Child's Play NY
Child's Play NY is a Brooklyn-based theater education company founded in 2009 that delivers play-based performing-arts classes, camps, and in-school residencies to children ages 3-18 across NYC, serving thousands of families and dozens of top-tier private schools.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2009
- HeadquartersBrooklyn, United States
- Headcount51–100
- GTM typeB2B and B2C
- OfferingServices
What Child's Play NY does
Child's Play NY is a Brooklyn-based theater education company founded in 2009 by Jocelyn Greene that delivers play-based performing-arts instruction to children ages 3 through middle school across New York City. Its core offering is a proprietary curriculum, designed by Greene and validated by developmental PhDs, that integrates social-emotional learning, executive-function development, and ELA-aligned content into live theater production and dramatic play. Programs span weekly semester classes (Theater Adventures, Make-a-Musical, Musical Players, Scene Study, Improvisation, Shakespeare Players, Middle School Ensemble), week-long summer and holiday camps, birthday parties, private vocal coaching, in-home classes, and on-camera audition workshops; performance output includes licensed MTI and Theatrical Rights Worldwide productions as well as original works.
The company operates a hybrid go-to-market. On the consumer side, it enrolls families directly via its website and the HiSawyer scheduling platform, supported by an organic content-marketing engine (Instagram, YouTube, Jocelyn Greene's parenting blog, podcast appearances, and press in Time Out NY Kids, Backstage, NY Family Magazine). On the B2B side, it runs in-school residencies, after-school programs, teacher professional development, and live performances for "dozens of top-tier NYC schools," including Packer Collegiate Institute, Berkeley Carroll, Avenues the World School, PS39 Brooklyn, and Arts & Letters 305 United. Revenue is generated through semester subscriptions (typically $360-$1,080 per student), week-long camp tuition, per-event birthday party fees, per-class in-home rates ($160), and school-side fee-for-service contracts combining flat performance fees with per-class charges.
The business is founder-owned and bootstrapped with 40 teaching artists and staff, no disclosed outside investment, and a 2024 NYC M/WBE certification that positions it for institutional procurement channels. Its differentiated moat rests on a talent pool of working professional actors, a PhD-backed SEL curriculum validated by Mt. Sinai Parenting Center, sixteen years of production IP, and an entrenched B2B distribution footprint across NYC private schools.
Child's Play NY firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Child's Play NY
- Legal name
- Child's Play NY
- Website
- https://childsplayny.com
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2009
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 51–100 employees
- Short description
- Child's Play NY is a Brooklyn-based theater education company founded in 2009 that delivers play-based performing-arts classes, camps, and in-school residencies to children ages 3-18 across NYC, serving thousands of families and dozens of top-tier private schools.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Child's Play NY industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Children's Theater Education
- NAICS
- Fine Arts Schools (61161), Theater Companies and Dinner Theaters (71111), Performing Arts Companies (7111)
- SIC
- Services-Amusement & Recreation Services (7900)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Children’s & Youth Theatre (MPAGABAE)
- akta.pro secondary industries
- Theater & Drama Education (Acting, Improvisation, Musical Theater) (EDAMAAAG), Theatre Education, Training & Conservatories (MPAGABAN), Classical & Contemporary Theatre (Plays/Drama) (MPAGABAH)
Keywords
Where Child's Play NY is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Brooklyn
- HQ country
- United States
- HQ region
- North America
Offices3 records
Markets served
Child's Play NY business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B and B2C
- Offering type
- Services
- Cost components
- Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Others
Revenue model
- Classes and Semesters: Semester-based enrollment for theater classes including productions, scene study, and musical theater. Ranges from $360-$1,080 per semester depending on program length and format.
- Summer and Holiday Camps: Week-long intensive theater camps during summer and school breaks. Week-long intensives in joyful theater creation for ages 3-11.
- Birthday Parties: Customized theatrical birthday parties built around dramatic play and theme of family's choosing.
