18 Best Things to Do in Houston With Kids

The Children’s Museum of Houston is an engaging learning center for kids, offering them many unique, educational, and fun hands-on activities to learn from!

We always recommend this kid-friendly museum to locals wanting to visit family museums in Houston because of the museum’s variety of interactive exhibits, science demonstrations, and enriching learning activities for kids that are perfect for children and parents alike.

All the fun activities for kids available at the Children’s Museum of Houston make this one of the best family activities in Houston and one of the best things to do in Houston overall.

The Houston Museum of Natural Science is one of Houston’s top family museums.

The Houston Natural Science Museum has a huge, interactive dinosaur exhibit, an immersive planetarium for guests to enjoy, and a variety of other interactive science and nature exhibits, including a butterfly center!

The museum also has some of the most engaging kids’ activities in Houston, each one inspiring curiosity for future scientists visiting this fun science museum.

Nonetheless, the Houston Museum of Natural Science has something for everyone to enjoy and learn from, making this museum one of our favorite fun things to do with kids in Houston.

The Health Museum is a unique science center for kids focusing on health awareness and wellness education.

Some of the museum’s educational exhibits include anatomy, health science, and nutrition, perfect for curious kids.

The museum’s unique approach to science learning and hands-on education makes this family health museum perfect for a day out.

Not only are kids educated in health science, but parents and adult visitors also tend to learn more about living a healthy life.

We were surprised to learn a thing or two when we went to the Health Museum, so we can only imagine how enriching it must be for the kids taking advantage of this fun thing to do in Houston.

Looking for family-friendly theatres in Houston? The Express Children’s Theatre is a fun theater for kids that features live performances, family shows, and puppet shows tailored to amuse kids and kids at heart.

The Express Children’s Theatre also does multiple tours around the city to deliver interactive storytelling performances to families around Houston.

We had the chance to attend one of their kid’s theatre shows at the Children’s Theatre, and we had a lot of fun watching how the story unfolded in such a creative, entertaining way.

Watching a show at the Express Children’s Theatre is one of our top recommended fun things to do with toddlers in Houston.

The Main Street Theater is another kid-friendly theater that hosts a variety of different live performances that are tailored for younger audiences.

The theater’s kid-friendly shows typically involve children’s performances that foster imagination and enjoyment, making a trip to this theater a unique experience.

We had to attend one of the theater’s family performances in Houston and had a blast watching how fun and entertaining the show was.

Main Street Theater’s various entertaining shows make their family-friendly activities one of the most fun family things to do in Houston.

The Houston Zoo is one of our most recommended things for parents looking for what to do with kids in Houston.

The Houston Zoo is one of Houston’s most extensive and diverse family-friendly zoos, offering guests various animal exhibits, animal encounters, and fun outdoor attractions.

Our day trip to the Houston Zoo was terrific. The weather was perfect for strolling around and looking at all the zoo’s species until we were hungry like a hippo, at least!

The zoo regularly has educational programs tailored for younger, curious minds eager to learn more about animals and our surrounding nature. The Houston Zoo’s expansive, interactive area makes it easy to provide families with tons of outdoor fun for kids.

One of the most popular Houston water attractions during summer is going to Six Flags Hurricane Harbor Splashtown!

The family waterpark has a lot of different rides, splash zones, and fun summer activities for families to enjoy.

The waterpark’s various fun water play areas are perfect for children, making Splashtown one of our go-to summer activities for kids and adults to cool off from the Texas heat.

We always look forward to Splahtown opening in the summer season to go with our kids to Splashtown during the summer to relax in the lazy river or get a refreshing bucket full of water thrown on top of us!

Splashtown is not just a family fun water park but also one of the best waterparks for kids to enjoy in Houston.

The Houston Area Live Steamers is a mini-train attraction that gives people of all ages a unique mini-train ride experience.

This family-friendly railroad activity gives guests a fun family train experience, providing everyone with short but sweet outdoor rides on the mini trains.

The mini train rides for kids are also perfect for young train enthusiasts! Our mini-train experience was so much fun, and it has been one of the most unique experiences any of us have had in Houston.

The Houston Area Live Steamers is, by far, one of the most unique things to do in Houston with kids.

The Downtown Aquarium is one of the biggest and best aquariums in Houston!

The family aquarium is a fun, kid-friendly attraction for anyone, like its marine life exhibits, underwater exhibits, and amazing aquatic adventures.

We are a big fan of the kid-friendly aquarium’s different marine animals for guests to watch and learn more about. One of our favorite animals to see is the sting rays!

The Downtown Aquarium’s exhibits and various marine animals make this one of Houston’s best family activities.

Looking for a community park to have fun, outdoor, family recreation? Discovery Green is a family park with kids’ play areas, community spaces, and regularly scheduled outdoor events.

Discovery Green also has several weekly family-friendly events, offering families movie nights, yoga sessions, and other entertaining outdoor events.

