15 Fun Family Friendly Things to Do in Detroit with Kids
Detroit was built and named by the French in 1701 despite being well-known for the American automobile industry.
Le détroit du Lac Érié, or “the strait of Lake Erie,” was its original name.
Detroit may have faced economic challenges in the later part of the 20th century, but it recovered in the 2000s and grew in popularity as a family holiday spot.
Detroit is well-known for its music scene, architectural achievements, historical buildings, and entertainment events. Considering its advantages, Detroit was soon remembered as a City of Design in 2015 by UNESCO.
Here are some great things to do in Detroit with kids if you’re looking to visit this city, which offers lots of thrilling adventures for families.
- Detroit Kid City — Metro Detroit
A cafe and indoor play area called Detroit Kid City has three locations throughout the city.
Why We Recommend This Activity
Let the kids experience a Detroit scaled down for them.
With the toys, dress-up accessories, and miniature replicas of the neighborhood’s auto factory, bank, barbershop, post office, music studio, art center, baseball stadium, and more, Detroit Kid City strives to encourage kids’ imaginative play.
Due to the availability of on-site roasted coffee, fruit smoothies, and Michigan-made goodies, parents may relax while their children play.
Recommended Ages
All ages are welcome to Detroit Kid City, but children between the ages of one and eight have the best time there.
- Legoland Discovery Center Michigan — Metro Detroit
The Legoland Discovery Centre, run by Merlin Entertainments and the Lego Group, has exhibits and models based on Lego toys.
Why We Recommend This Activity
Immerse yourself in a colossal Lego playground to explore a colorful and imaginative environment.
In Detroit, one of the best locations to bring kids is Legoland Discovery Center Michigan since it offers a wide range of entertaining kid-friendly activities besides Lego construction.
Kingdom Quest, Miniland, Merlin’s Apprentice Ride, Lego City Play Zone, Lego Racers, Duplo Farm, and many others are among the best rides and attractions.
Additionally, you may meet your favorite Lego characters and take part in a Lego race in virtual reality.
Recommended Ages
The Legoland Discovery Center is best suited for kids between three and ten.
- Sea Life Michigan Aquarium — Metro Detroit
The largest aquarium in the state is Sea Life Michigan, which has over 2,000 animals representing over 250 species.
Why We Recommend This Activity
Sea Life Michigan Aquarium offers visitors the opportunity to explore the wonder and mystery of the ocean’s depths.
Explore displays like the Freshwater Exhibit, Harbor Exhibit, Seahorse Mangrove Exhibit, Shipwreck Exhibit, and many others to get up and personal with marine creatures from around the world.
There are several ways to visit the aquarium besides simply strolling through it.
At the Interactive Touchpool, you may watch a show or get up and personal with crabs, urchins, sea stars, and other species.
Alternately, create your virtual fish on your own, and watch it swim through the reef.
Recommended Ages
All ages are welcome to visit the Sea Life Michigan Aquarium and be in awe of the beauty of aquatic life.
- Marvin’s Marvelous Mechanical Museum — Metro Detroit
It’s odd that this museum first opened in 1937 as a pharmacy.
Marvin Yagoda, the man who founded the museum, was a pharmacist who specialized in mechanical and electrical gaming equipment.
Why We Recommend This Activity
Step back in time and wander through vintage arcade games, coin-op animatronics, model airplanes, carnival kitsch, circus memorabilia, and other curiosities.
Bring some change and check out some of these machines, as many still functions.
Exhibits include a traditional fortune-telling machine, a replica of P.T. Barnum’s Cardiff giant, an electric chair that killed thirty criminals, an automaton that vomits on a pile of vintage bottles, and many other mechanical oddities.
This enormous collection has spot-light in numerous periodicals and TV programs since the museum’s opening.
Recommended Ages
Visiting this oddity museum is the best experience for seven and older kids.
- Westview Orchards & Adventure Farm — Downtown Detroit
Since 1813, Westview Orchards has grown to include 188 acres of fruit trees and crops.
