Exhibition
Where
Kreis 11
When
Through Nov 20
Ages
All ages
Cost
Free
The PBZ Express is an exhibition at PBZ Affoltern. It needs no German, so it works for any family.
Collection
Indoor Events for Kids in Zurich
21 events
Rainy afternoon, nothing planned? These are the indoor plans for kids coming up around the city: children's theater and puppet shows, family concerts, dance and circus, museum tours and hands-on workshops. The soonest dates sit at the top, and the list refreshes as new ones are announced. Check each listing's language, since a lot of the theater is performed in German or Swiss German.
What’s in this collection
21 items
Read More →
Performance
Where
Kreis 4
When
Multiple dates in November
Ages
3–12
Cost
Tickets on Ticketcorner
Circus Monti's new show, Poussière d'étoiles (Stardust), centers on an odd fortune teller who reads the stars with his crystal ball. His big ambitions knock everything off balance: acrobatics fail, routines fall apart and even the most baffling magic tricks go wrong.
The mishaps are the point, turned into laughter and wonder. It suits kids who like acrobatics, magic and comedy.
Performance
Where
Kreis 2
When
Sat Nov 14 & Sun Nov 15 & Wed Nov 18
Ages
6–10
Cost
Kids CHF 13, adults CHF 23
Picandou, a mouse living quietly in a deli, takes in Gruyère, a rat who has lost its memory and thinks it's a mouse. With the drifter Ernie, they slide through canals and gutters, clash with a rat gang and land in the posh apartment of golden hamster Bertram von Backenbart.
Told with puppets in Swiss German and German, it suits kids who follow German well.
Performance
Where
Kreis 10
When
Sun Nov 15
Ages
6+
Cost
From CHF 15
Two circus artists, a teeterboard and a stage of nonsense. GUGUS! is a dance piece inspired by Dada, the art movement that started here over a century ago. The performers fly through the air, dance, make music, invent sounds and turn into odd characters.
The name is Swiss German for both "hello" and "nonsense," and the show is pure play that doesn't need to make sense. Good for slapstick fans.
Workshop
Where
Kreis 10
When
Multiple Dates Nov 2026 - Jun 2027
Ages
6–12
Cost
Pay what you want
A breaking workshop where kids and their grown-ups learn first moves side by side. Dancers Kwangsuk «Issue» Park and Hyosung «Cho» Joo of eight2one lead simple movement tasks, partner exercises and a short group routine.
It borrows from the upcoming show Das Schwingfest, where a dog, a goat, a cow and a marmot try traditional Swiss wrestling, so moves from breaking, wrestling and the animal world all turn up.
Performance
Where
Kreis 5
When
Sun Nov 15
Ages
5+
Cost
Kids CHF 31, adults CHF 39
A stage musical of the Swiss picture-book classic by Selina Chönz and Alois Carigiet. For Chalandamarz, every child in Ursli's Engadin village rings a bell to chase off winter, and Ursli gets the smallest one. With Mür the mouse, he braves a snowstorm to the family's mountain hut to fetch the big bell.
Staged by Paul Weilenmann of Karl's kühne Gassenschau, it's a warm story about courage and friendship.
Performance
Where
Kreis 7
When
Sun Nov 15
Ages
5–12
Cost
Free
Tschüss, Papagei! is a story play with live musicians. Tim, an animal researcher at Zoo Zürich, loses his parrot Einstein after an experiment goes wrong, and only feathers are left in his lab. His friend Mara, a detective who tracks down lost things, joins the search, and the clues send them traveling through space and time.
It suits kids who can follow a spoken story in Swiss German.
Workshop
Where
Kreis 10
When
Wed-Sun Nov 18-29
Ages
4–12
Cost
From CHF 4 per candle
Kerzenziehen is candle dipping: kids dip a wick into warm wax over and over, and a candle slowly grows. At Kirche Letten, run together with GZ Schindlergut, it happens in a roomy space with both paraffin and beeswax to choose from.
