Your guide to 70 things to do with kids in Liverpool, including Intrepid Explorers and Home Educators Days, and more — updated weekly. (Updated August…
5 kids activities and family events are listed in Liverpool right now, including 2 free things to do.
Updated August 2026
Where to take children in Liverpool — the free waterfront museums, the beaches and parks, what suits each age, and how to get around with a buggy.
The Albert Dock is the single best base for a family day: the Museum of Liverpool, the Merseyside Maritime Museum, the International Slavery Museum and Tate Liverpool are all free and within a few minutes' walk, with the dock water and the Mersey Ferry terminal in between. The Museum of Liverpool's Little Liverpool gallery is built for under-6s. World Museum on William Brown Street adds a free planetarium, an aquarium and the Egyptian galleries, and it is the strongest wet-weather option in the city centre.
For a bigger day out, Knowsley Safari Park is a drive-through safari 20 minutes from the centre, Crosby beach has Antony Gormley's hundred cast-iron figures standing in the tide, and Croxteth Hall has a working farm and walled garden. Chester Zoo is 45 minutes away. A Mersey Ferry crossing to Seacombe pairs with Spaceport, and the Beatles Story suits older children who know the songs. Start with the top 10 attractions for kids in Liverpool.
Every National Museums Liverpool site is free: World Museum, the Museum of Liverpool, the Maritime and Slavery museums, the Walker Art Gallery, Sudley House and the Lady Lever in Port Sunlight. Free outdoors is just as good — Sefton Park with its Grade II palm house and lake, Calderstones Park, Otterspool promenade along the river, and the beaches at Crosby and Formby, where the National Trust car park is the only cost and the red squirrels and pinewoods are the draw. The Albert Dock, the Pier Head and the Liverpool ONE roof terraces cost nothing to walk, and St George's Hall's Heritage Centre is free.
For programmed free sessions, see free events for kids in Liverpool — museum craft drop-ins, library storytimes and park ranger activities.
The free museums are the first answer, and the World Museum plus the Museum of Liverpool will cover a full wet day between them at no cost. Beyond those: Anfield and Goodison stadium tours, the Beatles Story, Spaceport across the water, the Bowlerz and Hollywood Bowl lanes, Jump Xtreme trampolining, Awesome Walls climbing centre and the soft play centres across Aigburth and Speke. The Everyman and the Playhouse both run family programming, and the Central Library's children's floor with its rooftop terrace is a free, quiet stop in the dry.
Filter to museum events for kids in Liverpool for indoor activity with a set start time.
Toddlers (0–4): Little Liverpool at the Museum of Liverpool, the Sefton Park palm house and playground, Croxteth Hall farm, Otterspool prom and library storytimes. Two hours near a café is the right length.
Ages 5–8: the World Museum aquarium and planetarium, Knowsley Safari, Crosby beach, Spaceport and the Mersey Ferry. Activities for children aged 6–11 shows what is on for this bracket now.
Ages 9–12: an Anfield or Goodison tour, the Slavery Museum, the Radio City tower view, Awesome Walls and escape rooms in the centre. This age also gets the most from outdoor activities around the city — Formby dunes, Delamere Forest Go Ape and the coastal path north from Crosby.
The city centre is compact: the Albert Dock, Liverpool ONE, St George's Hall and the World Museum are all within a 20-minute walk of each other, which makes a car unnecessary for most family days. Merseyrail reaches Crosby, Formby, Southport and the Wirral in under 40 minutes and is the sensible way to the beaches; children aged 5–18 travel at a discounted fare and under-5s are free. Buses are step-free and cheap, and the Mersey Ferry is transport that counts as an attraction. Driving is fine outside the centre — Knowsley Safari and Croxteth need it — but the dock car parks are expensive, so park once and walk. The waterfront is exposed, so bring a windproof layer even in July.