Discovery Green is also well-regarded as one of the best parks with a playground in the city!

Discovery Green hosts one of Houston’s largest outdoor skating rinks for the holiday season, which we had the opportunity to test out and enjoy recently.

Regardless of the season, Discovery Green always offers tons of activities, events, and outdoor fun in Houston, making this family park one of the best free things to do in Houston!

The Miller Outdoor Theatre hosts several free outdoor theater shows throughout the season for people of all ages to enjoy.

Miller Outdoor Theatre’s family-friendly shows and live events provide outdoor entertainment for everyone, whether it’s through kids’ theatre events or free outdoor theater shows.

Although the 2024 performance season is over, we thoroughly enjoyed watching the free shows and live performances we saw this year at the Miller Outdoor Theatre!

The theater’s commitment to providing free family events and family shows in Houston makes this the perfect place to take toddlers for fun and one of the best free family things to do in Houston.

The Dewberry Farm is famous for providing families with farm fun year after year in Houston.

The farm activities and seasonal events available at Dewberry Farm are regularly changed to match the current holiday season or Texas weather season in Houston.

For the fall season, we had the chance to visit the beautiful pumpkin patches, corn mazes, and petting zoos they had at Dewberry Farm, and there were plenty of fun fall activities for kids to enjoy, too!

Dewberry Farm’s strong commitment to providing farm fun in Houston makes this an ideal fall destination for families and one of the most fun things to do in Houston with kids during the fall season.

Blessington Farms is a family-friendly farm with several outdoor fun farm activities for everyone to enjoy.

One of the farm’s most popular attractions is its signature berry-picking activities, which quickly bring enjoyment to children and adults.

We had the chance to go berry picking at Blessington Farms recently, and it was such a fun and unique experience. Blessington Farms also has petting zoos and outdoor play areas for children to enjoy at this kid’s farm.

Not only is Blessington Farms one of the best places to go berry picking in Houston, but it is also one of the best things to do with children in the city.

Old MacDonald’s Farm is a kid’s farm that’s as nostalgic and enjoyable as the classic song it’s named after.

The family-friendly farm has many outdoor activities for kids and families to enjoy, like train rides, petting zoos, animal attractions, and large playgrounds for young children to experience.

Old MacDonald’s Farm is known to have some of the best petting zoos in Houston, and their various farm activities make this place a must-visit for locals and visitors to Houston.

We’re big fans of the farm’s duck pond because of how peaceful and beautiful it is, and our kids are huge fans of the farm’s pony rides.

Old MacDonald’s Farm is, without a doubt, the perfect place for fun and family activities in Houston.

Looking for a more educational family outing in Houston? The Fort Bend Children’s Discovery Center is an engaging, family museum with various hands-on science exhibits and creative exhibits promoting interactive learning for all.

Regarded as one of the best learning centers for kids in Houston, this science museum has exhibits in science, engineering, and arts tailored to inspire young, creative minds.

When we went to the Children’s Discovery Center, we were surprised at how fun and immersive the kid-friendly museum was!

The museum’s welcoming and educational atmosphere makes this discovery center in Houston one of the best things to do with kids.

The Houston Interactive Aquarium and Animal Preserve Center is one of the most immersive, family-friendly attractions available in the city.

Not only does the family aquarium have various marine life to look at, but it also has several animal encounters for guests to experience!

I was a little scared to hold one of the aquarium’s pythons, but I did get the chance to go into the center’s aviary and feed a variety of different birds they had inside.

The center also has a petting aquarium where kids can come face-to-face with a stingray and get the chance to touch their smooth outer surface.

No matter which animal experiences kids get at the aquarium, the Houston Interactive Aquarium and Animal Preserve will provide children and families much interactive animal fun.

The Little Beakers Science Lab for Kids has various interactive labs that have fostered more learning opportunities in science for kids.

The lab’s educational activities enable kids to learn from different scientific areas, like chemistry and biology, through the interactive labs and hands-on science activities that Little Beakers offers.

The learning experiences offered at Little Beakers range from single-session kids’ science labs guided by a Little Beakers science professional to seasonal week-long camps engaging kids in different science topics.

Regardless of which educational activity a kid participates in, the Little Beakers Science Lab for Kids has some of the best science classes in Houston for curious kids of all ages.

Winfield’s Chocolate Bar is one of Houston’s most famous dessert spots because of their delicious sweet treats that satisfy dessert and chocolate lovers.

Winfield’s has several chocolate shops spread throughout the city so that everyone can experience the delicious desserts from this family-friendly cafe.

When I visited one of Winfield’s chocolate shops in Houston, I ordered their specialty O-R-E-OH ice cream, topped with a chocolate-dipped Oreo and chocolate sauce.

I don’t think I’ve ever had a better chocolate-inspired dessert. Of course, Winfield’s Chocolate Bar also has sweet treats for families that don’t love chocolate, making this cafe one of the best dessert places for kids and one of the best toddler activities in Houston.