Halloween Events for Kids Near Me: Spooktober at Prospect Park Zoo

For Brooklyn parents searching halloween events for kids near me with a stroller in tow, Prospect Park Zoo is the easy yes. Its Spooktober celebration runs every weekend in October, and the Wildlife Conservation Society bills it as a family-friendly neighborhood Halloween: come in costume, do hands-on Spooky Science, learn about animals of the night and catch live performances. It is all free with zoo admission, which starts at $7.95 for children 3 to 12, and the zoo is small enough that a toddler can see the whole thing before nap time.

The signature Spooktober stop is Sea Lion Court, the round pool at the center of the zoo, where a row of tombstones marks animals that have gone extinct. Keepers and educators use the display to talk about how conservation can prevent future extinctions, which is a gentle way into the subject for a five-year-old who mostly came for the sea lions. Sea lion training sessions are scheduled at 11:30am and 3:30pm on the zoo's daily program.

From there, the Spooky Trail winds through the park and focuses on nocturnal wildlife, the animals that do their living while kids are asleep. Along the way are Spooky Science activity stations, live entertainment and harvest-themed photo spots built for costume pictures. Because Spooktober is spread across ordinary exhibits rather than a single stage, the day moves at a child's pace instead of a show schedule.

There has been an animal collection in Prospect Park since as early as 1890, and the Prospect Park Zoo opened on its current site in 1935. The Wildlife Conservation Society took over management in 1988, closed it for a full renovation, and reopened it on October 5, 1993, with a design meant for up-close viewing by families with young children. That history shows in the layout: low walls, short paths and exhibits pitched at kid height.

The animal list is full of small, characterful species that hold a toddler's attention. Red pandas, Pallas's cats, hamadryas baboons, North American river otters, sand cats, Shetland sheep and pudu, the tiny South American deer, all live here alongside the California sea lions. The zoo also says it was the first AZA-accredited zoo to breed Chinese big-headed turtles.

Every guest needs a date-specific ticket, and the zoo warns that many Spooktober dates sell out, so buy online before you leave home. Admission is $10.95 for adults 13 and over, $8.95 for seniors 65 and over, $7.95 for children 3 to 12, and free for children 2 and under. WCS members do not need a reservation for regular daytime visits; they show a membership card and photo ID at the gate.

All tickets are single entry, so plan lunch inside rather than stepping out and back. The Sea Lion Store and Cafe sells sandwiches, salads and snacks, plus ice cream, Dippin' Dots, candy and coffee. Scooters, skateboards and rollerblades are prohibited in the zoo, and a limited number of free wheelchairs are lent out on a first come, first served basis.

Through October 31, 2026, the zoo is open 10am to 5pm on weekdays and 10am to 5:30pm on weekends and federal holidays. From November 1 it switches to daily hours of 10am to 4:30pm. The remaining Spooktober weekends are October 17 and 18, October 24 and 25, and Halloween itself on Saturday, October 31.

Arrive at the 10am opening if your children are under four. The trail and Sea Lion Court are quietest in the first hour, and you can reach the 11:30am sea lion session with time for photos before families from the rest of the borough arrive around lunch.

Brooklyn families often weigh Spooktober against Boo at the Zoo in the Bronx, which the same society runs on the same weekends. The Bronx version is bigger, with a candy trail, scheduled costume parades and giant pumpkin sculptures, but adult tickets there start at $28.95 and the walk between stations is long. Prospect Park costs a fraction of that, needs no car, and suits children who tire quickly or get overwhelmed by crowds.

If you expect to do both, a WCS membership includes a year of admission to the Bronx Zoo, Central Park Zoo, Queens Zoo, Prospect Park Zoo and the New York Aquarium, and members skip the reservation step for regular daytime visits.

The zoo is at 450 Flatbush Avenue on the eastern edge of Prospect Park. Take the B or Q train, or the Franklin Avenue Shuttle, to Prospect Park station, exit at Flatbush Avenue and Ocean Avenue, and walk north on Flatbush. The B41 local bus stops on Flatbush Avenue, and the B47 stops at Flatbush Avenue and Empire Boulevard.

One detail trips people up: the zoo currently asks guests to use its Prospect Park entrance because the Flatbush Avenue entrance is not open, so follow the path into the park rather than looking for a gate on the avenue. There is no zoo parking lot; the zoo points drivers to street parking on Flatbush Avenue.

The zoo sits beside the Children's Corner of Prospect Park, home of the Prospect Park Carousel, carved in 1912 by Charles Carmel and restored by the Prospect Park Alliance in 1990. Its 53 horses ride alongside a lion, a giraffe, a deer and two dragon-pulled chariots. On Thursday, October 29 through Sunday, November 1, from 12pm to 5pm, NYC Parks lists a Haunted Carousel with Halloween songs on the ride.

On Halloween morning, the Audubon Center at the Boathouse runs Creepy Crawly Halloween from 10am to 4pm, a free program of activities and experiments about the creatures that give people the creeps. Pair it with an early zoo visit and you have a full Brooklyn Halloween within a ten-minute walk.

Address: Prospect Park Zoo, 450 Flatbush Avenue, Brooklyn, NY 11225. Dates: Spooktober runs every Saturday and Sunday in October 2026. Hours: 10am to 5:30pm on weekends through October 31. Admission: $10.95 adults, $8.95 seniors, $7.95 children 3 to 12, under 3 free, with Spooktober included.

Best for: toddlers through early elementary age who want animals plus mild Halloween fun without jump scares. Book a timed date early, enter from inside the park, and save the Haunted Carousel for Halloween week.