Things to do
Family hotelsRestaurants 45Cafés 44Hotels 25Playgrounds and things to do 144High chairs 42Changing tables 13Kids' menu 43Cribs 10Pool 24Free breakfast 17Connecting rooms 3Fridge in the room 19Separate bedroom 6Restrooms 22Free 71Water play 4Order at the counter 27
A whole afternoon 14Two play areas, one of them a newer inclusive playground built for kids of different abilities, with accessible sidewalks leading in.
Suites with a kitchen and more than one bed, and some rooms connect.
Barbecue with smaller plates of ribs and pulled pork for under-12s.
A space-themed playground built for kids of every ability: ramps, flat surfaces, activity boards and a communication board. It's lit after dark.
Tortillas rolled by hand, and when the station's going, kids can watch. A bright, colorful room for Tex-Mex.
A shady playground at the start of a short creekside trail through an old horse farm.
A peg puzzle on the table, checkers on the porch and a store full of toys to browse while you wait for the food.
A neighborhood pub with board games at the tables, so kids have something to do while the food comes.
Burgers and frozen custard, and every kids' meal ends with a scoop.
Play equipment set inside a bigger spread of fields and nature, with a pavilion close by.
Smoked meats and classic sides, with grilled cheese or a hot dog for the kid who won't touch barbecue. It can get busy and smoky.
A playground and a splash pad side by side, next to a garden of outdoor musical instruments kids can play.
A big climbing structure with monkey bars, slides and swings, plus grills and a pavilion if you're making an afternoon of it.
A fish-themed playground with swings, slides and climbing, and a covered picnic spot for when the sun gets too much.
Swings, slides and climbing under big old shade trees, so it stays bearable on a hot afternoon.
Several kitchens around one lawn, with hammocks, cornhole and room to run while you eat in the shade.
A playground beside a play zone with table games for grown-ups, and shaded seating to watch from.
Modern play equipment in the shade of big oaks, plus a small bridge over a creek and a pavilion for the snack break.
A big field with tetherball and cornhole for kids to run around in while you finish eating. Louder when there's live music.
A playground with wide grassy fields for kites and ball games, and nature trails into the woods when they're done climbing.
Brazilian food in a relaxed room: counter service at lunch, the easier time with a wiggly kid, and table service later on.
A bear-themed playground with curving slides and swinging bridges, and a short wooded trail beside it for when the climbing runs out.
Apartment-style suites with full kitchens and a self-service laundry.
A playground inside a bigger community park, with a picnic pavilion close by for lunch between rounds of play.
Separate areas for younger and older kids under tall shade trees, plus swings and a merry-go-round. The playground is at the south end.
Counter-service barbecue with brisket and pulled-pork sliders sized for kids, a cookie on the side.
Pan-Asian plates and sushi, with a Little Dragons menu of smaller meals, so your kid gets their own bowl while you order rolls.
Wings, plus grilled cheese, chicken dippers and mac and cheese for kids who don't do wings.
Suites with a separate bedroom and living area, so a kid can go down early while you stay up.
Wood-fired pizza and handmade pasta.
Hot breakfast and an evening food spread, which covers a lot on a short trip. Two-room suites have a pull-out sofa.
Breakfast and lunch with an indoor play area, so a kid who's done eating can go and move.
A playground with an open field beside it and shady trails through the oaks.
One- and two-bedroom suites with full kitchens, so a toddler can nap in one room while you make lunch in the other.
Kids' plates of tacos with rice and beans, quesadillas or chicken and rice.
Empanadas, chicken and rice, and a case of pastries: a gentle first go at Cuban food, with familiar sides for the picky one.
An open kitchen where kids can watch the dough get stretched and slid into the oven.
A sit-down steak dinner, with chicken fingers or mac and cheese for the kid who won't touch steak.
A sit-down Mexican menu of tacos, quesadillas and enchiladas.
A diner with Perky Bear pancakes and rainbow pancakes for kids, plus French toast and chicken strips for the ones who won't do pancakes.
