Our guide to cultural events in New York City for families with children and teenagers.
‘CARNIVAL OF THE ANIMALS’ at Miller Theater (Dec. 16, 2 and 5 p.m.). The score hasn’t changed, but some of the puppets have. This production, which had its debut in 2015 and is now a holiday tradition, combines Saint-Saëns’s 1886 musical tribute to the world’s beasts and birds with light verse by Ogden Nash and creative inventions by the director and designer Lake Simons. On the Miller stage, Ms. Simons has previously turned feather dusters into cuckoos and kitchen mops into a lion. Expect more extraordinary magic from ordinary things.
212-854-7799, millertheatre.com
FEED THE BIRDS DAY AT WAVE HILL (Dec. 16) and THE CHRISTMAS BIRD COUNT AT THE PROSPECT PARK AUDUBON CENTER (Dec. 16-17). Now’s a great time to meet your feathered neighbors: They look glorious against a backdrop of bare branches or snowy surfaces. On Saturday, Wave Hill, the Bronx garden, will hold its first Feed the Birds Day, with a drop-in workshop from noon to 2 p.m., “Decorating for the Birds,” at which children can use birdseed and gelatin to create tree trimmings that are good enough to eat — if you happen to be, say, a cardinal or a sparrow. A family art project, “Wintry Birdy Marionettes,” from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. (repeated Sunday), will center on making hangable puppets, while nature walks, at 11 a.m. and 2 p.m., will include learning how birds survive the cold. Saturday also offers the free Christmas Bird Count in Brooklyn, at noon, when participants can help conduct a nationwide census by tracking species in Prospect Park. Just take your enthusiasm; bird guides and binoculars are provided.
718-549-3200, wavehill.org
718-965-8954, prospectpark.org/audubon
BILLY KELLY’S FAMILY COMEDY SHOW at Symphony Space (Dec. 16, 11 a.m.). Mr. Kelly insists that he doesn’t write comedy for children; he just makes jokes that are funny, minus the four-letter words and off-color humor that distinguish so much adult stand-up. Drawing inspiration from comics like Steven Wright, Steve Martin and Ellen DeGeneres, Mr. Kelly also adds music to the mix. Along with his endearingly oddball observations, he’ll be offering his endearingly oddball songs at this solo acoustic show, part of the Just Kidding series.
212-864-5400, symphonyspace.org/justkidding
KIDS ’N COMEDY: ‘THE CHRISTMAKWANZUKAH SHOW’ at Gotham Comedy Club (Dec. 17, 1 p.m.). Every holiday has a reservoir of potential humor, and the tween and teenage stand-up comics of this performance series, recommended for audiences 9 and older, promise to tap it. Authors of their own material, they intend to treat Christmas, Hanukkah and Kwanzaa with equal irreverence but no four-letter words. But that doesn’t mean that you won’t hear how they really feel about gifts and family gatherings.
212-877-6115, kidsncomedy.com
LC KIDS STORYTIME: ‘THE LITTLEST TRAIN’ BY CHRIS GALL at the David Rubenstein Atrium (Dec. 16, 11 a.m.). Meet another little engine that could. This one chugs out of the imagination of Mr. Gall, the popular children’s author and illustrator known for his Dinotrux series. He’ll read his new picture book at this free event, part of the Lincoln Center Kids program. Its hero, a tiny toy train, encounters the greater world and some real locomotives in this colorful adventure.
212-721-6500, kids.lincolncenter.org
‘MY CITY, MY SONG’ at Zankel Hall (Dec. 16, noon and 3 p.m.). The artists in this program, part of the Carnegie Hall Family Concert series, are all based in New York, but, like many city residents, they embrace traditions from far away. Here, they’ll invite young listeners to experience heritages that are simultaneously local and global. Ilusha Tsinadze, who is from Georgia, will offer both his nation’s folk songs and his own; Imani Uzuri is to delve into African-American history with freedom songs from the civil rights movement and original works of protest; and Emeline Michel will combine the rhythms of her native Haiti with pop, jazz and blues. All children are invited to come an hour early for free preconcert activities, which include learning songs and a little Georgian.
212-247-7800, carnegiehall.org
NOT JUST FOR KIDS … A HANUKKAH PROGRAM at the Center for Jewish History (Dec. 17, 12:30 to 4:30 p.m.). It may not be just for kids, but there will be plenty for them to enjoy: crafts, music and adventures in the galleries. At 1 p.m., the artist Marna Chester will lead a workshop, suitable for the visually impaired as well as for those with normal sight, in making Hanukkah art from paper, and at 3 p.m., the Israeli cellist Elad Kabilio and his chamber ensemble MusicTalks will present songs from different cultures that the holiday has inspired. The Yeshiva University Museum, co-sponsor of the event, will offer art hunts and exhibition tours, and the afternoon will conclude with a menorah lighting and sufganiyot (jelly doughnuts).
212-868-4444, smarttix.com