With the right planning, you can have a perfectly great adventure with your youngster in the morning and be back for afternoon nap time! We’ve included meal and snack options — oh, and all of these have baby-changing tables!
Adventures with Free admission
Cincinnati Art Museum
Little legs want to move around — why not amid great art? Located in Eden Park, The Cincinnati Art Museum features more than 65,000 works of art. CAM offers wide-ranging program for ages 2 – 12, along with a variety of arts lectures and exhibits. Check out the the REC is now open for i-person artmaking! (All visitors are required to wear masks while in the Rosenthal Education Center) plus, Baby Tours for littles ages 0 – 2.
• Location: 953 Eden Park Drive
• Parking and General Admission: Free!
• Contact: cincinnatiartmuseum.org or 513-721-2787
Joseph-Beth Booksellers
Kid focused story time, kid-friendly dining and plenty of space to move — all under one roof! Joseph-Beth is a bookstore with a children’s section, a train table and Bronte Bistro that offers a kids’ menu and crayons while loaning a picture book to read to your little one while you wait.
• Location: 2692 Madison Road
• Admission: Free
• Contact: josephbeth.com or 513-396-8960
The Public Library of Cincinnati and Hamilton County
Free classes and story times geared by age, virtual and on-site. The library currently offers a virtual movers and shakers class for toddlers, allowing them to wiggle and sing along to songs while listening to stories. To find out the class times at your closest branch, visit the library website at cincinnatilibrary.org.
• Hours: Time and days open vary by location.
• Admission: Free
• Contact: cincinnatilibrary.org or 513-369-6900
Adventures Costing $10 or Less
Recreations Outlet
This is an indoor playground showroom featuring playground equipment (think play sets and trampolines). For a fee, your little ones can play on the playgrounds, play soccer, basketball and ride scooters. Open seven days a week, there’s plenty of clean, safe play for the kiddos to blow off some steam!
• Location: 885 St. Rt. 28, Milford
• Contact: recreationsoutlet.com or 513-831-7383
Krohn Conservatory
Get transported to a tropical island and enjoy letting your little ones toddle around in the warmth! The Krohn Conservatory is located in Eden Park and showcases more than 3,500 plants from around the world. Climate controlled (so nice and warm in the winter!), enjoy beautiful plants, a rain-forest waterfall, ponds and rivers with fish.
• Location: 1501 Eden Park Drive
• Contact: cinicnnatiparks.com or 513-352-4080
Happy Hangouts West Side
Come and play at this one-of-a-kind play place featuring a comfy place for parents to sit and enjoy bring-your-own food and coffee while they the kiddos play! Or join their new winter class offerings including their new “Literacy Tots” class. This class is specifically designed for children ages 2-3 and caregivers.
• Location: 2041 Anderson Ferry Road, Cincinnati
• Contact: happyhangoutws.com or 513-458-1470
Adventures Costing More Than $10
The Duke Energy Children’s Museum
Tons of hands-on fun with themed play areas, the Duke Energy Children’s Museum is located in the Cincinnati Museum Center in Union Terminal. Kids can go on a wilderness adventure through The Woods, be part of a complex machine in the Energy Zone, float boats in the Splash Zone and explore the neighborhoods in Kids Town. Especially nice is the area just for little ones 4 and younger featuring slides, a pretend garden and a sand table.
• Location: 1301 Western Ave.
• Contact: cincymuseum.org or 513-287-7000
Newport Aquarium
See fish, touch a shark or tortoise, and play at an indoor play area. Toddlers will marvel at the fish and just be happy to get to run around, and preschoolers may like hearing more information about the animals. Although this may seem like more of a trek, little legs can easily run through the whole aquarium in under an hour.
• Location: One Aquarium Way, Newport, KY
• Food: Sharky’s Cafe opens at 11 a.m. for snacks and sandwiches.
• Contact: newportaquarium.com or 800-406-3474
