100 Fun Things to Do around Houston, with Kids!

Houston is a great place to be with kids! There are festivals, shows and events... and there is plenty to do any day of the year!

Here are 100 of the fun things to do around Houston, with kids... on any day!

1. Feed Mounted Patrol Police Horses. This is one of the coolest things to do, for free, around Houston, Bring your own carrots and apples and feed 40 horses. Just check the latest hours before you go.
2. Explore the miles of Tunnels under Downtown Houston. Go on a work day during working hours!
3. Find the Big Bubble in Buffalo Bayou. (It hasn't been working recently, but I'm including this because I love it and have hopes that it will be working again soon!)
4. Visit the Houston Museum District! And stop by a restaurant after stopping by the museums and the park. Parking is free in several spots by Hermann Park. Look by the Houston Zoo, Centennial Gardens and by the traffic circle. Paid parking is available at the Children's Museum, Museum of Fine Arts, Houston Museum of Natural Science.
5. Visit the Houston Zoo. You can visit for FREE the first Tuesday of every month (except summer time).
6. Visit the Swap Shop inside the Houston Zoo. You can bring in things you found in nature, earn points, and swap for something new.
7. Visit Hermann Park and walk/bike the trails, play at the playgrounds and splash in the water. Be sure to stop by the Centennial Gardens and Japanese Gardens. And you can ride the train and pedal boats!
8. Watch a show at Miller Outdoor Theater. There are daytime and evening shows... and all are free. In the evening, seats usually require a free ticket (available early in the day).
9. Visit the Houston Museum of Natural Science. Admission is FREE Thursday afternoons.
10. Visit the Houston Museum of Natural Science Sugar Land. Housed in an old prison, this is the smaller version of the Houston Museum of Natural Science. Use your HMNS membership or pay for admission.
11. Visit the Children’s Museum of Houston. Admission FREE Thursday afternoons.
12. Visit the Fort Bend Children’s Discovery Center. This Sugar Land museum has several of the highlights from the Children’s Museum in the museum district… but not all the chaos and crowds. It is small, but fun!
13. Visit The Health Museum. Admission is FREE Thursday afternoons. Big kids can also use the lab for science experiments.
14. Visit the Houston Fire Museum. It is located in old Fire Station 7 and has a great kid’s area! There is the cab of an actual firetruck, with working lights and sounds, a fireman pole (and mat) for the kids to use, a play house for the kids to climb in, uniforms, hats, boots, books and activity kits.
15. Visit the Houston Maritime Museum. No big crowds to fight, a guided tour customized for you and a play room for the kids. Watch the calendar for free family days!
16. Visit the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston. Admission is FREE all day Thursday. Kids under 12 are always free.
17. Visit the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston house museum, Rienzi Museum. Look for the free family days!
18. Visit the other Museum of Fine Arts, Houston house museum, Bayou Bend Collection! Walk over the suspension bridge, tour the gardens and tour the mansion. Look for the free family days!
19. Visit the Holocaust Museum Houston. Admission is FREE on Thursday afternoons. Kids under 18 are always free. The material is heavy but very well done for older kids.
20. Visit the Houston Center for Contemporary Craft. Admission is always free. Also look for the free Hands-On Houston event the first Saturday of each month!
21. Visit the Contemporary Arts Museum Houston. Admission is always free.
22. Visit the Asia Society Texas Center. Admission is always free. Look at calendar for family events!
23. Visit the Art Car Museum. The museum is funky and small (and free and air conditioned), making it just right for kids. The museum’s goal is to “encourage the public’s awareness of the cultural, political, economic and personal dimensions of art".
24. Visit the Houston Museum of African American Culture.
25. Visit the Buffalo Solder Museum.
26. Visit Czech Center Museum.
27. Visit the Lawndale Art Center. Admission is always free.
28. Visit the 1940 Air Terminal Museum. The Air Terminal Museum is a hidden Houston gem located right by William P. Hobby Airport!
29. Visit the Lone Star Flight Museum. One of the top flying museums in the United States is at Ellington Airport. If you are a fan of all things that fly and hands on STEM projects, check it out!
30. Visit the Rosenberg Railroad Museum. The museum has been celebrating railroading in Fort Bend Country for over 160 years. Did you know that Rosenberg was (and still is) a hub for multiple rail lines?
31. Visit the Texas City Museum. Learn about the Port of Texas City, how much traffic comes through each day and just how dangerous it can be. There is a kids play room and great model train layout.
32. Visit the Woodland’s Children’s Museum. Houston has an AWESOME Children’s Museum… but if you’ve been, you know that it is BUSY. This is why I like The Woodlands Children’s Museum.
33. Go to the Galveston Children’s Museum, this is small, not crazy busy, housed in the Moody Mansion and has lots of fun things to do.
34. Visit the Ocean Star Offshore Drilling Rig Museum. This is a great museum focused on the offshore oil and gas industry… but the best part is that it’s housed on a retired jackup drilling rig off Pier 19!
35. Go to the Galveston Railroad Museum.
36. Uncover secrets at Rice University. There is art and hidden messages everywhere!
37. Go to the University of St. Thomas. Strollers can be seen frequently on this small campus. Find the labyrinth by the church and let the kids wander through.
38. Go to the  Waugh Bridge Bat Colony at dusk. Hundreds of thousands of bats emerge at dusk!
39. Explore Buffalo Bayou Park. Walk, run or bike through the trails, play at the nature playscape and skate at the skatepark.
40. Big kids and adults can tour the Sabine Street Cistern. This was Houston’s first underground drinking water reservoir and was decommissioned many many years ago. It's been uncovered and is now a space for temporary art exhibits.
