with Bellamy Blue photography. It’s family entertainment at its freakishly finest. citibabes.com
October 27
Princesses and superheroes are uniting at iAdventure.com’s themed Halloween Party, where fun in the Princess & Super Hero Playland includes photo sessions, tattoo stations, and trick-or-treat bag decorating. For an afternoon of games, live entertainment, pizza, and candy, get tickets at iAdventure.com.
October 27
Evil eyeballs, slimy spiders, brewed brains, and putrid worm punch–sound appetizing? These are the ingredients that your child will get to cook from at the McNally Jackson Ghoulish Gourmet Halloween Cuisine Party, earning them a “Ghoulish Gourmet” degree. Feast on these eerie edibles while enjoying a puppet show presented by McNally Jackson’s puppeteers. All ages welcome, no reservations required. mcnallyjackson.com
October 27
For all you Brooklyn-dwellers, bring your tykes to down to Park Slope to join Puppetry Arts in their Halloween Carnival. This rain-or-shine, indoor event, includes a costume contest, a visit with the Staten Island Yankees, and a free trick-or-treat bag for the first 200 children to arrive. puppetryarts.org
October 27
Brooklyn’s wackiest costume parade is back! This year, Brooklyn Botanic Gardens’ Ghouls and Gourds will give you and your child the opportunity to chat with celebrated children’s book authors, waltz with woodland creatures, explore a Victorian toy parlor, and make your very own mustaches. Don’t forget to dress up, as half the fun lies in showing off your costume during this outdoor extravaganza. bbg.org
October 27
The World Financial Center is celebrating everyone’s favorite spooky holiday with the planet in mind. At its outdoor Screamin’ Green Halloween, families can participate in a costume swap, listen to spooky poems, marvel in 30-foot-high characters, and play games like musical spider web, pin the face on the pumpkin, and more. Don’t miss the organic treats or the Ghosts and Goblins Parade through Battery Park City! worldfinancialcenter.com
October 27
Children’s Museum of the Arts makes Halloween extra-cool with a parade through its new Galaxseum, an exhibit honoring artist RAMMELLZEE’s funky, colorful art. With the artist’s own costumes, masks, and figures for inspiration, kids will get great ideas during the day’s costume-making and animation workshops. cmany.org
October 27
The High Line invites families to a haunted Halloween celebration. The afternoon will feature free activities including a scavenger hunt, face painting, pumpkin decorating, a dress-up photo booth, live 1930s-style jazz and swing music, and The High Line Ghost Train, a freight train made out of recycled materials by puppet master Ralph Lee and students at PS 3, 11, and 33. thehighline.org
October 27
Check out the Central Park Bandshell for their annual Pumpkin Fest. There will be a pumpkin patch, where kids can take home their own sugar pumpkin, live Quidditch matches, a SYFY Channel pumpkin decorating zone, marionette performances, walkabout characters, arts and crafts, and more. centralparknyc.org
October 27
The Carroll Park Halloween Kids Parade takes families up up Smith Street towards Douglass before circling back again. Line up starts at 11:30 am, then the actual parade kicks off at noon. Hot tip: arrive early, because the first 200 costumed kids receive free noisemakers! More information
October 27 & 28
Come party with Scholastic Store at their annual Halloween Costume Parade in Soho, followed by a blood-making lab, Goosebumps Wii game, and fun prizes. The next day, continue the festivities at the Annual Halloween Party, complete with live music, a costume conga, and an appearance from Clifford the Big Red Dog. Karma Kids Yoga will be on deck providing entertainment, along with a mini-dance class sponsored by Gymboree. You’ll need the exercise to work off the “monster cupcakes” you and your little one will be decorating throughout the day! scholastic.com
October 28
It’s time for Central Park’s Halloween Parade and Pumpkin Sail! Don your scariest disguise and strut your stuff, then bring your best carved pumpkin to the city’s largest flotilla. As the day of Halloween fanfare fades into twilight, the sight of glowing, grinning pumpkins bobbing down the lake will raise some goose bumps. centralparknyc.org
October 28
Bring the kids costumed up for The Queens County Farm Museum’s Fall Festival, where the family can enjoy sack races, hunt for trinkets in the haystack, dance to Western country music, and fill up with goodies from crafts and food vendors. Tip: Stick around after the fall fest for the kids’ Haunted House that has just the right amount of scare. queensfarm.org
