Rally the corgi has sniffed out the best Christmas events for kids in Middletown, NJ for 2026, and here is what he found: 4 family events, 1 of them free. The magic runs from December 5 (Christmas Remembered: A Winter Evening of Story, Poetry and Memory) through December 9, with Andrew Scharff Holiday Show (December 5) along the way. We check every date on the host’s own website, and each listing links straight there. For the rest of the state, see our New Jersey Christmas events for kids guide.
What Rally found in Middletown
- 4 Christmas events for kids in Middletown
- 1 free event, including Christmas Remembered: A Winter Evening of Story, Poetry and Memory
- Also on the list: 3 Christmas shows, 1 story time and 1 craft workshop
- Season: December 5 (Christmas Remembered: A Winter Evening of Story, Poetry and Memory) to December 9 (Band of Two Rivers Holiday Concert)
- Every date checked on the host’s own site on Nov 10
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- 1 Crafts
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Free Christmas events for kids in Middletown
Holiday showFree
Christmas Remembered: A Winter Evening of Story, Poetry and Memory
- When: Saturday, December 5, 2026, 3 to 4 pm
- Where: Thompson Park Visitor Center, 805 Newman Springs Rd, Middletown, NJ 07738 (opens in maps)
- Cost: Free, online registration
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Robert Goodman presents a literary recital built around Dylan Thomas's A Child's Christmas in Wales and Dulce Domum from Kenneth Grahame's The Wind in the Willows. The readings are accompanied by imagery, music and sound. It is part of the Monmouth County Park System's spoken word events at the Thompson Park Visitor Center in Lincroft.
The recital is Saturday, December 5, 2026, from 3:00 to 4:00 pm. It is free, and online registration opens November 13 under program number PA017A.
Parent tip: This is an hour of listening to classic prose, so it suits school-age kids and teens who enjoy being read to more than toddlers. Despite the word evening in the title, it runs from 3:00 to 4:00 pm.
- Host
- Monmouth County Park System (opens in a new tab)
- Address
- Thompson Park Visitor Center, 805 Newman Springs Rd, Middletown, NJ 07738 (opens in maps)
- Confirmed
- On the host’s page, checked
New Middletown events every week
Rally researches Christmas events in Middletown daily and updates this page with new events. Enter your email to get a weekly update with new events in Middletown.
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Rally’s Christmas research
Rally the corgi has 3 more Middletown events researched for you.
- New events every week We research new events daily and send you one email a week with the new ones we find in Middletown.
- Exclusive access to free events Find the free Christmas events in Middletown before they fill up.
- Unlock the filters Find Santa visits, free events and weekend plans in one tap.
- Rally’s Christmas Eve Express and a free advent calendar Get early access to Rally the corgi’s Christmas Eve tracker, plus a free digital advent calendar to count down to Christmas.
- One-tap add to calendar Save any event to your Google, Apple or Outlook calendar so you never miss it.
Coming up on this page
- 3 Shows
- 1 Crafts
- 1 Story time
- 1 Free
Enter your email to get new Christmas events in Middletown every week.
Ticketed and paid Christmas events for kids in Middletown
Admission, tickets or a fee apply. Where a host has not posted a price yet, the listing says so.
Holiday show
Andrew Scharff Holiday Show
- When: Saturday, December 5, 2026, 11 to 11:45 am
- Where: Middletown Township Public Library, Community Room, 55 New Monmouth Rd, Middletown, NJ 07748 (opens in maps)
- Cost: No price listed on the organizer's page; registration required
- Ages: All ages
Expand to see the parent tip
Andrew Scharff plays an honorary toy-testing elf who grew too tall for Santa's workshop. His job in the show is to try out the toys, which means yo-yos, juggling boxes, spinning tops and more. It is staged in the library's Community Room for all ages.
The show is Saturday, December 5, 2026, from 11:00 to 11:45 am at Middletown Township Public Library, 55 New Monmouth Road. Every person attending needs a registration, and sign-up opens Saturday, November 14, at 11:00 am. The listing does not state a price.
Parent tip: Register adults as well as children, since the library requires a spot for each person attending. At 45 minutes, the show is a manageable length for preschoolers.
