Free weekend coming up and no plan yet? This is our running list of kids' events happening in the next month: museum workshops, theater, sports days and seasonal parties. It updates itself as new dates come in and past ones drop off, so it's worth a look before every weekend.
St. Martin's Day is when German kids carry lanterns through dark streets singing "Ich geh mit meiner Laterne". Most parades start at a church with a short service or the story of Martin sharing his cloak, then walk the neighborhood with brass music, sometimes behind St. Martin on horseback.
Some end at a Martin's fire with sweet bread and kids' punch. Nobody needs German to walk along.
An empty room, two performers and a heap of pillows. That is all this children's theater piece starts with, and from there it spins a playful collage of dream, nonsense and make-believe, with plenty of feathers and mischief along the way.
A sign language interpreter is part of the show, so deaf and hearing kids can watch together. Performed by Birte Hebold of Figurentheater Eigentlich and Sarah Wissner.
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.
An ecumenical St. Martin celebration put on by the parish at St. Josef church in Höchst.
After the service, families head outside and kids carry their lanterns in a procession to Schlossplatz. The service is in German, but the lantern walk needs no German at all, so it suits any family with a kid and a lantern.
The Martinsfeuer marks St. Martin's Day with a big bonfire, warm drinks and the story of the soldier who cut his cloak in half for a freezing beggar. Here, kids from the Günthersburg adventure playground tell that story as a shadow play, a church brass choir plays, and little ones ride a kids' carousel. The organizers call it Frankfurt's biggest Martinsfeuer, now in its 30th year.
A pirate and a tapir open an old steamer trunk, and out come pop-up scenes, paper figures and cardboard worlds. Each one sets off a new game with words: rhymes, tongue twisters, puns and anagrams.
It suits kids who like word games and silly sounds. Because the fun lives in German wordplay, it works best for kids who understand German well.
A guided walk through Opel-Zoo in the autumn dusk, lanterns in hand. The group heads out to visit the animals as the light fades, and anyone who wants to can sing lantern songs along the way, with music to go with them.
Kids can bring their own lantern from home. It suits kindergarten and grade-school kids who can manage a longer walk outdoors as it gets dark.
The wind stops, two fairies lose the power to fly, and they land on earth with no way home. Dancer and clown Margie King and dancer-actor Katrin Schyns tell the story almost entirely through movement, so it works for kids who are just starting to talk.
It is a gentle first theater visit for toddlers and preschoolers. Older school kids may find it slow.
A hands-on workshop at EXPERIMINTA, Frankfurt's science center, built around air and air pressure. Kids measure how fast things fall, build rockets that fly on the recoil principle, and make chocolate marshmallow treats (Schaumküsse) burst.
It starts from questions kids ask, like why nobody falls off a round Earth and how a metal plane can fly. Good for curious kids who like to build and test things.
An ecumenical St. Martin's celebration at St. Bartholomäus church in Zeilsheim, with a Martinsspiel, the St. Martin's play. Afterward everyone sets off together on a lantern procession.
Kids bring their own lantern and carry it on the walk. The service and play are in German, so it suits families happy to follow along in German, and kindergarten and primary-age kids most of all.
Henni Nachtsheim reads from his book De Grüffelo auf Hessisch, the Gruffalo story told in Hessian dialect. He also reads from the classic Grüffelo and, if time allows, from Die Oma vom Grüffelo, the newest book by Axel Scheffler. A book signing follows.
It suits kids who already know the story and follow German well. The dialect can be hard going for families still learning the language.
Fredrik Vahle is one of the songwriters who shaped the modern German children's song, the man behind "Anne Kaffeekanne" and "Der Katzentatzentanz". This year he plays with his band, and the concert is built for singing along and dancing.
It's in the Festsaal, the grand hall of the Palmengarten's Gesellschaftshaus. The songs are in German, so it suits kids who know some German nursery songs.
Two odd characters wander into a black-and-white room full of objects that might be art. They touch everything anyway. Then the music starts: four minimal pieces by Steve Reich and Terry Riley, each turning into a scene. Birds clatter a rhythm to get fed, rubber-boot animals gather at a watering hole, and the room changes.
