Looking for the best things to do with kids in Hollywood? This laid-back beach city between Fort Lauderdale and Miami is easy and fun for families, with a walkable Broadwalk, a big park, and a nature center. This local family guide covers Hollywood’s top kid-friendly attractions, museums, outdoor fun, and rainy-day options — plus how to find what local parents actually recommend.

Top things to do with kids in Hollywood

The Hollywood Beach Broadwalk is family central — a 2.5-mile paved promenade perfect for biking, scootering, and easy beach access, with gentle water for young swimmers. The ArtsPark at Young Circle has a playground and free family events, and the Anne Kolb Nature Center at West Lake Park offers boardwalks, an observation tower, and kayak rentals.

Kid-friendly museums & attractions in Hollywood

The Anne Kolb Nature Center at West Lake Park is the standout family nature spot, and nearby attractions — the Museum of Discovery and Science in Fort Lauderdale, and the IGFA Fishing Hall of Fame in Dania Beach — add rainy-day options a short drive away.

Parks & outdoor fun for families

The Broadwalk and beach, T.Y. (Topeekeegee Yugnee) Park with its lake and water playground, and the West Lake mangroves give families lots of warm-weather outdoor fun. For more, see our guide to the best parks and outdoor spots in Hollywood.

Rainy-day & indoor options in Hollywood

On stormy days, families head to nearby indoor attractions like Fort Lauderdale’s Museum of Discovery and Science, or local indoor play centers and trampoline parks.

What local parents in Hollywood recommend

Kids’ favorites, new attractions, and which spots are worth it at each age change all the time — and local parents know the details that listings miss. On Neighborhood Nurturers’ Hollywood community, real Hollywood parents share what their kids genuinely love. For more ideas, see our guide to the best things to do in Hollywood. Join your Hollywood neighbors free and get real family recommendations →

Fitting it into a day in Hollywood

Family spots here range from playgrounds to hands-on museums, and locals know which hold up on a rainy day. What sets Hollywood apart is how close everything sits together. Start near the Hollywood Beach Broadwalk, work in one of the spots from this guide, and you are minutes from ArtsPark at Young Circle if you want to keep going. Locals often round out a day out with the kids with a detour to North Beach Park or a quieter stop at the historic downtown. Because the distances are short, you can improvise as you go rather than lock the whole day down in advance.

The beach, done properly with children

Hollywood Beach is unusually good for families, and the reason is the Broadwalk – a 2.5-mile paved promenade running the length of the sand. It means pushchairs, scooters and small bikes actually work here, which is not true of most beaches, and it means you are never far from a toilet, a snack or shade.

The best base is the northern end at Hollywood North Beach Park, 3601 N Ocean Dr – 56 acres, over a mile of shoreline, open 8am to 7:30pm daily, with a 60-foot observation tower, pier fishing, a beachside cafe and an accessible raised boardwalk. It is calmer than the middle of the Broadwalk and has parking attached.

Practical beach rules for children here: go early or late, because midday sun from spring through autumn is genuinely punishing and shade on the promenade is scarce. Check the flags before anyone swims – rip currents are the real risk on this coast. And treat a dark summer sky as a cue to leave rather than a passing inconvenience.

Anne Kolb Nature Center – the best-value day out

Ten minutes inland and the single most interesting thing to do with children in Hollywood. At 751 Sheridan St, open Monday to Saturday 6am to 7pm and free on weekdays – with only a small exhibit-hall charge at weekends – it holds an exhibit hall with simulated mangroves and a 3,500-gallon aquarium, a hands-on EcoRoom built for children, an Intracoastal fishing pier, boating and nature trails, and ★ a 68-foot observation tower that children reliably love climbing.

It sits inside West Lake Park, which protects more than 1,500 acres of mangrove forest – real wilderness inside a city, and a genuine nature lesson rather than a playground. The 6am opening is the practical answer to summer heat.

