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ST. LOUIS FOR KIDS
Explore St. Louis' child-friendly attractions to find out why so many of these fun-filled stops are consistently listed among the best places for families in the Midwest and the United States.
St. Louis Attractions Are Tops in Zagat Guide
The popular Magic House, St. Louis Children's Museum, is at the top of the list in the new U.S. Family Travel Guide from the Zagat Surveys. The Magic House was noted for having the most child appeal of any attraction in the country, beating the Magic Kingdom, Disneyland and other nationally known sights. The Saint Louis Zoo and Grant's Farm also made the guide's top 10 list for Best Overall Attraction in the U.S. Other attractions in the St. Louis area, including the Saint Louis Science Center, Purina Farms, City Museum, the Butterfly House and the Missouri Botanical Garden, were praised in the guide. Zagat and Parenting magazine surveyed 11,000 travelers, asking them to rate attractions based on their experiences to create the guide.
Free Fun in Forest Park
Forest Park and its major attractions - the Zoo, Art Museum, Science Center, History Museum and others - welcome visitors to St. Louis with a world of no-cost and low-cost activities for the pint-sized set. Each attraction offers free general admission. A popular stop for zoo visitors is the Fragile Forest, a habitat for great apes that provides a refuge for endangered orangutans and chimpanzees. Don't miss the Cypress Swamp exhibit, which is housed in the refurbished 1904 World's Fair flight cage, the Penguin & Puffin Coast and the Conservation Carousel as well. At the Zoo's River's Edge, you can get an eye-to-eye view of river-dwelling hippos and the elephant family.
The Zoo's Monsanto Insectarium displays creeping, crawling, climbing and buzzing insects along with a beautiful butterfly dome. The Children's Zoo, open free until 10 a.m. daily, is filled with animal contact activities including a slide-through otter pool, and kids love to ride the colorful Zoo Train around the grounds. The Zoo, which has been named one of the best attractions in America by the Zagat Guides, also has been on the list of best zoos in Family Fun and Travel + Leisure magazines.
The Saint Louis Science Center in Forest Park brings the world of learning to life with hands-on activities. The attraction has re-done its Ecology and Environment Gallery and transformed it into an informative and exciting playground where kids can learn about the Earth's biologic and geologic past. Here at the St. Louis home of the X-Prize, the James S. McDonnell Planetarium offers the state-of-the-art Boeing Space Station where kids can see what it is like to live and work in space. Watch an OMNIMAX® large screen movie, visit the Exploradome to see traveling exhibits, touch a tornado or be amazed at the roaring, life-size animatronic dinosaurs.
While you're in Forest Park, stop at The Saint Louis Art Museum - another free attraction - to see a real Egyptian mummy or take part in free art projects on family days. Learn about how kids lived in St. Louis' past at the free Missouri History Museum or climb on the whimsical giant turtle sculptures in Turtle Playground. Biking is fun on the 7.5-mile path around the park's perimeter, and the kids can pedal or paddle small boats around the park's refurbished lakes from the Boat House. In winter, the whole family can lace up their skates and take to the ice at the park's Steinberg Rink, and sledding is permitted down Art Hill when Mother Nature provides the white stuff.
Hands-on Attractions
You never know what you're going to find on a visit to quirky City Museum, an attraction that can best be described as an artsy warehouse of adventure. The World Aquarium features kid-level fish tanks and pettable sharks, and are two of most popular stops in this massive attraction.
City Museum, built in a former shoe factory warehouse, also includes the MonstroCity outdoor playground, giant, slinky-style wire tunnels for climbing, multi-story slides, circus performance by everydaycircus and dozens of other daily activities. Also hands-on, the Magic House, St. Louis Children's Musuem is a three-story facility set in a lovely Victorian home that tests minds and imaginations with plenty of "please touch" activities for everyone from babies to adults. The popular attraction, which features indoor and outdoor play and learning areas, has been making magic since 1979. Seasonal favorites, such as Toddler Traffic Town and Sandcastle Beach, and traveling exhibits are always popular at the ever-changing Magic House. At the Worldways Children's Museum, kids can explore another country without leaving St. Louis while they paint Chinese characters, visit a Mexican marketplace or just have fun learning about world cultures. A two-acre playground at the National Shrine of Our Lady of the Snows features activity areas for all ages from toddlers to teens.
