The American Swedish Institute is a wonderful place to be a kid. With participatory events, workshops, camps, and classes, families and children—yes, even the tiniest tots!—can discover something new about their world and themselves. You can always explore ASI’s Family Gallery, a hands-on interactive space for children with immersive experiences inspired by Swedish authors, illustrators, and artists. Or, visit during Babies at the Castle (select Friday and Saturdays) or Kids at the Castle (select Fridays), which offer morning fun for parents and kids.

Other ASI programming that’ll inspire your little one includes Starting with Slöjd and Slöjd Studio, both offered on select Sundays and both designed to introduce young folks to new tools, materials, and skills that can help give them a lifelong love of handcraft. There’s programming for Swedish-speaking children, language and culture programming for those who want to practice Swedish, and a whole lot more! (Note that most events require advance registration.)

Mia’s robust family programming is meant to encourage an interest in the arts from a young age, with the hope that those art-loving kiddos will someday be lifelong visitors. The second Sunday of every month is Family Day, when the museum is full of hands-on activities, artist demonstrations, and more, and the first Wednesday of every month is Mini Mia, with storytelling, games, and songs, plus a gallery tour focused on kids ages 0-5 and their caregivers. But no matter what day it is, Mia wants you to know the museum is not made for silence! You don’t need to be quiet, and neither does your kid; strollers are allowed in the galleries, and there are elevators located around the museum.

Parents who need a quiet, sensory-friendly space are always welcome in the museum’s Multi-Faith Prayer and Contemplation Room. The key is available at the lobby desk, which is also where you can check out free sensory totes with noise-reducing headphones, weighted lap pads, and more. While you’re there, grab a scavenger hunt to help keep kids focused and engaged during your visit. And of course, Mia is always free to visit.

Located on the banks of the Mississippi River, the Mill City Museum offers a wide variety of family-friendly activities. Some of these activities are available year-round, like the Water Lab, which gives families a hands-on look at how St. Anthony Falls/Owámniyomni powered the city’s early industries. But other kid-friendly programs occur throughout the year, like Sensory Friendly Days, which offer calm, sensory-friendly experiences with adjusted sound levels, lighting, and informative resources outside of regular hours. (On these days, saff trained to assist families and individuals with neurodiverse considerations ensure that everyone can enjoy the museum in a supportive environment.)

Mill City Museum also hosts themed family-friendly days like STEM Family Day, when visitors will be able to explore the role of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics in shaping the Minneapolis riverfront. And children receive reduced admission prices: $8 for children ages 5-17 and free for children ages 4 and under.

Visitors of all ages are welcome at the Museum of Russian Art! There’s an interactive Gallery Hunt available at the front desk, and exhibitions like A Thousand Nesting Dolls, on display through March of 2025, include a hands-on component for active learners. The museum regularly hosts storytimes and craft workshops in collaboration with community partners like Hennepin County Library and Minneapolis Parks & Recreation, and the third Saturday of each month is Stories & Crafts in the Gallery, where kids can hear a story related to Russian art, history, or culture and then make art to take home. (Pre-registration is required.)

Even better? TMORA just opened a second space, the TMORA Education Center, where they plan to offer more hands-on opportunities in the future. Check the calendar for the latest on upcoming family-friendly events.

With an emphasis on creativity and curiosity, The Bakken Museum aims to inspire a passion for innovation in visitors of all ages. Exhibits and workshops like the Spark Exhibit, which has an animation station and a cool canvas that creates art through kinetic motion, celebrate science, technology, and the humanities. Additional youth programming at the Bakken includes summer camps, break camps, and the Young Makers Inventors Club, a multi-Saturday program that lets youngins build their own projects.

Children ages 4-17 can visit the museum at a reduced $9 price, while children 3 and under visit for free, and there are discounts available for those with limited income. Noise-canceling headphones and sensory backpacks are available at the front desk, and you can find more info about accessibility here. Need to get outside for a minute? Bring a picnic lunch, and explore the three acres of gardens and grounds on the shores of Bde Maka Ska.

The Weisman Art Museum’s Open Studio is a big hit with visitors who come with family. Every month, there's a new art-making activity at the studio, and it’s always connected to the art on view or in the Weisman's collection. The materials are provided, and the activity is free and available on a drop-in basis during museum hours. Visiting with slightly older kids? Stop by the front desk for self-guided tour materials that can help you take a deeper dive into the artwork on display.

