Traveling to Seattle with Kids? Here’s What to Do
There’s plenty of fun for the whole family when visiting the Emerald City.
Seattle is widely known as the home city of Boeing, Starbucks, and excellent bars and wineries. Fortunately, the city’s also incredibly welcoming for kids. This might be a bit unexpected given all of the adult-oriented attractions.
Seattle has much to offer families with children. You can find fun and educational activities for kids in Seattle that will fill your family’s visit to the city with great experiences. From visiting museums, exploring the best of nature, to rides and games, your kids will never be bored.
For your next family visit to Seattle, consider this list of the best things to do with kids in Seattle.
Take a Riveting Tour
The fact is that one of the best ways to get to know the city is to take a guided tour. These tours can often show new sites even locals are unaware of, and they can be precious to those visiting for the first time.
There are several Seattle tours that are geared more towards children and their interests, making it the most interesting way to show the city to your kids.
To start with, the Chocolate Indulgence Tour is a walking guided tour that focuses on the area around and throughout Pike Place Market. There are stops for cakes, hot chocolate, salted caramels, and more delights. There’s also plenty of talk about chocolate to go along with the delicious bites, along with some brief history lessons slipped in.
Meanwhile, Seattle by Foot is a tour for kids throughout the city downtown that’s designed to catch children’s interests. This tour also covers Pike Place Market, as well as the Seattle Public Library, and the Art Museum, among others. While no chocolate is guaranteed, it’s a wonderful tour that your kids could enjoy and learn about the city along the way.
Visit the Fascinating Museums
It would seem as if museum visits aren’t often the best choice for a day out with kids.
However, museums in Seattle have a lot to offer for them. There are those that will certainly keep the kids occupied for an hour or so, and others made specifically for younger audiences. Your next family visit to Seattle shouldn’t go without paying some of these museums a visit.
The Museum of Flight holds a collection of aircraft that are as much as a century old. Within the exhibits are such planes as the Concorde, Air Force One, and many other military aircraft. The museum also features the Kids Flight Zone where children can get into the cockpits of real helicopters and airplanes. There are also flight simulators that offer your kids a chance to learn more about aircraft and have great fun while doing that.
While the Pacific Science Center is somewhat worn down by age, it still has many interesting exhibits like the Tropical Butterfly House. It’s located within the Seattle Center, so there are plenty of attractions around it, too.
If you’ve decided to take your kids to a museum, the Seattle Children’s Museum is an obvious choice. There’s a daily calendar of programs and exhibits that offer exciting learning opportunities through fun, exploration, and creativity.
Explore the Underground
Beneath Seattle’s Pioneer Square lies a maze of underground streets, alleys, and stores that offer a fascinating insight into the past. These were once on the surface, but now they’re a preserved part of the city’s history.
Because of uneven surfaces and steep stairways, the underground isn’t the best attraction for the youngest kids, but those a bit older should be just fine.
There are two main tours to guide you through Seattle’s underground. The older and most famous is Bill Speidel’s Underground Tour. But when on a family visit to Seattle, the Beneath the Streets tours are smaller and more intimate. They are a bit shorter in time, but also less expensive.
Taking a stroll through a part of Seattle’s history is immersive and fascinating. Those with vivid imaginations will easily fill the streets with activity in their minds. It goes without saying that kids will have a blast coming up with scenarios and stories as they pass by different spots.
See the Beauty of Seattle’s Zoo
Woodland Park Zoo has a gorgeous layout and various animals to see. There are apes and monkeys that are always great fun, majestic giraffes, and incredible Komodo dragons.
The zoo is divided into different zones that showcase natural habitats ranging from rain forests to deserts. You can visit the African Savanna, the Northern Trail, Tropical Asia, and many other zones housing many amazing animals that are at home in the environment.
The Assam Rhino Reserve is a notable part of the zoo, as it houses the one-horned rhinos largely endangered by wildlife trafficking.
Especially endearing are the penguins at the Humboldt Penguin Exhibit. It would be easy to spend some hours just watching the lovable birds interact with one another and occasionally dive into the water.
Woodland Park Zoo is a great choice for a family visit. If watching the animals isn’t enough for kids, there’s also the Zoomazium. It’s an indoor playground for kids up to preschool age where the younger children will certainly have more fun.
Compete in Pinball (and Eat Ice Cream After)
If you love pinball and want to get your kids hooked to the game as well, the Seattle Pinball Museum is the best place for that. The collection is fascinating, as it includes games over half a century old to those made in the late 2010s.
It houses more than 50 arcades, but that doesn’t mean you’ll have to bring a bag of change just to play with them. All games are free with a single entrance fee.
Many precious family memories can be made through playing games together, and if it’s joined by tasty ice cream, the joy is guaranteed. That’s why Full Tilt Ice Cream is a great choice. There are many flavors of ice cream and as many arcade games to play.
Make the Most Out of Your Family Visit to Seattle
Seattle can be an excellent city for kids and adults alike. There are plenty of attractions and activities to make a week or two fly by, and your kids might get the chance to learn new things.
It’s easy for everyone to have a wonderful time in the Emerald City.
