Family Fun in CLE

Traveling with a brood, especially a large one, can be challenging. Whether it’s a group of raucous roller coaster riders or scoundrels screaming for ice cream, Cleveland can keep kids of all ages entertained.

Cheery and Cheeky

• In 2018, yet another new record-breaking roller coaster is bringing thrills to visitors to Cedar Point, the Roller Coaster Capital of the World. Taking over the track of the old Mean Streak coaster, Steel Vengeance will be the world’s first steel-on-wood hybrid roller coaster to stand over 200 feet tall.
• Gamers can follow the rules (or not) at Cleveland’s first board game café. Featuring almost 1,000 different games including kid classics like Clue, Guess Who? and Jenga, Tabletop Board Game Café serves up friendly competition with its food and drinks. While awaiting turns, kids can munch on locally made Campbell’s Extreme Dichotomy Popcorn Mix while parents sip white or red wine smoothies.
• Fans of the holiday movie classic “A Christmas Story” can revisit the spirit of the holidays as they reminisce on a walk through the famed A Christmas Story House. Among the props and costumes on display are Ralphie’s Red Rider BB Gun, toys from the Higbee’s department store window, Randy’s snowsuit, the chalkboard from Miss Shields’ classroom and the family car.
• Professional sports reign in Cleveland. With the Browns, Indians and Cavs all anchored in Downtown Cleveland, each team’s venue offers a variety of kid-friendly activities to keep little ones burning energy while the adults enjoy the game. For example, the Kids Clubhouse at Progressive Field lets kids peek inside the Indians locker room through a virtual tour and test their pitching power through the on-site pitching simulator.
• Families can spend the day at Memphis Kiddie Park, a retro amusement park that features pint-sized attractions such as the Little Dipper roller coaster and the Big Creek & Memphis Railway. The Memphis Championship Miniature Golf Course, an arcade full of coin-operated games and amusement park concessions like funnel cakes and cotton candy add to the family fun.

Wild Child

• Visitors to the Cleveland Metroparks Zoo can feed lettuce to giraffes from the African Savanna, dive into a movie about sharks in the 4-D Theater, or take a ride on the Circle of Wildlife Carousel, which features more than 60 creatures hand-carved by Ohio artists. The zoo is home to more than 3,000 animals, including the newest baby born there—Lulu the rhino. During winter days, families can warm up inside the two-story indoor RainForest, where it’s always 80 degrees. The more than 10,000 plants and 600+ animals from Asia, Africa and the Americas will captivate visitors of all ages.
• Piglets, sheep and cows—oh my! After cautiously milking a 1,600-pound cow, petting the fuzzy wool of a herd of alpacas and trying their hand at grinding corn, visitors to Lake Metroparks Farmpark get a little taste of the life of a farmer. Located just east of Cleveland, the park is open year-round.
• Underwater adventurers can come nose-to-nose with sharks at the Greater Cleveland Aquarium. With nothing but a pane of glass standing between visitors and the ocean’s sharp-toothed friends, brave souls can walk through the 175-foot underwater SeaTube, a glass-enclosed tunnel, to see sharks, moray eels, stingrays and grouper. An 11,000-gallon Touch Pool where visitors can pet sea creatures amp up the aquarium adventure even more.
• Kids can be hands-on at the Great Lakes Science Center (GLSC) where they can construct a parachute and drop it from a pulley or float it in a wind tube; form a tornado and watch it twist and twirl; take a virtual flight on the Sky Glider; and use their fingertips to make light dance under a plasma ball. At the NASA Glenn Visitor Center at GLSC, visitors can look inside the actual 1973 Skylab 3 Apollo Command Module, see artifacts from John Glenn’s Friendship 7 mission and check out a real moon rock from Apollo 15.
• Younger visitors discover their own adventures at the Children’s Museum of Cleveland with interactive exhibits in an environment designed to excite, enrich and inspire. The museum reopened in November 2017 in its new home, the historic Stager-Beckwith mansion in Cleveland’s Midtown Neighborhood. Families can get hands-on in the new Wonder Lab with water tables and magnetic walls; create their own masterpiece in the Arts & Parts room and build their way through Adventure City.
• The Cuyahoga Valley National Park covers 33,000 acres of woods, water and wildlife along the Cuyahoga River between Cleveland and Akron. Visitors can climb aboard the Cuyahoga Valley Scenic Railroad, one of the oldest tourist excursion railways in the country, to experience a train ride through the national park.

Hangry

• Pub grub and a rousing game of bowling can be found under one roof on East 4th Street in Downtown Cleveland. At The Corner Alley, families can tie up their laces and munch on a mound of brisket nachos, fried buffalo eggrolls and corned beef pizza while serving up a strike.
• Visitors to Happy Dog can enjoy an all-beef hot dog topped with everything from house-made sloppy joe and SpaghettiOs to caramelized onions or garlicky escarole. For a sweet treat, adventurous eaters can add Froot Loops, too. A side of tater tots dipped in Happy Dog’s top-secret fry sauce or topped with a sunny-side up fried egg makes the meal complete.
• Mom’s grilled cheese is all grown up at Melt Bar & Grilled where visitors can order hilariously themed sandwiches including the locally named Parmageddon, which features potato and onion pierogi, Napa vodka kraut, sautéed onions and sharp cheddar cheese.
• On hot summer days and cold winter nights, the handcrafted flavors at Mitchell’s Ice Cream are sure to satisfy sweet tooths. From Blue Cosmo ice cream cones for kids to scoops of vegan-friendly salted caramel pecan for those craving a sweet treat without the guilt (or lactose-induced belly aches), a stop at Mitchell’s Ohio City scoop shop and production facility will keep everyone happy.
• What do bugs, toxic waste, and chocolate worms have in common? Each are deliciously edible at b.a. Sweetie Candy Company. The largest candy store in North America encourages visitors of all ages to indulge in the wackiest of tastes. Those who aren’t ready for the extreme candies can choose from nostalgic favorites such as wax lips, PEZ and gourmet jellybeans or have a root-beer float at the 1950’s style soda shop parlor. For visitors who are sweet enough by nature, a 36-hole round of mini-golf at Sweetie’s Golfland Park is the perfect afternoon treat.

Cool, Calm and Collected

• Kids can dress up for a night out to see live shows at Playhouse Square, the country’s largest performing arts center outside of New York and home to a variety of theater performances, concerts and more. The Children’s Theater Series introduces children to live theater while the 2018-2019 KeyBank Broadway Series includes the New York Times Critics’ Pick, “School of Rock.”
• The Cleveland Museum of Art is a place where visitors of all ages can learn about art together. Emerging technology gives families the chance to use movement and play to connect with CMA’s collection, Visitors can literally play games with up to 20 pieces of the Cleveland Museum of Art’s collection in the new ARTLENS Gallery, which features the largest multi-touch MicroTile screen in the United States. Guests can even create original artwork in the ArtLens Studio. Parents of toddler-age children can enlighten younger ones while taking part in one of the museum’s Stroller Tours.
• The Hershey Children’s Garden at the Cleveland Botanical Garden teaches kids about gardening and nature in a kid-scaled environment. Small benches are hidden in foliage, archways are sized just right for little ones, and tiny red water pumps and plastic buckets are available for children to water plants. After attending to the plants, kids can climb up to the treehouse for treetop storytelling.