Family Fun in Dallas Texas - Over 25 Places of Interest !!
Living in Dallas, Texas has given us so many fun experiences. We have loved exploring the uptown and downtown of the city and suburban areas. Since we have 7 kids, the places we visit have to be family friendly, so we are going to give you our truthful opinions and tips and tricks about all the places on our list. This is the ultimate guide with over 25 places for you to check out for making great memories no matter your budget!
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Our Favorite Destinations:
Our family had such a blast riding the McKinney Avenue (M-Line) Trolley around Uptown and Downtown Dallas. It is completely FREE, and acts as an on and off bus with many different stops. The driver was very kind and let all the kids honk the trolley horn (and even invited “big kids”/adults to honk, too). The wait was short and was a wonderful way to view the city. We like to hop on the trolley at the Uptown Station because there is free parking. Plus that is at the end of one of the lines and the place there the trolley spins on the deck. The kids loved that.
We took the trolley to one of Dallas’ iconic parks: Klyde Warren Park. There is a really fun playground there for the kids, food trucks and large lawns for games and picnicking. There are public bathrooms and often live music and dancing. The other great thing about this park, is that it is directly across the street from the Dallas Museum of Art (which is where we usually park if we don’t take the trolley in).
Dallas Museum of Art has several floors of beautiful craftmanship, and is FREE to the public! My two favorite places to go is the children’s area* and also the giant window filled with glass blown flowers. I love the children’s area because it is very hands on, with lots of different activities for the kids to do. This area gets pretty busy in the summer. We’ve had a lot more fun going there on a Saturday when school is in session.
(*Side note: While at the DMA, I discovered some fabulous children’s books about art or creating art: The Artist Who Painted the Blue Horse, by Eric Carle, Swatch the Girl Who Loved Color, by Julia Denos, and Lemons are not Red, by Laura Vaccaro Seeger were my favorites. I plan to grab these for my kids for Christmas.)
VISIT BUC-EES!! Buc-ees is a ridiculously large gas station that is an iconic visit in Texas. You can find them all over the place. You can expect clean bathrooms, lots of shopping, food and more gas pumps than you can count. I still don’t understand why there are so many people obsessed with it, but it truly is a thing and an experience you have to have if you come to visit!
Our favorite place to take pictures with our family is on the grounds of the Dallas Temple, a place of worship of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. It’s a quiet and reverent place that always brings me peace.
If your family is big into sports like our family, you will love visiting The Star in Frisco. The Star is the World Headquarters for the Dallas Cowboys. The outside area is completely free with a giant football field for the kids to run on, lots of high end shops to peek in, and tons of plaques with sports facts about players and the organization around the area. You can also pay to go on a guided tour of the facility. My husband and I did this for his birthday. It was fantastic for him, but it was nearly 3 hours long, so it would be really hard with young kids.
The Heard Natural Science Museum in McKinney is especially fun to visit when they have their Dinosaur LIVE exhibit outside. You hike around the property and see life sized dinosaur animatronix. The kids love how they move and roar. That is really the best thing to see here.
The Dallas Arboretum and Botanical Gardens is just beautiful. So many creative and vibrant gardens to look at and play in. It’s fantastic for the whole family.
At Christmastime we have two favorite malls: the Galleria Mall in Dallas (it has the largest tree around- it’s amazing!), and Stonebriar Centre in Frisco (it has a Disney Store and Lego Store that my kid could spend hours in).
Our Favorite Places to go Using our POGO Pass:
Pogo Pass is a 12 month membership (from date of purchase) that provides you FREE access to the best entertainment venues within the Dallas/Ft. Worth area. We purchased these one summer when we knew we wouldn’t be taking any family vacations, but wanted to provide a number of staycation activities for our family. We loved it. It saved us a ton of money, and we ended up checking out a lot of places we wouldn’t normally go.
Simply download the Pogo Pass app to begin using your membership immediately after purchase. Use this link and get $10 OFF per pass! These are some of the places we enjoyed. There are even more options than we have listed.
Fort Worth Zoo - one of the top zoos in the country. It’s amazing!!!
Texas Discovery Gardens - is not very big. If you have a POGO pass, I would definitely go, and then hit the other things to do in Fair Park. But I wouldn’t pay to go to this as the main attraction.
Children’s Aquarium at Fair Park - this aquarium is small, and a bit run down. BUT!!! We really loved the sting ray area. My kids splashed around and pet the sting rays for a long time. This is a great outing when you have it as part of the POGO pass and aren’t paying full price. It’s a great combo with the Texas Discovery Gardens.