Kids and grown-ups are both welcome to dip. In the afternoon the Liechtblick café serves coffee and pastries, so a parent can sit down while the candles take shape.
Guided Visit
Where
Kreis 1
When
Wed Nov 18 & Fri Dec 4
Ages
5–9
Cost
Tickets on Eventfrog
A family tour of the Landesmuseum Zürich by lantern light. With lanterns lighting the way, kids go looking through the museum for the pictures and nativity scenes that tell the Christmas story.
It suits kids who like a search more than a lecture, and families looking for a calm, low-key start to the Christmas season.
Festival
Where
Kreis 1
When
Daily Nov 19 - Dec 24
Ages
All ages
Cost
Free
Polarzauber fills the main hall of Zurich's main station with what it bills as Switzerland's largest indoor Christmas market: craft and food stalls, mulled wine and a kids' program all season. Kids watch the Lindt Christmas train circle the big tree, dance at the kids' disco and make crafts to take home.
Being indoors makes it an easy stop on a cold day or between trains.
Workshop
Where
Kreis 7
When
Multiple Dates Nov 2026 - Jan 2027
Ages
5–12
Cost
CHF 135 per person
Kids decorate their own gingerbread house in the kitchen of Atelier for Kids, a small art studio in Hottingen run by Belinda Chan Beaton. She shares tips for baking and icing, and LED lights go inside so the finished house glows as a table decoration through the holidays. Everyone gets an apron and baker's hat, and each house goes home wrapped. Grandparents and parents can join in too.
Guided Visit
Where
Kreis 7
When
Multiple Dates Nov 2026 - Feb 2027
Ages
7+
Cost
CHF 19 per person
The lights go out at Kulturama, Zurich's museum of humankind, and families explore the exhibits by flashlight. A guide leads the group through the dark rooms while kids try to work out what the objects are and where the strange noises come from.
The whole tour happens in darkness, so it suits curious kids who enjoy some suspense. It isn't for toddlers or kids scared of the dark.
Performance
Where
Kreis 5
When
Sat Dec 5
Ages
All ages
Cost
Under 12 free, from CHF 30
Dele Sosimi started out on keys in Fela Kuti's band Egypt 80 as a teenager and has spent four decades taking Afrobeat around the world. This family edition is a full live show by his six-piece band: trumpet, trombone, bass, percussion, drums, and Dele on keyboards and vocals. Expect funk grooves, Nigerian rhythms and a horn section, at a volume turned down for young ears.
Performance
Where
Kreis 11
When
Sun Dec 6
Ages
2+
Cost
Tickets on Eventfrog
Häsli Ingo the bunny and Nelly host a sing-along concert where parents join in too, to welcome Samichlaus season. Kids sing, dance and laugh along, and the popular Häsli Ingo songs are on the program.
It suits toddlers and young children who like to move to music. It is sung in German, so kids who don't speak it will follow the dancing more than the words.
Performance
Where
Kreis 1
When
Sun Dec 6
Ages
All ages
Cost
Tickets on Eventfrog
A Christmas kids disco at Maison25, an event space by Paradeplatz that turns into a festive winter party room for the afternoon. Kids dance to children's songs and Christmas hits, and animators run games and entertainment.
There are small surprises for the kids. It suits children who like to move more than sit, with parents happy to stay and join in.
Performance
Where
Kreis 4
When
Sat Dec 12
Ages
All ages
Cost
From CHF 10 per person
A live Christmas concert made for babies and the grown-ups who bring them. A small chamber group plays traditional Christmas music from different countries, and the organizers hint that even Santa won't want to miss it.
It suits parents looking for a festive outing with a baby or toddler in the run-up to Christmas.
