Looking for the best things to do with kids in Boston? A world-class family city, Boston overflows with hands-on museums, historic fun, and beloved outdoor spots for children. This local family guide covers Boston’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 Boston

The Boston Children’s Museum and the Museum of Science are two of the best in the country, and the New England Aquarium (with its giant ocean tank and penguins) is a must. Kids love the Public Garden’s Swan Boats and the “Make Way for Ducklings” statues, the Boston Common Frog Pond (skating in winter, spray pool in summer), and walking the Freedom Trail.

Kid-friendly museums & attractions in Boston

The Boston Children’s Museum, the Museum of Science, the New England Aquarium, and the Franklin Park Zoo anchor a deep bench of family attractions, and the historic Freedom Trail turns the city itself into a hands-on history lesson.

Parks & outdoor fun for families

Boston Common and the Public Garden (Swan Boats, Frog Pond), the Franklin Park Zoo, the Esplanade playgrounds along the Charles, and Castle Island’s fort and beach in South Boston are family outdoor staples. For more, see our guide to the best parks and outdoor spots in Boston.

Rainy-day & indoor options in Boston

On rainy or cold days, Boston is a dream — the Children’s Museum, Museum of Science, and New England Aquarium are all top-tier indoor attractions, plus the many university and art museums.

What local parents in Boston 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’ Boston community, real Boston parents share what their kids genuinely love. For more ideas, see our guide to the best things to do in Boston. Join your Boston neighbors free and get real family recommendations →

The Boston angle

Family spots here range from playgrounds to hands-on museums, and locals know which hold up on a rainy day. Half the fun of a day out with the kids in Boston is stringing it together with the places nearby. the Freedom Trail is the landmark most people orient around, but neighbors will tell you Boston Common and the Harborwalk are where the town really shows its character, with Boston Public Garden worth a look if you have the time. Use those as your reference points and this guide slots neatly into a day that feels like Boston, not a checklist.

Keep exploring Boston

If this was useful, these companion guides cover Boston from angles that pair naturally with it: Free things to do in Boston, Parks in Boston, Things to do in Boston. Together they add up to a full weekend without leaving town.

Ask a Boston neighbor

The best tips never make the guidebooks — they come from neighbors who know which spot is worth it this week. That is what the Boston community on Neighborhood Nurturers is for. Ask Boston locals what they would do, or join free and get honest answers from people who actually know Boston.

The big four for children in Boston

Boston Children’s Museum sits on the Fort Point Channel and is built entirely around hands-on play, with a construction zone, a bubble room and KidStage performances. It is the strongest option for younger children.

The Museum of Science runs over 700 interactive exhibits, a planetarium and live presentations. The Lightning Show in the Theater of Electricity – real indoor lightning – is the one children remember, and the Discovery Center is designed specifically for under-eights.

Franklin Park Zoo has the Tropical Forest and, for smaller children, Franklin Farm, where they can meet donkeys, goats, ponies and sheep in the barn. The New England Aquarium on the waterfront completes the set.

★ The single most useful fact for families in Boston: Boston Family Days gives free admission to 23 major cultural institutions on the first and second Sunday of every month through December 2026 – including all four above, plus the Museum of Fine Arts, the ICA, the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, the JFK Presidential Library and the Museum of African American History. Boston students in grades PreK to 12 get a digital pass that admits them plus two guests. Planning a museum weekend around those Sundays can save a family well over a hundred dollars in a single day.

Outdoors with children

The Swan Boats in the Public Garden are the classic Boston childhood experience and have run since 1877. They operate mid-April through Labor Day, roughly 10am to 4pm, at about $3 to $5 per person for a twelve to fifteen minute pedal-powered loop of the lagoon. The Public Garden has wide, safe paths and is ideal for small children.

The Charles River Esplanade has three separate playgrounds along its three miles, plus open lawns and flat, stroller-friendly paths. The Boston Harborwalk through the Seaport is similarly flat and new, with open space by the water – and the Seaport in general is much easier with a pushchair than the cobbled older neighborhoods.

For a bigger day out, take the ferry from Long Wharf North to the Boston Harbor Islands. Georges Island runs daily from 16 June to 1 September and Spectacle Island daily from 15 July to 1 September, and there are free ferry days on 31 May, 6 June and 25 August. Fort Independence at Castle Island is free, has water on three sides and a walking loop, and is a reliable afternoon.

Rainy days, and doing Boston with children on a budget

Boston weather turns, and having an indoor plan matters more here than in most cities. Beyond the museums, the Boston Public Library at Copley Square is free, welcoming and runs children’s programming, and it is one of the more beautiful buildings in the city to shelter in. Faneuil Hall and Quincy Market give you covered space with food and street performers. Time indoors at the aquarium or the Museum of Science stretches much further on a wet day than a park visit ever will.

On budget, Boston is unusually generous to families if you plan around the free offers. Boston Family Days covers 23 institutions on the first and second Sunday of every month through December 2026. The Institute of Contemporary Art is free on Thursday evenings. Deck tours of the USS Constitution are free and led by active-duty Navy sailors, which children tend to find more memorable than a museum. The Freedom Trail is free to walk, with a free National Park Service audio guide, and only three sites along it charge admission at all – and the Paul Revere House charges just $1 for children aged 5 to 17. The Arnold Arboretum is free, every day of the year.

A note on logistics that saves a lot of frustration: Boston’s older neighborhoods are cobbled, hilly and full of narrow pavements, which makes pushchairs hard work in the North End and on Beacon Hill. The Seaport, the Esplanade and the Greenway are flat and new by comparison. Many T stations in the older parts of the network have stairs rather than lifts, so if you are travelling with a pushchair it is worth checking station accessibility before you plan a route rather than discovering it at the top of a staircase.

Finally, Boston is a genuinely walkable city for children in the sense that distances are short – but it is also a city where a great deal of the best entertainment is free and outdoors between roughly May and October, and firmly indoors the rest of the year. Plan the season, not just the day.

More for families

For more ideas, our free things to do in Boston guide covers the no-cost options in detail, parks in Boston covers playgrounds and green space, and the neighborhood guides flag what works with children: the Seaport is the most pushchair-friendly, Jamaica Plain has the Arboretum and the zoo nearby, and the North End is the best short walk for history with older children.

A note on ages

Boston splits fairly cleanly by age. Under about six, the Children’s Museum, the Swan Boats, Franklin Farm and the playgrounds along the Esplanade do the heavy lifting. From roughly six to twelve, the Museum of Science, the aquarium and the zoo hold attention best, and the Freedom Trail starts to work if you break it into two shorter walks rather than attempting the full two and a half miles in one go. Teenagers generally do better with Fenway Park, the harbour islands, the Seaport and the food – and with being allowed to navigate the T themselves, which is safe, simple and the fastest way for them to feel some ownership of the city.

Frequently asked questions

What are the best things to do with kids in Boston?

The Boston Children’s Museum, the Museum of Science, the New England Aquarium, the Public Garden Swan Boats, the Boston Common Frog Pond, and the Franklin Park Zoo.

What can you do with kids in Boston on a rainy day?

Boston excels indoors — the Children’s Museum, Museum of Science, and New England Aquarium are all top-tier rainy-day attractions.

What do local parents recommend in Boston?

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