Gulf To Bay St. Pete Clearwater FL - Gulf To Bay 2024
Family Fun
2024-05-10 11:45:33
Fun for All Ages
BEST FAMILY ACTIVITY
CLEARWATER MARINE AQUARIUM
➋ St Pete Pier
➌ Captain Memo's Pirate Cruise, Clearwater Beach
➍ Zubrick Magic Theatre, St Pete
➎ Alligator & Wildlife Discovery Center, Madeira Beach
From award-winning beaches and adventurous outdoor activities to indoor entertainment suitable for all ages, St. Pete/Clearwater is a great place to live or travel with family. Combining the laid-back feel of coastal neighborhoods with bustling city life, the area offers no shortage of ways to spend your day.
Preschoolers
Take the littlest ones in your group to Great Explorations Children’s Museum on St. Pete’s bustling Fourth Street. It’s perfect for toddlers and their developing imaginations, with interactive play areas that foster creativity and learning.
Romp n' Roll, a gymnastics center geared toward kids ages 3 months to 5 years, offers open playtime and also more targeted classes like Crayons to Canvas and Tumble Tunes. Lots of padded surfaces ensure even the tiniest tots can, well, romp and roll in a safe space. Best of all: It’s just across the street from famed St. Pete Italian market Mazzaro’s. Pop over for lunch after you play.
Elementary-aged
The Dunedin Fine Art Center is a lovely little spot that offers a great way to immerse school-aged kids in visual art. After a walk through one of the rotating art exhibits, take them to The David L. Mason Children’s Art Museum, an interactive gallery space for children and their families.
Clearwater’s reimagined Coachman Park is worth visiting for the waterfront views alone, but its pirate-themed playground is the place to bring young kids. With two climbing structures, slides, a sand pit, a raised catwalk and lots of disability-friendly features, it’s got enough going on to entertain rambunctious little ones for a while.
From an immersive virtual reality experience to interactions with live animals like dolphins, nurse sharks, otters, turtles and stingrays, the Clearwater Marine Aquarium made popular by Winter the Dolphin and the hit movie “Dolphin Tale” has plenty to entertain kids.
In Dunedin, the Highlander Pool and the Kiwanis Sprayground right next door offer a respite from hot Florida days. It's just $3 per person for the pool, and the sprayground is free. Here, kids can play among water cannons, floor jets, a slide and a big yellow bucket that fills up and tips over.
Tweens and teens
There is no better place to let your teens burn off their energy than at Sky Zone Trampoline Park, an indoor trampoline park in Largo. For $39.99 you can get an all-day pass and get full access to the Main Court with its giant trampolines, ultimate dodgeball, the Warrior Course and a Foam Zone that offers a pool of huge foam squares for more daring bouncing.
The area's first Topgolf location opened in summer 2023, featuring 102 outdoor climate-controlled hitting bays, a restaurant and a rooftop terrace. Located in the Carillon neighborhood of north St. Pete, the three-story complex offers golf enthusiasts and beginners alike a chance to practice their swings.
The Replay Amusement Museum is a Tarpon Springs classic, a slice of nostalgia less than 1 mile from the city’s famous Sponge Docks. You pay one price for unlimited games all day: $14 for adults and $8 for children. There are more than 100 machines total, from vintage games like pinball machines to a rotating selection of arcade machines.
Multi-generational
At Zubrick Magic Theatre, illusionists Chris and Ryan Zubrick engage in everything from sleight-of-hand to grand illusions. The interactive performance is a show for adults but enjoyed by all ages.
That Game Show Place is a unique spot in Palm Harbor billed as “Florida's first game show studio,” and offers families a chance to play TV-style game shows in groups against each other. With videos, sound effects, buzzers and a host, it feels like the real thing. Geared mostly toward players ages 10 and up, games like Bang the Buzzer, Eliminator, 20-Second Challenge and NY Minute will bring out your family’s competitive edge. A minimum of eight players is required to rent out the space.
The Tampa Bay area is home to many great breweries, and some of them are actually fun family-friendly spots. A favorite is 3 Daughters Brewing in downtown St. Pete, home to a wide selection of beers, nonalcoholic drinks like soda, a large food menu and indoor and outdoor spaces with games.
Bring the kids to Largo Central Park for a playground perfect for toddlers and, on the first weekend of every month, a ride on the Largo Central Railroad. On Saturday and Sunday, kids above the age of 1 can board a miniature railroad for free. The modeled scale locomotives pull passengers along a 1-mile loop. While you’re in the area, stop by DK Farms, a locally owned Largo farm that’s home to animals and fun activities like holiday festivals and goat yoga.
Q&A WITH BRITT ADDIS
Britt Addis runs the popular Instagram account @sunshinecitywithkids, offering ideas for fun family activities in St. Pete/Clearwater. Addis lives near downtown St. Pete with her husband and two boys, who are 2 and 5 years old.
THREE OF YOUR TOP ACTIVITIES FOR KIDS UNDER 5 YEARS OLD
1 St. Pete Pier: It's such an easy day with this age group because everything is in one place. There’s a playground, splash pad, beach, restaurants, ice cream and the Tampa Bay Watch Discovery Center.
2 Majeed Discovery Garden at the Florida Botanical Gardens: This is free and full of things for little ones to explore, all in a stunning setting.
3 Great Explorations and Sunken Gardens: These places are literally connected to each other, and both are filled with hours of fun things to see and do for this age group.
THREE OF YOUR TOP ACTIVITIES FOR KIDS OVER 5 YEARS OLD
1 Water sports: St. Pete/Clearwater has some beautiful state parks and estuaries to explore via the water. We love to take our 5-year-old kayaking at Fort De Soto or Shell Key.
2 Museums: For older kids I recommend The Dalí, Fairgrounds St. Pete, the Imagine Museum, Morean Arts Center and the Dunedin Fine Art Center, just to name a few.
3 Visiting a nature preserve/park or aquarium: A day at Boyd Hill, Weedon Island, Brooker Creek, Sawgrass Lake Park and McGough Nature Park will provide endless hours of fun.
CLEARWATER MARINE AQUARIUM
We welcome visitors to Clearwater Marine Aquarium to learn about the aquarium’s mission to preserve the environment and its marine life.
CMA is home to rescued dolphins, sea turtles, river otters, stingrays, and more. Clearwater Marine Aquarium is a working marine rescue center dedicated to inspiring the human spirit through leadership in education, research, rescue, rehabilitation and release.
The mission and potential to change people’s lives differentiates Clearwater Marine Aquarium from any other aquarium in the world.
727-441-1790
cmaquarium.org
@cmaquarium
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