Honor Martin Luther King Jr. on Monday, January 19 with a family-friendly event, a meaningful service project, or an inspiring tribute to the civil rights leader. Plus, day camps, drop-in indoor activities, and more events for kids of all ages on this school holiday.
Our new Events Calendar is here featuring convenient filters by category, location, ages, dates and more to make your Brooklyn social life as fun and meaningful as possible.
Have you checked out CONNECT – where families find what matters? Whether you are looking for a preschool, face painter, speech therapist, writing tutor, camp, meal delivery service, child therapist or piano teacher, CONNECT is the one-stop solution for parents, easy to navigate and curated!
Celebrate Martin Luther King Jr. at Brooklyn Children’s Museum | Crown Heights
$15 admission
Turn dreams into action with two days of service, storytelling, and song! March with Grammy-nominated musician Fyütch, create shadow puppets, join community service projects, and hear Dr. King’s words come to life.
Martin Luther King Day of Service at Park Slope Jewish Center | Park Slope
Sunday, January 18 | 10:30am-12:30pm
Join Park Slope Jewish Center to honor Dr. King’s legacy with a day of service that includes art projects, cooking and food-kit packaging, sorting and packing books for children, and writing letters to policymakers in support of immigrants.
Brooklyn MLK Family Day of Service at The Senesh School | Carroll Gardens
Join for a family-friendly morning of service, open to all. Families will take part in hands-on, age-appropriate activities—such as kid-friendly cooking, packing hygiene and care kits, assembling adaptive-product kits, making cards, and sorting donated children’s books—to support local and global organizations and literacy efforts across New York City.
MLK Day: Prospect Lefferts Garden Street Tree Care | Prospect Lefferts Gardens
Monday, January 19 | 10am-12pm | Volunteers under 18 must be accompanied by an adult | FREE | Registration required
Join NYC Parks Stewardship as we celebrate the legacy of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.! Volunteers will work with us to care for local street trees! Volunteers will learn how to aerate, cultivate, mulch, and identify street trees. They will also learn about the important roles street trees play in New York City.
Community Clean-up for MLK Day of Service | Bed-Stuy
Monday, January 19 | 10am-12pm | FREE
Come to Preston Community Garden for a community clean-up on the 2026 MLK Day of Service! Help garden members clear up debris in the unkept public area surrounding the garden.
40th Annual Tribute to Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. at BAM | Fort Greene
Celebrate the life and legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. at this annual event. Join for a day of reflection, family-friendly activities, and celebration of all who carry Dr. King’s vision of justice and equality forward.
Volunteer Workday: Her-King Alagantic Community Garden | Bed-Stuy
Monday, January 19 | 11am-3pm | FREE | Register here
Join the Her–King Alagantic Community Garden group and GreenThumb staff for a volunteer day on the 2026 Martin Luther King Jr. Day of Service! We will be working together to build new metal beds for the upcoming season and help upkeep the garden as a vital public green space. Beginners are welcome! No prior experience necessary.
BAMkids Celebrates MLK Day: Nurturing the Seeds of Resilience at BAM | Fort Greene
Register here
Celebrate Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s legacy with hands-on activities including creating a collaborative mural, participate in movement exercises, and write letters of encouragement to your future self:
- Run, Walk, Crawl—Just Move! (11:45am, 1:30 & 3pm): Move at your own pace—run, walk, crawl, or pause—because every step counts.
- Dear Future Me (11:45am, 1:30 & 3pm): Write or draw a message to your future self reflecting hope, strength, and growth.
- Dr. MLK Jr. Bingo (11:45am, 1:30 & 3pm): Play a bingo-style game that explores Dr. King’s life and values.
- CommUNITY Tape Mural: Garden of Joy (Ongoing): Help create a collaborative tape mural celebrating unity, color, and community.
Just Mercy at BAM Rose Cinemas | Fort Greene
Monday, January 19 | 1pm | PG-13 | FREE | No ticket or RSVP required
For Martin Luther King Jr. Day, BAM will offer a free screening of the film Just Mercy (2019). Based on lawyer and social justice activist Bryan Stevenson’s memoir and his history-making battles for justice in Alabama, Just Mercy brings to the big screen the incendiary case of Walter McMillian (Jamie Foxx), a Black man wrongly convicted of murder and sentenced to death. With the system stacked against them, Stevenson (Michael B. Jordan) refuses to back down as he fights to prove Walter’s innocence.
More programs, activities, and day camps on MLK Day:
Martin Luther King Jr. Day School Holiday in Prospect Park | Prospect Park
Join Prospect Park Alliance for nature education programs at the Prospect Park Audubon Center.
- Nature Around Us | 12–3 pm | Enjoy different seasonal discovery stations and nature themed activities that will introduce you to the plants, insects and animals that call the park home.
- Winter Wilderness Walk | 3–4 pm | Join an Alliance Naturalist for a tour of how plants and animals live in the winter months.
Day camps for when public schools are closed
Browse our overview of school holiday camps. There are so many single-day camps to choose from, with activities like art-making, coding and robotics, skateboarding, chess, and so much more!
Best drop-in indoor activities for kids & teens
Looking for a drop-in activity on MLK Jr. Day? Our guide includes the best indoor spots for toddler play, art-making, rock climbing, Ninja warrior, mini golf, bowling and more!
Do you want all local parenting news in your inbox? Sign-up for our weekly newsletter now!
Updated: January 11, 2026. Main Image: 40th Annual Tribute to Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. at BAM.
