Things to Do in Detroit With Kids (2026 Family Guide)

Last Updated: September 2026

The best things to do in Detroit with kids are mostly free or close to it: a new riverfront park with a 20-foot bear slide, a free elevated train loop downtown, North America’s oldest aquarium, and one of the country’s great art museums. Add Greenfield Village, the Detroit Zoo, and a LEGO playground in the suburbs, and Metro Detroit can fill a long weekend without a single boring hour.

This guide covers downtown Detroit, the suburbs, and Ann Arbor, sorted so you can group stops that are near each other. If you’re dealing with a snow day or a rainy afternoon and just need somewhere for the kids to burn off energy, my list of indoor play places in Metro Detroit is the better fit.

Here’s how I’d plan it. Give downtown and Midtown one full day: the riverfront and Centennial Park in the morning, the People Mover loop, then the DIA or the Michigan Science Center in the afternoon, which sit a few blocks apart. Save Dearborn for its own day, because Greenfield Village alone can take six hours with little ones. The suburban stops, like the Detroit Zoo, Great Lakes Crossing, and Cranbrook, are 20 to 40 minutes out in different directions, so pick one per day rather than trying to string them together. And keep one indoor option in your back pocket, because a Michigan forecast can change by lunch.

Downtown Detroit and the Riverfront

Ralph C. Wilson, Jr. Centennial Park and the Riverwalk

W. Jefferson Ave. and Rosa Parks Blvd., Detroit

This is the new first stop for Detroit families. The 22-acre park opened on the West Riverfront in October 2025 with a whimsical play garden, including a 20-foot bear slide, a splash pad and water garden, covered basketball courts, and big lawns facing Windsor. From here, the Detroit Riverwalk runs east past Hart Plaza to Rivard Plaza’s carousel and bike rentals, and on toward Belle Isle, with the Dequindre Cut Greenway branching north to Eastern Market.

Ride the Detroit People Mover

The elevated People Mover makes a roughly 3-mile loop around downtown with 13 stations, and it’s free to ride. Kids love the views over Hart Plaza, Comerica Park, the Renaissance Center, and the river. Hop off at Campus Martius or Grand Circus Park to burn off energy, and check the People Mover’s schedule for current hours.

Campus Martius Park and Beacon Park

Campus Martius, at 800 Woodward Ave., is downtown’s gathering place: an ice rink and giant tree in winter, and a city beach with sand in summer. A short walk west, Beacon Park, at 1901 Grand River Ave., has lawn games, interactive light installations, and year-round events. Both are free to wander.

Outdoor Adventure Center

1801 Atwater St., Detroit

Run by the Michigan DNR on the riverfront, the Outdoor Adventure Center brings Michigan’s outdoors inside, with hands-on exhibits on fishing, camping, and wildlife. It’s a good rainy-morning pairing with a riverfront walk; check hours before you go, since it isn’t open every day.

Belle Isle Park

Jefferson Ave. and E. Grand Blvd., Detroit

Belle Isle Park is a 982-acre island state park in the Detroit River. The free Belle Isle Aquarium, North America’s oldest, is open Thursday through Sunday and stays open during a renovation. Add the Anna Scripps Whitcomb Conservatory, the Giant Slide in summer, playgrounds, and the Belle Isle Nature Center, which is where you’ll find the animals now; the old Belle Isle Zoo closed years ago, whatever older guides say.

Driving onto the island takes a Recreation Passport, but walking, biking, or riding the DDOT #12 Conant bus is free. The DNR’s Belle Isle Park page has current attraction hours.

Detroit Princess Riverboat

The big paddle-wheel Detroit Princess runs two- to three-hour lunch and dinner cruises from near Hart Plaza, with a buffet, music, and views of Belle Isle, Windsor, and the Ambassador Bridge. It’s better suited to older kids who can sit through a long buffet cruise; book through the Detroit Princess cruise schedule.

Midtown Museums and Detroit Classics

Michigan Science Center

5020 John R St., Detroit, MI 48202

The Michigan Science Center is hands-on from the front door, with galleries on space, motion, and how things are made, plus a planetarium and theater shows. Check its calendar for after-hours family nights. The Detroit Historical Museum, with its recreated old Detroit streets, is right around the corner.

Detroit Institute of Arts

5200 Woodward Ave., Detroit, MI 48202

Stay with me here: an art museum can be a hit with kids. The DIA fills more than 100 galleries, and kids head straight for the suits of armor and the Diego Rivera murals, where they can hunt for car parts in the paintings. Admission is free for residents of Wayne, Oakland, and Macomb counties.

Ford Piquette Avenue Plant

461 Piquette Ave., Detroit, MI 48202

This is the factory where the Model T was designed and first built, and today it’s a museum packed with early cars. Car-loving kids get to stand where it all started, and the Ford Piquette Avenue Plant lists tour times and any special ride days.

Garden Bowl

4140 Woodward Ave., Detroit, MI 48201

Older kids will love glow bowling on the 16 lanes at Garden Bowl at the Majestic, one of the oldest bowling alleys in the country, with pizza next door. Check the family hours, since it’s a nightlife spot later in the evening.

Dearborn: Greenfield Village and the Henry Ford Museum

20900 Oakwood Blvd., Dearborn, MI 48124

At Greenfield Village, kids ride a steam train, a Model T, and a century-old carousel, then walk into Thomas Edison’s Menlo Park lab and the Wright brothers’ bicycle shop. Rides are ticketed separately from admission, or you can buy the unlimited Ride Pass, and the village runs on a seasonal schedule with special evening events around Halloween and the holidays.