- Host
- Middletown Township Public Library (opens in a new tab)
- Address
- Middletown Township Public Library, Community Room, 55 New Monmouth Rd, Middletown, NJ 07748 (opens in maps)
- Confirmed
- On the host’s page, checked
New Middletown events every week
Rally researches Christmas events in Middletown daily and updates this page with new events. Enter your email to get a weekly update with new events in Middletown.
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Holiday crafts
Multigenerational Ornament Making
- When: Tuesday, December 8, 2026, 3:30 to 5 pm
- Where: Middletown Township Public Library, Community Room, 55 New Monmouth Rd, Middletown, NJ 07748 (opens in maps)
- Cost: No price listed on the organizer's page; registration required
- Ages: All ages
Expand to see the parent tip
Kids, parents and grandparents sit down together to make ornaments in the library's Community Room. Each ornament can go home with its maker or be hung on the holiday tree in the library's Children's Room.
The program is Tuesday, December 8, 2026, from 3:30 to 5:00 pm at Middletown Township Public Library, 55 New Monmouth Road. Registration is required and opens Tuesday, November 17, at 3:30 pm. The listing does not state a price.
Parent tip: Sign up every member of your group, adults included, because the library says space and supplies are limited. If your child adds an ornament to the Children's Room tree, plan a return visit to spot it.
- Host
- Middletown Township Public Library (opens in a new tab)
- Address
- Middletown Township Public Library, Community Room, 55 New Monmouth Rd, Middletown, NJ 07748 (opens in maps)
- Confirmed
- On the host’s page, checked
New Middletown events every week
Rally researches Christmas events in Middletown daily and updates this page with new events. Enter your email to get a weekly update with new events in Middletown.
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Holiday show
Band of Two Rivers Holiday Concert
- When: Wednesday, December 9, 2026, 7 to 8 pm
- Where: Middletown Township Public Library, Community Room, 55 New Monmouth Rd, Middletown, NJ 07748 (opens in maps)
- Cost: No price listed on the organizer's page; registration required
- Ages: All ages
Expand to see the parent tip
The Band of Two Rivers, a non-profit community concert band of 30 volunteer musicians from across Monmouth County, plays a holiday program in the library's Community Room. The set list includes the Nutcracker, Sleigh Ride and the Carol of the Shepherds, among others.
The concert is Wednesday, December 9, 2026, from 7:00 to 8:00 pm at Middletown Township Public Library, 55 New Monmouth Road. Registration is required to save a seat, and the page showed 57 seats available when it was checked. No price is listed.
Parent tip: Seats are limited, so register early if you want to sit together. A 7:00 pm start on a Wednesday makes this one better for school-age kids who can handle a later night than for toddlers.
- Host
- Middletown Township Public Library (opens in a new tab)
- Address
- Middletown Township Public Library, Community Room, 55 New Monmouth Rd, Middletown, NJ 07748 (opens in maps)
- Confirmed
- On the host’s page, checked
New Middletown events every week
Rally researches Christmas events in Middletown daily and updates this page with new events. Enter your email to get a weekly update with new events in Middletown.
Free. Unsubscribe anytime. Privacy policy (opens in a new tab)
We check every event above on the host’s own page for the date, time and cost, plus the things parents ask about, like sign-ups and ages. Looking for a Santa train instead? Those are on our New Jersey Christmas train rides page.
See every event on a December calendar
Plan your December
When each Middletown Christmas event for kids happens
The first is Christmas Remembered: A Winter Evening of Story, Poetry and Memory in Middletown on December 5; the last runs to December 9. Each bar spans an event’s dates, not every hour in them, so check the host’s page for times.
- Christmas Remembered: A Winter Evening of Story, Poetry and MemoryMiddletown · Dec 5
- Andrew Scharff Holiday ShowMiddletown · Dec 5
- Multigenerational Ornament MakingMiddletown · Dec 8
- Band of Two Rivers Holiday ConcertMiddletown · Dec 9
Looking further afield? Our New Jersey Christmas events for kids guide lists every event we have found in the state, and we have city guides for Red Bank, Rahway, Ocean and Point Pleasant Beach. The national search sorts every event by distance from your town.