A first taste of minimal music for preschoolers who like rhythm and play.
In the Grand Hotel, the instruments of four visiting musicians vanish without a trace, and soon nobody can keep track of anything. Who is behind the thefts?
The Federspiel ensemble tells the whole story without words, through humor, misunderstandings and plenty of live music. Kids follow it by watching and listening, so it suits families who speak no German and children who like a bit of chaos on stage.
A hands-on printing workshop where kids and parents make Hanukkah greeting cards together. Using a few different printing techniques, families print menorahs, candles and other symbols of the Jewish festival of lights, and pick up the story and customs of Hanukkah along the way.
No printing experience needed. Everyone takes their cards home, ready to give to grandparents, teachers or friends.
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.
EXPERIMINTA, Frankfurt's hands-on science center in Bockenheim, runs an evening show series called Nacht im Museum, and the December edition has a Christmas theme.
The Scientastic team puts on big, showy experiments, and some kids get called up on stage to help. It suits school-age kids who like their science loud and bright, and who can stay sharp past their usual bedtime.
A drop-off workshop at the Senckenberg built around one question: did dinosaurs have scales or feathers? Kids start with a guided look at the skeletons and what they reveal about color and body shape, then make their own dino models together.
It is part of the museum's monthly Expedition Museum series. Kids take part without a parent, so it suits curious kids who are happy in a group.
A steam locomotive pulls heated historic carriages from the old Dotzheim station in Wiesbaden, along the southern end of the Aartalbahn line and on to Frankfurt-Höchst, then back the same way after a short stop to turn around. St. Nicholas walks the train handing small gifts to the children. The volunteer Nassauische Touristik-Bahn runs it, and it suits train-mad kids and families after an easy December outing.
A hands-on family workshop in the Jewish Museum's Studio Aleph. Kids and adults bake sufganiyot together, the sweet-filled doughnuts fried in oil that Jewish families eat at Hanukkah to recall the miracle of the oil.
Along the way, children learn the festival's customs through play, and everyone takes the recipe home. No baking experience needed, so it suits curious first-timers as well as families who already celebrate.
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.
The Frankfurter Feldbahnmuseum looks after field railways: the small narrow-gauge trains once used on building sites, farms and in industry. On running days its historic trains carry families through Rebstockpark.
The St. Nicholas edition is the museum's last running day of the year. One ticket covers as many rides as you like, so kids can get off to look at the engines and ride again.
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.
Schneekönigin is a stage musical of The Snow Queen fairy tale, sung and spoken in German, put on for families at the Jahrhunderthalle.
It suits kids who already follow a story in German and can sit through a full-length show. Children who don't understand German will get less from it, since the songs and dialogue carry the plot.
A Sunday morning boat trip on the Main with a play on board. Families board early for breakfast, then the ship heads out and the Märchentheater Aschaffenburg performs the Grimm tale of the hare and the hedgehog, pulling kids into the story at points.
Parents eat and watch the river slide past the panorama windows. It suits preschoolers and young school-age kids who can sit through a short play.
A big special exhibition on dragons, told through art and science together. European dragon-slayer paintings sit beside East Asian sky dragons, along with fossils and animal specimens that may have fed the old stories.
Kids follow their own trail with Naseheiß, the museum dragon, using an activity booklet to hunt down six dragons. A reading corner and a drawing wall give younger visitors a break between rooms.
Humperdinck's fairy-tale opera, staged by Keith Warner. Two siblings get lost in the woods and meet a gingerbread-house witch, and the Frankfurt Opera Children's Choir joins in. It is sung in German with German and English surtitles, so kids who know the Grimm story can follow along. Best for kids who can sit through a full opera.
A small Christmas market at the edge of the Stadtwald, right under the Goetheturm, Sachsenhausen's wooden lookout tower. Stalls sell crepes, roasted chestnuts, potato pancakes, raclette and hot apple wine, alongside handmade crafts like glass-bead jewelry and lambskins.
