Three to five is the age when a good playground fills a whole morning and a kids' concert feels like a big night out. This list gathers the plans with a stated fit for that age: indoor play rooms for wet days, farms and children's zoos, playgrounds made for small climbers, and family shows and seasonal walks. It changes as new plans come in, so check back before the weekend.
A church orchestra from Schwamendingen and the puppet theater Figurentheater Ariella Dainesi team up at the Affoltern library for a family concert built around the picture book «Adam und seine Tuba».
It is told in German, so it suits kids who can follow a story in German.
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.
Minicity is a supervised drop-off play area on level 4 of the Sihlcity mall, laid out like a small town. Kids ride Bobby-Cars around a traffic garden, climb, jump into a ball pit, play in a treehouse, watch kids' films in a mini cinema and dress up in a toy department store.
Parents can't come in, so it suits kids happy to stay with staff.
Samichlaus and his helper Schmutzli stop at GZ Heuried, the community center that keeps llamas, alpacas, goats, dwarf sheep and rabbits. Among the animals, they tell stories and sing, and kids get their turn to recite a verse or sing a song for them.
They bring Grittibänzen for the children. It suits small kids who are excited about Samichlaus and can follow along in German.
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.
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.
Zurich's Samichlaus parade opens the St. Nicholas season. The Märlitram, the city's fairy-tale tram, leads richly decorated floats down Bahnhofstrasse under the Christmas lights, while many Samichläuse and their helpers, the Schmutzli, hand small gifts to children along the way.
At Bürkliplatz, the Samichlaus wraps up with a short ceremony to the sound of two brass bands. It suits preschoolers and young school kids who still believe in him.
Samichlaus is Zurich's St. Nicholas, and each Advent he and his helper Schmutzli move into a little hut in the Käferberg forest. Families follow a signposted path through the woods to find them. The pair chat with the kids and show them their Stube (living room) and bedroom.
It suits young kids who still believe in Samichlaus, and families who would rather visit him in the woods than at home.
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.
Riedenholzhof is an organic family farm on city-owned land. Its herd of about 100 water buffalo, calves included, lives in a barn that visitors can walk into from the open farmyard. Dairy cows, boarding horses and, in spring and fall, a few pigs share the farm.
From about June into fall, families pick their own berries in a field by the farm shop.
GZ Bachwiesen is one of the city's community centers. Donkeys, ponies, goats, guinea pigs, rabbits and chickens live in pens that families can walk up to at any time, though visitors are asked not to feed them.
Inside, a café serves homemade cake and syrup for kids, and the wood workshop lets children build their own projects with staff showing them the machines, no course or sign-up needed.
GZ Heuried is a neighborhood community center run by the Zürcher Gemeinschaftszentren foundation. Its Erlebnisgarten (adventure garden) keeps llamas, alpacas, goats, dwarf sheep and rabbits.
Inside, the open workshop stocks soapstone, wood, fabric, plaster, paint, beads and clay, so kids can bring an idea or pick a material and start. The cafeteria welcomes families whether or not they order.
A public playground at the Horn, the lakeside park where Küsnacht's Dorfbach stream runs into Lake Zurich. The centerpiece is a big green octopus that kids clamber over and slide down, with a nest swing alongside.
It suits confident climbers best. The play area sits right on the water, so toddlers need a close eye.
Kiddy Park is an indoor play hall with a ball pit, a trampoline area, and a climbing frame with obstacles and slides. Kids under 6 get their own zone with smaller equipment. The focus is active, imaginative play, with no screens or entertainers.
A snack corner and the Munchkin Island restaurant serve kids' menus. Outside food and drink are not allowed, and socks are a must.
Trampolino is an indoor play hall of about 4,000 m² in Dietikon, built around what it calls the largest indoor climbing frame in Switzerland. Kids also find ten trampolines, a kids' Ferris wheel, a bouncy castle, a giant swing, a mini train and a climbing volcano with a 14-meter net tube slide.
Under-6s get a separate area of their own. There are no screens or entertainers, only free play.
The museum fills the 1893 Burgwies depot, the city's oldest surviving tram depot, with original trams from 1897 to 1968. Kids can climb inside most of them, look at a tram from underneath, and see the motor through a glass floor.
For younger kids there's Cobralino, a pedal-powered tram they drive themselves, plus a big wooden railway, a model layout where kids run the trams, and a tram-sound piano.