- School Residencies: Fee-for-service theater programming delivered in partner schools, with flat fee for performances plus per-class per-visit charges.
- Private Coaching: One-on-one sessions for private vocal coaching or audition prep.
- Professional Development: Play-based training for teachers and school faculty to elevate arts integration.
- In-Home Classes / Play Pods: Custom classes delivered at private homes with themed content. $160 per class for group sessions.
- Workshops: Specialized workshops such as On Camera Audition Workshop at $90 per child.
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Subscription | Multi-year contract | Annie Kids - Fall 2018 |
| Subscription | Multi-year contract | Peter Pan Jr. - Fall 2018 |
| Subscription | Multi-year contract | Chitty Chitty Bang Bang Jr. |
| Subscription | Multi-year contract | Peter and the Starcatcher |
| Subscription | Multi-year contract | As You Like It - Shakespeare Players |
| Subscription | Multi-year contract | Romeo & Juliet |
| Subscription | Multi-year contract | Aristocats Kids |
| Subscription | Multi-year contract | Imagine That! At The Great Room |
| Unit Pricing | Pay-as-you-go | Create Your Own Play Pod |
| Unit Pricing | Pay-as-you-go | On Camera Audition Workshop |
| Unit Pricing | Pay-as-you-go | Playful Puppetry Workshop |
| Unit Pricing | Pay-as-you-go | School of Rock Performance Tickets |
| Unit Pricing | Pay-as-you-go | Annie Kids Tickets |
Go-to-market motion3 records
Distribution channels5 records
Marketing channels7 records
Child's Play NY product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Child's Play NY provides play-based theater arts education for children ages 3 through middle school, delivered through weekly classes, summer and holiday camps, birthday parties, private coaching, in-school residencies, and teacher professional development programs. Offerings span acting, musical theater, improvisation, Shakespeare, and social-emotional learning curricula, sold both directly to families and to NYC independent and private schools.
Product overview
Child's Play NY is a theater education company offering a comprehensive portfolio of programs for children ages 3 through middle school. The core offerings include weekly Theater Classes (Theater Adventures, Make-a-Musical, Musical Players, Scene Study, Improvisation, Shakespeare Players, and Middle School Ensemble), Summer Camps and Vacation Camps, Birthday Parties, Private Coaching, and In-School Residencies with teacher professional development. The company produces student performances including licensed musicals (Disney's Lion King Kids, Frozen Kids, Shrek, Finding Nemo, Matilda, Into the Woods Jr.) and Shakespeare plays (A Midsummer Night's Dream, Romeo & Juliet, Macbeth, The Tempest). Supporting offerings include On Camera Audition Workshops, Playful Puppetry Workshops, Outdoor Play Pods, In-Home Classes, and the Child's Play in Action resource platform for parents and educators.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Brands
- Child's Play in Action: Video tutorials and guides for parents and educators featuring the company's curriculum for at-home play.
Quantifiable outcome
- Lower rates of anxiety, depression and emotional distress in students who engage in SEL activities
- +1 more outcomes
Companies that use Child's Play NY
Customer profileNamed customers8 records
Segments3 records
Ideal customer profiles2 records
Child's Play NY technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed No
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Feature3 records
Child's Play NY partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
Three partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.
- Mt. Sinai Parenting CentercoreMt. Sinai Parenting Center features Child's Play NY's games for parents to play at home, validating the quality and developmental appropriateness of their curriculum content.
- EdutopiaminorFeatured on Edutopia platform for educator resources on bringing theater into classrooms and Shakespeare for kids.
- NYC Small Business ServicesminorCertified as M/WBE (Minority/Women-owned Business Enterprise) through NYC Small Business Services, gaining access to resources and support infrastructure.
Scale indicators6 records
Recent moves7 records
Expansion highlights5 records
Child's Play NY competitors and assessment
Company assessmentDirect peers
- TADA! Youth Theater: Long-running NYC nonprofit producing original musical theater for children with tuition-based classes and camps. Direct overlap in audience (NYC kids/families), programming (musical theater productions, classes), and go-to-market (school partnerships and family enrollment).
