I didn’t grow up going to the Nutcracker, Broadway musicals or the opera—if it gives you any sense of my family’s preferences, my first concert was The Grateful Dead! I started going to the opera in high school and discovered a love of the performing arts; I then took every chance to see the symphony, musicals, live dance and ballet. I wanted to start my own kids a little younger, so we’ve made going to the Nutcracker with kids a family tradition.

Now I know what you’re thinking (because I thought it, too): How do you bring kids to the Nutcracker ballet? Won’t they talk through the whole performance? What if they kick the seat in front of us? Will it be scary? Can kids even sit that long?!

If it’s your child’s first ballet, no wonder you’re anxious! But it is 100% possible to enjoy the Nutcracker with kids. Heck, I’m living proof! Edie has been going to the Nutcracker since she was 3, and Maxine started joining us when she was 4. I’m not only still alive to tell the tale—I’m also excited for you to enjoy the ballet as a family!

Better than that, though, I’m going to share 19 tips to enjoy the Nutcracker with kids, whether it’s their first ballet or fiftieth. (Now that would be impressive.) Below, I’ll share my best advice to make attending the ballet with kids not only bearable—but fun. Plus, at the very bottom, I answer families’ most common questions about going to the Nutcracker with kids.

Plus, I’m updating this post for the 2021 Nutcracker season (since just about every aspect of life needs extra advice these days). You and your kids can have fun at the Nutcracker this year!

You may just start a new family tradition!

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How to go to the Nutcracker with kids

Doing anything new with young children can be stressful. Doing something new in a theater filled with other people where your kids are expected to sit still for two hours should earn you some legit parenting badges. 

But don’t give up before you even try to go to the Nutcracker with kids! I did it; so can you! Here’s how.

What to do before the Nutcracker performance

Here are some tips to see see the Nutcracker with kids—before you even leave home. Remember, preparation is key to having fun at a new family activity.

1. Go to the ballet during a matinee

I don’t know about yours, but my kids aren’t their best at 7pm. The witching hour is not a great time to see ballet with kids, but luckily, just about every ballet company offers matinee performances. Go to the Nutcracker with kids in the middle of the day: Most theaters offer 2pm shows or similar timing.

Bonus: Some ballet companies offer tickets to matinees at a discounted price!

2. Get cheaper Nutcracker tickets

I don’t know about you, but I have a hard time paying full price to see the ballet with kids. Since I’m just as focused on my children not kicking the person in front of us as I am on the performance, I don’t want to spend a ton of money on tickets. (I say this even though I absolutely value the hard work of all the performers and backstage folks who make this incredible production happen every year. They’re incredible!)

Here are some ways to get cheap tickets for the Nutcracker:

• Buy tickets on Cyber Monday. Many ballet companies offer discounted tickets after Thanksgiving.
• Sign up for your local ballet company’s newsletter. Performing companies will email subscribers when they have cheap Nutcracker tickets on sale.
• Look into Groupon. This is what we did one year, and I got half-off Nutcracker tickets. 

When you buy cheap Nutcracker tickets, you’re more likely to actually go to the ballet with kids. You’ll also be less stressed—no I paid $67 for this ticket so you’d better enjoy every single moment! That’s no fun for anyone. 

3. Buy tickets on the aisle

If you have any questions whether your kids will be able to sit through the entire Nutcracker, buy seats next to the aisle. If you have to make a quick getaway, you’ll have an easier time exiting if you don’t have to step over a dozen people on your way out. 

If your kids do need to leave early (as Edie once did when we saw the Cinderella ballet in Portland), it’s easy to slip out when you’re sitting next to the aisle.

4. Read books ahead of time

My girls are big readers, so I got a Nutcracker book for us to read before we attended the performance. Reading a Nutcracker book helps kids get to know the characters and the plot (to the extent there is one, ha!). 

Being more familiar with the Nutcracker story helped my kids sit through and enjoy the ballet; it will for yours, too. I really like this version, created by Jan Brett (the author/illustrator who made the much-beloved book The Mitten). Get yourself a copy before you attend the ballet with kids so you can read it several times before showtime.

