Top 20 Places to Take Kids in and around Memphis - 2021
2021's Best Places for Kids in the Memphis area!
Memphis is rich in fun events and exciting places. It was hard for our readers to select their favorites from the hundreds of choices! The venues listed below are wildly popular with kids and families in the area. But don’t miss out on ALL the other wonderful places as well! Browse through KidsOutAndAbout.com, check out our calendar, and discover lots more to do, especially Everything That's Free.
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1. Memphis Zoo
Memphis Zoo's mission is Creating Adventures, Saving Wildlife. We support that mission with informative and engaging keeper chats, animal encounters, top-rated STEM education programs, a fully developed Conservation and Research Team, and more! Click the link to our website and plan your adventure today.
2. Children's Museum of Memphis
The Children's Museum of Memphis, with 30+ exhibits, inspires children to explore, imagine, and create – growing their minds and filling them with endless possibilities.
3. The Mid-South Maze
Located in Memphis, TN - The Mid-South Maze is your place for Fall fun. Come check out our corn cannon, haunted maze and hay rides!
4. Memphis Railroad and Trolley Museum
The Memphis Railroad & Trolley Museum is located at 545 South Main Street, Suite 121, on the ground floor of the Central Station in Memphis, Tennessee, USA. The museum is dedicated to documenting the local history of the Railroad and the Memphis Trolleys. The museum provides static exhibits as well as video documentation and railroad model dioramas.
5. Mississippi River Museum - CLOSED
We are a private, non-profit organization. Two centers, One campus, Endless Opportunities for Adventure... Dive into the National Mississippi River Museum & Aquarium today!
WILLIAM WOODWARD DISCOVERY CENTER offers historical exhibits plus six large aquariums that let you get “up close and personal” with river otters, alligators, giant catfish, and ancient sturgeon of the Mississippi River.
NATIONAL RIVER CENTER includes three main galleries (River Ways, Rivers to the Sea and RiverWORKS), ocean aquariums, a 4D theater, the Bowell River Library, River's Edge Cafe, and more!
6. Mid-South Ice House
Mid-South Ice House is the only NHL regulation ice skating arena open year-round in the Greater Memphis Metropolitan Area. We offer ice skating, youth hockey, adult hockey, figure skating, curling, Learn-to-Skate and Learn-to-Play Hockey classes, and other programming year-round. Whether you live in Memphis, Collierville, Cordova, Germantown or other Shelby County areas in Tennessee, or you’re from Olive Branch, Southaven, Horn Lake, Hernando, or other Desoto County areas, or maybe you live in West Memphis, Marion, or some other area of Crittenden County in Arkansas, we have programming for you.
7. Cordova Skating Center - Memphis Skating
A family-friendly Memphis tradition for over 25 years. We combine roller skating with bright lights, great music, and games, all while exercising and getting out of the crazy Memphis weather. We also specialize in birthday parties. Come join the fun!
8. Harrell Theatre
Over the past 29 years the Arts Council has presented over 150 productions at the Harrell Performing Arts Theatre, which is owned and operated by the Town of Collierville. The productions include: Seussical, Twelve Angry Men, Grease, The Wizard of Oz, The Nutcracker, The Best Christmas Pageant Ever, Oliver, The Miracle Worker, Big River, The Sound of Music, Oklahoma!, Driving Miss Daisy, Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, To Kill a Mockingbird, The Elephant Man, High School Musical I and II and many others.
9. Cedar Hill Farm
Cedar Hill Farm is located in the Community of Love, outside of Hernando, Mississippi, just minutes south of Memphis, Tennessee. ach year improvements are made to make Cedar Hill Farm one of the top Agri-Tourism businesses in the Mid-South. Take a tractor drawn hayride around our farm, out to the Easter Egg Hunt Field in the Spring, to pick Berries in the Summer, the Pumpkin Patch & Corn Maize in the Fall and to the Choose & Cut Christmas Tree Fields in the Winter.
10. Safari Wild Animal Park and Preserve
450 acre drive through Safari Park. Drive through 6 miles of Safari Roads in the comfort of your vehicle. Ride a camel, feed a giraffe, animals free roaming on hundreds of acres. Great Family Fun!
11. Cordova Bowling Center
Our passion for bowling is 3 generations strong. Locally owned and Operated for 17 years. With more than 35 years of Bowling Family Experience.
12. Magic Springs Theme and Water Park
Magic Springs Theme and Water Park is an amusement park and water park located in Hot Springs, Arkansas, about 50 miles from Little Rock. A single price admission includes all day use of the rides and attractions in both parks. The park is open weekends in May and daily from Memorial Day through mid-August, then weekends through October.
13. Memphis Botanic Garden
Memphis Botanic Garden strives to enhance lives by connecting people with plants to increase awareness and appreciation of our environment. The 96-acre property includes 30 specialty gardens that families can explore together, including the 2 ½ acre My Big Backyard children’s garden, the Prehistoric Plant Trail with interactive dino features, a Pollinator Garden, and a Delta Garden featuring traditional vegetables and crops.
