Rainy Day Activities for Kids
We pulled these 100 rainy day activities out of our full catalog of kid-friendly spots in Texas, New York, Hawaii and Oklahoma. Every listing has the ages it suits, what it costs, how long to budget, parking notes, and what to pack.
Showing 47 of 100 adventures — pick a state above for the full list
Thinkery
Austin, TX
ScienceAustin children's museum built for hands-on play, with water tables, a light and shadow lab, a maker …
Fort Worth Museum of Science and History
Fort Worth, TX
ScienceFort Worth science museum with a toddler wing, a dinosaur dig pit, water play, a dome theater and …
Houston Museum of Natural Science
Houston, TX
MuseumHouston natural history museum with action-posed dinosaurs, a walk-in butterfly rainforest, real …
Space Center Houston
Houston, TX
ScienceNASA's Houston visitor center with a tram to real Mission Control, a walk-through shuttle, moon …
Austin Aquarium
Austin, TX
AquariumHands-on north Austin aquarium where kids feed stingrays, touch sea stars in shallow pools and walk …
Bastrop State Park Cabins
Bastrop, TX
LodgingHistoric 1930s CCC stone cabins among the Lost Pines east of Austin, among the hardest reservations …
Longhorn Cavern State Park
Burnet, TX
NatureKid-friendly guided cave tour near Burnet TX - walk a mile through cathedral-sized underground rooms …
Colleyville Nature Center
Colleyville, TX
NatureNature trails and playscape perfect for toddlers and preschoolers. Free. Works from toddler age. …
National Cowgirl Museum and Hall of Fame
Fort Worth, TX
MuseumFort Worth museum of the women of the American West with a bucking bronc ride simulator, rodeo gear, …
National Videogame Museum
Frisco, TX
Indoor-PlayFrisco museum of video game history with a free-play 1980s arcade, playable consoles, and …
Downtown Aquarium Houston
Houston, TX
AquariumDowntown Houston aquarium with a shark tunnel, swamp alligators and white tigers, plus a small ride …
SEA LIFE San Antonio Aquarium
San Antonio, TX
AquariumSmall River Walk aquarium in San Antonio with a walk-through ray and shark tunnel plus supervised …
New York State Museum
Albany, NY
MuseumFree Albany museum with a full-size mastodon, New York habitat dioramas and a working 1890s carousel …
Howe Caverns
Howes Cave, NY
NatureGuided cave tours 156 feet underground with an underground boat ride. Paid entry. Best from about …
Museum of Science & Technology (MOST)
Syracuse, NY
ScienceSyracuse science museum with four floors of hands-on exhibits, a simulated cave crawl, a toddler …
The Wild Center
Tupper Lake, NY
NatureNatural history museum with a treetop Wild Walk and live animal exhibits. Paid entry. Works from …
Albany Institute of History & Art
Albany, NY
MuseumSmall Albany museum with two ancient Egyptian mummies, Hudson River School landscapes and drop-in …
Dia Beacon
Beacon, NY
MuseumVast daylit factory in Beacon filled with room-size contemporary art including Richard Serra steel …
Adirondack Experience Museum
Blue Mountain Lake, NY
NatureWorld-class Adirondack history museum with interactive exhibits on Blue Mountain Lake. Paid entry. …
Buffalo Museum of Science
Buffalo, NY
ScienceBuffalo science museum with dinosaur skeletons, a mummy, live animal encounters, and a rooftop …
New York Hall of Science
Corona, NY
ScienceQueens hands-on science museum with a build-and-test design lab, a room-size interactive ecosystem, …
Wellesley Island State Park
Fineview, NY
NatureIsland park in the Thousand Islands with nature center, beach, and 430-site campground. Paid entry. …
Cradle of Aviation Museum
Garden City, NY
MuseumLong Island aviation and space museum with seventy-plus aircraft, a real Apollo Lunar Module, flight …
Sciencenter
Ithaca, NY
ScienceIthaca hands-on science museum with a walk-in kaleidoscope, a two-story ball machine, live animals …
Wai'anapanapa State Park Cabins
Hana, HI
LodgingSimple state park housekeeping cabins at the Hana black sand beach, one of the few affordable ways …
Battleship Missouri Memorial
Honolulu, HI
MuseumWalk the deck and interior of the battleship where WWII ended, from the surrender plaque to the …
Bishop Museum
Honolulu, HI
MuseumHonolulu's state museum of Hawaiian history with a walk-through erupting volcano, planetarium, and …
Polynesian Cultural Center
Laie, HI
NatureInteractive Pacific Island cultural park with hands-on activities and evening luau. Paid entry. Best …
Mokupapapa Discovery Center
Hilo, HI
MuseumFree NOAA visitor center on Hilo Bay with a 2,500-gallon reef tank and life-size monk seal and …
Pacific Tsunami Museum
Hilo, HI
MuseumHilo Bayfront museum on the 1946 and 1960 tsunamis with survivor accounts, photographs and a wave …
Kalopa State Recreation Area Cabins
Honokaa, HI
LodgingGroup cabins and tent camping in cool misty native ohia forest above the Hamakua Coast, a half hour …
Honolulu Museum of Art
Honolulu, HI
MuseumCourtyard-built Honolulu art museum with a world-class Asian collection, free child admission, and …
Iolani Palace
Honolulu, HI
MuseumThe only royal palace on US soil, with guided tours of the throne room and the upstairs room where …
Pearl Harbor Aviation Museum
Honolulu, HI
MuseumRestored seaplane hangars on Ford Island still bullet-scarred from 1941, holding a Japanese Zero, a …
Waikiki Aquarium
Honolulu, HI
AquariumSmall Waikiki aquarium of Hawaiian reef life with monk seals, giant clams, a jellyfish gallery and a …
Kauai Museum
Lihue, HI
MuseumSmall Lihue museum of Kauai history with koa canoes, Niihau shell lei, and a relief map explaining …
Beavers Bend State Park Cabins
Broken Bow, OK
LodgingRustic and modern state park cabins in the pines at Beavers Bend, minutes from Broken Bow Lake and …
Hochatown Cabin Rentals
Broken Bow, OK
LodgingThe private cabin market around Hochatown and Beavers Bend, where hot tubs, bunk rooms, game rooms …
Museum of the Red River
Idabel, OK
MuseumIdabel museum forty minutes from Broken Bow with a full mounted Acrocanthosaurus and Native American …
National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum
Oklahoma City, OK
MuseumOklahoma City Western museum with a full-scale indoor frontier town, a kids cowboy corral, and rodeo …
Science Museum Oklahoma
Oklahoma City, OK
ScienceHuge Oklahoma City science museum with a high-wire bike, tinkering garage, planetarium, and daily …
Broken Bow Treehouse and Glamping Stays
Broken Bow, OK
LodgingTreehouses, A-frames, geodesic domes and canvas glamping tents scattered through the woods around …
Forest Heritage Center Museum
Broken Bow, OK
MuseumFree forestry museum inside Beavers Bend State Park with wall murals, logging tools, and dioramas …
Sam Noble Oklahoma Museum of Natural History
Norman, OK
MuseumNorman natural history museum with a record-holding Pentaceratops skull, an Apatosaurus mount, and a …
Oklahoma City Museum of Art
Oklahoma City, OK
MuseumOklahoma City art museum built around a fifty-five foot Chihuly glass tower, with weekend family art …
Oklahoma History Center
Oklahoma City, OK
MuseumOklahoma City state history museum with hanging aircraft, a full oil derrick, a Route 66 section and …
Discovery Lab
Tulsa, OK
Indoor-PlayTulsa children's museum by the Arkansas River with a maker space, water channels, a climbing …