For kids there is a carousel, and the big forest play park sits next door, so it suits families who want a run-around between snacks.
An outdoor ice rink in the Kurpark, set in front of the historic Kaiser-Wilhelms-Bad, with the decorated Brunnenallee and a huge Christmas tree beside it. Kids can take their first wobbly laps or practice spins.
Families can also book a lane for Eisstockschießen, a German curling game played in teams of four or five. A chalet next to the rink sells hot drinks and warm snacks.
The Kinderweihnachtsmarkt is the kids' corner of the Frankfurt Christmas market, set on the Mainkai just east of the Eiserner Steg.
Kids get a mix of hands-on activities and festive attractions, so it suits families who want a market stop built around the children. Parents can carry on to the rest of the Christmas market afterward.
Hanau's main Christmas market fills the Marktplatz around the Brothers Grimm monument with lit wooden stalls that smell of roasted almonds, grilled sausages and mulled wine.
For kids, the draw is the Ferris wheel and a two-level carousel, with local bands, brass bands and choirs on the Christmas stage. It is smaller and calmer than Frankfurt's Römerberg market, which suits a late-afternoon wander with younger kids.
Frankfurt's Christmas market runs as one long string of stalls through the old center, with a giant tree on Römerberg square. Kids ride the carousels, try Bethmännchen (marzipan with three almonds) and spot trees decorated by local children.
For families, the stretch to aim for is the kids' market on the Mainkai by the river, with a craft room, a historic carousel and a lit-up Christmas ship.
Wiesbaden's main Christmas market fills the square around the Marktkirche with close to 100 stalls of gifts, decorations, jewelry and crafts, plus more than 20 food stands pouring kids' punch and hot drinks. A stage in front of the town hall runs a program, and the city nativity scene stands by the big tree.
A short walk away, the separate kids' market adds an elves' forest, a train and a carousel.
Mainz's historic Christmas market fills the square in front of the 1,000-year-old cathedral and spills onto the Höfchen and Liebfrauenplatz, under painted Renaissance house fronts.
Kids head for the two old-fashioned carousels, the stalls of handmade toys, and the 11-meter Christmas pyramid crowded with Mainz figures, from a carnival jester to Gutenberg. The life-size carved nativity sits beside the cathedral. Go once the lights come on.
One of Germany's largest mobile ice rinks fills the Bowling Green lawn in front of Wiesbaden's Kurhaus each winter, with skaters looping around the two historic fountains on 100-meter laps.
Rental skates, skating aids for wobbly beginners and lockers are on site, and ice-stock lanes (Bavarian-style curling) sit right in front of the Kurhaus. It suits first-timers and confident skaters alike.
A Christmas market set in and around the walls of Bad Homburg's old landgraves' palace, with each courtyard decorated in its own style. Stalls mix regional food and drink with a large share of handmade crafts.
For kids there are treats, small program moments, a children's carousel and a real miniature steam train running at the foot of the White Tower.
A whole medieval castle turns into a Christmas market. Small stalls fill the rooms of Burg Ronneburg with crafts, gift ideas, waffles and mulled wine, and outside the walls a medieval market adds traders and craftspeople. A living nativity play tells the Christmas story.
It suits kids who like castles and costumes, and families happy to wander, browse and snack.
Hessenpark is an open-air museum of old Hessian farmhouses and workshops in the Taunus hills, and in Advent it dresses up for Christmas. Decorated parlors show how families once got ready for the holidays, the forge glows and the bakehouse smells of fresh baking. Kids can ride a steam train, watch a big Märklin model railway, craft ornaments and toast stick bread over fire pits.
An evening walk through Frankfurt's botanical garden, lit by about 30 light installations. Giant glowing moons, snowdrops and floating hearts hang over the paths and trees, with music, video projections and a few interactive light pieces along the way.
The route is outdoors and on foot, so it suits kids who can walk a while in the cold. Younger ones tend to like the big, bright shapes most.
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.
