15 Fun Things to Do in Baltimore with Kids — Family-Friendly activities!
For several reasons, Baltimore, sometimes referred to as Charm City, is a great destination for your upcoming family vacation.
The city’s distinctiveness is not limited to its renowned crab houses.
Baltimore has intriguing modes of transportation that you shouldn’t miss, such as trains and paddle boats, so traveling around the city without a car shouldn’t be difficult.
Baltimore also offers a variety of entertaining things to do for teens and children.
Here is a list of enjoyable activities to do in Baltimore with kids if you’re already thinking of taking the whole family there.
- Maryland Science Center — Downtown Baltimore
Since 1976, the Maryland Science Center has been educating children about its passion for science.
It has three levels of displays and exhibitions, as well as a kid-friendly IMAX cinema, planetarium, and observatory.
Why We Recommend This Activity
What can families do in Baltimore?
The Maryland Science Center is a family-friendly and educational attraction located downtown at the Inner Harbor.
The Dinosaur Mysteries exhibit, the Blue Crab, a kids’ science room, a planetarium, and much more would welcome your family!
Many kid-friendly activities are available here that make learning science fun and simple.
Recommended Ages
For children aged three and above, this interactive scientific playground is ideal.
- Lake Roland Nature Center and Park — Towson
Lake Roland Nature Center and Park work with the Baltimore County Department of Recreation and Parks to encourage environmental protection through its recreational opportunities and nature programs.
The 503-acre park, centered on Lake Roland, offers a variety of ecosystems for families to explore.
Why We Recommend This Activity
Maybe you want the kids to appreciate how beautiful nature is.
If you’re looking for family activities in Baltimore, Lake Roland Nature Center and Park have indoor and outdoor nature facilities and hiking paths.
Additionally, you can go kayaking on the lake or participate in seasonal camping activities.
Complete the Nature Quest by biking, hiking, or canoeing at least five of the authorized paths if you want to earn prizes for exploring the area.
Their official website contains further details.
Additionally, entrance is free because this park is open to the public.
Lake Roland should be on your list if you’re looking for inexpensive family entertainment.
Recommended Ages
Toddlers, older children, teenagers, and adults benefit most from the nature-based activities at Lake Roland Nature Center.
- Port Discovery Children’s Museum — Downtown Baltimore
This enjoyable and educational museum is housed in Baltimore’s old fish market structure.
It is currently rated as one of America’s top five children’s museums.
Why We Recommend This Activity
Most museums we know of have exhibits or displays that are off-limits to touching.
The Port Discovery Children’s Museum, however, invites everyone to engage in play and interaction with what they observe.
The best family-friendly activities in Baltimore are available at this museum.
The building’s three floors are crammed with play areas, including one with an ancient Egyptian theme, another with a machine for making widgets, another with kid-friendly rope climbing, and another with water play.
These activities help kids improve their kinesthetic sense, spatial awareness, and world comprehension.
Recommended Ages
There are activities for infants, toddlers, and kids between the ages of 5 and 10, and their parents are welcome to participate.
- Maryland Zoo in Baltimore — Druid Hill
Through research, instruction, and species management initiatives, this 135-acre zoo is committed to saving and protecting creatures worldwide, including polar bears.
Additionally, it is the third-oldest zoo in the nation.
Why We Recommend This Activity
One of Baltimore’s top attractions for families with children is the Maryland Zoo.
Most of the species you can imagine are displayed in this 135-acre park.
Even well-fed polar bears are among the lions, tigers, warthogs, and giraffes!
The fact that you may interact with the animals at the zoo enhances your trip there.
Taking selfies with animals, feeding the giraffes, brushing the goats, and more.
Recommended Ages
One of the most well-liked activities in Baltimore with young children, older kids, teenagers, and adults is to visit the Maryland Zoo.
- Urban Pirates — Downtown Baltimore
This pirate ship travels from Ann Street Pier to the Inner Harbor, turning around and sails back to Ann Street Pier if you want to view Baltimore from the water. It also travels along Tide Point, Locust Point, and Federal Hill.