Every suite has a kitchen, a living room and a sleeper sofa.
All suites, each with a kitchenette and a partial divider, so there's a bit of separation for an early bedtime. Not a closed second bedroom.
Built as a model for inclusive play, with accessible paths and shaded benches, so kids of different abilities can play side by side.
Steakburgers and hand-dipped milkshakes: a simple burger-and-shake stop that most kids will say yes to.
Fresh frozen custard with fruit, cookie or candy on top, and sandwiches and wraps if you need an actual meal first.
Smaller steak bites, mini burgers and chicken tenders, so a kid gets the steakhouse dinner at their own size.
Small pancakes and French toast at breakfast, grilled cheese at lunch, and a case of muffins and cookies for afterward.
Brunch with pancakes, eggs and French toast, and the kids' side of the menu covers everyone up to twelve.
Latin street food made for sharing, arepas and empanadas, with plain sides for a cautious eater to pick at while you try the rest.
Climbing webs, saucer swings and a GaGa pit, so school-age kids have something active to do while younger ones swing.
A colorful playground by the picnic pavilion, with shaded creek trails and an overlook right there.
Chain bar and grill with the usual kid lineup: tenders, cheesy pizza, a quesadilla, mac and cheese, grilled cheese.
Drive-through with sliders and chicken tenders sized for kids, and applesauce or milk on the side.
Close to the teaching zoo, with a full hot breakfast before you head out. Most other sights are a drive.
A sit-down Mexican spot with a proper kids' meal, so a small eater gets something plain while you have the burrito.
Colorful play equipment with shade over it and a picnic pavilion close by.
Guest laundry for the wet swim things, hot breakfast downstairs and a microwave in the room for leftovers. The practical pick.
Suites with more room than a standard hotel room, which helps on a longer stay. Not separate bedrooms, just more floor.
A full grill with chicken baskets as well as the Blizzards, so it can be dinner and dessert in one go.
Youth sports teams base themselves here, and the courtyard gives kids somewhere to stretch out after a day in the car.
A newer playground with swings and slides beside a pond, and an accessible loop around it for a short walk and some birdwatching.
Picked for family reunions: picnic space outside, a market for snacks, and suites with room to spread out.
Burgers with an arcade and putt-putt on site, and a big park next door for whatever energy is left.
A sit-down bistro where kids get mac and cheese, buttered pasta or mini burgers while you eat properly.
Studio suites if you want more room, with a fridge and microwave in each. A sensible base for a few days of outings.
Across the street from the university's art museum, with an outdoor pool and dinner on site.
Wooded creek trails to follow and a small nature center with local animals, books and crafts.
A full-size basketball court, grills by the outdoor pool and hot breakfast, which is why youth teams stay here between games.
A casual sit-down Mexican place, easy for a weeknight dinner with kids in tow.
Deep-dish pizza, garlic knots and baked pastas made to share, in a relaxed room where a table of three generations fits right in.
A small pocket park with play equipment and a basketball court, made for the kids on the surrounding streets. Most people walk in.
A lively sports bar, and every kids' meal (burgers, mac and cheese, chicken Zingers) comes with a side, a drink and dessert.
Burgers, seafood and chicken on one menu, so a picky eater and an adventurous one can both order something.
A small playground under big shady trees, with bucket swings for babies and regular swings for bigger kids.
A ninja-style obstacle course and traveling rings beside the newer play equipment, so bigger kids have something harder than the slide.
Eat in a van, under a plane or in a greenhouse, with slides and swings outside, so kids play between slices.
Square, cheesy Detroit-style pizza and waffles from a food-park counter, with outdoor tables and cornhole. Gluten-free and vegan options for a mixed table.
Grilled cheese, chicken and rice or a turkey melt on the kids' side of a Mediterranean menu.
Eclectic American dinner in a relaxed room, and on family night a magician and balloon animals work the tables.
Fruit bowls and waffles piled with fruit to share at a table.
A shaded playground with outdoor musical instruments to bang on, a newer swing set and an accessible path in.