Next door, the Henry Ford Museum of American Innovation is open year-round and makes the rainy-day half of the trip, with the Rosa Parks bus and rotating family exhibits. Here’s what I’d do with little ones: village in the morning while they have energy, museum after lunch when they need to sit on a bus seat and rest.

Metro Detroit Suburbs

Detroit Zoo

8450 W. 10 Mile Rd., Royal Oak, MI 48067

From polar bears and penguins to lions and giraffes, the Detroit Zoo in Royal Oak is an easy full day, laid out for strolling from exhibit to exhibit. Watch the calendar for seasonal events like Zoo Boo in October and Wild Lights at the Detroit Zoo in winter.

LEGOLAND, SEA LIFE, and Peppa Pig World of Play

Great Lakes Crossing Outlets, Auburn Hills

Three kid attractions sit side by side inside Great Lakes Crossing Outlets, which makes this the best rainy-day plan in Metro Detroit. LEGOLAND Discovery Center has two LEGO rides, a 4D cinema, build-and-test zones, and MINILAND, where Detroit landmarks are built from LEGO bricks.

Next door, SEA LIFE Michigan Aquarium has sharks, rays, and sea turtles, a touch pool, and a walk-through ocean tunnel. Peppa Pig World of Play has 14 play areas themed to the show for kids 6 months to 8 years; adults can’t go in without a child, and kids need socks. Park at the mall’s Entrance 7, and buy combo tickets online if you’re doing more than one.

Cranbrook Art Museum

39221 Woodward Ave., Bloomfield Hills, MI 48304

Sculptures scattered across a gorgeous campus make Cranbrook an easy art stop with kids who’d rather be outside, and the museum has hands-on art activities for families. In summer, look for its artist-designed mini golf.

Marvin’s Marvelous Mechanical Museum

31005 Orchard Lake Rd., Farmington Hills, MI 48334

Part arcade, part museum, all delightfully weird: Marvin’s Marvelous Mechanical Museum is packed floor to ceiling with animatronics, fortune tellers, and vintage coin-op machines. Bring a stack of quarters, or tokens, and let the kids loose.

Sanders Candy Factory

23770 Hall Rd., Clinton Township, MI 48036

Sanders, the Detroit hot fudge and chocolate brand, is made in Clinton Township, where the factory’s Chocolate & Ice Cream Shoppe is a sweet stop with kids. The factory has offered observation-hallway tours with free samples, but tour times depend on production, so call ahead before you promise anyone a candy factory. More sweet stops are in my guide to Michigan chocolate shops.

Turtle Cove Family Aquatic Center

Lower Huron Metropark, Belleville

This summer water park inside Lower Huron Metropark has water slides, a lazy river, and a giant dumping bucket, plus paved trails and river fishing in the park around it. It’s seasonal, and a Metroparks vehicle pass is needed to drive into the park.

Upland Hills Farm

481 Lake George Rd., Oxford, MI 48370

A family farm since 1960, with cows to milk, ponies, hayrides, and a playground. It’s only open to the public on set dates, like Toddler Days in spring, Summer Sundays, and the Harvest Festival on October weekends, and it runs summer day camps. Check the Upland Hills Farm calendar before you drive out.

Parmenter’s Northville Cider Mill

714 Base Line Rd., Northville, MI 48167

Parmenter’s, in downtown Northville, has been pressing cider since the 1800s, and warm donuts with a cider slush are the whole point of a fall afternoon. For petting zoos and hayrides too, see my Metro Detroit cider mills.

Ann Arbor With Kids

Ann Arbor Hands-On Museum

220 E. Ann St., Ann Arbor, MI 48104

Housed in a historic downtown firehouse, the Ann Arbor Hands-On Museum lets kids build, splash, and experiment through floors of science exhibits, and it’s a strong pick for preschoolers through early grade school.

University of Michigan Museum of Natural History

1105 N. University Ave., Ann Arbor, MI 48109

Admission is free at the University of Michigan‘s natural history museum, where kids walk under whale skeletons and see how whales evolved; planetarium shows are ticketed separately. Pair it with the Hands-On Museum and lunch downtown, and see my list of things to do in Ann Arbor for the rest of the day.

Detroit With Kids: Questions & Answers

What are the best free things to do in Detroit with kids?

Ralph C. Wilson, Jr. Centennial Park and the Riverwalk, the People Mover, Campus Martius, Beacon Park, and the Belle Isle Aquarium are all free. The DIA is free for residents of Wayne, Oakland, and Macomb counties, and the U-M Museum of Natural History in Ann Arbor is free for everyone.

Is the Detroit People Mover free?

Yes. The People Mover’s downtown loop is fare-free, and the QLine streetcar on Woodward is free too, so you can park once and ride between downtown and Midtown.

What is there to do with kids in Detroit on a rainy day?

LEGOLAND, SEA LIFE, and Peppa Pig World of Play at Great Lakes Crossing, the Henry Ford Museum, the Michigan Science Center, the DIA, and the Outdoor Adventure Center are all indoors. For trampoline parks and play cafés, see the indoor play places guide linked above.

Start at the river, ride the loop, and let the kids pick the afternoon. Detroit rewards families who come back, and the next trip can be Dearborn, Ann Arbor, or a family road trip across Michigan.