Kids activities in Seattle: family events & days out

A local guide to kids activities in Seattle

Where to take kids in Seattle — the Seattle Center campus, the free beaches and parks, what works at each age, and how to get around without a car.

Family days out in Seattle

Seattle Center is the easiest big family day in the city: the Pacific Science Center with its IMAX, planetarium and tropical butterfly house, the Seattle Children's Museum, the Space Needle, Chihuly Garden and Glass, MoPOP and the Artists at Play playground all sit on one walkable campus with the International Fountain in the middle. Down on the waterfront, the Seattle Aquarium's new Ocean Pavilion and the Great Wheel pair with a Washington State Ferry ride to Bainbridge Island, which is the cheapest sightseeing cruise in Puget Sound.

For a bigger day, Woodland Park Zoo in Phinney Ridge and the Museum of Flight at Boeing Field each take most of a day, and the Ballard Locks fish ladder is free and mesmerizing when the salmon run from June to October. Discovery Park has the largest wild acreage in the city plus a beach and a lighthouse, and the Seattle Great Wheel to Pike Place Market makes a good short afternoon. Start with the top 10 attractions for kids in Seattle.

Free things to do with kids in Seattle

The free list here is strong because the outdoors is the attraction. Alki Beach in West Seattle, Golden Gardens in Ballard, Green Lake's three-mile loop, Gas Works Park for the skyline and kite hill, Discovery Park and the Washington Park Arboretum all cost nothing. The Ballard Locks and its fish ladder are free, as are the Olympic Sculpture Park, Pike Place Market and the Klondike Gold Rush National Historical Park museum in Pioneer Square. Seattle Public Library's Central Library is worth a visit for the building alone, and the Volunteer Park Conservatory is a few dollars. Many city parks run free summer wading pools and spray parks.

For programmed free sessions, see free events for kids in Seattle — library story times, park department programs and museum free-first-Thursday windows.

Indoor and rainy day activities in Seattle

Rain from October to May is the planning default, so build the day around indoor anchors. The Pacific Science Center and the Seattle Children's Museum are the two most reliable, both on the Seattle Center campus so you can switch between them in the dry. Add the Seattle Aquarium, MoPOP for 9+, the Museum of Flight, the Living Computers alternatives around SoDo, and the Wing Luke Museum in the Chinatown-International District. For active indoor time there are climbing gyms in SoDo and Fremont, trampoline parks in Lynnwood and Renton, and the Seattle Center Armory food hall as a warm regroup point with a stroller.

Filter to museum events for kids in Seattle for indoor activity with a set start time.

Best activities by age: toddlers, 5–8 and 9–12

Toddlers (0–4): the Seattle Children's Museum, the Woodland Park Zoo family farm, the International Fountain on a warm day, Green Lake's playgrounds and library story times. Two hours near a coffee stop is about right.

Ages 5–8: the Pacific Science Center, the Aquarium, the Ballard Locks salmon, the Great Wheel and the Bainbridge ferry. Activities for children aged 6–11 shows what is on for this bracket now.

Ages 9–12: MoPOP, the Museum of Flight, the Space Needle's rotating glass floor, the Underground Tour in Pioneer Square and kayaking on Lake Union. This age also gets the most from outdoor activities around Seattle — Discovery Park trails, Alki bike rentals and day hikes toward the Cascades.

Getting around Seattle with children

Seattle is one of the easier US cities to do without a car. Link light rail runs from the airport through downtown to the University District and Northgate, and children under 18 ride free on Link, buses and the water taxi thanks to the state's youth fare program. The Seattle Center Monorail from Westlake takes two minutes and is an attraction in itself. The West Seattle Water Taxi is the fastest way to Alki. Downtown parking is expensive and the hills are steep — Queen Anne and Capitol Hill are hard work with a stroller, so plan routes along the waterfront or use the rail. Pack a rain layer rather than an umbrella, and expect the big Seattle Center venues to be busiest between 11am and 2pm on winter weekends.