Admission is always free, and the museum offers sensory bags (with fidgets, a visual timer, headphones, and more). Before your visit, the museum has a social narrative to help folks prepare for how their visit might go and navigate expectations—especially helpful for those on the spectrum. You can find more on accessibility at WAM here, and find family-specific information here.

If a gigantic mammoth isn’t enough to get your kid excited about a museum visit, we don’t know what will! And even your mammoth-indifferent young ones will enjoy Bell Museum exhibits like In Search of Earth’s Secrets, which invites audiences of all ages to take part in hands-on experiences that teach them about earthquakes, volcanoes, and the dinosaur extinction. There’s also the Spotlight Science series, which showcases current science conducted at the University of Minnesota though kid-friendly hands-on activities and interactive experiences. Or, check out the planetarium, which has a number of all-ages shows and others that are suitable for ages 8+.

The Bell’s monthly Sensory Friendly Saturday series provides a welcoming environment for those with sensory sensitivities: Visitors are can experience the museum’s Minnesota Journeys gallery, temporary exhibits, the Touch & See Lab, and enjoy a brief planetarium show at 8:45 a.m., all with lowered lighting, quieter sounds, and fewer visitors. And while there are no specific discount days, you can learn more about reduced-price admission for qualifying visitors here. The Bell also has resources for families outside of museum hours, including at-home experiments, videos, and stories.

Every December, the Ordway presents a spectacular holiday show that’s fun for families and children—and the festivities extend beyond the stage. The theater also goes all-out with decorations, filling its lobbies with over-the-top, custom décor including an 18-foot holiday tree that’s perfect for a family photo op! In the warmer months, the Ordway kicks off the summer with the Flint Hills Family Festival, which inspires creativity in its young attendees with free performances, arts and crafts, face painting, balloon art, and much more.

The Ordway often offers accessible performances (including American Sign Language interpretations, audio description, open captioning, and sensory-friendly performances), and you can always ask an usher for noise-reducing ear covers or a booster seat for your child. (Note that most performances at the Ordway are recommended for children over the age of six.)

Did you know the nation’s largest and most acclaimed theatre for young people is located right here in Minneapolis? For more than 50 years, the Children’s Theatre Company has produced plays for families, youths, and even very young kiddos, and in 2003, it became the first theatre for young folks ever to win the Tony Award for Outstanding Regional Theater.

CTC is the perfect place for children to have their first theater experience, and their commitment to accessibility includes sensory friendly performances with low lighting and overall sound reduction. During these performances, you’ll have access to the theater’s Take-a-Break Space, which is outfitted with fidgets and weighted blankets, and families are welcome to bring their own manipulatives, seat cushions, and other comfort objects.

The Science Museum of Minnesota offers a tremendous amount of hands-on fun for science-curious kiddos. Make an indoor tornado in the Experiment Gallery, play with proportions and shadows in Math Moves, or travel the galaxy without leaving St. Paul thanks to Sun, Earth, Universe, an interactive exhibit created in partnership with NASA. Got a little athlete on your hands? Take them to the Science Museum’s Sportsology exhibit, where they can explore the science of movement in the Motion Lab or set off on a foot race against a T. Rex.

The first Sunday of each month is Sensory Friendly Sunday, where guests can enjoy a “lights-up, sound-down” 10 a.m. show at the museum’s Omnitheater, and discounts are available for families with limited incomes.

It’s the Minnesota Children’s Museum—of course everything here is designed to delight your kiddo. Come for the four-story climbers and 40-foot-high netted catwalk, stay for Our World, a pretend town where kids can act out roles in fire station and vet clinic. You can play with ping pong ball launchers and a water graffiti wall, or go on an “underwater” adventure based on a real Lake Superior shipwreck. There’s even a sensory play space where babies and toddler (ages 3 and under) can scramble around the play structure or make a splash at the water table.

Break rooms with low levels of visual stimulation can be found on the museum’s first floor, and visual timers, noise-reducing headphones, and universal cuffs are all available for checkout at the box office.

Normally, the Hennepin History Museum isn’t specifically family-friendly, but the current exhibit (on display now through the summer of 2026) has multi-generational appeal. Circle of Water: Puppetry As An Agent of Change is a delightful exhibit celebrating the 1983 production of Circle of Water Circus, which was presented by In the Heart of the Beast Puppet and Mask Theatre. The production featured original music and 150 puppets, many of which—including live-size representations of birds, fish, and buffalo—are now on view at the museum. While there are no hands-on activities (museum organizers say the exhibit is best suited for ages 5 and older), these stunning, large-scale puppets are guaranteed to delight younger visitors.