Top 20 Places to Take Kids on Long Island
Every May and June, thousands of local parents, grandparents, and caregivers weigh in on their favorite local places to take kids on Long Island. This is the 2024 list! (Click here for the full list of nominees.)
Of course, there are literally hundreds of wonderful places to take your kids in our area, not just this year's winners! Take some time to explore our calendar and the rest of our lists, sign up for our fabulous weekly e-newsletter, and then get out and about! And be sure to investigate Everything That's Free!
2024's Top 20 ranking + category winners! Scroll down for more about each venue, with links!
| 1. Long Island Children's Museum 2. Bounce! Family Entertainment Center 3. Smithtown Performing Arts Center 4. Laser Bounce Family Fun Center 5. My Local Library 6. Adventureland 7. Sweetbriar Nature Center 8. Urban Air Trampoline and Adventure Park Lake Grove 9. Long Island Science Center 10. Harbes Family Farm 11. Benner's Farm 12. The Animal Farm Petting Zoo & Family Park 13. Cold Spring Harbor Fish Hatchery & Aquarium 14. John W. Engeman Theater 15. Suffolk County Farm and Education Center 16. Argyle Theatre 17. Old Westbury Gardens 18. Quogue Wildlife Refuge 19. Jones Beach Energy & Nature Center 20. Long Island Maritime Museum |
Arts Education: Smithtown Performing Arts Center Sports Education: The Sports Arena STEM Education: Holtsville Ecology Site and Animal Preserve |
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1. Long Island Children's Museum
The Long Island Children's Museum offers 14 interactive exhibits plus live theater, art spaces and daily activities to provide hours of discovery for children of all ages.
2. Bounce! Family Entertainment Center
Bounce! Family Entertainment Center is an indoor birthday party and play space located in Syosset. Perfect for birthday parties, group events, open play, and more! We have the best party packages on Long Island! Our facility has multiple AWESOME attractions: The Trampoline courts, The Adventure Zone, Bumper Cars, Laser Tag, Soft Play, Arcade, & MORE! If you need a break from jumping and climbing, try out some of our delicious food from The Bounce Bites Kitchen! We will be open 7 days a week for Open Play & Birthday Parties this summer! For more information and daily hours, check out our website!
3. Smithtown Performing Arts Center
Live Theatre For Kids & Adults Theatre Education Program Comedy & Concerts Community!
4. Laser Bounce Family Fun Center
Play! Climb! Zap! Bounce! Explore! Open to the Public and available for Private Parties. Come Bounce on our giant bounce arena, play games in the state of the art arcade, win prizes at our redemption center, or zap away in hi-tech laser tag. Good for all ages, from toddlers to adults.
5. My Local Library
Of course, the libraries on Long Island are not really ONE place, but MANY places... but it's important to emphasize how valuable libraries are for family learning and fun. The libraries in our area are wonderful about posting their events to the KidsOutAndAbout calendar so you always can get ideas for free things to do with your kids that celebrate education and imagination. KidsOutAndAbout.com takes this opportunity to salute the wonderful children's librarians who serve our community with such dedication. They're proud that locals voted them #2 in best places to take kids this year!
6. Adventureland
Adventureland is Long Island's Amusement Park since 1962! Enjoy a fun and exciting day on rides, attractions, games, and more. Adventureland Amusement Park is only located 30 minutes east of New York City, at 2245 Broad Hollow Rd. in Farmingdale, New York and features over 30 fun and exciting rides and attractions. Adventureland has something for everyone with a variety of thrill rides, family rides, kiddie rides, and water rides.
7. Sweetbriar Nature Center
Sweetbriar Nature Center is a private not-for-profit corporation which exists to provide natural science education services for Long Island residents of all ages and to engage in native wildlife rehabilitation services. Through education and examples, ECSS encourages responsible decision-making, appreciation, and respect for the unique wildlife and ecosystems found on Long Island.
The center is open daily from 9:30-4:30pm. Programs and special events for all ages are offered monthly.
8. Urban Air Trampoline and Adventure Park Lake Grove
Urban Air Lake Grove is Long Island’s biggest indoor adventure park! We’ve got the tallest Sky Rider on Long Island, plus trampolines, bumper cars, 40 foot climbing walls, two virtual reality arenas and more! The best birthdays happen here! Great for group and camp outings too! Grab a membership or make a reservation online.
9. Long Island Science Center
The Long Island Science Center is a 501(c)3 STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, Mathematics) Learning Museum with a mission to prepare young people for the challenges of a 21st century economy built on advanced technology and innovation. We ignite curiosity, fuel creativity and unlock the passion for problem-solving and discovery with STEAM curricula, programs and interactive museum experiences designed to cultivate future leaders and engaged citizens.
10. Harbes Family Farm
Harbes Family Farm is the ultimate family-fun destination on the North Fork of Long Island! Harbes Barnyard Adventure, located on the farm, is an 8-acre admission area that's loaded with lots of fun activities! You'll discover Farm Animals, Jumbo Jumpers Bounce Pillows, a Trike Track, Sports Zone, Obstacle Course, Gnome Hedge Maze, and much more!