A rooftop pool and rooms with two queens so everyone gets a bed; youth sports teams book it.
Asian-fusion bowls at the counter, with a kid-size bowl so your kid eats what you're eating, just less of it.
A small, shady tot lot with colorful climbers and a pavilion for picnics.
The start of a wide paved trail, with turtles to spot in the spring.
Outdoor instruments kids can play, colorful slides and climbing, with a shaded pavilion for a snack break.
Swings, slides and a climbing tube under shade sails, pitched at kids up to five, so toddlers get the run of it.
A playground with a walking trail, garden and basketball court around it.
A big outdoor lot with lawn games and a vegan food truck doing quesadillas, tots and mac and cheese.
Restaurants and sights are a stroll away, which older kids love; some rooms have a sleeper sofa.
A fridge and microwave in every room for milk and snacks, and the breakfast is hot.
A roofed, shaded school playground with swings and a quarter-mile track, open to everyone outside school hours.
A small playground on a short, shaded walking loop past a stormwater pond.
A roomy patio and board games to play over dessert.
A gated playground you reach through the library's kids' area.
Longleaf-pine trails and an 1870s living history farm with heritage animals and old-time farm chores.
Budget hotel with an outdoor pool, suite options, and some rooms with a fridge and microwave.
A small park with a rock wall, swings and shade structures over the play area, plus picnic tables for a snack between climbs.
A modern playground in the forest, with shaded picnic shelters and boardwalk trails.
Hot breakfast included and suites to choose from.
A shaded playground with a picnic pavilion and a short wooded trail down by the creek, for when the climbing's done.
A cottage that sleeps six across two bedrooms with a kitchen, plus a putting green and gardens to wander.
Soft play with a tree and a slide for kids 42 inches and under, a space for crawlers and early walkers.
Rock walls and climbing structures alongside the swings and slides, in a shady spot with a picnic pavilion next to it.
A scaled-down youth soccer field and a kick wall for young players, and hoops for older siblings.
One enormous live oak and a couple of picnic tables.
Swings, shade and open grass to run on, but no climbing structure. The pond in the middle is stormwater, not for splashing.
A 120-foot-deep sinkhole with a boardwalk staircase that goes down into it, past rock layers and forest.
A splash pad and a water slide next to a shallow section, with shade structures for breaks between swims.
Açaí bowls and waffles, with Jenga, Uno and a Pac-Man machine to keep kids busy while you finish your smoothie.
Simple rooms that sleep four, with a fridge and microwave, plus an outdoor pool and a volleyball court for burning off energy.
A heated pool with a splash pad and an aqua slide, plus a shaded spot for a picnic between swims.
A freshly renovated hotel with a rooftop pool.
Music-themed rooms, a one-bedroom suite with a pull-out sofa, and shops and restaurants you can walk to from the door.
A short, easy woodland loop through pine woods and a shady hammock, so even small legs finish it. Good for spotting birds; there's no playground.
Dairy and vegan ice cream side by side, plus vegan baked treats, so a kid who can't have dairy gets a real choice too.
An easy trail through shady woods by two creeks, with activity guides for spotting birds, trees and creek life.
Drive-in with an outdoor playground for young kids, so they can climb while the order comes out.
Cornhole and a football toss on the promenade outside, for burning off energy before the food comes.
Flat boardwalks over the wetlands with birds, butterflies and alligators in view.
A 0.4-mile woodland walk along a creek, short enough for small legs.
The educator's former family home, with oral histories and exhibits on the Black neighborhood around it. Better for school-age kids than toddlers.
Life-size bronze figures of both Gator mascots to pose beside, for a quick photo stop.
An open plaza beside a covered stage where outdoor movie nights and kids' dance parties come through.
Bins of loose bricks and minifigures to dig through, plus new and secondhand sets. A LEGO kid could easily lose an hour here.
A giant bronze alligator to stand next to for the Gator photo, a five-minute stop.
Zoologists lead you around rescued wild animals for two hours, with a big-cat feeding partway. Kids hear each animal's own story.
