Top Children's Amusement Centres in New York, United States

Definitely the best climbing gym in Manhattan - spacious, fun problems, routes are updated frequently, and a wide range of training equipment.

Also, as a member, you get perks such as monthly guest pass and free climbing classes (non-members can take these classes as well). It's inclusive, too, with climbing classes from beginner to advanced. I've taken all of the climbing progression program classes (mostly taught by Ady - she's great!) and they taught me fundamental and advanced techniques and helped me develop my climbing skills.

Recently, I felt that I've plateaued so I signed up for the Train Like A Team Kid class with Jenna Tseng (Jenna is very chill and cool - motivates you without making you feel pressured or pushed). I've only attended two classes so far and I was able to send some problems that I was struggling with! This class is super informative and beneficial - you can ask questions about your projects and learn different drills to advance your climbing. The drills are making me more of an intentional climber and have made me more aware of my climbing habits. And the fitness session at the end of the class, will get you FIT!! Always humbling, but I love that it pushes me and I know that it will help me get stronger RAAWR.

My husband and I love climbing at Central Rock!! We have been climbing at this location (Riverside) since August 2019. The setting, programming, and facilities are all top notch. They offer classes for beginners that really helped me as an adult new to climbing. Now I regularly take Jenna's "Train Like a Team Kid" class - it's not only a lot of fun, but it's actually helping me break through my climbing plateaus. Love the community at this gym too!

My son loves climbing with Josh Hodge at Central Rock on West End! His climbing coach, Josh is amazingly patient and supportive in his teaching technique. Josh not only teaches climbing, but is a great resource for my 15 yr old to learn about strength training.
Through his lessons with Josh, my son's skills have greatly improved, as has his self-confidence and trust in his own abilities. His climbing time is a true stress relief from the all the pressures being a teenager brings.

Such a fun place, it was a great time and break while raining in the city. Friendly staff that got us in without reservations.

My experience here was amazing! Michael was very helpful and walked us through all the procedures and was always around to help us if we had any problems.. will definitely visit again !

An overall very disapointing experience. The staff wasn't very invested (even though not rude ) and didn't seem to have a lot of things to do. The activities in themselves were the worst part. Indeed we only had access to 5 or 6 activities with our pass, wich were short, not very realistic and not interesting. Would not recommend.

This is a great fun for adults and families with teens. Our family had a lot of fun and laughs. I recommend making timely reservations. To owners: some of the equipment could use a bit of love. One of the staff members (did not catch his name, short hair) was particularly helpful and friendly and shared some laughs with us. We had great time.

I’ve been taking my children to the little gym for a very long time & I usually have nothing but amazing things to say but recently I noticed an employee there getting mistreated. This girl is so sweet with my kids. They love her, yet every time I pick my kids up I see the same employee getting treated unfairly, I overheard management or a coworker reprimanding her in a way I thought was belittling & I was so shocked. This isn’t the little gym I’ve grown to know & love. Things are different now & I actually love all of you but the mistreatment of your employees that actually really love their job is simply unacceptable. I hope this doesn’t cause trouble for the girl but I really just wouldn’t feel right if I didn’t speak up. Please change the way you are treating your employees. I love taking my kids to the gym but if this continues to go on I don’t think I’d feel safe leaving my children around a hostile environment.

~ A concerned parent.

My boyfriend & I recently visited Tidal Force VR, and we had an amazing time.From the moment we walked in, the staff was welcoming and knowledgeable. They took the time to explain how everything worked and made sure I felt comfortable in the VR world. We played the shooting game and the escape room, which were both exciting to play.The quality of the VR equipment was top-notch. The headsets were comfortable, and the graphics were stunningly realistic. I quickly forgot I was in a virtual world – it felt that real! Definitely recommend this to anyone that wants to find something fun to do in the city!

This is AMAZING! At first it looks kinda small (that's what she said) but when you start playing the games it's so cool!!! And this ain't something you can do on a regular oculus, this is something where u can actually walk around and fight drones and bully your mom for not knowing how the buttons work. The guy there was very nice and the headsets were comfy and everything about it was perfect!!!