Three to five is the age when a good playground fills a whole morning and a kids' concert feels like a big night out. This list gathers the plans with a stated fit for that age: indoor play rooms for wet days, farms and children's zoos, playgrounds made for small climbers, and family shows and seasonal walks. It changes as new plans come in, so check back before the weekend.
A church orchestra from Schwamendingen and the puppet theater Figurentheater Ariella Dainesi team up at the Affoltern library for a family concert built around the picture book «Adam und seine Tuba».
It is told in German, so it suits kids who can follow a story in German.
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.
Minicity is a supervised drop-off play area on level 4 of the Sihlcity mall, laid out like a small town. Kids ride Bobby-Cars around a traffic garden, climb, jump into a ball pit, play in a treehouse, watch kids' films in a mini cinema and dress up in a toy department store.
Parents can't come in, so it suits kids happy to stay with staff.
Samichlaus and his helper Schmutzli stop at GZ Heuried, the community center that keeps llamas, alpacas, goats, dwarf sheep and rabbits. Among the animals, they tell stories and sing, and kids get their turn to recite a verse or sing a song for them.
They bring Grittibänzen for the children. It suits small kids who are excited about Samichlaus and can follow along in German.
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.
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.
Zurich's Samichlaus parade opens the St. Nicholas season. The Märlitram, the city's fairy-tale tram, leads richly decorated floats down Bahnhofstrasse under the Christmas lights, while many Samichläuse and their helpers, the Schmutzli, hand small gifts to children along the way.
At Bürkliplatz, the Samichlaus wraps up with a short ceremony to the sound of two brass bands. It suits preschoolers and young school kids who still believe in him.
Samichlaus is Zurich's St. Nicholas, and each Advent he and his helper Schmutzli move into a little hut in the Käferberg forest. Families follow a signposted path through the woods to find them. The pair chat with the kids and show them their Stube (living room) and bedroom.
It suits young kids who still believe in Samichlaus, and families who would rather visit him in the woods than at home.
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.
Riedenholzhof is an organic family farm on city-owned land. Its herd of about 100 water buffalo, calves included, lives in a barn that visitors can walk into from the open farmyard. Dairy cows, boarding horses and, in spring and fall, a few pigs share the farm.
From about June into fall, families pick their own berries in a field by the farm shop.
GZ Bachwiesen is one of the city's community centers. Donkeys, ponies, goats, guinea pigs, rabbits and chickens live in pens that families can walk up to at any time, though visitors are asked not to feed them.
Inside, a café serves homemade cake and syrup for kids, and the wood workshop lets children build their own projects with staff showing them the machines, no course or sign-up needed.
GZ Heuried is a neighborhood community center run by the Zürcher Gemeinschaftszentren foundation. Its Erlebnisgarten (adventure garden) keeps llamas, alpacas, goats, dwarf sheep and rabbits.
Inside, the open workshop stocks soapstone, wood, fabric, plaster, paint, beads and clay, so kids can bring an idea or pick a material and start. The cafeteria welcomes families whether or not they order.
A public playground at the Horn, the lakeside park where Küsnacht's Dorfbach stream runs into Lake Zurich. The centerpiece is a big green octopus that kids clamber over and slide down, with a nest swing alongside.
It suits confident climbers best. The play area sits right on the water, so toddlers need a close eye.
Kiddy Park is an indoor play hall with a ball pit, a trampoline area, and a climbing frame with obstacles and slides. Kids under 6 get their own zone with smaller equipment. The focus is active, imaginative play, with no screens or entertainers.
A snack corner and the Munchkin Island restaurant serve kids' menus. Outside food and drink are not allowed, and socks are a must.
Trampolino is an indoor play hall of about 4,000 m² in Dietikon, built around what it calls the largest indoor climbing frame in Switzerland. Kids also find ten trampolines, a kids' Ferris wheel, a bouncy castle, a giant swing, a mini train and a climbing volcano with a 14-meter net tube slide.
Under-6s get a separate area of their own. There are no screens or entertainers, only free play.
The museum fills the 1893 Burgwies depot, the city's oldest surviving tram depot, with original trams from 1897 to 1968. Kids can climb inside most of them, look at a tram from underneath, and see the motor through a glass floor.
For younger kids there's Cobralino, a pedal-powered tram they drive themselves, plus a big wooden railway, a model layout where kids run the trams, and a tram-sound piano.