Hawaiian Falls Waterpark has a great family atmosphere. It isn’t a huge as Hurricane Harbor at Six Flags, but it has plenty to do. I felt comfortable letting my kids run around together. There is a great baby/toddler area, and lots of places to bring in a picnic. This is one of my kids’ favorite places to come in the summer.
The Sci- Tech Discovery Center in Frisco, is a small science museum. My kids have really enjoyed coming here on field trips for an hour or two, but it doesn’t have enough to keep you busy much longer than that. It is in the same building as the National Video Game museum, so we hit those two together.
The National Video Game Museum is pretty much a gamer’s dream come true. There is every kind of gaming system you can imagine on display, going back decades. You can play the old Oregon Trail game (that was a favorite among the moms!), and step into different rooms that take you back in time. For me, this was a great companion to the Sci- Tech Discovery Center because I was pretty ready to go after an hour. If you are a collector of antique paraphernalia or huge into video games, you would probably love to spend a lot of time here.
The Rough Riders are a minor league team based out of Frisco. The games have a great family atmosphere. My favorite part is the end of the game when they let the kids run the bases and set off the fireworks.
Pump It Up is a fun place with tons of huge bounce houses. Even my teen boys had a blast here with their friends.
Urban Air Trampoline park was a great way for my kids to bounce out their energy. I learned on the first bounce, that unless I bring a change of underpants, I should not be participating in this activity after birthing 7 children. HA!!
Summer Fun in and around Dallas
Little Elm Beach (sometimes referred to as Moms Beach) at Lake Lewisville. I love this little lake beach because it gives you a little taste of summer, though it’s definitely not a gorgeous ocean beach. It has bathrooms, a fun playground and plenty of water and sand to keep your family busy. I would definitely bring an umbrella or some type of tent because there isn’t any shade.
Celebration Park in Allen (play area and splash pad) is gigantic. The kids have a blast running all over this place - though it honestly is a little nerve racking keeping track of everybody running in different directions. I do really love the splash pad that is FREE.
Frisco Water Park is a quaint little place in connection with Frisco’s Athletic Center. We had a great time spending several hours there, but not paying huge amounts like we would to a bigger water park.
If you love roller coasters, you will love Six Flags. My kids really enjoy this park, but it isn’t very fun when I am there with my little ones. If you’re visiting in the summer, I would recommend hitting their water part instead: Hurricane Harbor. Dallas is brutally hot in the summer!
Watter’s Creek has free summer concerts in Allen. Every week you get to hear a different band play out on the lawn. It’s a fun place for the kids to play with great shopping and restaurants.
Ice Skating at Allen Events Center was a nice break from the heat of swimming and water parks. It’s also the home of the Allen American’s Hockey Team. The games are family friendly and an affordable way to be introduced to the sport.
Places you can go with a Dallas City Pass:
Adult: $51 (value $83) • Child (ages 3-12): $35 (value $58)
This pass is a great way to go if you are visiting Dallas and want to pack in the fun in a short amount of time. The pass is valid for 9 days, so it’s a completely different type of pass than the POGO pass. The locations included in this pass are iconic to Dallas, a bit more expensive that the POGO locations, but all very amazing.
Perot Museum of Nature and Science is absolutely packed with neat activities and displays for your family. Our favorite parts are the bottom floor where the kids line up on a running track and pick something to race. Some of their favorites are the T-Rex, a cheetah, and a professional athlete. I really thought the gems and minerals hall was amazing.
Reunion Tower GeO Deck is one of the defining buildings on Dallas’ skyline. You can take an elevator up and enjoy the view, and even stay and eat a fancy dinner at the top. This is a great spot for a special occasion.
The Sixth Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza tells the story of JFK’s life, assassination, and legacy. You can walk around outside and see the grassy knoll, and spot in the road where JFK was shot and killed. There are lots of conspiracy theorists hanging around, and lots of history to be learned.
The City Pass also offers entrance into the Dallas Zoo OR George W. Bush Presidential Library and Museum.
We have two favorite parts of the Dallas Zoo. They have a children’s area where a man made creek runs through. It’s a great place to bring and eat your lunch, and the kids can splash around while your feet take a breather. Our other favorite part is the African Animals area where you can purchase lettuce to feed the giraffes. It is so awesome to get up so close that you can touch and interact with the animals.
The George W. Bush Library, located on SMU campus is a great museum for adults. Our two favorite parts were the oval office replica, where you can sit in the president’s chair and talk on the red phone, and also the 9/11 memorial section.
There are so many wonderful places to visit in Dallas. For more ideas, or questions, please comment below. We love talking about our home city!!