Performance
Where
Kreis 1
When
Sat Dec 19
Ages
2–12
Cost
From CHF 11.40
A Christmas kids disco that turns Club Bellevue in central Zurich into an afternoon dance party. A DJ plays kids hits, Christmas songs and party classics, and between dances there are animations, games, surprises and face painting in festive designs.
It suits kids who like music and dancing. A child who wants a quiet afternoon will find little else to do.
Performance
Where
Kreis 9
When
Sun Jan 17, 2027
Ages
4+
Cost
Kids CHF 8, adults CHF 12
Brass players from the Tonhalle-Orchester Zürich share the stage with an actress in a story concert. Yvi is exploring sounds and colors, and this time she meets bossy Red, who wants to run everything. Can she convince Red that the other colors matter too?
Each concert in the series brings one section of the orchestra up close. This one suits kids who can follow a story in German.
Performance
Where
Kreis 6
When
Wed Jan 27, 2027
Ages
All ages
Rumpelstiltskin as a stage play: a poor miller boasts that his daughter can spin straw into gold, the king demands proof, and a strange little man offers help at a price. Reisetheater, a touring company of professional actors, performs it.
It's played in German, so it suits kids who understand spoken German and enjoy a classic fairy tale told start to finish.
Festival
Where
Kreis 4
When
Sat Feb 27, 2027
Ages
All ages
Cost
Kids CHF 5, adults CHF 14
Kinder Lesen is Zurich's festival of children's and teen books. About 40 authors, illustrators and publishers bring board books, picture books, chapter books and young adult novels, and kids can meet the people behind their favorites and get a book signed.
It suits families whose kids read in German, from toddlers flipping board books to teens looking for their next novel.
Performance
Where
Kreis 1
When
May 6 - Jun 6, 2027
Ages
All ages
Cost
Tickets on Ticketcorner
Circus Knie is the Swiss touring circus run by the Knie family, and on its spring tour it pitches its big top in central Zurich. The show brings together international performers, modern show technology and the family's horses.
For 2027 the circus has a new tent and new seating. It suits kids who can stay seated through a full-length show and like horses and ring acts.
Loading map…
Rainy afternoon, nothing planned? These are the indoor plans for kids coming up around the city: children's theater and puppet shows, family concerts, dance and circus, museum tours and hands-on workshops. The soonest dates sit at the top, and the list refreshes as new ones are announced. Check each listing's language, since a lot of the theater is performed in German or Swiss German.
What’s in this collection
21 items
Exhibition
Where
Kreis 11
When
Through Nov 20
Ages
All ages
Cost
Free
The PBZ Express is an exhibition at PBZ Affoltern. It needs no German, so it works for any family.
Performance
Where
Kreis 4
When
Multiple dates in November
Ages
3–12
Cost
Tickets on Ticketcorner
Circus Monti's new show, Poussière d'étoiles (Stardust), centers on an odd fortune teller who reads the stars with his crystal ball. His big ambitions knock everything off balance: acrobatics fail, routines fall apart and even the most baffling magic tricks go wrong.
The mishaps are the point, turned into laughter and wonder. It suits kids who like acrobatics, magic and comedy.
Performance
Where
Kreis 2
When
Sat Nov 14 & Sun Nov 15 & Wed Nov 18
Ages
6–10
Cost
Kids CHF 13, adults CHF 23
Picandou, a mouse living quietly in a deli, takes in Gruyère, a rat who has lost its memory and thinks it's a mouse. With the drifter Ernie, they slide through canals and gutters, clash with a rat gang and land in the posh apartment of golden hamster Bertram von Backenbart.
Told with puppets in Swiss German and German, it suits kids who follow German well.
Performance
Where
Kreis 10
When
Sun Nov 15
Ages
6+
Cost
From CHF 15
Two circus artists, a teeterboard and a stage of nonsense. GUGUS! is a dance piece inspired by Dada, the art movement that started here over a century ago. The performers fly through the air, dance, make music, invent sounds and turn into odd characters.
