The best things to do in Fort Lauderdale, FL with kids fall into two groups: the beaches, playgrounds and animal parks you do outdoors, and the short list of indoor places that rescue a rained-out afternoon. Almost all of it sits within a 40-minute drive of the sand, and several of the best options cost nothing beyond parking. This guide covers the outdoor half first, then the indoor half, with honest parking notes and which places close on Mondays.
Where the Family Attractions Actually Sit
Fort Lauderdale runs on three parallel strips: the beach and its hotels along A1A, the Intracoastal Waterway a few blocks inland, and the downtown museum cluster on the New River about 2 miles west of the sand. From a beach hotel, nearly everything in the city is under half an hour away. Broward County also packs 31 municipalities edge to edge, according to Visit Lauderdale’s fun facts, so several of the best family days happen in Dania Beach, Davie, Coconut Creek or Pompano Beach. This guide names the real town for each stop.
Outdoor Things to Do in Fort Lauderdale With Kids
Start outdoors, and start early. The wet season runs May through October with frequent afternoon thunderstorms, so mornings belong outside and the afternoon is when you buy museum tickets.
Fort Lauderdale Beach Park and Hugh Taylor Birch State Park
Fort Lauderdale Beach Park is the simplest beach day with kids of any age, because the playground, grills and picnic tables sit right behind the sand. The lot fills by mid-morning on weekends. Across the road, Hugh Taylor Birch State Park is the better value. It’s open 8 a.m. to sunset every day and charges $6 per vehicle carrying two to eight people, according to Florida State Parks’ hours and fees page. Inside you get a 1.9-mile loop road through tropical hammock, playgrounds, a pedestrian tunnel under A1A to the beach, and Intracoastal frontage where kids watch the yachts pass.
Whiskey Creek at Dr. Von D. Mizell-Eula Johnson State Park
Whiskey Creek is the answer for toddlers and nervous swimmers. It’s a shallow mangrove-lined tidal waterway running parallel to the beach in Dania Beach, 20 minutes south, with calm water and no surf. Restrooms, showers and picnic tables with grills are spread through the park, which isn’t true of most beaches here, and Whiskey Creek Hideout rents kayaks and paddleboards for older kids. The park opens at 8 a.m. and closes at sunset, with a per-vehicle entry fee.
Friedt Park and the Lauderdale-by-the-Sea Beachfront
Friedt Park, 15 minutes north in Lauderdale-by-the-Sea, has a shaded playground with mist machines, a short walk from the beach, and it’s a good fit for younger children who wilt in the sun. Parents need to know there are no lifeguards on this beach; the town commission voted against adding them in 2024, as WSVN reported. Parking nearby is metered with a 3-hour maximum.
Pompano Beach Pier and Its Splash Pad
Pompano Beach is the best four-in-one stop in the region: a lifeguarded beach, a playground, a splash pad and the Fisher Family Pier itself, where sightseeing is free and only fishing carries a fee. Lifeguards are on duty 9 a.m. to 4:45 p.m. every day, according to Pompano Beach Parks. It’s 25 minutes north and busy by afternoon, so come early and use the Pier Garage at 3460 NE 3rd St.
Flamingo Gardens in Davie
Flamingo Gardens is a 60-acre wildlife sanctuary and botanical garden 25 minutes west in Davie, with flamingos, river otters, a Florida panther, alligators and an aviary of more than 250 Florida-native birds. Wildlife encounter shows run at 11:30 a.m., 1:30 p.m. and 3:30 p.m., and the gates are open 9:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily, with last entry at 4 p.m. Kids can book a Flamingo Encounter to feed the birds up close, but Visit Lauderdale’s Flamingo Gardens guide notes those sessions sell out and pause during mating season from March through mid-August.
Butterfly World in Coconut Creek
Butterfly World in Coconut Creek, 30 minutes north, holds about 20,000 butterflies and birds in walk-through aviaries, plus a lorikeet feeding where the birds land on you. Plan an hour or two rather than a day. It’s open Monday through Saturday 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Sunday 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Last entry is 4 p.m., and the butterfly and lorikeet areas close at 4:30 p.m. The nectar cups are cash only, which catches people out.
Everglades Holiday Park: Airboats and the Gator Show
Everglades Holiday Park is a Broward County park on Griffin Road at the edge of the Everglades, about 35 minutes from the beach. It carries a Fort Lauderdale mailing address but sits well outside the city itself. The airboat ride through the sawgrass runs about 60 minutes and includes a gator show. School-age kids love it, and the engine noise is a lot for toddlers, so bring ear protection. Hands-on animal encounters are a separate $49.99 add-on. The park opens at 9 a.m., and the last tour leaves at 5 p.m. in spring and summer and 4 p.m. in fall and winter, per the park’s hours and prices page. Our guide to day trips from Fort Lauderdale covers the longer runs west.
Boat Rides on the New River and the Intracoastal
The Fort Lauderdale Water Taxi is transport and attraction at once, running daily 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. across more than 30 stops, so a family downtown can reach the beach without a car. You can buy tickets at the dock on the day, but according to the Water Taxi FAQ, guests who already hold a ticket board first, so buying ahead saves waiting on a busy afternoon.
Bluefoot Pirate Adventures is one of the most reliably kid-pleasing hours around. The 1-hour family cruise is for all ages and leaves from Dania Beach Marina, with costume dress-up before boarding and a water-cannon battle against a pirate on the water. Sail times vary day to day, so reserve ahead and pair it with a morning at Whiskey Creek nearby.
The Jungle Queen Riverboat has sailed since 1935 and leaves Bahia Mar for a 90-minute narrated cruise past mega yachts, waterfront homes and the entrance to Port Everglades. It runs Wednesday through Sunday, and reservations are required.