14. National Civil Rights Museum
The National Civil Rights Museum, located at the Lorraine Motel, assassination site of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., chronicles key episodes of American civil rights movement & its legacy to inspire participation in civil & human rights globally.
15. Bobby Lanier Farm Park
The Bobby Lanier Farm Park is a 10-acre education and demonstration center for sustainable living through agriculture and stewardship. We’re located at 2660 Cross County Drive in Germantown, Tennessee.
16. Morton Museum of Collierville History
Located at the intersection of Poplar Avenue and North Main Street in Collierville's Historic Downtown, the Morton Museum of Collierville History invites both residents and tourists to explore Collierville's rich history. Museum admission is always free of charge. Exhibitions and programs are designed to encourage critical thinking, creativity, and literacy skills among visitors of all ages. After your museum visit, don’t miss out on other local history attractions within walking distance, like the Train Depot & Visitors Center, Frisco 1351 steam locomotive, William Talley’s Log Cabin, and more.
17. Lichterman Nature Center
Located in the heart of metropolitan Memphis, the Center features exciting new exhibits, lush gardens featuring native wildflowers and trees, and a tradition of excellence in environmental education set in the midst of 65 acres of lake, meadow, and forest. Home to a wide variety of plants, birds, reptiles, amphibians and mammals, Lichterman is an urban nature center, easily accessible to the people who need it the most, the people who live in the city.
18. Playhouse on the Square
Circuit Playhouse, Inc. which includes Playhouse on the Square, The Circuit Playhouse, and TheatreWorks@TheSquare is Memphis’ largest professional theatre company and is celebrating over 50 years of bringing live theatre to the Mid South. Founded by Jackie Nichols, Playhouse on the Square began as a nomadic theatre troupe in the city known as The Circuit Players. In 1969, the troupe incorporated and soon found home in Midtown Memphis. Many buildings have claimed home to the theatre over the years. But for the past 30 years, the theatre has been rooted at the corner of South Cooper Street and Union Avenue.
19. Germantown Performing Arts Center (GPAC)
Twenty-six years ago, GPAC began a tradition of excellence in the arts with a performance by the legendary Ray Charles. Today, GPAC is the place where all the major artists, in many different genres, come together to perform. From Yo-Yo Ma to Wynton Marsalis, Dave Brubeck to Joan Baez, Joshua Bell to Ravi Shankar, Alvin Ailey Dance Theater to Mikhail Baryshnikov, It's Happening at GPAC!
The GPAC mission is to serve the community by presenting the highest quality artistic endeavors to engage, enrich and transform. We are an acoustically perfect, 864 seat venue featuring a main stage, an intimate black box theater, an elegant patron lounge, spacious dressing rooms and a lobby gallery for entertaining and assembling. Located in the heart of Shelby County, GPAC welcomes 64,000 citizens to our theater annually for performances, educational activities, visual art exhibits and community events. GPAC benefits from the infrastructure of a professional organization that possesses a clear direction, strong financial health, and a committed board of directors, dedicated staff, and volunteers. In all of its endeavors - quality and array of artists presented, educational programs, marketing initiatives, fund raising efforts, financial viability, community involvement, reaching underserved audiences - GPAC works diligently to fulfill its mission.
20. Graceland
The Ultimate Rock ‘n’ Roll Destination Explore Elvis Presley’s home, Graceland Mansion. Fully immerse yourself in Elvis' life and career like never before at Elvis Presley's Memphis as you experience Elvis' roots, his influences and his artistry. Savor delicious Memphis cuisine at our themed restaurants. Stay in luxury at our AAA Four-Diamond Guest House at Graceland resort.
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
New Ballet Ensemble & SchoolNew Ballet brings children and youth together from diverse backgrounds by providing equitable access to excellence in dance training. Students learn diversified techniques by uniquely combining conservatory classical ballet training with Memphis Jookin’, Flamenco and other multicultural dance genres. Nationally recognized for its commitment to whole child development, New Ballet encourages leadership roles and creative autonomy, helping students develop critical learning and life skills that they can carry with them beyond the studio walls.
Top Sports Educator
Germantown Legends SoccerHappyFeet is a preschool enrichment program that is fun, exciting, and gets your children moving with soccer! Our conviction lies in providing a unique, entertaining, age-appropriate curriculum to our local youth. Using soccer as a vehicle, we help children from the age of 30 months on develop their gross, fine motor, and social skills. Our program is technically and tactically demanding while challenging children's physiological and psychological development. Contact us today for more information!
Top STEM Educator
Code Ninjas ColliervilleAt Code Ninjas Collierville (Collierville), kids learn to code by building their very own video games. Our flexible coding programs for kids make it easy on parents with convenient drop-in hours on weeknights and weekends.