I booked for my 10 year old the two hour unlimited package. Lacoya, Michael and Tommy had their hands full on this rainy Saturday night but they were great at keeping tabs on all the other customers who were enjoying this immersive experience. They had an ability to multitask and troubleshoot that was extremely impressive. They made the experience fun and super funny it was a great time. Highly recommended. The rock wall really was a win!

I had a birthday party for my 9 year old son. It was amazing the kids, and adults had a fantastic time. I can’t tell who had more fun. Will definitely be coming back here for my other child. Perfect event venue for birthday parties of all ages

While the staff was somewhat nice! The set up was over rated! We spent $200 for 45 minutes and game was poorly set up! Had to change batteries in the middle of the game.
For this kind of money, i would prefer to take it to sand box, private rooms and much more advance equipment.

A 13 year old girl and her 49 year old Dad (me) signed up for an hour at Tidal Force VR on a recent trip to NYC, and we had a blast! We've played some VR games before, but this was definitely the most immersive.

The location is in a normal looking NYC building (look for the small sign next to the door). Inside the studio it's pretty sparse, but once you put on the headset it's amazing. For our games we didn't need a backpack...just a headset and a controller for each hand. The headset isn't wired to anything, it's wireless (haven't done that before). We had at least a 10' x 10' area to move freely around in (or at least it felt that large, much larger than other VR we've done). And it was amazing how we could see each other in full body spacesuits moving around (appreciated my daughter's victory dance!) We played one cooperative game and one "vs." game (I won the first match, and...well...let's not talk about the other ones).

If you're looking for a fun activity with friends, co-workers or your teenager. Tidal Force VR is highly recommended!

Un super moment... Malgré notre anglais pitoyable, l équipe a été au top pour essayer de nous comprendre, nous expliquer et nous accompagner dans un très bon moment.

I went on August 4 with my friend and an employee named Brandon was nothing but great to us. He was very friendly, very inviting and funny as well. I definitely recommended this place to all my friends to make another visit because of his great personality. Having him as a host was definitely the highlight of our night.

My 12 year old son celebrated his birthday with a group of friends and had a blast. It's hard to find the perfect thing to do as they get older and this was the perfect fit. My son and his friends game online all the time and this was a new and exciting way for them to game together. I couldn't recommend it more. The team at Tidal were great and gave the kids a great experience. Thank you!

Super fun, immersive experience. We went with our two kids - 13 and 11 - to take out the drones and then do a little 2 v 2. While I needed a few tips from the kids, we all had a blast and are looking at when we can come back for the escape room. The 40 min session seemed much longer and was just the right length for us.

Great experience family friendly

Honestly fun, will definitely go again. Brandon made me and my guest feel extremely welcome and comfortable. Assisted me if I needed any help. Clean setup and smooth VR setups as well. Clean and tidy and Quiet Area as well. Will recommend to others

This is the best carousel I have ever seen. Five stars for design alone.

I had the chance to play the escape room with my friends thanks to an accommodation Jerome made. I’m super grateful that he was able to do this for us because we had a really great time! The puzzles made you think and the overall experience was unlike anything I had done before. We actually beat the game which he said only about 20% of teams do. We did only have around 20 seconds left before we ran out of time, but we did it! You really feel immersed in the game. I will definitely be planning to come back to play the co-op game and hopefully more escape rooms in the future! Would definitely recommend.

My daughter just had her 6th birthday party at the Little Gym and it was wonderful! It was a very big group (35 kids for a dropoff party) and the staff ran the whole event so smoothly! It was so much fun! The planning process was also great - Sarah (the director) is so responsive and easy to work with. I highly recommend. It!

Excellent climbs! All of the staff are very nice! My girlfriend is a member and she takes me in on her guest pass once a month, perhaps when I have more time and don't have to travel for work so much I will join, myself.

We did our son‘s birthday party here, and I really can’t thank Sarah and the rest of the team enough. They decorated and organized everything, kept 20+ kids happy the entire time and navigated everything perfectly so that we could have fun in a stress free environment. If i could give 6 stars, i would😀 thank you so much!

A favorite place amongst kids in upper Manhattan.
Located inside the Riverside state park closer to the 145 street entrance.

The entire team at Little Gym UWS has created a safe, loving, and open environment for our children.

The commitment and patience they demonstrate is unrivaled.

This is a fun place for kids to be kids, make mistakes, tumble, grow, and thrive.

