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What to do in Oklahoma City With Kids
Have a fantastic vacation in Oklahoma City!
In 2024 we spent most of November and some of December near Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. We really love the area and hope you get a chance to visit. Just avoid tornado season!
Here is our list of the best things to do in Oklahoma with kids!
Table of contents
- Explore Bricktown
- Land Run Monument
- Tiger Safari Park
- Oklahoma City Memorial
- Museum of Osteology
- Oklahoma City Zoo
- Science Museum Oklahoma
- Blue Zoo
- Christmas Time
- Nearby in Tulsa
Explore Bricktown
Bricktown is a district in downtown Oklahoma City that is a great place to visit and explore. They have plenty of things to do, coffee shops to visit, and cute little boutiques to browse. And they have a streetcar system that you can take between different stops.
While you are there we recommend riding the Bricktown Water Taxi. It’s a nice tour through the canal. You’ll get to see the whole area and get some of the history of the area.
And when you are back on land, visit Brickopolis next door. They have mini golf, an arcade, and more fun activities.
Land Run Monument
If you take the Bricktown Water Taxi you’ll get the opportunity to see the Land Run Monument. But you can also get there on foot by parking below the nearby Bass Pro shop.
It’s one of the largest bronze statues in the world and a neat piece of local history. It takes just a few minutes to walk around the monument on both sides of the canal.
Tiger Safari Park
While not much of a zoo on its own, the real magic of the Tiger Safari Park is in its animal encounters. With their VIP encounter, you can hold and interact with around 10 different animals. It is a really great experience for the kids.
They also have other options, like feeding tigers and exotic tree houses you can stay in (right next to the animals!).
Oklahoma City Memorial
This is a hard one. The Oklahoma City National Memorial and Museum is a really well-done museum, but it covers the Oklahoma City bombing of 1995.
The subject matter can be difficult for some kids and younger kids might not understand. But we do think it is worth visiting because history isn’t always positive.
Museum of Osteology
The Museum of Osteology is a unique experience. They have hundreds of of skeletons of different animals. It is very fascinating to view and educational for everyone.
Oklahoma City Zoo
Zoos are always a lot of fun and you can get a good discount if you have an AZA membership. The Oklahoma City Zoo is a great place to take the kids. They have all sorts of animals and plenty of everyone’s favorites like elephants and giraffes. Just be prepared to walk as the zoo is quite spread out.
Science Museum Oklahoma
And speaking of memberships, an ASTC membership will get you into the Science Museum Oklahoma at a discount. And even if you don’t have a membership your kids will have a great time with their space exhibit, gymnastics exhibit, dinosaur exhibit, and more. They also have a section of their museum just with full-size airplanes.
Blue Zoo
Not quite a zoo and not quite an aquarium, the Blue Zoo is a small part aquarium, a small part zoo, and a large part playground. Their first floor is mostly an aquarium with a small playground. Their second floor has various different reptiles, fish, and birds. Along with another playground, water tables, and a climbing wall.
When we went we got to meet a baby kangaroo!
Christmas Time
This next section is seasonally specific, but when we went it was nearly Christmas. So if you are in OKC during the Christmas season, the next two suggestions are our favorites!
The Polar Express
If you can, take a ride on the Polar Express by the Oklahoma Railway Museum. It is a fantastic interactive show based on the Polar Express movie. The actors were fantastic and we all had a lot of fun (and hot chocolate too!).
Festival of Light
If you are looking for Christmas lights, skip past Muskogee and go straight to the Chickasha Festival of Light. It’s a wonderful light display that you can drive through for free. And after you are finished driving through you can visit several local food trucks, go ice skating, or take a ride on a horse-drawn carriage.
Nearby in Tulsa
Tulsa is just a day trip away from Oklahoma City. And on the way you can take a small detour to visit the Pop’s 66 soda shop!
The Gathering Place
The Gathering Place is a playground on steroids. It’s a place kids dream about. The playground structures are several stories tall with rope bridges between them and massive slides. There is also a large metal swan to climb through and another section with multiple different slides for tons of fun.
Your little one might need some help 😉 so get in on the fun too!
Discovery Lab
Just down the road from the Gathering Place sits the Discovery Lab. The Discovery Lab is a modest-size science center with plenty of hands-on exhibits. Our kids enjoyed climbing through large tubes suspended above the ground, making stop-motion videos, and designing some fashionable clothes out of cardboard.
Tulsa Zoo
Just outside of Tulsa sits the Tulsa Zoo. Smaller than the OKC Zoo, the Tulsa Zoo still makes for a pleasant experience. Bring a picnic lunch and enjoy a leisurely day at the zoo!
They also have a great playground in the middle of the zoo. Not as great as the Gathering Place, but pretty awesome in its own right.
