Hands-on activities, participatory readings, performances, movie matinees, and more events designed for kids and their families.
Read full descriptionAfter an interactive tour of Hinges: Sakaki Hyakusen and the Birth of Nanga Painting, draw an imaginary landscape on Japanese paper to make your own miniature folding screen.
For ages 6 to 12 with accompanying adult(s)
Jump into the classic story of a country cricket who finds himself in the big city, and pick up a copy of the book to finish reading at home.
Recommended for ages 8 & up (younger kids welcome as listeners)
Get inspired by art on view in Strange, then use found images and the Surrealist exquisite corpse technique to add fantastically strange elements to artworks of your own.
For ages 6 to 12 with accompanying adult(s)
This special bilingual edition of Roundtable Reading features a story about a young girl helping shelter animals find homes—and looking for a forever home of her own.
Recommended for ages 8 & up (younger kids welcome as listeners)
Bring the family for a full day of art, puppetry, stories, and film—it’s free!
Inspired by works of Zen calligraphy in Meditation in Motion, explore ways of drawing words to visually express their meaning and create fragments of poetry in response to works of art.
For ages 6 to 12 with accompanying adult(s)
In the Upside-Down Magic class at Dunwiddle Magic School, the spells go wonky at the worst possible moments. Join us to start reading this delightful book and pick up a copy to keep reading at home.
Recommended for ages 8 & up (younger kids welcome as listeners)
In the spirit of Carlos Amorales’s mural about protest for BAMPFA’s Art Wall, create cutouts of people holding up signs expressing something important that you want to shout out!
For ages 6 to 12 with accompanying adult(s)
Join us to start reading this book about a girl struggling against discrimination in 1940s California, and pick up a copy to finish reading at home.
Recommended for ages 8 & up (younger kids welcome as listeners)
Explore the varied perceptions of space and form on view in About Things Loved, then use paint and other materials to create a layered canvas of your own.
For ages 6 to 12 with accompanying adult(s)
Read with us about a young girl’s experiences in 1920s Alaska, and pick up a copy of the book to finish reading at home.
Recommended for ages 8 & up (younger kids welcome as listeners)
Enjoy looking at the puzzling and peculiar shapes in Frederick Hammersley’s work, then make an intriguing cut-paper composition of your own.
For ages 6 to 12 with accompanying adult(s)
A bag full of tiny dragons creates a big adventure in this story of mystery, magic, and mayhem in an everyday urban setting. Start reading the book with us, and pick up a copy to finish at home.
Recommended for ages 8 & up (younger kids welcome as listeners)
Explore BAMPFA exhibitions, make your own art, enjoy a performance by the Bug Family Band, and check out a screening of Revolting Rhymes—bring the family and make a day of it!
Inspired by the repetition and layering in Frederick Hammersley’s work, discover your own rhythmic compositions using woven papers and stamp-based printmaking.
For ages 6 to 12 with accompanying adult(s)
Join us to read about a girl and her promise to Bob, a mysterious creature who lives in her grandmother’s closet.
Recommended for ages 8 & up (younger kids welcome as listeners)
Look at photographs in Unlimited and think about the stories they tell, then use drawing and collage to illustrate a story from your own life.
For ages 6 to 12 with accompanying adult(s)
Join us in reading this remarkable story of friendship, loyalty, life, and morality.
Acompañanos para leer esta extraordinaria historia de amistad, lealtad, vida, y moral.
Recommended for ages 8 & up (younger kids welcome as listeners)
Recomendado para las edades de 8 años en adelante (niños menores son bienvenidos como oyentes)
Explore how Hans Hofmann used color, form, and space to create depth and feeling in his work, then make a mixed-media art piece of your own.
For ages 6 to 12 with accompanying adult(s)
Join us as we read a story that celebrates the wonder of science and explores questions about life, family, friendship, and possibility.