T.Y. Park – 3300 N Park Rd

The everyday family park and the cheapest good day in the city: free Monday through Friday, $1.50 per person at weekends and holidays with under-fives free, open 8am to 6pm. Built around a lake with trails, picnic shelters, open space and a campground. This is where local families actually go – birthday parties, weekend picnics, children who need to run.

ArtsPark at Young Circle

Downtown, 10 acres inside a traffic circle, with a children’s play area and an interactive fountain that is the reliable answer on a hot afternoon, plus a feature fountain by the Japanese artist Ritsuko Taho. ★ Free films screen outdoors on Friday evenings at 8pm – a genuinely good free family evening, and one most visitors never hear about.

Eating out with children

Easy here, because so much of the dining is outdoors and casual. Mamacita’s Latin Bar & Grill at 591 N Broadwalk opens at 8am daily with promenade seating – the practical breakfast stop. Hollywood Brewery at 290 N Broadwalk has an outdoor deck over the sand and is unbothered by noise.

★ The best family meal in the city is not a restaurant. The Yellow Green Farmers Market at 1940 N 30th Road, open weekends 10am to 6:30pm, has 600 covered booths including 200-plus food stalls – everyone picks something different, it is cheap, it is indoors and out of the sun, and parking is free after 5pm. See our farmers markets guide.

Rainy-day and too-hot-day plan

Have this ready, because between June and October you will need it. The Anne Kolb exhibit hall with its aquarium and EcoRoom is indoors and cheap. Yellow Green is entirely covered and easily absorbs an afternoon. Public libraries across Broward run free children’s programming and are pleasant places to sit out a storm. And the covered sections of the beachfront cafes work for a short shower – the storms here usually pass within the hour.

What a family day costs

Hollywood is genuinely cheap for families if you lean on the outdoors. T.Y. Park is free on weekdays and $6 for a family of four at weekends. Anne Kolb is free on weekdays. The beach is free; only parking is not, at roughly $3 to $4 an hour. ArtsPark and its Friday films are free. Bandshell concerts, Wednesday to Sunday 7pm to 9pm, are free. A realistic figure for two adults and two children doing a park, the beach and a market meal is $50 to $90 – well below what the same day costs in Fort Lauderdale or Miami.

Ages, and what works at each

A quick sort, because the right day out changes a lot with age. For toddlers and under-fives, the interactive fountain at ArtsPark and the shallow calm end of the beach do most of the work, and the Broadwalk being paved makes pushchairs genuinely practical rather than a battle. For primary-age children, this is the sweet spot: the EcoRoom and aquarium at Anne Kolb, climbing the observation towers at both Anne Kolb and Hollywood North Beach Park, cycling the promenade, and running loose at T.Y. Park. For older children and teenagers, the appeal shifts to independence – the Broadwalk is safe and busy enough to let them roam a stretch of it, the beach and the surf are the draw, and the free Friday films and Bandshell concerts are things they will actually go to. Across every age, the two constants are the same: go early to beat the heat, and always have the indoor fallback ready between June and October.

More Hollywood guides

Hollywood rewards people who dig a little deeper. These related guides map the same neighborhoods from different starting points: Free things to do in Hollywood, Parks in Hollywood, Things to do in Hollywood — enough to plan a whole day or two.

Get a local’s take

Guides are a starting point; the current, on-the-ground details come from people who live in Hollywood. Hours shift, favorites change, and residents always know what is genuinely worth it now. Ask Hollywood neighbors directly or join your town community free to hear from real locals.

Frequently asked questions

What are the best things to do with kids in Hollywood, FL?

The Hollywood Beach Broadwalk for biking and beach fun, the ArtsPark at Young Circle, T.Y. Park’s water playground, and the Anne Kolb Nature Center at West Lake Park.

What can you do with kids in Hollywood, FL on a rainy day?

Head to nearby indoor attractions like Fort Lauderdale’s Museum of Discovery and Science, or a local indoor play center or trampoline park.

What do local parents recommend in Hollywood, FL?

Hollywood parents share their kids’ genuine favorites and current tips in our community.