Two play areas, one of them a newer inclusive playground built for kids of different abilities, with accessible sidewalks leading in.
A space-themed playground built for kids of every ability: ramps, flat surfaces, activity boards and a communication board. It's lit after dark.
A shady playground at the start of a short creekside trail through an old horse farm.
Play equipment set inside a bigger spread of fields and nature, with a pavilion close by.
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.
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 playground with wide grassy fields for kites and ball games, and nature trails into the woods when they're done climbing.
A bear-themed playground with curving slides and swinging bridges, and a short wooded trail beside it for when the climbing runs out.
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.
A playground with an open field beside it and shady trails through the oaks.
Built as a model for inclusive play, with accessible paths and shaded benches, so kids of different abilities can play side by side.
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.
Colorful play equipment with shade over it and a picnic pavilion close by.
A newer playground with swings and slides beside a pond, and an accessible loop around it for a short walk and some birdwatching.
Wooded creek trails to follow and a small nature center with local animals, books and crafts.
A small pocket park with play equipment and a basketball court, made for the kids on the surrounding streets. Most people walk in.
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.
A shaded playground with outdoor musical instruments to bang on, a newer swing set and an accessible path in.
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 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 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.
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.
A shaded playground with a picnic pavilion and a short wooded trail down by the creek, for when the climbing's done.
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.
A heated pool with a splash pad and an aqua slide, plus a shaded spot for a picnic between swims.
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.
An easy trail through shady woods by two creeks, with activity guides for spotting birds, trees and creek life.
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.
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.
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.
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.
A gym given over to under-fives: obstacle courses, balance beams and toys to try at their own pace, with you alongside.
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.
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.
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.
Small neighborhood park with a playground.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
A big tree in the middle of the kids' area, small chairs, puzzles and early-learning computers, and a gated playground just outside it.
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.
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.
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.
Indoor walls that take climbers from age 5, and under-13s need their own adult with them.
A creative reuse center that runs kids' workshops, like painting pots and turning junk into planters.
Small neighborhood park with a playground.
A kids' corner with a Lego table, puzzles, an activity box and early-learning computers.
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.