Free weekend coming up and no plan yet? This is our running list of kids' events happening in the next month: museum workshops, theater, sports days and seasonal parties. It updates itself as new dates come in and past ones drop off, so it's worth a look before every weekend.
St. Martin's Day is when German kids carry lanterns through dark streets singing "Ich geh mit meiner Laterne". Most parades start at a church with a short service or the story of Martin sharing his cloak, then walk the neighborhood with brass music, sometimes behind St. Martin on horseback.
Some end at a Martin's fire with sweet bread and kids' punch. Nobody needs German to walk along.
An empty room, two performers and a heap of pillows. That is all this children's theater piece starts with, and from there it spins a playful collage of dream, nonsense and make-believe, with plenty of feathers and mischief along the way.
A sign language interpreter is part of the show, so deaf and hearing kids can watch together. Performed by Birte Hebold of Figurentheater Eigentlich and Sarah Wissner.
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.
An ecumenical St. Martin celebration put on by the parish at St. Josef church in Höchst.
After the service, families head outside and kids carry their lanterns in a procession to Schlossplatz. The service is in German, but the lantern walk needs no German at all, so it suits any family with a kid and a lantern.
The Martinsfeuer marks St. Martin's Day with a big bonfire, warm drinks and the story of the soldier who cut his cloak in half for a freezing beggar. Here, kids from the Günthersburg adventure playground tell that story as a shadow play, a church brass choir plays, and little ones ride a kids' carousel. The organizers call it Frankfurt's biggest Martinsfeuer, now in its 30th year.
A pirate and a tapir open an old steamer trunk, and out come pop-up scenes, paper figures and cardboard worlds. Each one sets off a new game with words: rhymes, tongue twisters, puns and anagrams.
It suits kids who like word games and silly sounds. Because the fun lives in German wordplay, it works best for kids who understand German well.
A guided walk through Opel-Zoo in the autumn dusk, lanterns in hand. The group heads out to visit the animals as the light fades, and anyone who wants to can sing lantern songs along the way, with music to go with them.
Kids can bring their own lantern from home. It suits kindergarten and grade-school kids who can manage a longer walk outdoors as it gets dark.
The wind stops, two fairies lose the power to fly, and they land on earth with no way home. Dancer and clown Margie King and dancer-actor Katrin Schyns tell the story almost entirely through movement, so it works for kids who are just starting to talk.
It is a gentle first theater visit for toddlers and preschoolers. Older school kids may find it slow.
A hands-on workshop at EXPERIMINTA, Frankfurt's science center, built around air and air pressure. Kids measure how fast things fall, build rockets that fly on the recoil principle, and make chocolate marshmallow treats (Schaumküsse) burst.
It starts from questions kids ask, like why nobody falls off a round Earth and how a metal plane can fly. Good for curious kids who like to build and test things.
An ecumenical St. Martin's celebration at St. Bartholomäus church in Zeilsheim, with a Martinsspiel, the St. Martin's play. Afterward everyone sets off together on a lantern procession.
Kids bring their own lantern and carry it on the walk. The service and play are in German, so it suits families happy to follow along in German, and kindergarten and primary-age kids most of all.
Henni Nachtsheim reads from his book De Grüffelo auf Hessisch, the Gruffalo story told in Hessian dialect. He also reads from the classic Grüffelo and, if time allows, from Die Oma vom Grüffelo, the newest book by Axel Scheffler. A book signing follows.
It suits kids who already know the story and follow German well. The dialect can be hard going for families still learning the language.
Fredrik Vahle is one of the songwriters who shaped the modern German children's song, the man behind "Anne Kaffeekanne" and "Der Katzentatzentanz". This year he plays with his band, and the concert is built for singing along and dancing.
It's in the Festsaal, the grand hall of the Palmengarten's Gesellschaftshaus. The songs are in German, so it suits kids who know some German nursery songs.
Two odd characters wander into a black-and-white room full of objects that might be art. They touch everything anyway. Then the music starts: four minimal pieces by Steve Reich and Terry Riley, each turning into a scene. Birds clatter a rhythm to get fed, rubber-boot animals gather at a watering hole, and the room changes.
