If you’re looking for some new hot spot for you and your little ones to explore, Oklahoma City has plenty of choices. Use this list of the six best kid friendly attractions near you and get out there and indulge the little explorers in your family.
Science Museum Oklahoma
Science Museum Oklahoma is one of the largest museums dedicated to science in the nation with more than 8-acres of exhibits. It’s also the Sooner State’s only hands-on science museum with loads of activities that teach kids about everything from space exploration to crime scene investigation.
Located on Remington Place, this premier, family friendly destination is the spot to go when you want to travel to the farthest reaches of the universe, thanks to Kirkpatrick Planetarium. Explore the subzero properties of liquid nitrogen with a Science Live presentation, then discover the 20,000 square foot village called CurioCity. It features eight themed neighborhoods from Hands and Feat to Pi Shop, where your child can run wild while learning with play.
Oklahoma City Zoo
Who doesn’t love a trip to the zoo? It’s an ideal excursion for kids of all ages, and the Oklahoma City Zoo is located right in the city’s exciting Adventure District. It’s home to nearly 2,000 animals that live within the 119-acre grounds. The zoo’s mission is to connect people with our world’s vanishing wildlife with its amazing exhibits.
Get to know exotic creatures like apes, chimpanzees, tigers, Asian elephants, and some of the area’s coolest native creatures in the Oklahoma Trails exhibit. The wild encounters don’t stop there. Go behind the scenes with an up-close and personal tour of the grizzly bears, Indian rhinos, sea lions, and Galapagos tortoises.
Join the Nature Explorers Preschool. This program is geared toward kids ages 3 to 5, and they get to interact with zoo staff in a classroom setting and on the grounds with various plants and animals. These lucky kiddos also get to participate in special events.
Museum of Osteology
The Museum of Osteology is a unique educational experience, and it’s the only one of its kind in America. Located on South Sunnylane Road, its 7,000 square feet of galleries are filled with bones, and it’s not as creepy as it might sound. You’ll see hundreds of skeletons and skulls from every corner of the world, ranging from tiny rodents to a ginormous Humpback whale.
Focusing on the study of both form and function of the skeletal system, these 40 plus exhibits demonstrate locomotion, adaptation, and the vertebrate kingdom’s vast diversity. Attend an educational presentation about forensic pathology, discover the deformed cat gallery, and don’t forget to browse the gift shop for unique science-related souvenirs for the whole family.
Blue Zoo Aquarium
Image via Flickr by marfis75
If you and your family are looking for the perfect way to spend the day, look no further than Blue Zoo. Located in the Quail Springs Mall on West Memorial Road, this interactive aquarium is designed to thrill kids from infants to the kid at heart in all of us.
You’ll get a comprehensive experience at this world-class aquatic center. Its mission is to spark your interest through educational fun in a hands-on environment with species from around the globe. This wonderful underwater world is the only place in the city where you can touch and feed reptiles, explore the play structures, and splash in multiple water tables.
Catch a shark feeding show, watch staff members swim with stingrays, and learn fun facts about marine life. Discover the pirate ship and show, complete with mermaids, swashbuckling, and sword fights. All of these amazing attractions are included with the cost of admission.
Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark
Gather up your family’s sports lovers and take them out to a game. Chickasaw Brockton Ballpark is home to Oklahoma City’s Triple A team, the Dodgers, since it replaced All Sports Stadium in 1998. The stadium is located in the Bricktown Entertainment District on South Mickey Mantle Drive.
Regular season play for 2021 starts April 1st and runs through October 3rd. Grab a Dodger dog and a soda, and find your seats for this exciting event. If the Dodgers are away, there’s still plenty to see and do at the ballpark. Stop by for concerts, festivals, and fantasy league get togethers. Reserve your seats now for a special discount, and don’t miss all the action.
National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum
Saddle up partners and head to the cowboy museum on northeast 63rd Street. It features over 28,000 artifacts from the time of the Old West, including frontier military items, pieces by noted Western painters and sculptors, and Native American art.
Its mission is to preserve and protect the heritage of the American West through its collection of photographs, saddles, firearms, and a broad array of materials that reflect the people, culture, and historical events of this exciting era in our history. Don’t miss plenty of traveling exhibits, too, such as “Tattoos: Religion, Reality, and Regret,” that explore the ancient custom of body markings.
Kindergartners and up take over the Cowboy every month for a variety of events just for them. Choose from fun and educational presentations such as “Women in the West” and “Spiro Scratch Art: Decorations for Another World” or drop in for arts and crafts classes. Don’t forget to visit the museum in June for the annual Prix de West Invitational Art Exhibition and sale. This fundraiser helps support the institution, and it’s your chance to purchase original pieces right from the artist.
Whether your family’s into sports or science, there’s a major attraction in Oklahoma City that’s geared toward you. This list of fun destinations was brought to you by Crème de la Crème of Olahoma City, OK. What do you think of our picks? Did we miss your kid’s favorite place to let loose or learn? Let us know, and we’ll add it to our list.