25 Free Things to Do With Your Kids This Summer in St. Louis

Grant’s Farm
(7385 Grant Road, 314-843-1700)
grantsfarm.com
Generations of guests have enjoyed the low-key, slow entertainment provided by Grant’s Farm. Here, it’s not all lights and sounds and screens dazzling your kid into compliance. Instead, it’s about fresh air and nature and exploring. Kids will love meeting the animals in the petting zoo and parents will love the free beer tasting in the Bauernhof Courtyard. While Grant’s Farm is entirely free to enter, parking and guided tours will cost you. Get dropped off and do your own exploring, and you won’t have to pay a penny.

Lone Elk Park
(1 Lone Elk Park Road, 314-615-4386)
stlouiscountymo.gov
Located just west of Valley Park, Lone Elk Park is 546 acres of natural space where elk and bison roam. There are driving routes through the park, which means that you can actually get really close to a big ol’ bison without being too scared that it’s going to crush you. This gorgeous wildlife management area has hills and valleys and smaller creatures, too, so remember to being some binoculars so your wee one can spy waterfowl and wild turkey, too.

Laumeier Sculpture Park
(12580 Rott Road, 314-615-5278)
laumeiersculturepark.org
If you want your kids to get out and get some fresh air but they think that trees are boring and you don’t want to drive all the way to Elephant Rocks, toss the little rugrats in the car and head to Laumeier Sculpture Park. This 105-acre Sunset Hills park features over 60 outdoor sculptures (including that famous giant eyeball) and offers a 1.4-mile hiking trail that even little legs can tolerate. Check out the website in advance to see the sculpture map so you can make sure to hit up all of your favorites during your visit.

Suson County Park
(6073 Wells Road, 314-615-5000)
stlouiscountymo.gov
This fun park in south county offers not only plenty of green space for the kids to run around, but there’s also a stocked fishing lake, a playground, an animal farm and plenty of shelters, too. The farm is the highlight for kids by far, though, and includes sweet-natured horses, miniature ponies, goats, pigs and more. And if you bring a few quarters, you can use the little on-site vending machines to give them a snack, too.

Powder Valley Conservation Nature Center
(11715 Cragwold Road, 314-301-1500)
mdc.mo.gov
The Powder Valley Conservation Nature Center is 112.3 acres of “educational nature oasis.” Escape the city and head out to Kirkwood to let the Missouri Department of Conservation dazzle you with natural wonders. Kids can enjoy hiking the trails, spotting wildlife, checking out the aquarium and getting a nice up-close look at normally forbidden objects like a bee hive. Entry is free, but be forewarned: there is a gift shop on site and your kids are definitely going to want one of those awesome rock tumblers to take home with them.

Anne O’C. Albrecht Nature Playscape
(Concourse Drive in Forest Park)
forestparkforever.org
Located in beautiful Forest Park, this playground built with natural materials is the perfect spot to take your nature-loving kid to get the zoomies out. You won’t find any rubberized ground cover or plastic slides here. This gorgeous little piece of land is a 17-acre “experiential play space.” Kids can hop on logs and boulders, jump from stump to stump, play in the sand and generally just run wild among the nine distinct activity areas. Your kid will love it so much that they’ll never want to leave so don’t forget the sunscreen!

Missouri Botanical Garden
(4344 Shaw Boulevard, 314-577-5100)
missouribotanicalgarden.org
Did you know that the always-magical Missouri Botanical Garden is free for kids ages 12 and under? That means that even if you want to take a whole crew of kiddos that it’s only going to cost you $14 for your own entry. (Or just $6 if you’re a city or county resident and can prove it.) That’s a steal! The garden is open each day from 9 a.m. until 5 p.m. (with last entry at 4:30 p.m.). Best of all: The whole garden, including the children's garden with its splash pad and amazing treehouse, is free to all city/county residents (with proof of residency) from 9 a.m. to noon on Saturday. Score.

Missouri History Museum
(5700 Lindell Boulevard, 314-746-4599)
mohistory.org
One of our favorite spots in town is the MIssouri History Museum. Not only is it free to enter, you can also usually find parking easily and the location on the quiet side of Forest Park can’t be beat. The depth of the collection on display daily is impressive, but they also have a rotating selection of free special exhibits, too. Make sure to check out the dedicated kids' room, which has enough in it to keep most kids busy for an hour or more.

Saint Louis Science Center
(5050 Oakland Avenue, 314-289-4400)
slsc.org
Step aside, Bill Nye, the Saint Louis Science Center is even better at entertaining (while sneakily educating) the children of St. Louis. WIth more than 700 interactive experiences on site, kids will never be bored at the St. Louis Science Center. If anything, you’ll have trouble fitting all of the fun into just one visit. Here, kids are encouraged to participate, to touch and to be amazed, so you won’t have to worry about constantly reminding your little ones to keep their hands to themselves.