A story for the drive home
A morning with Santa or an evening of holiday stories tends to end the same way: tired kids, a long drive and one more book before bed. Our picture book follows Rally the corgi on his first train ride to see his grand-paw-rents, and every page is painted by hand. If your family is spending December missing someone, it was written for that too. For the car, print our free corgi and train coloring pages.
A bedtime story after seeing SantaRally Takes the Train is a five-minute rhyming picture book about a corgi’s first ride on a California train, hand-painted in watercolor. $16.99 on Amazon, ages 0 to 8.
Buy on Amazon2026 Christmas events are coming in late November
More Christmas events arrive in late November. We add them here as soon as we confirm them.
The story of Christmas in Middletown
Henry Hudson anchored along the shores of Sandy Hook Bay in 1609 and described the area as a pleasant land to see, long before Middletown Township was formed in 1693. This season the township's holiday listings gather at its public library and at a county park in Lincroft.
How Middletown celebrates
Middletown is a large township made up of many communities, and the article on it notes that any recognizable town center was lost in the growth that followed World War II. This season's listed events gather in two places instead. Middletown Township Public Library on New Monmouth Road hosts the Andrew Scharff Holiday Show on December 5, an ornament making afternoon on December 8 whose creations can decorate the holiday tree in the Children's Room, and a Band of Two Rivers Holiday Concert on December 9. In Lincroft, the Monmouth County Park System presents Christmas Remembered, a free literary recital, at the Thompson Park Visitor Center on December 5.
Fun facts about Christmas in Middletown
Middletown Township was formed on October 31, 1693, and incorporated as a township on February 21, 1798. A railroad junction completed in 1875 sped up its change from fishing and farming villages into a suburb. With 67,106 residents in the 2020 census it is the largest municipality in Monmouth County, and its borders take in the Sandy Hook peninsula even though no land connects the two.
Traditions today
- Andrew Scharff Holiday Show: A toy-testing elf shows off yo-yos, juggling boxes and spinning tops in the library's Community Room on December 5.
- The Children's Room holiday tree: At Multigenerational Ornament Making on December 8, families can add the ornaments they make to the holiday tree in the library's Children's Room.
- Band of Two Rivers Holiday Concert: Thirty volunteer musicians from across Monmouth County play holiday pieces such as Sleigh Ride at the library on December 9.
- Christmas Remembered at Thompson Park: The Monmouth County Park System hosts a recital of Dylan Thomas and Kenneth Grahame at the Thompson Park Visitor Center in Lincroft on December 5.
A fact for kids
Poricy Creek in Middletown is known for fossils of sea creatures from the Cretaceous period, including belemnites. And the township stretches so far that you could sail across the bay to Sandy Hook and still be in Middletown.
Questions about Christmas in Middletown
When was Middletown Township founded?
Middletown Township was originally formed on October 31, 1693, when the Monmouth Tract became three townships: Middletown, Shrewsbury and Freehold. It was incorporated as a township by the New Jersey Legislature on February 21, 1798.
Who were the first Europeans in Middletown?
Henry Hudson anchored along Sandy Hook Bay in 1609, the first known European landing in the area. Thomas Whitlock, one of the first European settlers, arrived as early as 1664, and parts of his house survive in today's Shoal Harbor Museum and Old Spy House.
Who lived in the Middletown area before European settlement?
Small communities of the Lenape Navesink tribe were common throughout the area when Europeans first arrived in 1609. After the English took over New Netherland in 1664, a large tract known as the Navesink Patent was granted to Baptist and Quaker settlers.
How did the railroad change Middletown?
After a railroad junction was completed in 1875, the town grew more rapidly. It shifted from a group of small, loosely connected fishing and agricultural villages into a fast-growing suburb around the turn of the 20th century.
How big is Middletown Township?
The 2020 census counted 67,106 residents, making Middletown the largest municipality in Monmouth County and the 20th most populous in New Jersey. The township covers 58.72 square miles, and about 30 percent of that is water.
What happens at Christmas in Middletown?
This season's listings include four programs: the Andrew Scharff Holiday Show and Christmas Remembered on December 5, Multigenerational Ornament Making on December 8 and the Band of Two Rivers Holiday Concert on December 9, 2026.
