Bornheim and Ostend share a district on the east side of the city, and there's more here for kids than the cafés along Berger Straße suggest. This list pulls together the places and events we've found across both neighborhoods, from rainy-day indoor picks to outdoor plans, so you can fill a morning without crossing town.
Two dancers from the Belgian company tout petit share the stage with a set of unusual viewing objects made by artist Ief Spincemaille. Kids first watch the dancers play with how things look from different angles, then get up and try the objects and the moves themselves.
There are no spoken words, so no German is needed. It suits curious preschoolers who like to move as much as watch.
On St. Martin's Day, kids across Germany carry glowing lanterns through dark streets, singing songs their parents still know by heart.
In Frankfurt, parishes lead short neighborhood walks, and some have St. Martin riding ahead on horseback. Several end at a bonfire with Martinswecken, sweet buns shared in honor of the soldier who split his cloak with a beggar.
A girl arrives in a new city and wonders if she belongs. Somewhere, a zebra has been spotted. As the two wander through the crowds, the city builds itself around them like a life-size pop-up picture book, with music and surprising transformations.
A Scottish-German premiere by TheaterGrueneSosse and Tortoise in a Nutshell, played with very little spoken German, so kids still learning the language can follow along.
A classic circus in a big-top tent that sets up in Frankfurt every Christmas, now in its 13th edition. The 2026 show is headlined by Nomuna, a 14-person teeterboard troupe from Mongolia that won a Silver Clown at this year's Monte-Carlo circus festival.
Around them: the Bello Sisters' hand-balancing act, an aerial ring duo, a fast juggler and a knife-and-crossbow pair. Best for kids who can sit through a long show.
Larifari plays handmade indie pop and disco funk for kids and grown-ups together, with electric guitars and gentle vocals. The hall has no seats, so everyone can dance, sing and join in. The songs are about not letting anyone talk you down and never losing your courage, with diversity and inclusion built in.
This time the band plays with Tonstudio 13, a project of Gesamtkunstwerk e.V. from Dortmund.
A yearly Advent tradition at Zoo Frankfurt. Inside the bird halls, kids make handmade gifts for family and friends, while parents have mulled wine and cookies nearby.
It fits into a regular zoo day: craft for a while, then head back out to the animals. Best for preschool and primary-school kids who like making things; teens will find it young.
Waiting for the Christkind can feel endless, so Zoo Frankfurt gives kids something to do with their hands. Together with the animal keepers, they craft tasty presents for some of the zoo animals.
Then they stay to watch the animals enjoy their special meal. It suits kids who like animals and making things.
The Grosser Rat, the umbrella group of Frankfurt's carnival clubs, puts on a Fastnacht afternoon made for kids. On stage, children host and dance in costume, and the city's Kinderprinzenpaar and Prinzenpaar make an appearance.
Around the hall there's face painting, a balloon artist, game stations and a Bobby Car race. It suits kids who like dressing up and noise. Costumes for kids and adults are welcome.
Dippemess is Frankfurt's big traditional funfair, held twice a year on the fairground next to the Eissporthalle. Kids ride classic carousels, spinning rides, a roller coaster and the Ferris wheel, which looks out over the city at dusk.
Between rides there's cotton candy, crêpes and candied almonds. It suits kids who love rides and can handle noise, bright lights and evening crowds.
A paint-your-own-pottery studio with more than 300 blank ceramic pieces to choose from, from mugs and plates to animal figures. Staff show the basic glazing techniques, kids help themselves to paints and brushes, and the studio fires the finished piece for pickup on a set date.
There are also clay classes, including a family session where kids of any age build small projects by hand.
The Ebbelwei-Express is a 1950s tram painted inside and out as a traveling cider pub, with cartoon artwork and seats for 22. It runs a one-hour loop from the Zoo past the Römer, the main station, the trade fair and Sachsenhausen. Every rider gets a bottle of apple juice, water or cider and a bag of pretzels. No guide rides along, but the website has an audio tour.
KiBi is the city library's central branch for children and teens, on the ground floor of the Saalbau Bornheim. Shelves run from picture books and non-fiction to magazines and children's books in other languages.
Teens get their own TeenLounge with console games, DVDs and manga, and the weekly TechnoTHEK lets kids try hands-on tech kits alongside a parent.
An indoor mini golf course where 18 holes run through rooms of graffiti painted in UV neon paint and lit by blacklight. Special 3D glasses make the walls pop and the ball seem to float over obstacles. Holes include an XXL loop, pinball-style lanes and play across two floors. It suits school-age kids; the holes get tricky for younger ones.
