What To Do in St. Louis With the Kids

The St. Louis Arch

St. Louis is full of family-friendly things to see and do. Here’s a hand-picked list of the extra special activities for families looking for some new and different ways to have fun at St. Louis attractions in 2011.

What's New in Thrills Both Manmade & from the Animal Kingdom

Six Flags St. Louis may be turning 40 this year, but they still know how to entertain their inner child. They’re turning up the screams and excitement with the addition of SkyScreamer, a tower ride that’s guaranteed to take your breath away. The ride, which holds 32 guests at a time, features two open air swings that climb to the top of the SkyScreamer tower while spinning around and around. Those brave enough to ride the new thrill ride will end up more than 230-feet into the air as they are swung around in a 98-foot circle at speeds more than 40 miles per hour.

"Stingrays at the Caribbean Cove" at the St. Louis Zoo

If you head on down to the Saint Louis Zoo, there might be a few stingrays asking for you. That’s because "Stingrays at Caribbean Cove" returns to town through September 25. Visitors can watch, touch and even feed these fascinating ocean creatures as they glide through their tropical saltwater habitat. The 17,000-gallon pool includes cownose and southern stingrays as well as some newcomers for 2011: sharks. Brownbanded bamboo and bonnethead sharks join the stingrays in this don't-miss event.

Educational  & Fun St. Louis Family Events 

The "Alice's Wonderland" exhibit at the Magic House

Visitors to The Magic House, St. Louis Children’s Museum can experience a whole new brand of wonder. “Alice's Wonderland” is an interactive exhibit based on Lewis Carroll's classic book “Alice's Adventures in Wonderland.” The exhibit helps pique kids’ curiosity about subjects like math and science as they work through more than 2,500 square feet of hands-on experiences and meet characters from the book, and re-live some of Alice's extraordinary adventures. Kids take a trip down the rabbit hole and “fall” into a world filled with wonder and curiosities that includes exploring shadows in the Pool of Tears, experiencing optical illusions in the Hall of Doors, and learning about animation at a Caucus Race. They’ll serve up fractions at a Mad Tea Party, manipulate time with a Crazy Clock, discover the art of camouflage in the Mushroom Forest and can play a game of Crazy Croquet with the Queen of Hearts. The exhibit remains on display through November 6.

The Missouri History Museum welcomes a special traveling exhibit “America I AM: The African American Imprint,” from May 29 – September 18. Designed to help illustrate the tremendous contributions African Americans have made throughout our country’s history, the exhibit features more than 200 artifacts from celebrated artists and athletes such as: sports memorabilia from Michael Jordan, Arthur Ashe and Muhammad Ali; artifacts from legendary entertainers such as Etta James, Michael Jackson and Prince; the typewriter author Alex Haley used to write "Roots;" personal items belonging to Malcolm X; and the door key from the Birmingham jail cell that held Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. “America I AM: The African American Imprint” also includes a variety of documents, multimedia, photographs and music.

Children enjoying the City Museum in St. Louis

A night at the museum takes on a whole new meaning when it’s a night at City Museum. The ultimate warehouse of wackiness is holding two sleepovers this summer – SLUMBERCITY Girl Scout Overnight (July 10) and the SLUMBERCITY Family Overnight (August 7). Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts groups can attend the family night event, but the Girl Scouts night is only for the Cookie Chicks and their leaders or chaperones only. Both Sunday nighttime adventures begin at 6 p.m. and last until 8 a.m. the next day. In between, there’s dinner, breakfast, all night access to the museum (yes, they let kids stay up all night if they want) and a souvenir patch proving you earned your museum stripes. Make a night of it – Bring Your Own sleeping bags, bedrolls, air mattresses, snacks, beverages, teddy bears, pillows, PJs and anything else you need to help you make it through the night. Reservations are required.

Why Everyone Come to St. Louis

The Free Family Junior Ranger Program at the Gateway Arch takes place every Saturday through August 3, from 10 – 11:30 a.m. Kids ages 4-12 can take part in the program, which includes stories, games and activities about explorers, pioneers, cowboys and native people throughout American history. All activities are directed by the National Park Service staff and each participant receives a Junior Ranger Badge upon completion.

Busch Stadium 

Take a tour of the Redbirds’ roost and get a behind the scenes look at the St. Louis Cardinals’ home turf. Busch Stadium tours are offered daily year-round (except on days where there’s an afternoon home game, special events and certain holidays) and includes visits to such unique locales as the Redbird Club, Cardinals Club, KMOX radio broadcast booth, the home team’s dugout and other unique areas throughout the ballpark.

St. Louis Trip Planning Information

Missouri offers lots of top value attractions throughout the state, and for a major US city, St. Louis is one of the best value destination in the country.  So grab that skinny wallet and take off!

For up-to-date information about St. Louis, your family can tour the St. Louis Convention & Visitors Commission site or call the staff at 800/916-0040.

For more information and additional St. Louis family fun ideas -- especially with tiny travelers -- visit My Family Travels review of St. Louis Fun with Toddlers.