Gateway Arch Museum
(11 North 4th Street, 877-982-1410)
gatewayarch.com/museum
To learn about the history of St. Louis, you don’t need to pay to go up in one of those claustrophobic egg-shaped elevators to the top of the Gateway Arch, you can just visit the awesome museum tucked into the base of its legs. The museum has six interactive exhibits that tell the story of St. Louis and it includes artifacts and details that have never been on display previously. There’s also a truly amazing section about the science and design behind the building of the Gateway Arch that shows cool models and plenty of other memorabilia from the time.

Bellefontaine Cemetery
(4947 West Florissant Avenue, 314-381-0750)
belleontainecemetery.org
Bellefontaine Cemetery (and its neighbor Calvary Cemetery) are some of the most beautiful natural sites in St. Louis. Located along West Florissant Avenue in north county, these peaceful final resting places are bursting with natural beauty and historic significance. Here, you can see the final resting places of many famous St. Louisans from all different backgrounds — from Adolphus Busch to William Burroughs to Rush Limbaugh.

Contemporary Art Museum St. Louis
(3750 Washington Avenue, 314-535-4660)
camstl.org
You never know what you’ll find at the Contemporary Art Museum St. Louis. (In the best way, though.) The museum has no permanent art collections and instead rotates in both major artist and smaller exhibitions to give visitors access to a variety of art. In the past, the museum has hosted work from artists like Cindy Sherman and Amy Sherald, but to find what is on display currently and what will be on the way soon, visit camstl.org to check their calendar.

The Muny
(1 Theatre Drive, 314-361-1900)
muny.org
For spectacular outdoor entertainment, head to the St. Louis Municipal Opera Theater (the Muny) in Forest Park. But if you also want that entertainment to be free, you’ll need to head there early. The last nine rows of seating at the Muny hold about 1,500 free seats, and you’ll need to be on top of it to claim them for your family. The schedule for the Muny this summer is extra impressive and includes Rent, Disney’s Beauty and the Beast, West Side Story, Sister Act and more.

Central Library
(1301 Olive Street, 314-241-2288)
slpl.org
If you want to get your kids to read more, take them to the always-impressive Central Library downtown, where they’ll be so jazzed by the beautiful surroundings that they’ll be desperate to get in on all the reading fun. In addition to the books, the digital content and the free WIFI, Central Library also hosts a full calendar of activities and events. Visit slpl.org for the most up-to-date information.

Saint Louis Zoo
(1 Government Drive, 314-781-0900)
stlzoo.org
This famously free St. Louis tourist attraction will provide your kids with a full day of animal sightseeing that they won’t shut up about for weeks after. Some of the paid attractions like the carousel and the Zooline Railroad are totally worth it, but you don’t need to spend even one dollar for you kids to have fun here. The large campus will also wear them out so they’ll get a good nap in that day, too. You’re welcome.

Art Hill Film Series
(35-43 Fine Arts Drive, 314-367-7275)
slam.org/art-hill-film-series
It’s always nice to take a trip to Art Hill, but it’s even nicer to visit for the Art Hill Film Series. Free films are shown there all summer on a massive screen and you’re encouraged to attend and make a night of it. The party kicks off at 6 p.m. with food trucks and music and the featured film of the night starts at 9 p.m. This year you can catch Top Gun, Akeelah and the Bee and — everyone’s favorite — School of Rock.

World Bird Sanctuary
(125 Bald Eagle Ridge Road, 636-225,4390)
worldbirdsanctuary.org
This 300-acre receive just east of Lone Elk Park serves as a safe haven for threatened birds and some other species, too. There’s a bird hospital on site where they rehabilitate birds that can be released into the wild and there are habitats for permanently injured birds who will need care for the rest of their lives. Kids will love the variety of raptors on site and parents will love how much the kids learn accidentally during their visits.

Grant’s Trail
(no address)
bikegrantstrail.com
Get those little limbs out and moving this summer on this mixed-use trail in St. Louis County. Stretching for 12.14 miles from Holmes Avenue to River City Boulevard, Grant’s Trail is part of the massive spiderweb of trails that is the Great Rivers Greenway. During this stretch of trail your kids can enjoy the sights and sounds of Kirkwood and then dip past those pretty Clydesdales munching on grass at Grant’s Farm.

Saint Louis Art Museum
(1 Fine Arts Drive, 314-721-0072)
slam.org
One of the best art museums in the world isn’t just gorgeous, it’s also free. The Saint Louis Art Museum has been thrilling visitors since 1904 and boasts a huge selection of world-class art in its collection, including pieces by Claude Monet, Georgia O’Keeffe, Henri Matisse and Andy Goldsworthy. Their special exhibits are always thrilling, too — but usually require a paid ticket — so make sure you check out their website first so you don’t miss out on anything.

CityGarden
(801 Market Street, 314-241-3337)
stlouis-mo.gov
This beautiful downtown park offers two full blocks of massive sculptures, winding paths, interactive art, flower gardens, rain gardens, fountains, a pool, a six-foot waterfall and a “children’s spray plaza” (also known as a splashpad). Not only is it gorgeous and free, but the couldn’t be more convenient for families with small kids downtown or tourists.