Hafenpark is a 40,000-square-meter park on the Main riverbank, right below the European Central Bank tower. Its Concrete Jungle skate park draws amateur and pro skaters, and a second, smaller skate area is set aside for kids.
Around it sit basketball, volleyball, badminton and soccer courts, a climbing course, playgrounds, outdoor fitness equipment, and open lawns with wide wooden loungers for picnics.
Ostpark is the second-largest park in the city: 32 hectares of open lawns and old alders, poplars and willows around a 4.2-hectare pond. Geese, swans and coots crowd the reedy banks, and wild rabbits dart across the grass.
Kids can find their way through a maze, cross wooden bridges on the loop path, kick a ball on the hard courts or shoot hoops, and there are two playgrounds.
A former Rothschild estate, opened as a public park in 1892, with old, dense trees in the south and wide lawns to the north. Kids head for the water play area with its spray field and for the adventure playground. Look for the life-size copper bull from 1910 on the west side.
Each summer the Stoffel open-air festival fills the park with concerts, a night flea market and a kids' program.
The city-run ice rink joins a large indoor rink, a smaller beginner rink and a 400-meter outdoor ring around the stadium into one connected sheet of ice, the largest in Germany. Boards line the indoor rinks, so first-timers have something to hold. Skates rent on site in sizes 23 to 50, the shop sells gliders for very young skaters, and the Cool Running bar has snacks.
Main Bad Bornheim is the Frankfurter Bäder leisure pool next to the Ostpark. Kids head for the 74-meter tube slide and the wide slide, then the spray park with jets, a water tree, a cascade and a tipping bucket. Toddlers get their own splash pool.
There is also a warm bubble pool, plus a 25-meter pool with a movable floor, a 1-meter board and a 3-meter platform for confident swimmers.
Frankfurt Zoo packs more than 450 species into 11 hectares, from gorillas, bonobos and orangutans in the Borgori Forest ape house to seals, Humboldt penguins, giraffes and okapi outside. The Exotarium has a tropical rainforest pool and leafcutter ants, and the Grzimek House holds small animals like mouse lemurs and bats.
Kids can pet dwarf goats and run off steam on the big sand playground.
Bornheim and Ostend share a district on the east side of the city, and there's more here for kids than the cafés along Berger Straße suggest. This list pulls together the places and events we've found across both neighborhoods, from rainy-day indoor picks to outdoor plans, so you can fill a morning without crossing town.
Two dancers from the Belgian company tout petit share the stage with a set of unusual viewing objects made by artist Ief Spincemaille. Kids first watch the dancers play with how things look from different angles, then get up and try the objects and the moves themselves.
There are no spoken words, so no German is needed. It suits curious preschoolers who like to move as much as watch.
On St. Martin's Day, kids across Germany carry glowing lanterns through dark streets, singing songs their parents still know by heart.
In Frankfurt, parishes lead short neighborhood walks, and some have St. Martin riding ahead on horseback. Several end at a bonfire with Martinswecken, sweet buns shared in honor of the soldier who split his cloak with a beggar.
A girl arrives in a new city and wonders if she belongs. Somewhere, a zebra has been spotted. As the two wander through the crowds, the city builds itself around them like a life-size pop-up picture book, with music and surprising transformations.
A Scottish-German premiere by TheaterGrueneSosse and Tortoise in a Nutshell, played with very little spoken German, so kids still learning the language can follow along.
A classic circus in a big-top tent that sets up in Frankfurt every Christmas, now in its 13th edition. The 2026 show is headlined by Nomuna, a 14-person teeterboard troupe from Mongolia that won a Silver Clown at this year's Monte-Carlo circus festival.
Around them: the Bello Sisters' hand-balancing act, an aerial ring duo, a fast juggler and a knife-and-crossbow pair. Best for kids who can sit through a long show.
Larifari plays handmade indie pop and disco funk for kids and grown-ups together, with electric guitars and gentle vocals. The hall has no seats, so everyone can dance, sing and join in. The songs are about not letting anyone talk you down and never losing your courage, with diversity and inclusion built in.
This time the band plays with Tonstudio 13, a project of Gesamtkunstwerk e.V. from Dortmund.
A yearly Advent tradition at Zoo Frankfurt. Inside the bird halls, kids make handmade gifts for family and friends, while parents have mulled wine and cookies nearby.
It fits into a regular zoo day: craft for a while, then head back out to the animals. Best for preschool and primary-school kids who like making things; teens will find it young.
