Things to Do in Boston with Kids — Family Events & Weekend Planner

169 family events from official Boston library, park, and museum calendars, plus 1491 kid-friendly spots and ready-made weekend plans.

FamHop tracks 1491 kid-friendly spots and 169 upcoming family events across 30 Boston cities and towns. Most events come straight from official library, parks, and museum calendars like Cambridge Public Library Events, Public Library of Brookline Events, Newton Free Library Events — real dates, times, and official links, refreshed every week. Biggest coverage: Boston (598 spots · 137 events), Cambridge (246 spots · 98 events), Brookline (113 spots · 43 events). Pick a few stops, build a 3-stop weekend plan, and share a link so co-parents and friends can vote.

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This weekend in Boston

Updated for the weekend of August 15–16.

See the full Boston weekend guide →

Annual traditions in Boston

  • Minuteman Library Crawl — August, Minuteman Library Network libraries. A week-long summer scavenger hunt across the Minuteman Library Network: pick up a free passport at any participating library, then visit libraries across Greater Boston on their featured crawl days, find each library's hidden clue, and collect stamps. Completed passports enter a grand-prize drawing. Around two dozen libraries take part, from Arlington and Watertown to Natick, Needham and Newton — a free, all-ages tradition that turns library-hopping into a family road trip.
  • Honey Pot Hill Orchards Apple Picking — August, Honey Pot Hill Orchards. A Stow orchard that is typically open for apple picking from early August into early November, with pick-your-own apples straight off the tree. Hayrides run for a small per-person charge for anyone over age three, donuts are made fresh daily, and the farm store carries produce and baked goods. The farm also books field trips, group outings, and birthday parties, making it a standing early-fall outing for Boston-area families.
  • Shelburne Farm Apple Picking — August, Shelburne Farm. A pick-your-own apple farm in Stow, about 20 miles west of Boston, that reopens for the picking season in August. Beyond the orchard rows there are hay rides, farm animals to visit, John Deere tractor and Gator playgrounds, and a Great Pumpkin bounce house. Warm cider donuts and live music round out a classic New England fall farm visit.
  • Connors Farm Pumpkin Picking — September, Connors Farm. Connors Farm has been farming on Valley Road in Danvers since 1904. Its fall season runs from early September to the start of November with apple and pumpkin picking, a giant corn maze, hayrides, and cider donuts and baked goods from the farm stand. Admission covers the corn maze, hay rides, a ropes course, jumping pillows, pedal carts, Fort Connors, and the play areas, with the Putnamville Railroad, a carousel, and a cow train on site.
  • Boston Arts Festival — September, Christopher Columbus Park. Boston's only fine arts and live music festival devoted entirely to Boston-area talent, staged on the waterfront at Christopher Columbus Park. Juried artists show and sell their work while local musicians play across the weekend. Always free.
  • ZooLights at Stone Zoo — December, Stone Zoo. A holiday-evening stroll through thousands of twinkling lights and festive displays along Stone Zoo's tree-lined paths, with reindeer and other animal residents, from mid-November through early January.
  • Enchanted Village at Jordan's Furniture — December, Jordan's Furniture. Jordan's Furniture's free annual holiday attraction in Avon: the restored vintage animated village from Boston's old Jordan Marsh department store, plus Santa visits, ice skating, and a tube slide, from mid-November through early January.
  • Puerto Rican Festival of Massachusetts — July, Franklin Park. A multi-day celebration of Puerto Rican culture in Franklin Park: live performances, traditional food, carnival rides, and family activities, drawing tens of thousands each summer.
  • Revere Beach International Sand Sculpting Festival — July, Revere Beach. The East Coast's largest sand sculpting festival: world-class sculptors compete on America's first public beach, with a kids' zone, food vendors, and evening fireworks.

Recurring & returning programs in Boston

  • Minuteman Library Crawl — Newton Free Library, last held August 2026. The Minuteman Library Network's summer library crawl: visit participating libraries across the network, collect stamps, and earn prizes — a free end-of-summer family quest around Greater Boston.
  • Dorchester Memorial Day Parade — Dorchester Avenue, last held May 2026. Dorchester's neighborhood Memorial Day parade — veterans' groups, marching bands, and community organizations processing along Dorchester Avenue, a Boston tradition for generations.
  • Winnie-the-Pooh Escape Room — Newton Free Library, last held July 2026. A weeklong drop-in escape room at the Newton Free Library celebrating Winnie-the-Pooh's 100th birthday — search the Hundred Acre Wood to find Christopher Robin's friends and bring them to the picnic.
  • Kindergarten Transition Meetup — Hunneman Hall, Driscoll and Lawrence Schools, last held July 2026. A transition meetup for families with kids starting kindergarten, held at Hunneman Hall in Brookline Village.
  • Summer Reading: Plant Pantry Botany Workshop — New England Botanic Garden, last held July 2026. Summer Reading: Plant Pantry Botany Workshop — a recurring family program at New England Botanic Garden in Cambridge.
  • Salem 400 Heritage Days Parade — O'Keefe Center, last held July 2026. Salem 400 Heritage Days Parade — a annual family program at O'Keefe Center in Salem.