The name is Swiss German for both "hello" and "nonsense," and the show is pure play that doesn't need to make sense. Good for slapstick fans.
Workshop
Where
Kreis 10
When
Multiple Dates Nov 2026 - Jun 2027
Ages
6–12
Cost
Pay what you want
A breaking workshop where kids and their grown-ups learn first moves side by side. Dancers Kwangsuk «Issue» Park and Hyosung «Cho» Joo of eight2one lead simple movement tasks, partner exercises and a short group routine.
It borrows from the upcoming show Das Schwingfest, where a dog, a goat, a cow and a marmot try traditional Swiss wrestling, so moves from breaking, wrestling and the animal world all turn up.
Performance
Where
Kreis 5
When
Sun Nov 15
Ages
5+
Cost
Kids CHF 31, adults CHF 39
A stage musical of the Swiss picture-book classic by Selina Chönz and Alois Carigiet. For Chalandamarz, every child in Ursli's Engadin village rings a bell to chase off winter, and Ursli gets the smallest one. With Mür the mouse, he braves a snowstorm to the family's mountain hut to fetch the big bell.
Staged by Paul Weilenmann of Karl's kühne Gassenschau, it's a warm story about courage and friendship.
Performance
Where
Kreis 7
When
Sun Nov 15
Ages
5–12
Cost
Free
Tschüss, Papagei! is a story play with live musicians. Tim, an animal researcher at Zoo Zürich, loses his parrot Einstein after an experiment goes wrong, and only feathers are left in his lab. His friend Mara, a detective who tracks down lost things, joins the search, and the clues send them traveling through space and time.
It suits kids who can follow a spoken story in Swiss German.
Workshop
Where
Kreis 10
When
Wed-Sun Nov 18-29
Ages
4–12
Cost
From CHF 4 per candle
Kerzenziehen is candle dipping: kids dip a wick into warm wax over and over, and a candle slowly grows. At Kirche Letten, run together with GZ Schindlergut, it happens in a roomy space with both paraffin and beeswax to choose from.
Kids and grown-ups are both welcome to dip. In the afternoon the Liechtblick café serves coffee and pastries, so a parent can sit down while the candles take shape.
Guided Visit
Where
Kreis 1
When
Wed Nov 18 & Fri Dec 4
Ages
5–9
Cost
Tickets on Eventfrog
A family tour of the Landesmuseum Zürich by lantern light. With lanterns lighting the way, kids go looking through the museum for the pictures and nativity scenes that tell the Christmas story.
It suits kids who like a search more than a lecture, and families looking for a calm, low-key start to the Christmas season.
Festival
Where
Kreis 1
When
Daily Nov 19 - Dec 24
Ages
All ages
Cost
Free
Polarzauber fills the main hall of Zurich's main station with what it bills as Switzerland's largest indoor Christmas market: craft and food stalls, mulled wine and a kids' program all season. Kids watch the Lindt Christmas train circle the big tree, dance at the kids' disco and make crafts to take home.
Being indoors makes it an easy stop on a cold day or between trains.
Workshop
Where
Kreis 7
When
Multiple Dates Nov 2026 - Jan 2027
Ages
5–12
Cost
CHF 135 per person
Kids decorate their own gingerbread house in the kitchen of Atelier for Kids, a small art studio in Hottingen run by Belinda Chan Beaton. She shares tips for baking and icing, and LED lights go inside so the finished house glows as a table decoration through the holidays. Everyone gets an apron and baker's hat, and each house goes home wrapped. Grandparents and parents can join in too.
Guided Visit
Where
Kreis 7
When
Multiple Dates Nov 2026 - Feb 2027
Ages
7+
Cost
CHF 19 per person
The lights go out at Kulturama, Zurich's museum of humankind, and families explore the exhibits by flashlight. A guide leads the group through the dark rooms while kids try to work out what the objects are and where the strange noises come from.
