Our Top 5 FREE Family Friendly things to do in St. Louis. In no particular order.
5. City Garden – The City Garden, located in Downtown St. Louis, is a free splash pad and wading pool for kids. During the summer, pool monitors are on hand from 10am – 8pm. On weekdays there are several food trucks in the area offering a wide variety of ethnic and comfort foods. This was one of our favorite stops during a summer stay-cation in “The Lou.”
4. The History Museum – Like most museums in St. Louis, regular exhibits at the History Museum are FREE. The museum also offers short-term special exhibits for a small admission fee. 
The best part about the History Museum is the new FREE children’s History Clubhouse. The History Clubhouse allows families to step back in time and explore the St. Louis region through interactive play exhibits. During high volume times, families are required to get free 1 hour tickets for entry. However, the Museum allows for unlimited play time during low traffic periods. According to their website the best time to go to the History Clubhouse is after 1pm on weekdays.
Checking out the Mummies.
3. Saint Louis Art Museum – Located in Forest Park near the History Museum, admission to the main Gallery is FREE. On Sunday afternoons between 1:00 and 4:00 pm, the Art Museum offers “Family Sundays” with hands-on art activities and a 30-minute family tour at 2:30 pm. This is one of our Family’s favorite Sunday afternoon activities when visiting St. Louis.
2. Saint Louis Science Center – General admission to the Saint Louis Science center is FREE. They offer learning exhibits for children of all ages. Our favorite interactive exhibits are The Life Science Lab and Makerspace. Kids become science lab experts in The Life Science Center. They learn to use lab equipment to view micro-organisms, finger printing, and even blood typing. You can spend hours in the Makerspace exhibits creating and building parachutes, boats, and larger than life “Rigamajigs.”
- Learning about Blood Typing
- Our Rigamajig Creation!
Checking out the Polar Bear
1. Saint Louis ZOO – Saint Louis has one of the best Zoo’s in the U.S., and best of all, general admission is FREE. Also located in Forest Park, families can spend the day exploring and learning about animals of the world. There is a Children’s Zoo exhibit where children have the opportunity to get close up and touch some of the animals. Admission is $4 to the Children’s area – but it is FREE the first hour the Zoo is open each day. Children under 2 are always FREE.
Great lineup! St. Louis is definitely a great place. Loved the Zoo!! While it may sound cliche, I really did also enjoy the arch, but found it’s not incredibly necessary to go to the top. Simply walking below is easy, free and really cool!
-Greig
Thanks Greig! We love the zoo too. The Museum below The Arch has had some renovations and from what I understand there is now a small entry fee. Still, it is a great place to visit!
Now that makes me want to go back to St. Louis! We spent part of a day there once while visiting friends in Cape Girardeau but all we did was go to the Arch museum–we didn’t even get to go in it because the wait was too long!
I have been to St.Louis only for the nightlife. I’ll need to go one day with my little boy. I use to live in Missouri!! It looks so fun! Thank you for sharing!
What some absolutely fun sounding things to do, I would love to take time out and explore more of the US! x
Haven’t been to St. Louis but this post takesome me back to two summers ago when we went on a family vacation to Virginia Beach. My son’s loved the circus show, putting their hands in the water to touch the sting rays at the aquarium, and taking a family portrait dressed up as 1920s gangsters.
Thanks for sharing such good, budget conscious ideas for families!
This is awesome! The Zoo and Science center is hands down our favorite in the Tampa Bay area. Thanks for sharing!
I have never been to St. Louis but if I ever have the chance to go with the kids, I will be referencing this post! Thank you for posting!
These all sound great! Thanks so much for sharing, St. Louis sounds like an amazing place for kiddos!
My kids love wading pools in parks and they also love science centers so I’m sure they would enjoy St. Louis. We have no plans to go to the US any time soon but I will tweet and pin!
I agree, St. Louis Zoo is wonderful for kids of all ages. The last time we were there was for the Christmas lights, a beautiful display.
Thanks for this! Finding stuff to do while traveling with kids can be hard sometimes.
St. Louis isn’t too far from me. We just might have to plan a short visit to enjoy some of these activities.
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I have a cousin in St. Louis. we will have to check these places out if we ever manage to go.