Fun for the Family

Cincinnati Art Museum
953 Eden Park Dr
513-721-5204
Founded in 1881, the Cincinnati Art Museum has expanded to house 88 galleries and more than 100,000 objects.

Cincinnati Zoo
3400 Vine St
513-281-4700
The Cincinnati Zoo is a seventy-acre home to 700 different animals and species plus more than 3,000 types of plants. The zoo features lowland gorillas, a baby elephant, and white Bengal tigers. The Children's Zoo has 55,000 square feet of exhibits. "Insect World" is the largest building in North America focusing on the display of live insects.

Museum of Natural History and Science
1301 Western Ave
513287-7000
More than 125,000 square feet of exhibits spread over two levels focus on regional natural history. The museum features immersion exhibits designed to bring guests into the setting. The Children's Discovery Center offers interactive exhibits on the human body and on the impact of human settlement in Cincinnati over the last 400 years.

Paramount's Kings Island
6300 King's Island Drive
King's Island, OH 45034
513-573-5800
This awesome theme park features roller coasters, rides and lots of excitement. Perhaps best-known is the Beast, the world's longest wooden roller coaster, and the centerpiece among the other 11 coasters at the park. Little ones love Hanna-Barbera Land while pre-teens and teens head for Nickelodeon Splat City featuring the Rugrats, the Addams Family-style haunted Shriek House, and WaterWorks, a 30-acre water park. With 300 rides and attractions in all, the park itself is an event, even just to walk through.

Americana Amusement Park
5757 Hamilton Middletown Rd
Middletown, OH 45044
513-539-7339
This amusement park has both old-fashioned and state-of-the-art rides. There's a nostalgic brass ring carousel, a ferris wheel and a tilt-a-whirl. The newer area features more than 100 rides, many updated and refurbished within the past two years. Also included are a trio of roller coasters, the very popular log flume ride, a miniature golf course and a petting zoo. Kids also love the Kids Water Play World with several water slides.

Bicentennail Commons Sawyer Point
801 E. Pete Rose Way
513-352-6316
Altogether, this park encompasses more than 22 acres of premiere downtown playground including ice skating, roller skating, tennis courts, a boathouse with a rowing center, a performance pavilion with free concerts in the summer and a super playground for children.

Cincinnati Nature Center
4949 Tealtown Rd
Milford, OH 45150
513-831-1711
This outstanding nature preserve, located east of Cincinnati, offers 15 miles of trails in its 1,425-acres permitting easy observation of the 237 varieties of wildflowers.

Heritage Village
Sharon Woods Park
11450 Lebanon Rd
513-563-9484
All of the buildings in this recreated 19th century village were gathered from across southwestern Ohio to be part of the Heritage Village.
Parky's Farm, Ark, Playce, and PlayBarn
10245 Winton Rd.
513-521-7275
Located in 2,630-acre Winton Woods, "Parky" activities are designed to delight city children. Parky's Farm is a 100-acre demonstration farm with vegetable gardens, orchards, farm animals and a petting zoo. Parky's PlayBarn is an indoor, two-story barn-like playground with soft flooring where kids can tumble, explore and climb to their heart's content. Kids can get wet at Parky's Ark water playground near the Harbor Pavilion, where creatures like frogs, turtles, bugs and fish spurt water at squealing youngsters. The hands-down favorite is the 180-foot snake that crawls through the play area with 47 nozzles squirting water in all directions. Kids can also choose to stay dry at Parky's Playce, another playground located near the Pavilion.

Surf Cincinnati Waterpark
11460 Sebring Dr
513-742-0620
This water park includes Cincinnati's largest wave pool. This relaxed, family-oriented destination offers lots of excellent water activities: flumes, white-water rapids, lazy river rides and water slides. Next door is Fun City, which has dry activities like Chip Shot miniature golf with 18 holes, volleyball, basketball and a game room. Squirt City is designed for younger children.

The Dude Ranch
Waynesville Rd
Morrow, OH 45152
513-958-8099
The Dude Ranch is where regular folks without cowboy experience can saddle up and ride out their cowboy fantasies. The Ranch offers everything from gentle rides to actual cattle drives for the more experienced. Kids can take pony rides, hay rides, and enjoy looking at all of the beautiful horses and animals featured on the trail.

The Beach Waterpark
2590 Water Park Dr
513-398-7946
The Beach features more than 40 water slides including the first watercoaster in the Midwest. The 35-acre park also has a 100,000-gallon Pearl lagoon.

Children's Theater of Cincinnati
2106 Florence Ave
513-569-8080
Some of Cincinnati's best actors, musicians and technical people are on the production team that presents great musicals, comedies and dramas for kids. This is a great attraction for families with children of all ages.