A first taste of minimal music for preschoolers who like rhythm and play.
In the Grand Hotel, the instruments of four visiting musicians vanish without a trace, and soon nobody can keep track of anything. Who is behind the thefts?
The Federspiel ensemble tells the whole story without words, through humor, misunderstandings and plenty of live music. Kids follow it by watching and listening, so it suits families who speak no German and children who like a bit of chaos on stage.
A hands-on printing workshop where kids and parents make Hanukkah greeting cards together. Using a few different printing techniques, families print menorahs, candles and other symbols of the Jewish festival of lights, and pick up the story and customs of Hanukkah along the way.
No printing experience needed. Everyone takes their cards home, ready to give to grandparents, teachers or friends.
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.
EXPERIMINTA, Frankfurt's hands-on science center in Bockenheim, runs an evening show series called Nacht im Museum, and the December edition has a Christmas theme.
The Scientastic team puts on big, showy experiments, and some kids get called up on stage to help. It suits school-age kids who like their science loud and bright, and who can stay sharp past their usual bedtime.
A drop-off workshop at the Senckenberg built around one question: did dinosaurs have scales or feathers? Kids start with a guided look at the skeletons and what they reveal about color and body shape, then make their own dino models together.
It is part of the museum's monthly Expedition Museum series. Kids take part without a parent, so it suits curious kids who are happy in a group.
A steam locomotive pulls heated historic carriages from the old Dotzheim station in Wiesbaden, along the southern end of the Aartalbahn line and on to Frankfurt-Höchst, then back the same way after a short stop to turn around. St. Nicholas walks the train handing small gifts to the children. The volunteer Nassauische Touristik-Bahn runs it, and it suits train-mad kids and families after an easy December outing.
A hands-on family workshop in the Jewish Museum's Studio Aleph. Kids and adults bake sufganiyot together, the sweet-filled doughnuts fried in oil that Jewish families eat at Hanukkah to recall the miracle of the oil.
Along the way, children learn the festival's customs through play, and everyone takes the recipe home. No baking experience needed, so it suits curious first-timers as well as families who already celebrate.
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.
The Frankfurter Feldbahnmuseum looks after field railways: the small narrow-gauge trains once used on building sites, farms and in industry. On running days its historic trains carry families through Rebstockpark.
The St. Nicholas edition is the museum's last running day of the year. One ticket covers as many rides as you like, so kids can get off to look at the engines and ride again.
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.
Schneekönigin is a stage musical of The Snow Queen fairy tale, sung and spoken in German, put on for families at the Jahrhunderthalle.
It suits kids who already follow a story in German and can sit through a full-length show. Children who don't understand German will get less from it, since the songs and dialogue carry the plot.
A Sunday morning boat trip on the Main with a play on board. Families board early for breakfast, then the ship heads out and the Märchentheater Aschaffenburg performs the Grimm tale of the hare and the hedgehog, pulling kids into the story at points.
Parents eat and watch the river slide past the panorama windows. It suits preschoolers and young school-age kids who can sit through a short play.
A big special exhibition on dragons, told through art and science together. European dragon-slayer paintings sit beside East Asian sky dragons, along with fossils and animal specimens that may have fed the old stories.
Kids follow their own trail with Naseheiß, the museum dragon, using an activity booklet to hunt down six dragons. A reading corner and a drawing wall give younger visitors a break between rooms.
Humperdinck's fairy-tale opera, staged by Keith Warner. Two siblings get lost in the woods and meet a gingerbread-house witch, and the Frankfurt Opera Children's Choir joins in. It is sung in German with German and English surtitles, so kids who know the Grimm story can follow along. Best for kids who can sit through a full opera.
A small Christmas market at the edge of the Stadtwald, right under the Goetheturm, Sachsenhausen's wooden lookout tower. Stalls sell crepes, roasted chestnuts, potato pancakes, raclette and hot apple wine, alongside handmade crafts like glass-bead jewelry and lambskins.
