Lichtenberg sits east of the center, with a huge landscape zoo, a theater that makes shows only for young audiences, and neighborhood libraries that run kids' workshops. This list gathers the district's kids' plans as they come up, from animal tours to preschool theater and craft sessions. It refreshes on its own as new dates go up, so check it before the weekend.
A Christmas funfair on Landsberger Allee with 26 rides, from a 45-meter Ferris wheel with enclosed gondolas to the 85-meter Lion Tower drop and the new Crazy Roulette. Twelve are family and kids' rides, including a mini roller coaster, carousels and a fire-fighter fun house. Younger kids will be happiest there and on the Ferris wheel; the big thrill rides suit older kids and teens.
Der schaurige Schusch is a puppet play set on the lonely Dogglspitz mountain, where a grumpy marmot, a shy chicken, a party-loving rabbit and their neighbors are sure the newcomer moving in will be gruesome. None of them has met him yet.
It's a story about prejudice and curiosity, played by one performer with puppets and music. It suits kids who can follow a story told in German.
A new retelling of Pinocchio by playwright Philipp Löhle, staged as a musical family play. Woodcarver Geppetto wants a child, and the puppet he carves wakes up and races off to school, distracted by the fox and the cat and a toy land where anything goes. Geppetto has to set out after him. A story about parents as much as kids.
A new musical play from Theater an der Parkaue (Chaos der Gefühle) about what love feels like. A question mark goes looking for answers and meets a cloud floating around in love, a hyper hormone, a candy-loving strawberry and Frustration.
It is funny, full of songs written for the show, and lands on self-love and the courage to ask questions. Suits kids starting to notice crushes.
Ich & Herr Meyer are two bald musicians who have spent ten years making songs for kids and their parents. They sing and rap in German about everyday family life: small injustices between siblings, the freedom of a stay with Grandma and Grandpa, AI, and a first crush.
Some songs take on climate and sustainability too. It suits kids who like pop and hip-hop more than nursery songs.
Kids and grown-ups don't sit and watch here: they share the stage with four professional krump dancers and help decide how the piece unfolds.
Krump is a street dance born in Los Angeles as a response to inequality, built on community and backing each other. Choreographer Janne Gregor turns it into a group game, so every show comes out different. A good fit for movers, less so for shy watchers.
D!E GÄNG is a kids' band that plays hip-hop, dancehall and ska, the music plenty of parents grew up on. Singer Ben Pavlidis (of Ohrbooten) started writing the songs with his daughter Chaja as a family project, and two albums later Chaja and Luna, no longer small kids themselves, front the band on stage.
Expect a loud, bouncy concert where the whole family is meant to get up and dance.
Kemi gets sent to a forest summer camp with half his class, including Marko, who turns kids into outsiders just because he can. When Marko targets Kemi's cabinmate Jörg, Kemi has to choose between staying quiet and stepping in.
Saša Stanišić's prize-winning novel becomes a big ensemble show with dance, a turning stage and a wolf with glowing eyes. It suits kids ready to talk about bullying afterward.
Germany's only nationwide performing arts festival for young audiences, held every two years since 1991. Ten productions from across the country include a toddler piece about a baobab tree, a monster show, a dance work and teen dramas. Some are made for the youngest viewers, others for 12 and up.
Theater an der Parkaue is Berlin's state theater for young audiences, with three stages and two studios under one roof. The program runs from short plays for preschoolers to teen dramas, dance and talks, and most shows are in German.
Kids can also make theater themselves in the Planet P clubs and workshops. Some performances are audio-described, signed or run as relaxed performances.
Ostbloc is a bouldering hall of over 1,000 square meters by the Rummelsburger Bucht, open since 2010. Bouldering means climbing at jump-off height with no ropes or harness, over thick mats, at every difficulty level.
Kids under 8 have their own Kinderland area. Under-12s who want the main mats first take the Boulderführerschein, a course done with a parent that covers the hall rules.
Tierpark Berlin spreads across 160 hectares of parkland around the 18th-century Friedrichsfelde manor house, making it Europe's largest animal park. Kids can watch tigers in the renovated Alfred Brehm House, spot red pandas and snow leopards on a cloud-forest trail, and see giraffes and zebras on an African savanna.
Between animals there's a petting zoo with goats and ponies, a seaside-themed water play area, and the Fabelwald woodland playground.