The whole tour happens in darkness, so it suits curious kids who enjoy some suspense. It isn't for toddlers or kids scared of the dark.
Performance
Where
Kreis 5
When
Sat Dec 5
Ages
All ages
Cost
Under 12 free, from CHF 30
Dele Sosimi started out on keys in Fela Kuti's band Egypt 80 as a teenager and has spent four decades taking Afrobeat around the world. This family edition is a full live show by his six-piece band: trumpet, trombone, bass, percussion, drums, and Dele on keyboards and vocals. Expect funk grooves, Nigerian rhythms and a horn section, at a volume turned down for young ears.
Performance
Where
Kreis 11
When
Sun Dec 6
Ages
2+
Cost
Tickets on Eventfrog
Häsli Ingo the bunny and Nelly host a sing-along concert where parents join in too, to welcome Samichlaus season. Kids sing, dance and laugh along, and the popular Häsli Ingo songs are on the program.
It suits toddlers and young children who like to move to music. It is sung in German, so kids who don't speak it will follow the dancing more than the words.
Performance
Where
Kreis 1
When
Sun Dec 6
Ages
All ages
Cost
Tickets on Eventfrog
A Christmas kids disco at Maison25, an event space by Paradeplatz that turns into a festive winter party room for the afternoon. Kids dance to children's songs and Christmas hits, and animators run games and entertainment.
There are small surprises for the kids. It suits children who like to move more than sit, with parents happy to stay and join in.
Performance
Where
Kreis 4
When
Sat Dec 12
Ages
All ages
Cost
From CHF 10 per person
A live Christmas concert made for babies and the grown-ups who bring them. A small chamber group plays traditional Christmas music from different countries, and the organizers hint that even Santa won't want to miss it.
It suits parents looking for a festive outing with a baby or toddler in the run-up to Christmas.
Performance
Where
Kreis 1
When
Sat Dec 19
Ages
2–12
Cost
From CHF 11.40
A Christmas kids disco that turns Club Bellevue in central Zurich into an afternoon dance party. A DJ plays kids hits, Christmas songs and party classics, and between dances there are animations, games, surprises and face painting in festive designs.
It suits kids who like music and dancing. A child who wants a quiet afternoon will find little else to do.
Performance
Where
Kreis 9
When
Sun Jan 17, 2027
Ages
4+
Cost
Kids CHF 8, adults CHF 12
Brass players from the Tonhalle-Orchester Zürich share the stage with an actress in a story concert. Yvi is exploring sounds and colors, and this time she meets bossy Red, who wants to run everything. Can she convince Red that the other colors matter too?
Each concert in the series brings one section of the orchestra up close. This one suits kids who can follow a story in German.
Performance
Where
Kreis 6
When
Wed Jan 27, 2027
Ages
All ages
Rumpelstiltskin as a stage play: a poor miller boasts that his daughter can spin straw into gold, the king demands proof, and a strange little man offers help at a price. Reisetheater, a touring company of professional actors, performs it.
It's played in German, so it suits kids who understand spoken German and enjoy a classic fairy tale told start to finish.
Festival
Where
Kreis 4
When
Sat Feb 27, 2027
Ages
All ages
Cost
Kids CHF 5, adults CHF 14
Kinder Lesen is Zurich's festival of children's and teen books. About 40 authors, illustrators and publishers bring board books, picture books, chapter books and young adult novels, and kids can meet the people behind their favorites and get a book signed.
It suits families whose kids read in German, from toddlers flipping board books to teens looking for their next novel.
Performance
Where
Kreis 1
When
May 6 - Jun 6, 2027
Ages
All ages
Cost
Tickets on Ticketcorner
Circus Knie is the Swiss touring circus run by the Knie family, and on its spring tour it pitches its big top in central Zurich. The show brings together international performers, modern show technology and the family's horses.
For 2027 the circus has a new tent and new seating. It suits kids who can stay seated through a full-length show and like horses and ring acts.