13 Fun Things to Do with Kids in Brooklyn this May

Looking for fun things to do with your kids in Brooklyn this May? Our list includes the County Fair in Marine Park, a Cajun music festival in Columbia Heights, a fun concert in Prospect Heights, and more family events throughout the borough.

'In the Garden' at BAM

BAM’s Fisher Theater, Fort Greene

May 3-5

BAMfamily's In the Garden surrounds kids in a vast multimedia world based on theater. Presented by Spain’s Teatro Paraiso Antzerkia and Belgium’s Theatre de la Guimbarde, the narrative tells of a man and woman who encounter a cloth stuck in a forest’s trees. This object becomes a blank canvas, a tabula rasa of sorts, in which videos, shadowplay, illustrations, and drawings are displayed. Through interaction with the audience, and children in particular, wonderful and spontaneous things happen. The program is designed for preschoolers, and who knows what they’ll come up with!

Sugar Free Allstars in Concert

Brooklyn Public Library, central branch, Prospect Heights

May 4

Lots of kindie rock bands pass through our fair borough, and as cool as this whole “rock the cradle” thing is, it can be a bit overwhelming. But the Sugar Free Allstars might sell you with its mission statement: “Imagine that Deep Purple and Sly and the Family Stone had a love child that grew up in New Orleans listening to Ray Charles, Black Sabbath, and Booker T. and the MGs.” The band is essentially an organ and drum duo that lately has been laying down grooves for kids and families. If you’ve ever heard classic organ trios playing soul, gospel, and R&B, you know it’s energetic and infectious music that’s ripe for dancing. But here’s hoping your budding kindie rocker doesn’t ask you for a 500-pound Hammond B-3 organ after an afternoon with the Allstars. FREE!

A Brooklyn Navy Yard Adventure and Tour

Brooklyn Navy Yard Center at Building 92, Vinegar Hill

May 4 and 27

The Brooklyn Navy Yard is a hulking reminder of NYC’s past glory days as a mecca of industry, particularly as seen from the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway. Indeed, if you look at old photos of the Navy Yard, the skyline’s smokestacks are billowing as factories—which have since been converted into mega-priced condominiums—churned out everything from navy boats to Checker automobiles and Domino sugar. The Brooklyn Navy Yard employed hundreds of thousands of men and women to build vessels like the USS Arizona (the vessel destroyed in the Pearl Harbor attack) and the USS Missouri (on which the US and Japan signed the peace treaty that ended World War II). The Yard’s industrial might remains visible today via industrial cranes, dry docks, boat-making artifacts, architecture, and more. And during Inspector’s Tour: A Brooklyn Navy Yard Adventure, kids and their grownups can engage in a hands-on scavenger hunt that yields perspective on the city’s past.

Celebrate Mother's Day

Crown Heights, Gowanus, Prospect Park, Wiliamsburg, and beyond

Throughout May

Don’t forget Mother’s Day; you’ll feel guilty. Plus, Mom deserves the attention and respect. Brooklyn is teeming with things to do on and for Mom’s big day: Check out our list of 22 fun Mother’s Day activities in NYC, including 6 family events in Brooklyn.

Bayou-N-Brooklyn Music Festival

Jalopy Theatre and School of Music, Columbia Heights

May 10-12

Zydeco music, native to Louisiana, features a two-step rhythm driven by rollicking accordions, washboards, fiddles, spoons, and guitars, all of which makes it the perfect party music for kids to shake around to. The Bayou-N-Brooklyn Music Festival celebrates all things zydeco, Cajun, and Louisiana—a culture that’s uniquely regional and American. The three-day festival offers performances for all ages as well as workshops about Cajun guitar, fiddle, and accordion; opportunities to learn Cajun dance; community jam sessions; and a jambalaya dinner. Performers include Megan Brown, Christine Balfa, and Ed Pouilliard. All said, this is a family affair that offers a taste of Louisiana without leaving Brooklyn.