Waiting for the Christkind can feel endless, so Zoo Frankfurt gives kids something to do with their hands. Together with the animal keepers, they craft tasty presents for some of the zoo animals.
Then they stay to watch the animals enjoy their special meal. It suits kids who like animals and making things.
The Grosser Rat, the umbrella group of Frankfurt's carnival clubs, puts on a Fastnacht afternoon made for kids. On stage, children host and dance in costume, and the city's Kinderprinzenpaar and Prinzenpaar make an appearance.
Around the hall there's face painting, a balloon artist, game stations and a Bobby Car race. It suits kids who like dressing up and noise. Costumes for kids and adults are welcome.
Dippemess is Frankfurt's big traditional funfair, held twice a year on the fairground next to the Eissporthalle. Kids ride classic carousels, spinning rides, a roller coaster and the Ferris wheel, which looks out over the city at dusk.
Between rides there's cotton candy, crêpes and candied almonds. It suits kids who love rides and can handle noise, bright lights and evening crowds.
A paint-your-own-pottery studio with more than 300 blank ceramic pieces to choose from, from mugs and plates to animal figures. Staff show the basic glazing techniques, kids help themselves to paints and brushes, and the studio fires the finished piece for pickup on a set date.
There are also clay classes, including a family session where kids of any age build small projects by hand.
The Ebbelwei-Express is a 1950s tram painted inside and out as a traveling cider pub, with cartoon artwork and seats for 22. It runs a one-hour loop from the Zoo past the Römer, the main station, the trade fair and Sachsenhausen. Every rider gets a bottle of apple juice, water or cider and a bag of pretzels. No guide rides along, but the website has an audio tour.
KiBi is the city library's central branch for children and teens, on the ground floor of the Saalbau Bornheim. Shelves run from picture books and non-fiction to magazines and children's books in other languages.
Teens get their own TeenLounge with console games, DVDs and manga, and the weekly TechnoTHEK lets kids try hands-on tech kits alongside a parent.
An indoor mini golf course where 18 holes run through rooms of graffiti painted in UV neon paint and lit by blacklight. Special 3D glasses make the walls pop and the ball seem to float over obstacles. Holes include an XXL loop, pinball-style lanes and play across two floors. It suits school-age kids; the holes get tricky for younger ones.
Hafenpark is a 40,000-square-meter park on the Main riverbank, right below the European Central Bank tower. Its Concrete Jungle skate park draws amateur and pro skaters, and a second, smaller skate area is set aside for kids.
Around it sit basketball, volleyball, badminton and soccer courts, a climbing course, playgrounds, outdoor fitness equipment, and open lawns with wide wooden loungers for picnics.
Ostpark is the second-largest park in the city: 32 hectares of open lawns and old alders, poplars and willows around a 4.2-hectare pond. Geese, swans and coots crowd the reedy banks, and wild rabbits dart across the grass.
Kids can find their way through a maze, cross wooden bridges on the loop path, kick a ball on the hard courts or shoot hoops, and there are two playgrounds.
A former Rothschild estate, opened as a public park in 1892, with old, dense trees in the south and wide lawns to the north. Kids head for the water play area with its spray field and for the adventure playground. Look for the life-size copper bull from 1910 on the west side.
Each summer the Stoffel open-air festival fills the park with concerts, a night flea market and a kids' program.
The city-run ice rink joins a large indoor rink, a smaller beginner rink and a 400-meter outdoor ring around the stadium into one connected sheet of ice, the largest in Germany. Boards line the indoor rinks, so first-timers have something to hold. Skates rent on site in sizes 23 to 50, the shop sells gliders for very young skaters, and the Cool Running bar has snacks.
Main Bad Bornheim is the Frankfurter Bäder leisure pool next to the Ostpark. Kids head for the 74-meter tube slide and the wide slide, then the spray park with jets, a water tree, a cascade and a tipping bucket. Toddlers get their own splash pool.
There is also a warm bubble pool, plus a 25-meter pool with a movable floor, a 1-meter board and a 3-meter platform for confident swimmers.
Frankfurt Zoo packs more than 450 species into 11 hectares, from gorillas, bonobos and orangutans in the Borgori Forest ape house to seals, Humboldt penguins, giraffes and okapi outside. The Exotarium has a tropical rainforest pool and leafcutter ants, and the Grzimek House holds small animals like mouse lemurs and bats.
Kids can pet dwarf goats and run off steam on the big sand playground.