- The New Victory Theater: NYC's theater for kids and families, offering ticketed performances plus in-school residencies and teaching artist programs. Directly comparable in audience, NYC venue base, and the dual consumer/school-programming business model.
- Broadway Artists Alliance: NYC summer intensive offering professional-level musical theater training to children and teens, taught by working Broadway performers. Comparable premium-priced, talent-led model targeting NYC families seeking serious theater training.
- Imagination Stage: Bethesda, MD-based professional theater producing shows for young audiences alongside year-round acting classes and camps. Closely comparable business model combining professional productions, tuition-based classes, and education programming.
- Adventure Theatre MTC: DC-area professional children's theater producing musicals and plays for young audiences with associated training programs. Similar dual model of producing shows for kids while operating a tuition-based academy.
- Nashville Children's Theatre: Regional professional theater producing works for young audiences with associated acting classes and camps. Closely mirrors Child's Play NY's combination of professional productions and recurring tuition-based programming.
- Bay Area Children's Theatre: Bay Area professional theater producing shows for young audiences plus acting classes, camps, and school residencies. Highly comparable in product mix (productions + classes + school partnerships) and educational mission.
Broad incumbents
- Atlantic Theater Company — Kids & Family: Established NYC theater company operating a children's acting program alongside its mainstage work. Broader incumbent with overlapping kids-class offering but not specialized in early childhood.
- 92nd Street Y: Large NYC cultural institution offering a broad catalog of children's classes including performing arts, music, and theater. Competes for the same family audience but operates at much larger scale across many disciplines.
- Paper Mill Playhouse: Regional theater producing a children's series plus extensive education and outreach programming in NJ. Comparable children's-theater-with-education-program model at a larger institutional scale.
Market position
Strengths4 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat5 records
Key risks7 records
Key highlights7 records
Customer concentration
Child's Play NY social profiles
Digital presenceChild's Play NY financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Child's Play NY leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles1 record
Child's Play NY funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Child's Play NY M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about Child's Play NY
What does Child's Play NY do?
Child's Play NY provides play-based theater arts education for children ages 3 through middle school, delivered through weekly classes, summer and holiday camps, birthday parties, private coaching, in-school residencies, and teacher professional development programs. Offerings span acting, musical theater, improvisation, Shakespeare, and social-emotional learning curricula, sold both directly to families and to NYC independent and private schools.
Is Child's Play NY a public or private company?
Child's Play NY is a private company. It is classified as founder individual operated bootstrapped and is currently operating.
When was Child's Play NY founded?
Child's Play NY was founded in 2009. It employs 51 to 100 people.
Where is Child's Play NY based?
Child's Play NY is headquartered in Brooklyn, United States, in the North America region.
How does Child's Play NY make money?
Eight revenue lines are on record. Classes and Semesters are the primary driver. The others are summer and Holiday Camps, birthday Parties, school Residencies, private Coaching, professional Development, in-Home Classes / Play Pods and workshops.
Who are Child's Play NY's main competitors?
Direct peers on record are TADA! Youth Theater, The New Victory Theater, Broadway Artists Alliance, Imagination Stage, Adventure Theatre MTC, Nashville Children's Theatre and Bay Area Children's Theatre. Broad incumbents are Atlantic Theater Company — Kids & Family, 92nd Street Y and Paper Mill Playhouse.
Does Child's Play NY have an API?
No public API is recorded for Child's Play NY.
What industry is Child's Play NY in?
Child's Play NY's product category is Children's Theater Education. Its primary akta.pro industry code is MPAGABAE, Children’s & Youth Theatre, with a secondary code of EDAMAAAG, Theater & Drama Education (Acting, Improvisation, Musical Theater). Its NAICS code is 61161 and its SIC code is 7900.