Unique Things to Do in Brooklyn
Brooklyn's most unique experiences include Sunshine Laundromat's hidden pinball arcade, Brooklyn Robot Foundry where kids build robots, Brooklyn Navy Yard tours of the historic shipyard, and Area 53 Adventure Park's indoor obstacle courses.
9 places · 4 free · Updated Oct 2026
40,000 square feet of ziplines, ropes courses, climbing walls, laser tag, paintball, obstacle courses, roller skating, and slides. Three hours of unlimited everything with admission. Ages 3+. The kind of place where you drop kids off and they come back exhausted.
Toy store up front, then themed play installations behind secret doors. Rotating themes -- recent ones included Bluey's House and a Slime Bar. Arts and crafts, a cafe, and a little theater. Free to walk in and browse. Downtown Brooklyn location.
Free museum covering 200+ years of the Brooklyn Navy Yard -- Civil War, WWII shipbuilding, and its current life as a manufacturing hub. Interactive exhibits. Walking tours of the active Navy Yard campus also available. Best for school-age kids who like building things and asking how stuff works.
Free public canoeing on the Gowanus Canal, offered by volunteers on weekends during warm weather. Life jackets provided. Kids must be accompanied by an adult. It is the Gowanus Canal, so manage your expectations on water clarity, but kids think it is an adventure. First-come, first-served.
STEAM workshops for kids held inside the working Brooklyn Navy Yard campus. Kids use real tools and materials for age-appropriate building, design, and engineering projects. Programs run on select weekends and school breaks. Pre-registration required. Best for kids 6 and up who like making things.
A working laundromat with a pinball bar hidden behind a fake washer-dryer door. 16 machines, craft beer on tap. The only licensed laundromat in NYC that serves alcohol. You do your laundry, or you play pinball and drink beer, or both. $1/game.
Free museum inside a restored Civil War-era building. Covers the Navy Yard's 200-year run -- shipbuilding to its modern industrial and creative hub. Walking and bus tours of the active campus are also available for a fee.
Located in a decommissioned 1936 subway station. Vintage subway and bus cars you can walk through and sit in, interactive exhibits on the history of NYC transit, and rotating exhibitions. Kids go wild for the old trains. $10 adults, $5 kids. A genuinely unique museum experience.