11. Benner's Farm
Benner's Farm is a private fifteen-acre family homestead, first farmed in the 1700's. Each year the farm provides thousands of people a sense of what it was like to live on a small farm in years past. The Benners are the seventh family to farm this land. They have been farming organically since the late nineteen seventies in their family garden and fields of strawberries, and also raise a variety of farm animals for self-sufficient living. Thousands of people come to visit and participate in the many workshops, festivals and special events during the year. We also offer summer camps for ages 3-18!
12. The Animal Farm Petting Zoo & Family Park
This unique 10 acre park is the perfect place to get close to nature and animals. You can pet and feed most of the animals in this rescue facility. There are monkeys, camel, parrots, llamas, deer, wallabies, tortoises, emu, cows, pigs and other animals. Bottle feed baby pigs and hand feed baby goats. Cuddle something soft in the Baby Barn. Super Cow Musical Puppet Show, Super Slide, playgrounds, and picnic areas. Pony rides and Safari tour train additional. Birthday party, play dates and groups too. Open Spring through Fall.
13. Cold Spring Harbor Fish Hatchery & Aquarium
The Cold Spring Harbor Fish Hatchery closed its doors as a New York State fish hatchery on March 31, 1982. The following day it was reopened as a non-profit educational center by the Friends of the Cold Spring Harbor Fish Hatchery, Inc. Its mission is to operate as an environmental education center and public aquarium that continues to raise and stock trout. We are proud to have the largest living collection of New York State freshwater reptiles, fishes and amphibians. The Hatchery is a fun place for your family to spend an afternoon together. Visitors can tour our two aquarium buildings and eight outdoor ponds, feed the hungry trout, and try our “Catch & Keep” fishing. Special events, such as Animal Passport Program and Hatching Turtle Day, offer the public an opportunity to learn more about the creatures that inhabit New York State’s natural environment.
14. John W. Engeman Theater
The John W. Engeman Theater at Northport is Long Island's only year-round professional theater company, casting its actors from the Broadway talent pool. Featuring Stadium-style seating, State of the art lighting and sound, and The Green Room Lounge
15. Suffolk County Farm and Education Center
The Suffolk County Farm and Education Center's mission is to provide hands-on research-based learning to all residents with themes in agriculture, animal sciences, history, STEM, healthy living, and life skills in a unique year-round learning environment and in community spaces. The Farm's vision is to connect with our agricultural heritage and to pave the way for a bright, healthy, and sustainable future.We are open 9am-3pm most days of the year. Admission is free. We have animal feed for our sheep and goats available for purchase for $4 a cup and refills for $2.
16. Argyle Theatre
Broadway-caliber productions year-round, concert and comedy acts, specialty shows, film series, educational programming and so much more.
17. Old Westbury Gardens
Old Westbury Gardens, listed on the National Register of Historic Places, is the former country estate of John and Margarita Phipps.
18. Quogue Wildlife Refuge
The Quogue Wildlife Refuge is a 300 acre non-profit nature preserve that was founded in 1934 and is home to diverse wildlife. Open 365 days a year from sunrise to sunset, you can enjoy walking seven miles of trails to explore diverse habitats including forests and ponds, as well as the ecologically rare Dwarf Pines in the Pine Barrens.
19. Jones Beach Energy & Nature Center
The Energy & Nature Center is on a barrier island beach within Jones Beach State Park. Exhibits and programs make use of this unique coastal setting to explore wind, wave, and solar energy as well as local dune and marine habitats. There are lots of fun things for kids to do. Inside the Center, children can feel live marine animals, look through a microscope, experience an energy-efficient playhouse, and make waves in a wave tank. Outside, children can walk through our pollinator garden, see whale bones and play musical instruments in the play area, and touch a 128ft-long wind turbine blade.
20. Long Island Maritime Museum
The Long Island Maritime Museum is committed to the research, preservation and interpretation of our region’s rich nautical heritage and the role of Long Island in our national maritime story... boat building, shipwrecks, shellfish harvesting, and recreational boating in our galleries and at our many events and programs. Kids will discover the links between the Island's maritime and natural histories. They will encounter some of the amazing creatures living in our local waters.
Winners in Special Categories
In the second part of our survey, we asked readers to select their favorites in three categories. Here were their choices.Top Arts Educator: Smithtown Performing Arts Center
Live Theatre For Kids & Adults Theatre Education Program Comedy & Concerts Community!
Top Sports Educator: The Sports Arena
Conveniently located in western Suffolk County, the Sports Arena's state of the art, climate controlled 45,000 square foot facility provides a safe, clean environment for all of your sport and entertainment needs. Youth leagues, adult leagues, camps, birthday parties, individual training, and more.
Top STEM Educator: Holtsville Ecology Site and Animal Preserve
With free entry, the Holtsville Park boasts an array of facilities that cater to visitors of all ages: Triple Pool Complex: Cool off during the summer months at this state-of-the-art pool facility. Exercise Trail with Fitness Course: Stay active and healthy with a scenic outdoor workout along the trail, featuring a variety of fitness stations. Picnics, Meetings, Photos: Enjoy a meal in the great outdoors at our picnic area or check out our meeting rooms and photo opportunities.