Indoor and Rainy-Day Things to Do With Kids
South Florida rain arrives fast and usually passes within an hour, but a wet August afternoon still needs a plan B.
Museum of Discovery and Science
The Museum of Discovery and Science, downtown beside the Broward Center for the Performing Arts, is the default rainy-afternoon answer in Fort Lauderdale. Its Florida Ecoscapes exhibit covers local wildlife and the Everglades, and the AutoNation IMAX Theater has the largest movie screen in South Florida. It’s open every day (Sunday from noon), holds school-age children for most of a day and works for preschoolers in shorter bursts.
Xtreme Action Park
Xtreme Action Park puts indoor go-karts, bowling, roller skating, laser tag and a large arcade under one roof on Powerline Road, which is why it lands on every Broward family list as the bad-weather fallback. It suits older kids and teens best, and it’s the rare place where a 9-year-old and a 15-year-old both stay busy. Check height requirements on the venue’s own site first.
NSU Art Museum Fort Lauderdale
NSU Art Museum sits at the western end of Las Olas Boulevard and is free for children 12 and under and for students aged 13 to 17, which makes it the best-value indoor hour in the city. Everyone gets in free on the first Thursday of the month, when hours run 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. It’s open Tuesday to Saturday 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Sunday noon to 5 p.m., and it’s closed Mondays.
Parking, Weather and What Closes on Mondays
Check the day of the week before you drive anywhere. NSU Art Museum is closed Mondays and the Jungle Queen doesn’t sail Monday or Tuesday, which quietly ruins a lot of first days. Beach parking is the other problem: public lots fill by mid-morning on weekends, and one per-vehicle fee at a state park usually beats feeding a meter all day.
Weather shapes the schedule more than anything else. June is the wettest month, and the Atlantic hurricane season runs June 1 through November 30 and peaks on September 10, according to the National Hurricane Center. Anything you’d hate to lose to Florida humidity belongs in climate-controlled storage in Fort Lauderdale rather than a hot garage. Our best time to visit Fort Lauderdale guide breaks the year down month by month.
Walkability is narrow here. Las Olas, the Riverwalk and downtown work on foot, and the Water Taxi covers the gap to the beach, but everything else needs a car. Families who want the hotel to carry some of the load book the Pelican Grand Beach Resort for Fort Lauderdale’s only lazy river, or Lago Mar Beach Resort and Club, where parking is included, which is genuinely rare on this coast. More sit in our roundup of family-friendly hotels in Fort Lauderdale. One last local tip: bring a wagon, not a stroller, and remember that a 5×10 storage unit, about the size of a small walk-in closet, holds the whole beach kit between seasons.
Where Fort Lauderdale Families Keep the Overflow
Raising children here means owning a lot of equipment, and a Florida garage without a basement or usable attic fills up fast. Value Store It rents in Fort Lauderdale month-to-month with no long-term contract, and the sizes step up alongside family life. A 5×5 locker, about the size of a small closet, takes the boxes of baby gear you’re keeping for the next one. A 10×5 unit offers the same 50 square feet as the 5×10 with the door on the long wall, enough for the contents of one room, and a 5×15 unit holds the contents of two rooms, bikes and paddleboards included.
Bigger jobs scale from there. A 10×10 unit holds a one-bedroom apartment’s worth while a house gets renovated, a 10×15 unit fits a two-bedroom apartment, and a 10×20 unit takes a three-bedroom home. The 10×30 unit handles a four-bedroom home. The storage unit size calculator beats guessing.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Fort Lauderdale a good place to visit with kids?
Yes. Greater Fort Lauderdale has 24 miles of beaches, several lifeguarded with playgrounds nearby, plus calm no-surf water at Whiskey Creek for small children and animal parks within a 30-minute drive. The tourism board dates the city’s shift away from a spring break identity to 1986.
What are some free things to do in Fort Lauderdale with kids?
The Riverwalk along the New River is free to walk and the best orientation hour for a first visit. Pompano Beach’s Fisher Family Pier is free for sightseeing and charges only for fishing, Friedt Park’s shaded playground costs nothing, and beach access is free even where parking isn’t. NSU Art Museum is free for children 12 and under and for students aged 13 to 17, and free for everyone on the first Thursday of the month.
What can I do with kids in Fort Lauderdale today?
Check the day and the sky first. On a Monday, NSU Art Museum is closed and the Jungle Queen doesn’t sail, so aim for a state park or the science museum. If a storm is coming, head to the Museum of Discovery and Science or Xtreme Action Park. On a clear morning, Fort Lauderdale Beach Park plus a Water Taxi hop covers most ages.
What’s there to do in Fort Lauderdale with teens?
Teens do better with go-karts and open water than with playgrounds. Xtreme Action Park handles the indoor half, and in Lauderdale-by-the-Sea the reef sits within about 100 yards of the beach, which makes beginner snorkeling worthwhile rather than a novelty. Colony West Golf Club in Tamarac lets under-17s play free with a paying adult after 3 p.m.
What indoor kid activities are there in Fort Lauderdale?
The Museum of Discovery and Science is the main one, with Florida wildlife and Everglades exhibits plus an IMAX theater. Xtreme Action Park covers go-karts, bowling and skating under one roof, and NSU Art Museum is the quiet, cheap option. The Galleria at Fort Lauderdale is air-conditioned when you just need to be dry.
Planning the Rest of the Trip
Two days covers the essentials: a beach morning with a playground, a boat ride, and one museum held back for weather. For everything beyond the family list, our wider guide to things to do in Fort Lauderdale picks up where this one stops. If you’re moving here rather than visiting, the team at our Fort Lauderdale storage facility can talk through what fits what you own.