Lichtenberg sits east of the center, with a huge landscape zoo, a theater that makes shows only for young audiences, and neighborhood libraries that run kids' workshops. This list gathers the district's kids' plans as they come up, from animal tours to preschool theater and craft sessions. It refreshes on its own as new dates go up, so check it before the weekend.
A Christmas funfair on Landsberger Allee with 26 rides, from a 45-meter Ferris wheel with enclosed gondolas to the 85-meter Lion Tower drop and the new Crazy Roulette. Twelve are family and kids' rides, including a mini roller coaster, carousels and a fire-fighter fun house. Younger kids will be happiest there and on the Ferris wheel; the big thrill rides suit older kids and teens.
Der schaurige Schusch is a puppet play set on the lonely Dogglspitz mountain, where a grumpy marmot, a shy chicken, a party-loving rabbit and their neighbors are sure the newcomer moving in will be gruesome. None of them has met him yet.
It's a story about prejudice and curiosity, played by one performer with puppets and music. It suits kids who can follow a story told in German.
A new retelling of Pinocchio by playwright Philipp Löhle, staged as a musical family play. Woodcarver Geppetto wants a child, and the puppet he carves wakes up and races off to school, distracted by the fox and the cat and a toy land where anything goes. Geppetto has to set out after him. A story about parents as much as kids.
A new musical play from Theater an der Parkaue (Chaos der Gefühle) about what love feels like. A question mark goes looking for answers and meets a cloud floating around in love, a hyper hormone, a candy-loving strawberry and Frustration.
It is funny, full of songs written for the show, and lands on self-love and the courage to ask questions. Suits kids starting to notice crushes.
Ich & Herr Meyer are two bald musicians who have spent ten years making songs for kids and their parents. They sing and rap in German about everyday family life: small injustices between siblings, the freedom of a stay with Grandma and Grandpa, AI, and a first crush.
Some songs take on climate and sustainability too. It suits kids who like pop and hip-hop more than nursery songs.
Kids and grown-ups don't sit and watch here: they share the stage with four professional krump dancers and help decide how the piece unfolds.
Krump is a street dance born in Los Angeles as a response to inequality, built on community and backing each other. Choreographer Janne Gregor turns it into a group game, so every show comes out different. A good fit for movers, less so for shy watchers.
D!E GÄNG is a kids' band that plays hip-hop, dancehall and ska, the music plenty of parents grew up on. Singer Ben Pavlidis (of Ohrbooten) started writing the songs with his daughter Chaja as a family project, and two albums later Chaja and Luna, no longer small kids themselves, front the band on stage.
Expect a loud, bouncy concert where the whole family is meant to get up and dance.
Kemi gets sent to a forest summer camp with half his class, including Marko, who turns kids into outsiders just because he can. When Marko targets Kemi's cabinmate Jörg, Kemi has to choose between staying quiet and stepping in.
Saša Stanišić's prize-winning novel becomes a big ensemble show with dance, a turning stage and a wolf with glowing eyes. It suits kids ready to talk about bullying afterward.
Germany's only nationwide performing arts festival for young audiences, held every two years since 1991. Ten productions from across the country include a toddler piece about a baobab tree, a monster show, a dance work and teen dramas. Some are made for the youngest viewers, others for 12 and up.
Theater an der Parkaue is Berlin's state theater for young audiences, with three stages and two studios under one roof. The program runs from short plays for preschoolers to teen dramas, dance and talks, and most shows are in German.
Kids can also make theater themselves in the Planet P clubs and workshops. Some performances are audio-described, signed or run as relaxed performances.
Ostbloc is a bouldering hall of over 1,000 square meters by the Rummelsburger Bucht, open since 2010. Bouldering means climbing at jump-off height with no ropes or harness, over thick mats, at every difficulty level.
Kids under 8 have their own Kinderland area. Under-12s who want the main mats first take the Boulderführerschein, a course done with a parent that covers the hall rules.
Tierpark Berlin spreads across 160 hectares of parkland around the 18th-century Friedrichsfelde manor house, making it Europe's largest animal park. Kids can watch tigers in the renovated Alfred Brehm House, spot red pandas and snow leopards on a cloud-forest trail, and see giraffes and zebras on an African savanna.
Between animals there's a petting zoo with goats and ponies, a seaside-themed water play area, and the Fabelwald woodland playground.