5. Listen to Tchaikovsky’s Nutcracker Suite

If you’re an adult with ears, you’re familiar with at least some of Tchaikovsky’s Nutcracker Suite—it’s some of the most-played classical music of all time. Your kids might not recognize it though. Yet.

So put on classical music when the kids are playing and point out when a Nutcracker song comes on. Pull up the entire suite on Spotify when you’re eating dinner. Or borrow a CD from the library and listen to it when you’re driving to soccer practice. 

My older daughter now perks up when a Nutcracker song comes on: “Hey!” she says. “This is from the Nutcracker!”

6. Watch the Nutcracker on YouTube

There’s no need to watch the entire performance—that’s a bit overkill—but pull up a dance or two for your kids on YouTube. Then watch it alongside them.

Talk about the dance, what’s happening in the story, what the characters might be thinking or feeling, how it’s totally impressive that the ballerina can stand on the tip of her toes—anything to interact with your kids. The more they engage with the ballet, the more into the live Nutcracker performance they’ll be. 

Search for the dance of the Sugarplum Fairy and the waltz of the Snowflakes.

7. Dance it out

If your kids are anything like mine, they’ll want to dance immediately after watching the Nutcracker on YouTube. Cue up the Nutcracker Suite and dance on! Just turn on your camera to capture the unbelievable cuteness.

This is what the girls did immediately after we watched YouTube videos of the Nutcracker. Look at all those lifts and spins!

IMG_5251 from Catherine Ryan Gregory on Vimeo.

8. Take a ballet class

If your children are into ballet, sign them up for a ballet class or camp. Even super young children can take dance classes, and they’re beyond cute in leotards and ballet shoes. 

Truth be told, I signed up my girls for a week-long ballet camp one summer when they were wee, and it did not go well. They were super cranky the whole time and several days asked to go home. Maybe we’ll try it again next year, especially now that my older daughter is convinced she’s ready to be the Sugarplum Fairy.

What to do during the Nutcracker performance

You bought your tickets, you prepared your kids, you’re ready to go—hooray! Now that you’re seeing the Nutcracker with kids live, here’s what to do.

1. Get their wiggles out

The day of the Nutcracker performance, make sure your kids have an active morning. You want them to expend all their energy before going to the Nutcracker with kids.

So take them to the park, crank up the music for a dance party or let ’em loose on the trampoline. You want them to use up some of that legendary kid energy.

2. Talk about what will happen

That Daniel Tiger episode—”When we do something new let’s talk about what we’ll do!”—totally has a point. So explain to your kids what to expect when they see their first ballet. That might sound something like this:

“First we’ll find our seats. A little later, the lights will go down, and the orchestra will play music for a little bit. Then the big curtain will come up, and the dancing will start! There will be a break in the middle of the show called the intermission, when we can go to the bathroom and eat snacks. Then we’ll watch the second part of the show.”

The more kids know what to expect, the more comfortable they’ll be with a new experience.

Note: Even if your kids have gone to the ballet before, if it’s been a while, you should still talk it through. This is especially the case if you take them to the Nutcracker in 2021. Many kids may be extra nervous to do things in public since the pandemic began.

3. Eat and pee before the show starts

If you go to a professional performance, you won’t be able to leave and reenter the theater during the show. (The light from opening the door, and stepping over other people in the audience, disturbs everyone else.) So make sure everyone uses the potty, has a drink of water and eats something before the performance starts!

If your kids are like mine and for some reason resist using the bathroom, tell them ahead of time that this is an expectation. You can weave it into the summary of what the performance will be like.

4. Get a booster seat

Many theaters offer booster seats for free—check at customer service or coat check. Sitting higher will help your littles see the show.

5. Meet a ballerina

Most ballet companies have a meet-and-greet area for kids to see ballerinas and other Nutcracker characters. Look for them before the show, during intermission and after the performance. 

I recommend taking these adorable photos before the show starts. During intermission, you may need to return to the restroom, so best to get it done ahead of time!

6. Bring snacks

I don’t know about your kids, but mine can hardly go 5 minutes without asking for a snack. But most theaters don’t allow food once you’ve sat down in your seats. (I told my girls it was because they didn’t want the Mouse King to get into the seats and eat the crumbs!)