That is more than two hundred years of heritage, custom, and wholesome agricultural entertainment.
Why We Recommend This Activity
Explore Westview’s fields and orchards or make new friends with farm animals.
With these, you can harvest strawberries, cherries, apples, and pumpkins or take a relaxing wagon ride around the farm.
Sample their fresh apple cider from their cider mill and baked pastries.
The seven-acre corn maze and the Kidz Korner playground are fun for kids.
For weekend festivals and seasonal events, consult their calendar.
You may sign up for one right now, this weekend, or the following.
Recommended Ages
All ages of kids will enjoy the farm experiences Westview Orchards has in store for them.
- Detroit International RiverWalk — Downtown Detroit
The river walk in Detroit complements the city’s newest commercial and residential constructions.
2007 saw the opening of the first three and a half miles.
The feature’s other components, such as the terraces and pedestrian bridges, are currently being built.
Why We Recommend This Activity
From Rose Parks Boulevard to the Belle Isle Bridge, you can explore the magnificent views of the three-mile promenade.
Take the view while you stroll, cycle, or run, and let the kids play in the splash pads, fountains, and water cannons.
A famous carousel and natural landscapes are also available for enjoyment.
Visit the RiverWalk Café if you are looking for food.
If you are lucky, there might be free events nearby; check their schedule for any potential family events in Detroit.
Recommended Ages
At Detroit RiverWalk, visitors of all ages may take in the breathtaking vistas.
- Meadow Brook Theatre Children’s Series — Metro Detroit
The largest nonprofit professional theatre in the state, Meadow Brook Theater, was established on the Oakland University campus in 1966. It produces productions that have won awards.
Why We Recommend This Activity
The Meadow Brook Theater offers Broadway-caliber theatrical shows that will make you smile, laugh, and cry.
Visit on Saturdays to see their Children’s Series, which includes renditions of beloved children’s books like “Anne of Green Gables,” “Storybook Tales: Pinocchio and Robin Hood,” and “A Christmas Carol.”
Recommended Ages
Meadow Brook Theater will make children of all ages feel like they are seeing a children’s movie.
- Sanders & Morley Candy Makers Factory — Metro Detroit
Since their introduction in 1875, Sanders chocolates have become a Detroit institution.
Why We Recommend This Activity
The Sanders & Morley Candy Makers Factory provides free tours for everyone.
You can learn how Michigan’s largest candy manufacturer makes the traditional treats that local families have loved for more than a century visiting this place.
While you watch a video about the business, your tour guide leads you along their observation hallway so you can see their candy makers at work.
The best part is that you can get free samples!
Additionally, you can visit their recently renovated Sanders Chocolate & Ice Cream Shoppe.
Recommended Ages
The Sanders & Morley Candy Makers tour is one of the family-friendly activities in Detroit that even older kids will appreciate. You can have cheap fun with the whole family.
Does everyone want free chocolate?
- The Mall at Partridge Creek
The Mall at Partridge Creek opened in 2007 and is home to over eighty shops and eateries.
Why We Recommend This Activity
The Mall at Partridge Creek is an open-air shopping center with a 14-screen MJR movie theatre and renowned stores, including Apple, Brighton, forever twenty-one, Banana Republic, Bare Minerals, H&M, and others.
Family-friendly features of this mall, such as bocce ball courts, kids’ pop jet fountains, an outdoor play area, canine comfort stations, and a 30-foot fireplace, set it apart from the competition.
Recommended Ages
The whole family, including your furry family member, will enjoy taking a stroll and eating lunch at the mall at Partridge Creek.
- Turtle Cove Family Aquatic Center — Metro Detroit
The Huron River flows through 1,258 acres of the 13 Huron-Clinton Metroparks, including the Turtle Cove Family Aquatic Center.
Why We Recommend This Activity
One of the top family activities in Detroit is a day at the Turtle Cove Family Aquatic Center.
Play in the pools, splash pads, water slides, lazy river, dumping bucket, and zero-depth pool with lap lanes while getting soaked.
