INDIANA

Indianapolis Zoo:

A nice, moderate-sized set-up with several different exhibits (Asia, Africa, North America). They have beautifully designed habitats for the animals and informational overviews for education. A small train can take you around the zoo to view. They have a wonderful Orangutan exhibit that has massive outdoor towers the primates can climb to explore, as well as a large two-story indoor facility where mamas, babies and others co-exist. Kids can get very close to see the animals and zookeepers are present to educate families.

Eagle Creek Ornithology Center:

Eagle Creek park is a beautiful state park with wonderful trails, easy for kiddos, playgrounds and a lovely lake. It also has a bird center with rescued birds outside, a small museum inside, and a viewing area to watch the birds outside the museum at the feeders and also down by the lake. For littles, there are coloring sheets and crayons that are always a big hit for us.

GainBridge Fieldhouse:

Home of the Pacers and Fever. In the heart of downtown, the best parking option is the Virginia Street Garage which has an enclosed walkway right to the atrium where you enter the Fieldhouse.

Children’s Museum:

What an incredible place! This museum spans five (5!) stories plus has an entire outdoor sports park and has something for everyone! The exhibits are all incredibly interactive and engaging, everything from a special Mickey Mouse Club house with parades and songs throughout the day to a costume display with Black Panther props to a dinosaur exhibit unlike any other where actual paleontologists sit and work at an open window where you can walk up and see them uncovering fossils and ask questions. I truly don’t know who liked that more-me or the kids! The museum is very easy to navigate and well laid out, but is massive and if your kids like to stop and play (a la, the Welcome to Peru! Interactive cultural city experience) it can easily take a full day to enjoy all it has to offer. Speaking of the Peru exhibit, while there, the staff (who all seemed to be amazing) came up and pretended to be the waiter for my daughters who were cooking in the café and brought the food out. They then went to other tables and “bussed” the table, putting it back where it belonged so other kids could play but totally in character. The fourth floor has a little kids landscape with water and sand tables, climbing structure, building blocks and more. In here is where a nursing space with multiple rooms and an exceptional family restroom, complete with kid kid-size toilet and sink, can be found. Our only “meh” part was the incredibly overpriced cafeteria food which was pretty average. You can get kid meals, we opted for the pasta and that was a good portion size but for what you pay, I’d say bring your own food in.

Newfields Art Museum: 

This is not a kids’ museum in any way; however, I found it to be very kid-friendly. Our 2 and 4 yo had never been to an art museum, but we read books about it, so they are familiar. The whole museum is very stroller-friendly and easy to navigate. Most of the exhibits are just to be looked at; however, in Asian art, they had an interactive tea ceremony room where kids could stir a bowl, wear an Asian robe, and act it out to mirror a video of the ceremony. There were also a couple of activities where you could use colored tiles to make art, and another touch screen display in the textiles section where they could design their own wigs on the computer. Our girls’ favorite display was on the first floor, an art video that projected a moving liquid across the ceiling and you lay in chairs to enjoy. They could have stayed there for 30 minutes just watching it. The cafeteria food was excellent, though expensive, but the large windows allow you to look outside at the fountain as you enjoy food (should you choose). 

Closest Airport
Indianapolis [IND]