A short, shaded loop under old live oaks at the edge of a prairie, easy on small legs.
A short shaded path to a pond for watching birds from the bank. Small and quiet, with no playground.
Comics, toys and board games to browse, and now and then an open board-game table where kids can sit down and play.
Blizzards and soft-serve only, no grill.
Racing games, air hockey and basketball hoops, with a dining area so you can eat between rounds.
A quiet university gallery with shows that change through the year. Nothing to touch, so it suits a kid who likes to look and talk about what they see.
Shelves of vintage and newer toys to browse, and a sensory wall outside that keeps a small kid busy while you look.
A 1.8-mile loop through swamp, cypress and gum trees, a proper hike.
An art cart with hands-on activities and games, plus scavenger hunts through the galleries.
Life-size statues of three Gator Heisman winners, standing together for a sports photo. A quick stop outside the stadium.
A path winding between more than twenty big boulders, with a panel showing how one kind of rock turns into another. School-age kids get the most from it.
Kids can watch glazed doughnuts roll down the production line, warm when the Hot Light is on.
Bed and breakfast with family cottages, some with full kitchens and one with three bedrooms.
A small museum with rotating exhibits on local history, a calm hour with a curious school-age kid.
Comics, Pokémon cards and tabletop games for a young card collector or comic fan to browse.
A wide paved path for walking, biking or scooting, with a playground to aim for at one end.
A playground and picnic spot by a lake with plenty of alligators.
A short, easy walk along the lakeshore with waterbirds and butterflies.
Cupcakes, ice cream and breakfast bites in a small cafe, with a farmers market nearby.
Changing shows of photographs, sculpture and video to look at quietly.
More than 1,700 fossils, minerals and rocks around a college lobby, meteorites included. Short, and made for a kid deep in a rocks-and-fossils phase.
A narrow creekside park with a playground and a short shady path along the water, so there's a walk after the swings. Grills for a picnic.
A small cabinet of curiosities: old objects, documents and bits of geology to look at up close. Quiet and hands-on, for curious school-age kids.
The world's largest occupied bat houses, where hundreds of thousands of bats pour out at dusk, watched from behind the fence.
Telescopes pointed at the Moon and planets on public nights, with astronomers there to answer questions.
An easy three-quarter-mile loop through prairie and woods, with kids' activity guides on birds, fungi, trees and reptiles, on a dirt path.
An unstaffed lobby with a wave-machine pendulum, an anti-gravity mirror and dishes that carry a whisper across the room.
Paved garden paths through camellias and azaleas, so a stroller manages and kids can wander.
Several food counters around a shaded yard with play equipment.
A Storywoods Room for books and read-alouds in the kids' department, with story times for babies and preschoolers on the calendar.
Thirty-two lanes and a kitchen, and kids bowl on the same lane as the grown-ups.
Handmade work by regional artists, from wall art to crafts, in a restored house with a porch.
Homemade Italian ice layered with honey-sweetened ice cream, called gelati, in a colorful storefront with seats outside.
An independent bagel bakery going for over 40 years. An easy breakfast, since there's a plain bagel for even the pickiest kid.
A walk-up bakery counter in a food park, with from-scratch cookies, bars and pastries that change daily. Let your kid pick from the case.
A gym given over to under-fives: obstacle courses, balance beams and toys to try at their own pace, with you alongside.
Seafood and steak, and a bananas foster cooked at the table that gives kids a little fire show with dessert.
A case of rotating flavors to choose a scoop from, and ice-cream cakes if you're marking a birthday.
Rotating ice-cream flavors to pick from, and a cake to share if it's someone's birthday.
Rotating flavors in the scoop case, and ice-cream cakes when there's a birthday to celebrate.
Ice cream and fruit slushes alongside the boba.
Pick beads and make your own jewelry at the tables, with staff to help with the design. Tiny loose beads, so it suits older kids more than toddlers.
Nature park with a playground.
