These Are Cincinnati’s Best Kid-Friendly Attractions, According to Our Readers

No. 10 Best Kid-Friendly Attraction: Behringer-Crawford Museum Take a trip across the river to the beautiful hills of Devou Park to visit the Behringer-Crawford Museum, which is dedicated to preserving Northern Kentucky’s culture and history. Specifically for the kids, Behringer-Crawford Museum offers Nature Play, an outdoor playspace for children to learn, grow and play. Photo: facebook.com/BCMuseumnky

No. 6 Best Free Attraction: Smale Riverfront Park Smale Riverfront Park connects downtown Cincinnati to the Ohio River and consists of many fun attractions for all members of the family. Whether you are enjoying the lights on the cascading waterfall, searching through the garden maze or dancing on the giant ground piano, there is loads of fun to be had at Smale Riverfront Park. Photo: Hailey Bollinger

No. 8 Best Kid-Friendly Attraction: Cincinnati Parks Cincinnati has too many amazing parks to single out just one. With 70 neighborhood parks like Lytle Park and Alms Park that host plenty of events and fun additions like spray grounds, families can spend hours exploring the outdoors together. Photo: Hailey Bollinger

Woodland Mound 8250 Old Kellogg Road, Withamsville Woodland Mound Overlook trails include a 1-mile fitness trail through the woods, a half-mile trail called the Hedgeapple (past two ponds home to frogs, salamanders, snakes and more), another nature hike with a view of the Ohio River and a shared-use trail that leads to almost 2 miles of woods and prairie. Photo provided by Hamilton County Parks Photo: Provided by Hamilton County Parks

A Happening with Pablo at the Cincinnati Art Museum 6-11p.m. June 23 Be one of the first to experience the brand new exhibit Picasso Landscapes: Out of Bounds. Take in this exciting new piece while enjoying an immersive experience that includes music from the Bluewater Kings Band, cocktails and rare menu items, both inside and outside in the Alice Bimel Courtyard. Proceeds will go to youth and family programs and thousands of free public programs both in the museum and the Greater Cincinnati area. 6-11p.m. June 23. 953 Eden Park Drive, Walnut Hills. cincinnatiartmuseum.org. Photo: facebook.com/cincinnatiartmuseum

No. 5 Best Kid-Friendly Attraction: Newport Aquarium This underwater world is located right across the river at Newport on the Levee and offers over 90 species of animals for families to explore. Alongside all the fish is the Shark Bridge, Gator Alley, Penguin Palooza and more for families to enjoy. Photo: Provided by Newport Aquarium

Ride the Beast at Kings Island Kings Island’s The Beast turned 41 in 2020, and while it may be getting on in years, the world’s longest wooden roller coaster hasn’t slowed down at all: the ride’s 7,300-plus feet of track includes 135-foot vertical drops, a 540-degree helix tunnel and speeds up to 64 miles per hour. It’s given more than 54 million rides in its four decades and Popular Mechanics magazine recently named it the best roller coaster in Ohio. But it may have some competition: 2020 saw the park unveil Orion, Kings Island’s tallest, fastest and longest coaster. One of only seven giga coasters in the world, Orion boasts a 300-foot first drop and soars across 5,321 feet of track at speeds up to 91 miles per hour. Kings Island, 6300 Kings Island Drive, Mason, visitkingsisland.com. Photo: Paige Deglow Photo: Paige Deglow

No. 3 Best Kid-Friendly Attraction: Longbottom Bird Ranch This duck rescue and rehabilitation center is dedicated to rescuing waterfowl and educating the community on how to treat the regional waterfowl. Through events at places in the community such as Deeper Roots Coffee and Braxton Barrel House, you can meet and greet some of the adorable ducks. Photo: Lydia Schembre

Get Smart at the Cincinnati Museum Center 1301 Western Ave., West End Union Terminal is home to several smaller museums within the Cincinnati Museum Center, including the Cincinnati History Museum and the Children’s Museum, both of which were named in the top 10 best museums of their kind by USA Today’s 10Best. Not only does the Cincinnati Museum Center host extraordinary traveling exhibits, like Dinosaurs of Antarctica or The Science Behind Pixar, its history museum allows visitors to step back in time to become immersed in Cincinnati’s history, from the earliest settlers to traditions only found here, like our chili. The museum has everything from costumed interpreters to a recreation of the bustling Public Landing as it was in the 1850s and a replica of the Queen of the West, a side-wheel steamboat. At the Children’s Museum, kids can dive into arts, culture and science. The museum has over 1,800 hours of programming each year and offers hands-on fun for kids of all ages with its eight themed play areas, including two designed for younger children. You can also catch a documentary in the museum’s state-of-the-art IMAX theater or hear the stories of courage and perseverance from survivors at the Nancy & David Wolf Holocaust & Humanity Center. Photo: Devin Luginbill