Why We Recommend This Activity
Do your kids adore cartoons about pirates, lost treasure, and ocean adventures?
On this family-friendly pirate ship, don a tricorn!
Before the ship sets sail, the captain will dress you in pirate garb and instruct the pirate crew on how to talk, sing, and dance like a pirate.
Look through a looking glass or man the water cannons to repel invading pirates from the crew’s wealth.
You will receive a portion of the crew’s loot if you convince them that you deserve it.
Recommended Ages
All ages are welcome to join them on their family adventure tour, although children between the ages of three and ten are best suited for this novel pirate experience.
- Chessie Dragon Paddle Boats — Downtown Baltimore
The Chessie Dragon Paddle Boats were first constructed to give young people opportunities in 1975.
Since then, they have developed into a well-known landmark in Downtown Baltimore.
Why We Recommend This Activity
Exciting forms of transportation were already described.
Try out the dragon paddle boats at the Inner Harbor, and take your kids paddling for a half-hour.
According to many visitors, this is one of the most fantastic family attractions in Baltimore.
There are also solar-powered pirate boats for the more daring kids if you don’t feel like paddling around for 30 minutes.
Recommended Ages
The minimum age requirement for dragon paddle boat passengers is two years old.
- American Visionary Art Museum — Federal Hill
The American Visionary Art Museum showcases “visionary art,” which consists of creations whose creators did not intend for them to be works of art.
Why We Recommend This Activity
The American Visionary Art Museum already has an early Tim Burton-esque appearance from the outside.
And what’s inside is only hinted at by its peculiar appearance (sometimes outdoors).
The museum displays creations by self-taught artists who frequently did not believe their work to be art.
You and your children will undoubtedly find the artwork inside somewhat strange; part of it was created by elderly farmers, mentally ill artists, postmen, and many others.
In addition to unusual artwork, the museum offers family-friendly activities for kids and adults.
If you want something weird to take home, don’t forget to browse their gift shop.
Recommended Ages
For kids of all ages, the American Visionary Art Museum is open.
Even better, since children under six are admitted free of charge, visiting the museum is one of Baltimore’s suggested free, family-friendly activities.
- Power Plant Live! — Downtown Baltimore
Given its handy position in the middle of downtown, Power Plant Live! Has become a favorite dining spot for locals and tourists from other countries.
Its service has won numerous accolades and is one of Baltimore’s top tourist attractions.
Why We Recommend This Activity
A large dining and entertainment complex for the whole family, Power Plant Live!
They frequently provide entertaining family events as well.
If you’re lucky, a function might be planned for today, this weekend, or next!
The best part is that it is well-situated, just a few blocks from several of Inner Harbor’s tourist attractions.
So, if you enjoyed a full day of activities at the Inner Harbor attractions, cap it off with a fantastic dinner at Power Plant Live!
Recommended Ages
Families with toddlers and older kids will appreciate a night of food and entertainment at Power Plant Live! the most.
- Creative Alliance — Canton
Baltimore is marketed as a center for creativity and culture by Creative Alliance, a nonprofit organization founded in 1995 by volunteers from various backgrounds.
Why We Recommend This Activity
Immerse your family in the various art forms, and if you go on a Saturday, you can learn to dance or make your art forms; if you go on a Saturday, you can learn to dance or create your art together.
The Creative Alliance presents various artistic mediums, including visual arts, music, theatrical performances, poetry, and films.
A Halloween parade, a fundraising banquet, and other entertaining seasonal activities are available in addition to the painting workshops.
Recommended Ages
The best age groups for the activities at Creative Alliance include toddlers, school-age kids, teens, and adults.
- National Aquarium in Baltimore — Downtown Baltimore
The National Aquarium in Baltimore, one of the nation’s largest aquariums, draws 1.5 million guests annually and is rated as the top aquarium in the country.
Why We Recommend This Activity
With 17,500 specimens representing 750 species, the National Aquarium in Baltimore offers a wide range of exhibits showing marine life and other animals from throughout the globe.
In these enormous tanks, animals from the Amazon River Forest, the Atlantic Coral Reef, Australia, the Pacific Ocean, and many other seas swim, reminding spectators of the ocean’s wonder and mystique.