Still, bring a variety of easy-to-eat snacks for intermission. You’ll want to have your own on hand in case you end up waiting in the bathroom line, or the line for concessions is too long.

7. Pee during intermission!

My kids swore up and down that they didn’t have to pee during intermission, but I made us all go to the bathroom anyway. Big shocker: They did, in fact, need to go.

It would be a huge bummer if they had a potty emergency 5 minutes into the second half of the performance. So make your kids go during the break. 

8. Order snacks ahead of time

I’m not sure if this is just something Keller Auditorium in Portland does, or if it’s a brilliant trend nationwide: But here in Portland,  you can order your intermission snacks ahead of time, then just waltz up to the counter and pick ’em up. No waiting in super-long lines.

You just might want to order yourself a champagne to congratulate yourself for being so smart (and for successfully going to the Nutcracker with kids). 

Ordering a special treat like a cookie can make going to the Nutcracker as a family even more memorable. If your kids are like mine, they will reminisce about the cookie just as much as the actual performance!

9. Don’t sweat the kid stuff

Your children are young; they’re going to wiggle in their seats and talk during the performance. There, I said it. They’re not adults, so they shouldn’t be expected to act like adults.

So try not to get annoyed when they ask questions or move from their seat to your lap and back again. It’s totally normal.

10. Know your kid isn’t the only one

When it’s your child announcing “I’m going to be Clara next year” in the loudest whisper ever, it’s easy to feel embarrassed—but all the kids around you are probably embarrassing their parents, too. 

One year, my daughter was asking questions during the show because, well, she was 3. The lady behind us shushed her. I was like, Woman! She’s a kid. You’re at the matinee of the Nutcracker. Manage your expectations! Well, I thought that in my head and rolled my eyes at her. I hope that’s what I conveyed.

But the truth is, people going to the matinee of a kid-friendly ballet should know that kids are going to be kids! So they just need to chill out.

I have very strong opinions about this. Kids deserve to go to the ballet. And they won’t learn to love the performing arts unless they get the chance to experience them. So please, please don’t let a fear of cranky and kidless adults get in the way of going to the Nutcracker as a family.

And if you do get some serious side eye, send the unempathetic grinches my way. I’ll tell them off for you.

11. Be prepared to cut your losses

That said, if your children really aren’t doing well, you should feel 100% good about leaving early. If they really can’t sit, are crying, or are asking to leave, make a polite exit. 

After all you want your child’s first ballet to be a positive experience—for your little one and you! Leave before it gets ugly and  you’ll look forward to next year’s Nutcracker with kids even more.

More questions for going to the Nutcracker with kids

How long is the Nutcracker?

We went to the Nutcracker produced by Oregon Ballet Theater in Portland. The show started at 2pm and ended at 4:10. The Nutcracker is 2 hours long, give or take a few minutes. The show also had a 25 minute intermission, which is common for productions of this ballet. 

What is a good age to take kids to see the Nutcracker?

I started taking my older daughter to see the Nutcracker when she was 2 1/2, but that is definitely on the early side. She could sit through almost the entire show; we left about 5 minutes early. 

I started taking my younger daughter when she was 3 1/2. She had a hard time sitting in the second half of the ballet, though she did a good job overall.

4 is a good age to take kids to see the Nutcracker for the first time. That said, your child needs to be able to sit through roughly the length of a movie. If they can do that without many problems, they’re ready to see the Nutcracker ballet for the first time.

Is the Nutcracker too scary for kids?

The Nutcracker does have a few scary parts for children. There’s a section with the Mouse King and the other human-sized mice battling toy soldiers that was a little frightening; also, Drosselmeyer can be a little scary. 

I told my kids about these parts ahead of time, so they weren’t surprised by the scary parts. I also held my younger daughter on my lap during these parts. 

Overall, though, the Nutcracker is not too scary for kids. 

Do you have any questions about going to the Nutcracker with kids? Post them in the comments below and I’ll be happy to answer them!

Whether you’re going to your child’s first ballet or your kids are performance pros, I hope these tips on seeing the Nutcracker with kids helped. If you have any hacks to add, please share them in the comments!