Climbing and soft play for kids up to about ten, with a separate toddler space so the smallest ones aren't underfoot. Socks for everyone.
Classic arcade games and pinball, most of them on one wristband. It serves alcohol, so kids come with a grown-up.
Limestone outcrops around a sinkhole, with birds and a view toward the lake.
Big cookies baked in small batches through the day.
Your kid picks an animal, helps stuff it and gives it a heart, then dresses it up. A small project that ends with something to hug.
A fab lab with 3D printers and laser cutters and an exhibit on how Gatorade was invented, so school-age kids actually make something. Activities for the youngest too.
Soft-serve, sundaes and the classic ice-cream cakes for a birthday.
Hawaiian shaved ice with a long list of flavors, and kids can mix several in one cup.
Your kid chooses the mix-ins, then watches them worked into the ice cream on a cold stone right in front of them.
Kids pick their candy or fruit and watch it get folded into the ice cream on a frozen stone, which is half the fun.
The kids' corner is built to look like an Old Florida swamp, with puppets, puzzles and early-learning touchscreens, and a park playground right beside it.
Walk in, pick a pottery piece and paint it. It's fired and ready to collect in about two weeks.
Paint a pottery piece on a walk-in visit, or sign up for a canvas or clay class. Pieces are fired, so pickup is about two weeks later.
Glow-in-the-dark mini golf in neon outer space, and a sand-play area for younger kids who won't last all the holes.
Local African American history told through art and exhibits, and its events have brought living history and hands-on activities for kids.
Rescued farm animals on a guided visit: a walk by the pig pasture and cows over the fence. Wear closed-toe shoes.
The cookie lineup changes every week, so there's usually something new for your kid to pick.
Local cafe with a spacious patio and family-friendly evenings of live music and food trucks.
Soft-serve made with less sugar and fat, in rotating flavors with toppings, so the treat is a bit lighter than usual.
Glazed, jelly-filled and cake donuts.
Small neighborhood park with a playground.
A case full of donuts and other baked goods for a morning treat.
Community center with a playground.
Kids Mode eases the puzzles and hints for ages 7 to 14, so your kid can lead the game.
A mowed path through pine flatwoods, swamp and cypress, with birds to spot along the canals.
Trampolines, two-story laser tag, an indoor roller coaster and climbing walls, plus a separate trampoline zone for six and under.
A small gallery with shows that change, for a kid who likes to look and talk about colors and materials.
Planet sculptures along nearly a mile of roadside, the Sun at one end and Pluto at the other, with a space-themed playground by the Sun. Hold hands, it's by the road.
Bright fruit teas and milk teas, mango and taro slushes, and crispy puffle waffles with strawberry or chocolate.
A 30-minute guided tour of the players' locker room and the field, so a young Gators fan gets to stand where the team does.
Health-minded cafe with sandwiches, wraps and smoothies kids like, in an unhurried room.
Small neighborhood park with a playground.
A historic theater with acting, improv and storytelling classes for kids and teens, so an older kid can go from watching a show to being in one.
An 1850s house with thousands of handwritten words on its walls. It's a guided tour through serious history about the people enslaved here, for older kids.
A restored old hotel with period rooms, art galleries and gardens to wander, plus an outdoor theater for kids. Best with a curious school-age kid.
A private hour-long escape room: take the Merlin quest or the steampunk time-travel one (skip the horror room). Best from about 10, with younger kids teamed with you.
Italian ice in a long row of flavors, or a Gelati layered with soft-serve, so every kid walks out with a cup they picked.
Italian ice, or the layered gelati with ice and soft-serve stacked in one cup, so a kid who can't choose gets both.
The Expedition Tomb room has codes and hidden treasure, isn't scary and is pitched at eight and up, so a school-age kid can crack clues alongside you.
Bamboo groves, a butterfly garden and a paved loop with benches, with a playground waiting at the end of the walk.
Dome shows made with kids in mind, including a dinosaur story. Get there before it starts: there's no late entry and no food in the dome.
Fudge and candy made right in the shop where kids can watch, then a cone or a sweet to take away.