Children will also enjoy getting up close and personal with local water life, such as stroking stingrays, moon jellies, or horseshoe crabs.
Recommended Ages
The National Aquarium is suitable for toddlers, school-age kids, teens, and adults because baby strollers are not permitted there.
- iFLY Baltimore — Nottingham
This “skydiving” experience causes you to float in the air inside a tunnel designed by qualified engineers rather than altogether dropping.
Why We Recommend This Activity
Is your family a daredevil?
Try indoor skydiving, where you stay in midair, to get a taste of what it would be like to truly soar.
After a brief orientation, you will be led through the activity by iFLY’s top-notch, qualified instructors.
Choosing virtual reality when you hover is another enjoyable option for the flight.
You’ll experience the thrilling sensation of flying over some of the most remote places, like Hawaii or the Swiss Alps.
Recommended Ages
At iFLY, elders and children as young as three may learn to fly!
- Little Italy
Just walk over to downtown Baltimore to instantly transport yourself to another nation.
The Italian immigrants who lived in the 1800s previously called it home.
Why We Recommend This Activity
Baltimore’s Little Italy neighborhood is a universe unto itself.
Little Italy offers spectacular sights, events, and activities thanks to its preserved architecture, authentic Italian cuisine, Italian music, native Italian music, native Italians, and Americans of Italian origin.
Even old Italian costume parades and dances, as well as an Italian arts festival and film festival, are held in the neighborhood.
Recommended Ages
You can take a baby and older kids to Little Italy, which wishes to showcase its splendor and illustrious history to everyone, regardless of age.
- B&O Railroad Museum — Pigtown
This museum demonstrates how important a part Baltimore had in American railroad history.
The staff’s passion for trains benefits both kids and adults.
Why We Recommend This Activity
Do your kids enjoy rides that make the “Choo, choo” sound? The first mile of the railroad in America is accessible by B&O Railroad Museum’s vintage trains.
Children can also enjoy a train-themed carousel, a kid’s carnival attraction, a Kid’s Zone, and a toddler play area.
Storytelling, arts and crafts, and other educational activities are all included in the Kids Zone and focus on trains.
The facility serves as a museum, first and foremost, displaying American railroading history through its collections of vintage trains and restorations.
Recommended Ages
All ages of kids can take pleasure in the exhibits and activities at the B&O Railroad Museum.
- Bo Brooks Restaurant — Canton
Here’s the reason Baltimore is known for its crabs, in case you were wondering.
In fact, because of their proximity to the Chesapeake Bay, which is home to many of these crustaceans, Maryland’s coastal towns and cities share this fondness for crabs.
Why We Recommend This Activity
Baltimore is known for its world-renowned crabs, which can be found at one of the city’s top crab restaurants.
And the original crab shack in Baltimore is the only place to eat the tastiest crabs. As you savor the delectable food options at Bo Brooks Crab House, take in one of the city’s best harbor views.
They provide crab cakes, crab dip, pretzels, steamed crabs, crab pretzel sandwiches, and crab cakes.
Recommended Ages
All ages of children, teenagers, and adults can savor Baltimore’s renowned crab delicacies.
- CALS Steam Preservation Society — Leakin Park
Have children had enough trains already?
Consider joining the non-profit Chesapeake & Allegheny Live Steamers, a group of enthusiasts for steam-powered engines.
Why We Recommend This Activity
An actual train, a train carousel, and a train carnival ride are all included at the B&O Railroad Museum.
On the other hand, CALS Steam Preservation Society is one of the more well-liked family-friendly activities in Baltimore since it lets you ride miniature trains along railroad tracks.
The half-mile ride takes six miles per hour and is propelled by steam, diesel, or electricity.
Your children will enjoy this train excursion if they are lovers of steampunk or Thomas the Train Engine.
Recommended Ages
Children must be able to sit erect and independently in each cart for everyone’s safety.
You should not hold children on your lap, in your arms, or in any other baby carrier since the railway cars are too small to offer proper safety.
Toddlers and older kids are best suited for this entertaining little train journey.