Little Gym staff take the time to get to know our children, meet them where they are and recognize their progress against their own benchmarks.

I am eternally grateful for their ability to see my child as a child and an individual in a world that is often filled with those who talk the talk but don't walk the walk on being child-centered.

The staff was so great with the kids and made it a completely enjoyable experience for the parents as well. We were really able to enjoy the day with our kids and the other parents. Everyone had a great time!

Loved it!!! Great boulders, great walls, and great people!

The setting was superb and had a ton of variety with lots and lots of routes. Despite not being the biggest gym, the space was used perfectly and had so many different wall angles. Not only that, but there was great density of holds and routes which made the gym feel twice as big. Plenty of fun routes for beginners, some tricky slabs for the intermediate, and maxed out with a powerful v10 and a few v9s. Even had a tension board, dope campus board, and some chill sport routes. Everyone was super friendly, gave great beta, and I even managed to get a free sticker from the staff! Great place to visit, can’t wait to come back 🥳

Day pass (non-member)
Adult: $33 plus $8 gear and shoes
Kid: $25 gear and shoes included

One of the very few places offering climbing for kids under 5. The are 3 routes for auto belay and 10 for staff/partner belay. For beginners there are staff belay classes for kids on weekends. The website is informative and updated regularly.

The equipment and restrooms are spotless. The staff constantly clean and check out the environment. The staff was so friendly that you would feel like chatting with your friends. Highly recommend this place! Avoid the peak hours to enjoy the most of it.

We just hosted my son’s 3rd birthday party here and it exceeded my expectations! The instructors were amazing and kept the kids entertained. Everyone had a great time! It’s so nice to find a large space with so much natural light in the city.

Very good, clean bouldering gym.

DAY PASS COST: $33

FACILITIES

The main climbing area is below the lobby. There is one long top roping wall following the staircase and a much larger bouldering area. This bouldering area basically forms a circle with benches in the middle a and a small weightlifting area. There's no cardio equipment. Overall, the area is very clean. There are dedicated changing rooms but no showers. What's cool about this gym is that they have these chalk stations around the bouldering area. Everything is very clean and well maintained.

SETTING

In general the setting is moderately difficult. There is a V0/VB circuit that always has black holds. Otherwise, the routes are color coded but there is no association between color and difficulty. Each route is assigned a V grade which can be determined by looking at placards spaced around the gym. Each placard contains information about the three or four routes near to it. However, the closest placard to a route is not necessarily the one that has the routes information, so you sometimes need to hunt for it. In general I think this is a creative way to show route information and it's much cleaner than writing on some duct tape.

The holds are in great condition. There are few holds with excessive chalk or shoe rubber and it's always easy to tell what color each hold is. Moreover the staff is careful to make sure that routes of similar colors are not adjacent to each other.

The setting is pretty straightforward from V1 to V3 and I think that around V4 is where the more creative stuff like dynos are really thrown at you. There are about 80 routes in the gym by my estimate and the difficulties are skewed for V4 and below.

CONCLUSION

This is a great gym. It's expensive (maybe not for NYC) but very well maintained so you know the money is used well. I love it when a gym does more than the bare minimum to make the climbing gym a good experience. I'll definitely return here when I come back to NYC.

We have attended classes in the past and just held my daughter's 4th birthday at The Little Gym. The party was so much fun for all of the kids, they got to run, dance and try different gymnastics moves for the activity portion of the party. I LOVED the coaches especially Brandon and it was great that they were so flexible letting us use our own playlist for the party area and bring in any food we wanted. We are already thinking we'll have the 5th birthday party here!

I’ve climbed there a couple of times while visiting NYC. The staff is very friendly and helpful. Definitely a nice vibe with a good mix of boulderers across all talent levels. Setting is great with a lot of nice problems, again for all levels. Facility is nice and clean which seems to be part of the CRG brand. Really enjoyed myself.

The Little Gym UWS offers a great opportunity for caregivers and little ones to enjoy some fun and get the wiggles out. The classes offer a great combination of structured activities and free play, and the lead instructor, Jordan, is full of enthusiasm, excellent at executing his lesson plan, and simply wonderful with children. My daughter and I have really enjoyed our experience and plan to continue attending.