Recommended for ages 8 & up (younger kids welcome as listeners)
Get inspired by the Japanese art in Ink, Paper, Silk and paint your own images of animals on a miniature Japanese folding screen.
For ages 6 to 12 with accompanying adult(s)
Read about a diverse group of kids whose lives weave together in unexpected ways, and pick up a copy of the book to take home.
Recommended for ages 8 & up (younger kids welcome as listeners)
With Masako Miki’s bright colors and squishy forms as inspiration, make your own creatures from felt, fabric, and found objects.
For ages 6–12 with accompanying adult(s)
Join in reading about a girl trying to pursue her dreams while living at a motel, and get a copy of the book to enjoy wherever you live.
Recommended for ages 8 & up (younger kids welcome as listeners)
Recommended for ages 8 & up
A hapless prospector tries his luck in the frozen north in a film that glitters with some of Charlie Chaplin’s most memorable nuggets of comedy.
Recommended for ages 8 & up
A hapless prospector tries his luck in the frozen north in a film that glitters with some of Charlie Chaplin’s most memorable nuggets of comedy.
Recommended for ages 10 & up
This effortlessly beautiful film follows a Mayan father and his young son as they spend a summer working (and playing) along the Mexican Caribbean coast.
Recommended for ages 7 & up
Spend an old-fashioned afternoon at the movies with three shorts that find Charlie Chaplin’s character at work and at play: Sunnyside, A Day’s Pleasure, and Pay Day.
Recommended for ages 6 & up
Follow the exploits of emperor penguins as they migrate, search for food, raise their young, and waddle about the ice in this documentary, one of the biggest nonfiction hits of the 2000s. Presented with English narration by Morgan Freeman.
Recommended for ages 7 & up
The director behind The Secret of Kells returns with a gorgeous animation inspired by Irish legends and Celtic folk art. This Miyazaki-like wonder is “one of the most blissfully beautiful animated films ever made” (Toronto Review).
Digital Restoration
Recommended for ages 7 & up
A young boy’s friendship with a wild stallion anchors this mesmerizing adaptation of the classic novel. “May be the greatest children’s movie ever made” (Pauline Kael).
Imported Print
Recommended for ages 7 & up
A seven-year-old girl navigates the busy streets of Tehran while trying to buy a goldfish in the utterly charming debut of Jafar Panahi (3 Faces). Cowritten by Abbas Kiarostami, it’s “a reminder that the simplest forms of filmmaking can be the most satisfying” (Los Angeles Times).
Recommended for ages 8 & up
Nominated for Best Animated Feature at the 2012 Oscars, this magical film (inspired by the Belgian children’s books) follows Celestine the mouse, a dentist-in-training, and Ernestine the bear, a musician and poet.
Canceled
This screening has been canceled due to the UC Berkeley campus power shutdown. Please watch this page for updates on rescheduling and ticket refund information.
Digital Restorations
Recommended for ages 10 & up
Anyone curious about what episodes of Sesame Street would look like if they were directed by one of the world’s greatest filmmakers should catch this collection of shorts by Kiarostami, made for an Iranian children’s cultural institute.
Free Admission!
Recommended for ages 7 & up
Enjoy the wildly colorful, wonderfully detailed films of animator Sally Cruikshank, including the psychedelic classic Quasi at the Quackadero and her musical animations for Sesame Street.
Recommended for ages 5 & up
What better activity for a holiday weekend than a trip down the Yellow Brick Road with Dorothy, the Scarecrow, the Cowardly Lion, and the Tin Woodsman? Experience this enduring classic the old-fashioned way, in a 35mm print.
Hand-Tinted 35mm Print
Recommended for ages 7 & up
One of the world’s first animated features, Reiniger’s enchanting work uses intricate silhouettes to enact a tale from the Arabian Nights. It offers “exquisite craftsmanship, balletic movement, expressive romanticism, and moments of potent sensuousness and poetry” (Time Out).