After the youngsters have expended all their surplus energy, relax at the Turtle Cove Grille, enjoy the food, and drinks the aquatic facility offers.
Recommended Ages
The water activities at Turtle Cove Family Aquatic Center are a favorite among visitors of all ages, especially during the summer.
- Greenfield Village — Metro Detroit
The 90-acre outdoor living history museum at the Henry Ford compound is the Greenfield Village.
You can tour more than eighty historically significant structures from the 17th century to the present day.
Why We Recommend This Activity
Watch and get a first-hand account of what life was like, for Americans, during the four hundred years following their arrival on the continent.
Visit the lab of Thomas Edison, the residence of the Wright brothers, that of Henry Ford, and numerous more historical sites with costumed docents, you may speak.
The outdoor museum also offers rides in a Model T, a steam-powered locomotive, and a horse-drawn carriage.
Recommended Ages
Visitors of all ages can have a memorable, informative, and entertaining holiday at Greenfield Village.
- Detroit Zoo — Royal Oak
The first zoo in Detroit opened its doors in 1883 but had to close because of financial issues.
In 1928, the Detroit Zoological Society formally inaugurated a new one.
Why We Recommend This Activity
One of Michigan’s family attractions is the Detroit Zoo, home to more than 2,400 animals of 235 species.
One of the first zoos in the US to use ecological environments rather than cages is this one.
Along with attractions including animal interactions, a 4-D theatre, a simulator ride, a carousel, a playground, and a miniature railway, there are fifteen enormous habitats.
Recommended Ages
The Detroit Zoo is the best place for families with young children, toddlers, older kids, and teenagers to spend the day.
- Michigan Science Center — Midtown
The Detroit Science Center, which had to close in 2011 owing to financial difficulties, is now home to the Michigan Science Center.
The present facility debuted in 2012.
Why We Recommend This Activity
What can families do in Detroit?
Let kids play at the Michigan Science Center while they investigate the limitless possibilities of science.
For children of all ages, there are more than three hundred interactive, informative exhibits.
It makes it one of the best things to do in Detroit with young children while still entertaining for teenagers. These exhibitions include Engineering, Health & Wellness, Kid’s Town, Motion, and Space.
Visit their planetarium and IMAX cinema for more entertainment, catch live science programs and demonstrations, and have some fun.
Recommended Ages
The Michigan Science Center’s 300 displays feature activities for people of all ages.
- Outdoor Adventure Center — Downtown Detroit
The 1860s Globe Building, which was empty for many years in the 20th century, is now home to the Outdoor Adventure Center.
Why We Recommend This Activity
Indoors, enjoy the outdoors!
Outdoor activities, including riding, fishing, hiking, crossing a suspension bridge, kayaking, and even snowmobiling, are artistically offered at the Outdoor Adventure Center.
You can discover how the Department of Natural Resources administers state parks, woods, wildlife, and fish while visiting its distinctive displays and simulators.
Recommended Ages
The Outdoor Adventure Center’s interactive activities are fantastic suggestions for family-friendly things to do while visiting Detroit.
The outdoors are for everyone, young or elderly.
- Belle Isle State Park — Lower Detroit
French for “beautiful island,” Belle Isle was first inhabited in the 18th century and later named for Gov. Lewis Cass’s daughter.
Why We Recommend This Activity
Belle Isle Park, a 987-acre island park, sees Michigan’s picturesque landscape.
There are three lakes, 150 acres of woodlands, and see breathtaking views.
To fully enjoy what nature offers, you can rent a boat, a bike, or equipment for snow sports. You can also explore the park’s many attractions, including the James Scott Memorial Fountain, the Dossin Great Lakes Museum, and the Anna Scripps Whitcomb Conservatory.
If you want to take a break, visit one of the picnic spots with some refreshments.
Recommended Ages
You would not run out of entertaining things to do in Detroit with kids of all ages, thanks to the various activities and sights to see at Belle Isle State Park.
