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TOP 12 THINGS TO DO WITH KIDS IN ST. LOUIS
St. Louis offers so much for kids that the Top 10 list of things to do with them on a vacation here has just become the Top 12. Everywhere you look, there's plenty to enthrall, entrance and excite kids -- and much of it is free. Take kids to visit some cities, and you're scrambling to find things to do that appeal to them.
Take them to St. Louis, and you're scrambling to find time to squeeze in all the great things they'll want to see and do. To help families get the most out of their visit, here's a list of favorite things to do with kids in St. Louis:
Ride to the top of the Gateway Arch. For a kid, this is the thrill of a lifetime, something they'll remember for years to come. It's hard to tell what's more exciting -- the ride in a barrel-shaped capsule starting 50 feet underground and zooming up a leg of the Arch to 630 feet above St. Louis or the spectacular panoramic view of both sides of the country's longest river. Here's a tip the kids will love: If you stand in the middle of the top of the Arch and look straight down through the window, you can see both legs of the Arch below you.
Bring plenty of dimes and feed the fish. Kids will find much to enjoy at the Missouri Botanical Garden. They'll love meandering through a tropical rainforest in the Climatron where bananas grow, talking to an orchid, walking under a waterfall and finding their way through a maze built just for them in the children's garden. But the perennial favorite for children of almost any age is feeding the exotic fish in the pond in the Garden's Japanese Garden. Adults are as amazed as kids to see dozens of brightly-colored fish pushing against each other at the water's surface as they vie--mouths gaping open above the water -- for fish food thrown by visitors.
"Ride" the turtles in Turtle Park. Young children love the baby turtles and their mamas in Turtle Park, a sliver of Forest Park across I-64 from the Zoo's south entrance. The "turtle" are sculpted from concrete and represent species native to Missouri.
Let your creative spirit soar. A visit to the City Museum is a one-of-a-kind experience not to be missed. Don't let the name "museum" fool you. This is no dark, dusty hall filled with mind-numbing exhibits. Better described as a combination hands-on art gallery and adventure playground, both kids and adults delight in the activities and exhibits that draw them into the action at the former shoe factory.
Feed a lorikeet. You'll find enough to see and do at the world famous St. Louis Zoo to fill more than a day, but save time to drop by the Children's Zoo for anencounter with the lorikeets, colorful, little parrots from Australia. Pick up a tinycup of nectar available at their outdoor aviary and you'll have a lorikeet eating out of your hand -- literally -- in no time at all.
Absorb the rivers. Whether it's playing Tom Sawyer trying to skip pebbles across the water, watching barges float by or riding an authentic paddlewheeler, the rivers have special appeal to kids. Plan time to wander along the cobblestones, look at the boats on the Mississippi Riverfront downtown or ride a paddlewheel riverboat. Then, for a different river feel, journey to nearby historic St. Charles, site of Missouri's first state capitol, to watch the barges roll down the Missouri River at Riverfront Park.
Tackle a mystery. Every kid loves a mystery, and one of the biggest mysteriesof all time is detailed at Cahokia Mounds State Historic Site just minutes from downtown St. Louis. Here the remnants of a prehistoric group of people living and working in the complex community known as the Land of the Suncan be viewed as the story of the Indian civilization which vanished after 1300 AD is told. And think of the energy the kids can burn off climbing 100-foot tall Monks Mound, the largest prehistoric earthen structure in the New World.
Dig it! Learn all about dinosaurs at "Dig Dinosauers," a hands-on exhibit at the Saint Louis Science Center that lets kids excavate fossil models, reconstruct a dinosaur skeleton and learn how paleontologists unearth the past. You'll also want to take a white knuckle ride "aboard" a virtual roller coaster in "Thrill Ride," a 40-minute Omnimax show which allows visitors to "feel" the surge of the coaster and ride simulators. The film demonstrates how roller coasters have always relied on simple gravity and momentum to elicit excitement and explains how today's ride simulators use motion coupled with amazing computer-generated images (CGI) to create the same sense of excitement, danger and thrill in riders.
Make their hair stand on end. More than 70 unique, hand-on exhibits, including an electrostatically-charged ball that gives visitors a hair-raising experience, make the Magic House the fourth most visited children's museum in the country. Even the youngest visitors will have an exciting time at "For Baby and Me," an exhibit designed especially for children under 2.
Ride a carousel, chase a butterfly. Faust County Park is home to two of a kid's favorite St. Louis attractions -- the Butterfly House and an 80-year-old carousel. The Butterfly House, a glass flight enclosure visitors can walk through and observe dozens of species of butterflies in flight, is one of only 10 suchattractions in the country. Be prepared for a butterfly or two to land on you during your visit. The carousel, a long-time St. Louis favorite, survived a fire that destroyed the St. Louis Highlands amusement park many years ago.
Take on "The Boss." Six Flags St. Louis, with more than 100 rides, shows and attractions, is always exciting but the word "excitement" takes on a whole new meaning this year with the park's new 5,000-foot wooden roller coaster, "The Boss." Zooming at 65 miles per hour, "The Boss" plummets 150 feet before going through a 565-degree helix near the end of the ride. This is not one for the faint of heart.
Catch a wave. No, it's not the ocean but it's something better--a salt-free way to enjoy the surf. Whether it's Raging Rivers, a water park with eight ways to enjoy the water along the Great River Road on the Illinois side of the river; Aquaport, a four-acre aquatic center in suburban Maryland Heights or Hurricane Harbor, Six Flags
St. Louis' tropical paradise with an 80-foot volcano as a backdrop, there's a water attraction in St. Louis right for every family.
With these exciting things to do with kids and lots more awaiting you, the hardest thing about planning a visit to St. Louis is trying to fit in everything you want to do.
MEDIA NOTE: For more information or photography of St. Louis, send an e-mail to pr@explorestlouis.com or call Becky Sharp at 1-314-992-0652. For up-to-date information about St. Louis, your readers should call the St. Louis Convention & Visitors Commission at 1-800-916-0040 or check out our website at www.explorestlouis.com. This news release is also available in electronic form. To obtain an electronic version, e-mail your request to pr@explorestlouis.com or go to St. Louis’ online media center at www.explorestlouis.com/media.