41. Tour Downtown Houston!
42. Visit Discovery Green and Avenida Houston. Be sure to check the calendar for tons of free events and bring a swim suit for the splashpad.
43. Tour the Julia Ideson Library in Downtown Houston. Rumor is that it's haunted.
44. Visit the Houston Police Museum in Downtown Houston. Admission is free and the museum is located in the Police Station.
45. Visit the Downtown Aquarium. The Aquarium frequently has buy one get one free coupons for Tuesdays in the summer and Saturdays in September. Look at their website and Facebook page before you go.
46. Visit Market Square Park. Enjoy live entertainment, Niko Niko’s, shady walkways and a dog park.
47. Visit Sam Houston Park. This is Houston's first park!
48. Visit Sisters of Charity Park. This park does not have a playground… but it’s the most surprising thing you’ll find in Downtown Houston. Lush gardens, winding paths, tunnels, water and the coolest table you ever saw.
49. Tour Bethel Church Park. Just look at this old church!
50. Tour Montrose!
51. Stop by Rothko Chapel. (Currently closed for renovations.)
52. Visit Houston Center for Photography. Admission is always free.
53. Visit The Menil Collection & Campus. You can tour several buildings and run at the park.
54. Visit the Houston Arboretum. Walk the trails and play at the Discovery Room!
55. Visit the Nature Discovery Center. Walk the trails, play at the playground or enjoy the nature discovery rooms.
56. Visit Edith L. Moore Nature Sanctuary. The Sanctuary is an 18-acre wooded preserve along Rummel Creek and is the headquarters for the Houston Audubon. It’s open all year, for free.
57. Go to Levy Park! There is a great playground, splashpad and lots of room to play. Look at the calendar for lots of free events!
58. Visit Memorial Park. Run or bike on the smooth trails or hike the more difficult trails. Stay to play at the playground!
59. Tour Bayou Wildlife Park. Right along a busy road, back behind the trees, is the Bayou Wildlife Zoo. Here they have animals from 19 different countries, including locations in Africa, Asia, Australia, and North and South America.
60. Tour Crocodile Encounter. Crocodile Encounter has alligators, crocodiles, tortoises and so much more. The tour guide feeds the big alligators and crocodiles, but you get to feed the rest!
61. Tour Chinatown. Shops, restaurants and cultural centers!
62. Check out the Beer Can House!
63. Visit the Orange Show and Smither Park. Experience art so unique you can only find it at a monument celebrating oranges. Visit the Orange Show and then picnic at Smither Park!
64. Ride METRORail. (FREE for kids under 5, cheap for everyone else)
65. Check out all the Parks in Houston. There are hundreds to explore!
66. Visit a Nature-scape Playground! These local parks have sand and sticks and rocks and sand and water… and kids are encouraged to get dirty, experiment and create.
67. Visit a Houston Playgrounds for Kids of All Abilities.
68. Find a FREE Indoor Playground! There are a dozen of completely free, and air conditioned spots to play!
69. Visit the City Splashpads. and Pools.
70. Visit a waterpark during the summer!
71. Visit the Ninja Warrior Course in Pearland! Play at the Tom Bass Park, Section 3, Challenge Course!
72. Participate in Houston Library Programs. There are free events all year and a great Summer Reading Program. If you check out a free Flip Kit from the Houston Public Library and complete the parent survey, you can get 4 free tickets to the Children's Museum of Houston! If you check out a free Flip Kit from the Houston Public Library and complete the parent survey, you can get 4 free tickets to the Children's Museum of Houston!
73. Take a self guided Mini Mural tour or take a self guided Mural tour!
74. Visit Waterwall Park! See the 64-foot semi-circular fountain that re-circulates 11,000 gallons of water per minute.
75. Tour the Port of Houston. Make a (free) reservation to tour one of the busiest ship channels in the world!
76. Visit the San Jacinto Monument and Battleship Texas. The Battleship is currently closed for renovations but check for updates HERE.
77. Go to Seawolf Park! Tour Navy ships, go fishing and play on a great playground.
78. Visit Sylvan Beach. Play at the playground, dig in the sand and splash in the water.
79. Visit BAPS Shri Swaminarayan Mandir in Stafford. The Mandir is the first traditional Hindu Mandir of its kind in North America and is made from 33,000 pieces of Italian marble and Turkish limestone… and it is open to visitors.
80. Visit the Water Works Museum! Schedule a tour for your group.
81. Visit the Tomball Railroad Depot. Splash at the splashpad, tour the depot and climb on the caboose. Or find more trains HERE!
82. Visit a Houston Fire Station. Or find more firetrucks HERE!
83. Find a Farmer’s Market.
84. Go to Buc-ees. Based on the constant traffic in the store, I am pretty sure I am not the only person that is in love with Buc-ee’s. The question I keep asking myself is, why am I so obsessed with visiting a gas station off the side of the highway?
85. Tour the Amazon Warehouse!
86. Go to a Dynamo game.
87. Go to a Dash game.
88. Go to an Astros game. Become an Astros Buddy for around $30 and get baseball gear and tickets to select Astros home games. Members of the Buddies Club also have the opportunity to be selected for exclusive opportunities throughout the season.
89. Go to a Skeeters game.
90. Go to a Rockets game.
91. Go to a Texans game.
92. Go to a Saber Cats game.
93. Find a spot to camp around Houston!
94. Play on the beach in Galveston!
95. Play on the beach at Surfside.
96. Play at Kemah Boardwalk!
97. Find a family friendly restaurant!
98. Find something near you on this Citywide Map!
99. Go to an event happening THIS week. Find the current event list HERE!
100. Take a roadtrip! Find parent recommend spots near Houston, towards Austin, Corpus Christi, San Antonio and Dallas. Drive a short distance, or drive for a few hours… either way, there is a great adventure waiting!

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