Oklahoma is home to several kid-friendly museums and attractions aimed at challenging children’s minds while treating them to plenty of fun and exciting adventures. From aquarium touch tanks and kid-sized mazes to awe-inspiring planetariums and sky-high slides, Oklahoma’s kid-centric attractions will leave the youngsters in your family filled with wonder. Visit any of the delightful attractions listed below for an enjoyable outing the whole family will love.
Jasmine Moran Children’s Museum - Seminole
The Jasmine Moran Children's Museum in Seminole is one of the world’s largest children’s museums where thousands of children come each year to experience the grown-up world from a kid’s perspective. Kids can try out career choices through play and make-believe while also having fun with the popular bubble factory and 16-ft. climbing maze. Outdoors there is also a miniature train ride and a large castle maze to navigate.
Oklahoma City Zoo and Botanical Garden - Oklahoma City
Experience the wonder of one of the nation's top-rated zoos at the Oklahoma City Zoo & Botanical Garden. State-of-the-art enclosures such as the Cat Forest, Lion Overlook and Great EscApe, which is home to a wide variety of gorillas, chimpanzees and orangutans, give children an up-close-and-personal view of magnificent animals. Marvel at the diversity of underwater life in the aquarium, visit the zoo’s impressive elephant habitat and get the chance to pet barnyard animals in the Children’s Zoo complete with a forest exploration area and playground. The zoo showcases over 2,500 animals on 110 beautifully landscaped acres, ensuring there is something for everyone.
Tulsa Zoo - Tulsa
Trek to the tropics, watch adorable penguins at play and feed feathered friends at the Tulsa Zoo, home to more than 1,500 animals on over 75 acres. A perfect place to bring children to learn about diverse ecosystems and animal life, the Tulsa Zoo encourages visitors to explore every region of the globe while watching Malayan tigers meander through the Asia exhibit or listening to the call of exotic birds in the Tropical American Rainforest area. Kids jump at the chance to ride the ONEOK Safari from one end of the park to the other and can even hop as high as a kangaroo on the bungee Frogger.
Science Museum Oklahoma - Oklahoma City
A massive complex featuring hands-on exhibits, one-of-a-kind displays and a planetarium, this “amusement park for the mind” provides hours and hours of fun and educational entertainment. Science Museum Oklahoma is home to more than 350 hands-on exhibits and educational programs. Catch the Science Live shows where explosive demonstrations of scientific principles will blow your mind and explore the CurioCity, a 20,000-square-foot village featuring eight whimsical neighborhoods.
Tulsa Air and Space Museum & Planetarium
The Tulsa Air and Space Museum features several full-size fighter jets, hands-on exhibits about Tulsa's aerospace heritage, interactive exhibits for children including a T-37 cockpit trainer, wind tunnel and more. The planetarium is only the second of its kind in the world and allows audiences to experience the universe in a 50-foot diameter dome.
Lost Creek Safari - Stillwater
Kids will have a blast interacting with emus, monkeys, chipmunks and other amazing creatures at Lost Creek Safari in Stillwater. This family-owned, USDA-certified animal park invites guests to pet, feed or meet a variety of friendly animals, from adorable mammals to beautiful birds. Prepare for plenty of photo ops with a giant zebra named Tatar, Erica the ostrich or Gilbert the camel. Lost Creek Safari even has several miniature animals, including a tiny Zebu cow and pygmy donkeys. Make an appointment to the park before you go, then enjoy a hands-on learning experience with these unique animals.
Oklahoma Aquarium - Jenks
If an underwater adventure is what your family craves, check out the Oklahoma Aquarium in Jenks, just across the river from Tulsa. Children will marvel at the magnificent displays of color and the mystery of the more than 200 exhibits of marine and aquatic animals, many of them from around the world. Walk through the gigantic shark tank tunnel and bubble which is home to the world's largest captive bull sharks, enjoy the touch tank where you'll find starfish, anemones and urchins and even try your hand at feeding turtles, manta rays and small sharks.
Kiddie Park - Bartlesville
This special amusement park has been providing wholesome family fun since 1947. Kiddie Park provides 16 brightly painted rides that do not go very fast, far or high. Rides include a Ferris wheel, airplanes, carousel, bumper cars and many others. Each ride costs only 25 cents, so the kids can enjoy to their heart's content and parents won't mind. The park is open Tuesday through Saturday evenings during the summer months.
Leonardo's Children's Museum & Adventure Quest - Enid
Leonardo's Children's Museum is a hands-on museum with experiences for youngsters in the areas of arts and science. Touch a real dinosaur egg, slide down a three-story slide, build your own castle in the carpentry shop, get lost in a variety of bridges, tunnels and mazes, experiment with different scientific principles, tell time on a sundial, travel to the moon in a simulated space shuttle, and lots more. All-day admission also includes Adventure Quest, an outdoor science playground featuring a three-story castle.
Discovery Lab - Tulsa
At the Discovery Lab, kids are invited to help create the exhibits while learning about art, science, technology and engineering. Inspire their inner inventor with a trip to the Make Shop, a do-it-yourself workshop and craft area that encourages kids to create items using recycled and repurposed items. Don’t miss the suspension bridge, walkway and 30-ft. slide made entirely from packing tape or the toddler area featuring hands-on activities, books and a mini-ball wall.
