Baltimore Kids Activities & Things To Do with Kids

Baltimore, located on the Patapsco River estuary in the northern part of the state, is the largest city in Maryland. The site was settled in the early 17th century, founded as a town in 1729 named after Lord Baltimore, and incorporated as a city in 1797. Baltimore has been a major seaport and a pioneer shipbuilding center, with the famed Baltimore Clippers being built in the early 1800s. Baltimore was occupied by Union troops during the Civil War, and the city was an important supply and shipbuilding center during both World Wars. The economy has strong financial, legal and non-profit service industries, a cultural and educational center, a large tourism sector, and the world-renowned Johns Hopkins Hospital. Baltimore is home to a mix of cultures and has a multitude of restaurants and pubs as well as after-hours live music and entertainment. Baltimore has something for everyone; so if you are going to visit for business or holiday, bring the whole family with you. Baltimore’s downtown streets are well marked, and parking is easy to find. You can take the light rail public transit to downtown from points outside the city, and many museums and attractions are in or near the Inner Harbor area. The Inner Harbor, one of America’s oldest seaports dating from the 1660s, is an important landmark and tourist attraction. There are museums, children’s attractions and entertainment galore, and you can enjoy fresh seafood right out of Chesapeake Bay in one of the many restaurants. Anchored at Baltimore’s Inner Harbor is the USS Constellation, a civil war-era sloop that offers a wide range of activities and demonstrations of what life was like on a 19th century man-of-war ship.

Port Discovery is a museum devoted to kids where they can interact and discover history and science while climbing on a three-story structure to the ceiling at the KidWorks jungle gym, getting wet in the Wonders of Water display, learning about mummies and pharaohs in the Egyptian tomb exhibit, and there is plenty of indoor play space good for a rainy day. The National Aquarium in Baltimore is for kids of all ages, housing more than 660 species of animals and 16,500 specimens, with all exhibits devoted to environmental education. In the main aquarium you can see a large pool of rays, and divers frequently join them at feeding times. A glass pyramid on top is home to the rainforest exhibit. There is also an open-ocean exhibit where visitors can get a different point of view from under the water. The touch pool exhibit lets you get up close and personal with starfish and horseshoe crabs. An additional charge applies to both the dolphin show and the unusual 4-D Immersion Theater. No strollers are allowed in the building but the Aquarium lends carriers free of charge at the stroller check. This popular attraction keeps both tourists and residents coming back for more. History buffs won’t want to miss the Fort McHenry National Monument, an historic star-shaped fort best known for its role in the War of 1812 when it successfully defended Baltimore Harbor from an attack by the British Navy in Chesapeake Bay. During this bombardment, lawyer Francis Scott Key was inspired to write the Star Spangled Banner, which became the American national anthem. Designed in 1798 by a Frenchman and built after America won its independence, Fort McHenry was established as a national park in 1925 and designated a national monument and historic shrine in 1939. The fort served as a military prison during the American Civil War and a hospital during World War I for the treatment of troops returning from war. It is a prominent tourist destination with easy accessibility by water taxi from the Inner Harbor. The B&O Railroad Museum is located at the site of the oldest railroad station in the U.S. The museum traces the development of trains with a large collection of train memorabilia, a model railroad, and the Tom Thumb, a working replica of the first locomotive, built in Baltimore.

The Maryland Science Center lets kids go back to the past while learning about fossils, reconstructing dinosaur skeletons, using a pulley, and then move on to the future in the outer space exhibits and watching the kid-friendly show in the planetarium. Visit the Maryland Zoo, take a tram to the entrance near the polar bears, walk along the boardwalk through the Children’s Zoo and Maryland Wilderness to see the animals up close. The Baltimore Museum of Industry is a recreation of an early 20th century Baltimore neighborhood where kids can pretend to be grocers, bakers, bankers and tailors. Kids of all ages can learn the stories behind the businesses that built Baltimore. There is plenty of parking, and the waterfront patio is a good place to have a picnic. The Baltimore Museum of Art, adjacent to the main campus of Johns Hopkins University, is home to a permanent collection of more than 90,000 works of 19th century, modern and contemporary art including early modern masterpieces and old masters like Picasso, Renoir and Van Gogh. Visit the two beautifully landscaped sculpture gardens, check out the gift shop for that special art-inspired souvenir, and partake of the regional cuisine at the good on-site restaurant. For those who enjoy the outdoors, be sure to visit Sandy Point State Park, a 786 acre park with a view of the Chesapeake Bay Bridge, a good place to go swimming, fishing, boating, windsurfing and crabbing, have a picnic, bird watch, or just relax.

As you can see, Baltimore has something for everyone, resident and tourist alike. Just remember to have the sitter and the kids bring a jacket and wear comfy shoes when out and about in Baltimore.