For kids there is a carousel, and the big forest play park sits next door, so it suits families who want a run-around between snacks.
An outdoor ice rink in the Kurpark, set in front of the historic Kaiser-Wilhelms-Bad, with the decorated Brunnenallee and a huge Christmas tree beside it. Kids can take their first wobbly laps or practice spins.
Families can also book a lane for Eisstockschießen, a German curling game played in teams of four or five. A chalet next to the rink sells hot drinks and warm snacks.
The Kinderweihnachtsmarkt is the kids' corner of the Frankfurt Christmas market, set on the Mainkai just east of the Eiserner Steg.
Kids get a mix of hands-on activities and festive attractions, so it suits families who want a market stop built around the children. Parents can carry on to the rest of the Christmas market afterward.
Hanau's main Christmas market fills the Marktplatz around the Brothers Grimm monument with lit wooden stalls that smell of roasted almonds, grilled sausages and mulled wine.
For kids, the draw is the Ferris wheel and a two-level carousel, with local bands, brass bands and choirs on the Christmas stage. It is smaller and calmer than Frankfurt's Römerberg market, which suits a late-afternoon wander with younger kids.
Frankfurt's Christmas market runs as one long string of stalls through the old center, with a giant tree on Römerberg square. Kids ride the carousels, try Bethmännchen (marzipan with three almonds) and spot trees decorated by local children.
For families, the stretch to aim for is the kids' market on the Mainkai by the river, with a craft room, a historic carousel and a lit-up Christmas ship.
Wiesbaden's main Christmas market fills the square around the Marktkirche with close to 100 stalls of gifts, decorations, jewelry and crafts, plus more than 20 food stands pouring kids' punch and hot drinks. A stage in front of the town hall runs a program, and the city nativity scene stands by the big tree.
A short walk away, the separate kids' market adds an elves' forest, a train and a carousel.
Mainz's historic Christmas market fills the square in front of the 1,000-year-old cathedral and spills onto the Höfchen and Liebfrauenplatz, under painted Renaissance house fronts.
Kids head for the two old-fashioned carousels, the stalls of handmade toys, and the 11-meter Christmas pyramid crowded with Mainz figures, from a carnival jester to Gutenberg. The life-size carved nativity sits beside the cathedral. Go once the lights come on.
One of Germany's largest mobile ice rinks fills the Bowling Green lawn in front of Wiesbaden's Kurhaus each winter, with skaters looping around the two historic fountains on 100-meter laps.
Rental skates, skating aids for wobbly beginners and lockers are on site, and ice-stock lanes (Bavarian-style curling) sit right in front of the Kurhaus. It suits first-timers and confident skaters alike.
A Christmas market set in and around the walls of Bad Homburg's old landgraves' palace, with each courtyard decorated in its own style. Stalls mix regional food and drink with a large share of handmade crafts.
For kids there are treats, small program moments, a children's carousel and a real miniature steam train running at the foot of the White Tower.
A whole medieval castle turns into a Christmas market. Small stalls fill the rooms of Burg Ronneburg with crafts, gift ideas, waffles and mulled wine, and outside the walls a medieval market adds traders and craftspeople. A living nativity play tells the Christmas story.
It suits kids who like castles and costumes, and families happy to wander, browse and snack.
Hessenpark is an open-air museum of old Hessian farmhouses and workshops in the Taunus hills, and in Advent it dresses up for Christmas. Decorated parlors show how families once got ready for the holidays, the forge glows and the bakehouse smells of fresh baking. Kids can ride a steam train, watch a big Märklin model railway, craft ornaments and toast stick bread over fire pits.
An evening walk through Frankfurt's botanical garden, lit by about 30 light installations. Giant glowing moons, snowdrops and floating hearts hang over the paths and trees, with music, video projections and a few interactive light pieces along the way.
The route is outdoors and on foot, so it suits kids who can walk a while in the cold. Younger ones tend to like the big, bright shapes most.
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.