Where are Middletown's Christmas events held?
Three of the four are in the Community Room at Middletown Township Public Library, 55 New Monmouth Road. Christmas Remembered is at the Thompson Park Visitor Center in Lincroft, one of the unincorporated communities inside the township.
Who organizes the holiday events in Middletown?
Middletown Township Public Library runs the holiday show, the ornament making program and the concert, with its Children's Department listed as organizer of the ornament program and its Reference Department for the concert. The Monmouth County Park System presents Christmas Remembered as part of its spoken word events.
Which Middletown Christmas events are free?
The Monmouth County Park System marks Christmas Remembered as free. The library's pages for its three programs do not state a price, but all require registration, and for the holiday show and ornament making every person attending must be registered.
Is Sandy Hook part of Middletown?
Yes. The Sandy Hook peninsula lies within Middletown Township even though it is not connected to the rest of the township by land. The waterfront of Naval Weapons Station Earle, in the Leonardo section, has a pier that stretches 2.9 miles.
Sources
- Middletown Township, New Jersey, Wikipedia
- Andrew Scharff Holiday Show, Middletown Township Public Library
- Spoken Word Events in the Parks: Christmas Remembered, Monmouth County Park System
- Multigenerational Ornament Making, Middletown Township Public Library
- Band of Two Rivers Holiday Concert, Middletown Township Public Library
Keep the Christmas magic going: track Rally the corgi on Christmas Eve, print free Christmas coloring pages, learn how to say Merry Christmas in 100+ languages, find train museums to visit with kids, or browse Christmas events in every New Jersey city.
Middletown Christmas events for kids: questions parents ask
What is the best Christmas event for kids in Middletown to start with?
The Andrew Scharff Holiday Show at Middletown Township Public Library on Saturday, December 5, 2026, at 11:00 am is a good first pick. It is a 45-minute all-ages show with a toy-testing elf who works with yo-yos, juggling boxes and spinning tops. Registration opens November 14 and is required for each person.
Are there free Christmas events for kids in Middletown?
Christmas Remembered at the Thompson Park Visitor Center in Lincroft on December 5 from 3:00 to 4:00 pm is marked free by the Monmouth County Park System. The three library programs, the holiday show, ornament making and the Band of Two Rivers concert, list no price but do require registration.
Where can kids meet Santa in Middletown?
None of the events on this list includes a Santa visit. The closest is the Andrew Scharff Holiday Show on December 5 at the library, where the performer plays an honorary toy-testing elf from Santa's workshop. Check with the library for any Santa visits added later in the season.
Are there holiday shows or concerts for families in Middletown?
Yes, three. The Andrew Scharff Holiday Show is December 5 at 11:00 am and the Band of Two Rivers Holiday Concert is December 9 at 7:00 pm, both in the library's Community Room. Christmas Remembered, a recital of Dylan Thomas and Kenneth Grahame, is December 5 at 3:00 pm at Thompson Park.
Which Middletown holiday events need sign-up?
All four take registration. The library opens sign-up for the holiday show on November 14 at 11:00 am and for Multigenerational Ornament Making on November 17 at 3:30 pm, and it asks you to register every person attending. The concert also requires registration, and the county park recital opens online registration November 13.
Is Lincroft part of Middletown?
Yes. Lincroft is one of several unincorporated communities inside Middletown Township, and Thompson Park is one of the parks located in the township. That is why Christmas Remembered at the Thompson Park Visitor Center on December 5 appears alongside the events at the library on New Monmouth Road.
Are there Christmas train rides for kids near Middletown?
Santa trains and holiday train rides have their own guide: Rally Takes the Train’s New Jersey Christmas train rides guide. This Middletown guide covers Santa visits, story times, light shows and other events off the rails.
How do you confirm these events?
We list an event only after we find this season’s date on the host’s own website or an official city or tourism calendar. We last checked every listing on November 10, 2026. Hosts change details, so always confirm on the host’s page before you go.
Event names belong to their hosts. Rally Takes the Train is a family picture book and is not affiliated with, sponsored by or endorsed by any host listed here. Confirm dates, times and prices on each host’s own site before you go.