Animal Adventures
See baby Clydesdales, watch amazing dogs and enjoy bird and elephant behavior shows at Grant's Farm from April through October. A trackless train carries families around the farm's wildlife preserve and stops at the petting zoo. At Purina Farms, learn how people and animals relate in everyday life. Visit a mini-Victorian house filled with cuddly kittens, watch a sheep herding demonstration, explore a barn or hold piglets and bunnies. Eckert's Farms are open for old-fashioned family fun including apple, peach and pumpkin picking and hayrides.
More than 100 species of live butterflies flutter through a tropical rain forest inside the Butterfly House and Education Center in Faust Park. Wear bright colors and the residents may land on you for a quick, up-close experience. You may see native Missouri butterflies and birds in the wild at the Missouri Botanical Garden's new Missouri Adventure Children's Garden. Wander through kid-sized plantings that you can re-create back home or get temporarily "lost" inside the Garden's tall Victorian maze. At the World Bird Sanctuary, the kids can learn about some of the most majestic creatures of the wild - eagles, hawks and other birds of prey.
Theme Park Fun
At Six Flags St. Louis newer thrills include Xcalibur - a slinging, rotating catapult-type ride - and Scooby Doo's Ghostblasters. Admission to the park also includes the Hurricane Harbor water park for the same price. The littlest visitors will enjoy pint-sized rides and friendly characters in Looney Tunes Town while bigger brothers and sisters can experience more than 100 rides and attractions throughout the park. Special events including Fright Fest in October and the Country Fair in the fall extend the season of fun well beyond summer. Raging Rivers, a water park on the Meeting of the Great Rivers National Scenic Byway north of Alton, Illinois, the Maryland Heights Family Aquatic Center and The Aquatic Center in Wood River, Illinois also offer poolside fun for families from Memorial Day through Labor Day.
Historic Discoveries
At the Lewis & Clark State Historic Site, little ones can follow in the footsteps of the famed explorers. Each weekend at Faust Historical Village interpreters in period costume describe life in the mid-1800s and demonstrate crafts in 20 original rural buildings from St. Louis' past. A spin on one of the 60 hand-carved animals on the park's historic St. Louis Carousel is a merry way to end the day at the park.
Continue your trip back in time at the Eugene Field House and St. Louis Toy Museum. The famous children's poet's downtown row house is filled with antique toys and fascinating traveling exhibits. The Miniature Museum of Greater St. Louis is home to permanent and rotating exhibits of dolls and dollhouse furniture. At the Black World History Museum you can learn about famous African Americans from Missouri, walk through an authentic slave cabin or climb aboard a made-to-scale slave ship.
For a Mississippi River adventure, take your young Tom Sawyer or Becky Thatcher on a paddlewheel riverboat cruise. The Gateway Arch Riverboats, two replica steamboats, explore the Port of St. Louis daily. After the boat ride, you can rent bikes on the dock and explore the Riverfront Trail or roll through downtown to see the sights. At the Museum of Westward Expansion, underneath the Gateway Arch, National Park Service rangers explain pioneer life in frontier St. Louis every day. The kids can even grab historically accurate snacks from the Levee Mercantile, a shop that sells goodies from the past.
Join the Big Leagues
Aspiring athletes can swing away like a big league ballplayer in the Family Pavilion at Busch Stadium. Open before and during Cardinals baseball games, the attraction offers a batting challenge, pitching areas and other interactive activities. Fred Bird, the Cardinals mascot, roams the ballpark to interact with kids during their baseball adventure.
Feel the need for speed? Swing-A-Round Fun Town is stocked with Go-Karts, bumper boats, batting cages and an arcade, and miniature golf pros will like the links at the amusement center. Motor enthusiasts can see the real thing on the track at Gateway International Raceway, NASCAR SpeedPark or the Museum of Transportation. Lazer Force Lazer Tag Zone offers a modern way to work off the energy of back seat occupants before the ride home.
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MEDIA NOTE: For more information or photography of St. Louis, send an e-mail to pr@explorestlouis.com or call Becky Sharp at 1-314-992-0652. For up-to-date information about St. Louis, your readers should call the St. Louis Convention & Visitors Commission at 1-800-916-0040 or check out our website at www.explorestlouis.com. This news release is also available in electronic form. To obtain an electronic version, e-mail your request to pr@explorestlouis.com or go to St. Louis’ online media center at www.explorestlouis.com/media.