October 28
Celebrate Halloween with a bat’s eye view at the Top of the Rock observation deck at Rockefeller Center. The family is cordially invited to a day of magic shows, sweet treats, and freaky festivities. Let the sky shuttle carry you up to the highest Halloween happenings in the city. topoftherocknyc.com
October 28
Childbirth expert Birth Day Presence is celebrating their 10th Anniversary with a spooky THE Birth Day Party bash, complete with a Halloween costume contest and maternity/newborn clothing swap. Exciting guests included Mama Glow’s Latham Thomos and local kids favorite Amelia/Mil’s Trills ukelele band. Tickets at eventbrite.com
October 28
Join the Morningside Montessori School for their annual Fall Festival. The free festivities kick off with a Moey’s Music Party concert with puppets and bubbles, which will be followed by ghost and goblin bowling, pumpkin decorating, face painting, doughnuts, and a haunted house tour. All Fall Festival proceeds go to the Morningside Montessori scholarship fund. Rain date: November 4. morningsidemontessori.org
October 28
Hudson River Park’s Pier 46 will host their 4th Annual Halloween Kidz Karnival. The free event will feature mask decorating, face painting, yummy cotton candy, rides, and improv shows from the Story Pirates. Geared for ages 2 through 8. Select activities are $2. hudsonriverpark.org
October 28
Washington Market Park’s annual Halloween Parade and Party is always a hit with kids. Dress up and enjoy free games, arts and crafts, a hay maze, a bone dig in the sandbox, and a live performance by Princess Katie and Racer Steve. Event is rain or shine. washingtonmarketpark.org
October 25-28, 30 & 31
As part of their Grinch Holiday Workshop, the Children’s Museum of Manhattan is presenting a Spooktacular Halloween Festival complete with magic shows, theatrical performances, and craft projects. Your child will love creating double-sided Grinch masks that reflect both sides of the character’s personality as well as making Who-Ville Halloween hats in true Seussian style. Be sure to stop by the museum on Sunday, when Justin the Magic Magician will be performing a Halloween-themed magic show. cmom.org
The American Museum of Natural History is dedicating a whopping thirty halls to trick-or-treating, crafts, and more at its annual Halloween Sleepover. Costumed kiddies can dance to performances from hit stars and possibly even get the chance to hang with big-screen cartoon characters. (Registration open through October 13.) amnh.org
October 31
Just because it’s your baby’s first Halloween doesn’t mean he or she can’t partake in spooky fun. For babies 0-12 months and their parents, Mommybites’ Baby’s First Halloween Party presents a Little Maestros performance, light snacks, and bonding time with other new moms and dads. Make sure you dress to impress for chance to win costume contest prizes! mommybites.com
October 31
Garbed in their Halloween gear, kids will have a screaming fun time at Asphalt Green’s 2nd Annual Asphalt Screams! bash. A heart-pounding tour of a haunted house, heart-racing games of Zombie Freeze Tag, Maniacal Martial Arts, Mummy Basketball, and a Monster Ball with treats and refreshments for all the little ghouls and ghosts–what could be more creeptastic than that? asphaltgreen.org/screams
October 31
Park Slope is known far and wide for its Fright Night festitivites. Costumed kids and their parents can join the festivities in the Park Slope Civic Council Halloween Parade, begining at 14th Street and caravaning down 7th Avenue to Third Street. The fanfare culminates in revelry, refreshments, and sweets at the Old Stone House. Stick around afterward to trick-or-treat at the infamously decorated Park Slope brownstones. (Tip: ditch the stroller and hit the side streets.) parkslopeciviccouncil.org
October 31
Fantastical creatures, ghoulish ghosts and goblins, puppets, and pied pipers alike will convene once again for the great Greenwich Village Halloween Parade. Don yourselves in your most garish costumes, and join the magical mayhem. The parade line up begins on 6th Avenue south of Spring Street and north of Canal between 6:30pm and 8:30pm. halloween-nyc.com
October 31
Deck your children out in their Halloween finest as they follow bagpipers the on actual Halloween day. This parade kicks off at the Solder’s Monument at 89 Street & Rivderside Drive and ends in Hippo Park, where free cider and donuts await. riversideparkfund.org