A calm indoor village for pretend play and building, with a separate crawler area so babies who can't walk yet aren't underfoot. Socks for everyone.
An elevated boardwalk over the prairie for spotting birds and gators from a safe height.
Soft serve dipped in the coating your kid picks, then piled with toppings from a row of more than 20. A dessert stop, not dinner.
Rows of colorful macarons and house-made gelato, and you can get the gelato squeezed inside a macaron. Seating indoors and out.
Video games, multiplayer cabinets and VR, and prize tickets stay on the card, so a kid can save up for something bigger over a few visits.
A kids' corner with small reading furniture, early-learning computers and a snuggle-up spot for a quiet hour.
Bats up close on a guided tour, with staff doing the feeding. Best from age 4; small kids wear masks in the enclosures and nobody touches.
A big air-conditioned gym that hosts youth and kids' events. Look for a program before you go; it isn't an open-play drop-in.
Handmade ice cream in scoops, with toppings to pick.
Self-serve frozen yogurt and a toppings bar, so your kid builds their own cup. Flavors rotate.
A big tree in the middle of the kids' area, small chairs, puzzles and early-learning computers, and a gated playground just outside it.
Mochi donuts and Korean corndogs, both easy for a kid to eat in hand, plus boba teas.
Mochi donuts on the sweet side, Korean hot dogs on the savory.
Small neighborhood park with a playground.
A guide takes you into a creek to sift for shark teeth and fossils, then helps name the finds.
Neighborhood park with a playground.
A marked woodland trail of about a mile, with cypress trees and wading birds to spot along the way.
Community park with a playground.
Bite-size Bundtinis and small Bundtlet cakes, so each kid can have a little cake of their own.
Indoor pretend play and a big climbing structure for ages 0 to 13.
A photo scavenger hunt on your phone: solve riddles, find things, snap them. It's about two miles on foot, so it suits school-age kids more than a stroller.
Wild alligators and bison seen from paved boardwalks, one of the best places in Florida to watch gators with kids.
A smaller sister bakery, with cupcakes, cookies and macarons in the case for kids to choose from.
Make-and-take crafts with the supplies laid out, and a splatter-paint room with protective gear for five and up. Your kid leaves with something they made.
Community center with a playground.
Unpaved trails through flatwoods and hammock, with a creek.
Fourteen bowling lanes, plus air hockey, foosball and table tennis for when your kid is done bowling. Closed on Gator home football game days.
A terrarium bar where kids build fairy gardens or dinosaur landscapes, or paint a pot and pick a plant to go in it.
A shaded quarter-mile trail past 70-plus species, short enough for a toddler to walk, with a small playground inside the zoo.
Neighborhood park with a playground.
Skating, a climbing wall, go-karts, batting cages and trampolines in one place, for siblings of different ages.
A food and music compound with a lawn, where community nights sometimes bring kids' activities and outdoor movies. Everyone picks their own food.
Marked trails through sandy uplands, forest and wetland edges, including an easy West Trail.
A self-serve mochi ice cream bar where kids pick their own, plus a case of French macarons.
Bagels baked in-house every day, so a plain one with a spread is the easy order for a picky kid. Egg bagels and sandwiches for everyone else.
Indoor walls that take climbers from age 5, and under-13s need their own adult with them.
A deli with a simple grilled cheese for kids and real sandwiches for grown-ups.
A creative reuse center that runs kids' workshops, like painting pots and turning junk into planters.
Cases of hand-dipped chocolates and specialty candy.
Small neighborhood park with a playground.
A kids' corner with a Lego table, puzzles, an activity box and early-learning computers.
A bakery counter of handmade croissants, cookies, macarons and small cakes. Let your kid pick from the case.
Organic sourdough loaves and baguettes, plus a pastry case for a kid's treat.
Rolled ice cream, smoothies and acai bowls in bright flavors.
A one-hour phone game on foot: your team hunts virtual survival supplies and does trivia and photo challenges. The zombie theme may be too spooky for small kids.
