Most of the best things to do in Hollywood, FL with kids sit inside a 10-minute drive of each other: the free water playground at Charnow Park on the Broadwalk, ArtsPark at Young Circle downtown, the mangrove boardwalks at Anne Kolb Nature Center and, in season, the Castaway Island water playground at T.Y. Park. A sea turtle center, an indoor kart track, a weekend market and the region’s best ice cream counter sit in the same ring, and the bigger museums and animal parks are 20 to 45 minutes out. This guide runs by drive time, and each entry says whether it’s indoor, whether it has shade and roughly what age it suits.
Drive Times, Shade and Air Conditioning in Hollywood
Hollywood covers about 30.78 square miles, water included (Hollywood, Florida), but the family map is small. A base anywhere between the Intracoastal and the sand puts the beach, downtown and two county parks inside 15 minutes, so plan around shade and air conditioning rather than distance. From June through September the afternoon is the constraint, not the drive.
Shade is the scarce thing. The Broadwalk is unshaded brick and belongs to early morning and the hour before sunset, while ArtsPark has trees, Anne Kolb has boardwalks through the mangroves, and T.Y. Park has picnic shelters you can claim. Truly indoor options inside the city limits are thin, which is why a 20-minute drive north matters on a wet day. One local rule saves arguments: the city’s plastic and foam ban covers city property, including the beach, the parks and ArtsPark, so leave single-use plastics at home.
Under 10 Minutes: Water Play, County Parks and the Local Standbys
Hollywood Beach Broadwalk and Charnow Park
The Broadwalk stretches nearly 2.5 miles along the ocean from Jefferson Street to Sheridan Street, closed to cars and lined with cafes the whole way, and Charnow Park sits along it with a children’s water playground. The splash play is free, and it’s the reason to pick this stretch with anyone under about 8. Halfway up, the FlowRider Double surf simulator at Margaritaville Hollywood Beach Resort keeps an audience of children watching adults fall off it, and watching costs nothing.
Beach mornings leave a family with more equipment than it started with. Boards, a wagon, folding chairs and a bike per child have to live somewhere, and a 5×10 storage unit in Hollywood, about the size of a small walk-in closet, takes the lot without giving up the garage.
ArtsPark at Young Circle
ArtsPark at Young Circle is 10 acres of green in the middle of downtown, with a playground and splash pad, an amphitheater and free movie nights on Friday evenings, according to the city’s ArtsPark page. It’s the best free evening option in the city once kids are done with the beach. Bring a blanket, and leave the plastic bottles in the car. Hollywood Hot Glass works out of the park’s Visual Arts Pavilion and runs live glass-blowing demonstrations you can watch.
Anne Kolb Nature Center
Anne Kolb Nature Center sits inside West Lake Park, a mangrove estuary of roughly 1,500 acres on Sheridan Street, and it’s the best shaded outdoor outing in the city. Boardwalks run through the mangroves to a 68-foot, five-level observation tower, and the exhibit building holds a 3,500-gallon aquarium and a hands-on Eco Room (VISIT FLORIDA). Kayak rentals and a narrated boat tour cover families who’d rather be on the water than beside it.
T.Y. Park and Castaway Island
T.Y. Park at 3300 N Park Road holds Castaway Island, a Caribbean-themed water complex with a large swimming lagoon, slides, water cannons and rain curtains, plus a toddler pool with water animals and spray fountains, according to Broward County Parks. It’s seasonal: open spring through September, weekends only at the start and end of the season, so check the calendar before you go. Hours run roughly 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., a day pass is $10 a person ($6 after 3 p.m.), and the park gate adds $3 per vehicle carrying eight or fewer people on weekends and County holidays, with nothing to pay on a weekday. Weekday mornings in summer are the calm version.
Marine Environmental Education Center
The Marine Environmental Education Center at 4414 N Surf Road, run by Nova Southeastern University in Hollywood North Beach Park, is home to two resident sea turtles, Captain and Cane, alongside the historic Carpenter House and hands-on conservation exhibits. It’s open Tuesday through Saturday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., admission is free to the general public, and parking is municipal metered only, per NSU’s visit page. This is two turtles and an exhibit, not an aquarium, so set expectations first.
K1 Speed Indoor Go-Karts
K1 Speed at 2950 Stirling Road runs indoor electric go-kart racing on two tracks, one for adults and one for juniors, with an arcade and the Paddock Lounge attached. Despite the Fort Lauderdale in its name, the track is in Hollywood. Junior drivers must be at least 48 inches tall (K1 Speed), which is worth measuring at home before you promise anyone a race.
Yellow Green Farmers Market
Yellow Green Farmers Market at 3080 Sheridan Street fills its grounds with food, produce and craft stalls on Saturdays and Sundays, 10 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. year-round. The food aisles are the part children remember. Parking is $8 in the north lot and $15 in the south lot and free after 5 p.m., per the market’s site, and the line to get in can be slow, so arrive before noon.
Jaxson’s Ice Cream Parlor in Dania Beach
Jaxson’s has been scooping in Dania Beach, not Hollywood, since 1956, with more than 50 flavors made daily plus dairy-free and sugar-free options, alongside a menu of American classics. The Kitchen Sink sundae is built for parties of four or more at roughly a pound of ice cream per person and arrives with sparklers, which is either the highlight of the trip or a mistake, depending on bedtime. It’s open until 11 p.m. Sunday through Thursday and midnight on Friday and Saturday, per Jaxson’s.
10 to 25 Minutes: The Indoor Museums
Museum of Discovery and Science
The Museum of Discovery and Science in Fort Lauderdale is the region’s main hands-on science museum for children, with live-animal exhibits in Florida EcoScapes, a makerspace and an IMAX theater (Museum of Discovery and Science). It’s fully indoor and air-conditioned, about 20 minutes north, and it’s the best place to spend a wet afternoon within half an hour of Hollywood. Plan on three hours.
Young at Art Museum
Young at Art Museum is an indoor children’s museum of interactive galleries, and since 2021 it’s been inside Broward Mall in Plantation, about 25 minutes northwest (Young at Art). It suits under-10s best, and older children tend to burn through it in 90 minutes. Being in a mall helps on a wet day, because lunch and a walk are under the same roof.
25 to 45 Minutes: Animals and Airboats
Butterfly World and Tradewinds Park
Butterfly World in Coconut Creek keeps around 20,000 butterflies and birds across six aviaries, with a bug zoo, a vine maze, a swinging bridge and a Lorikeet Encounter where nectar cups cost a little extra (Butterfly World). Much of it sits under netting and shade, so it holds up in heat better than an open park. The surrounding Tradewinds Park adds an educational farm, model steam train rides and a playground, and as a Broward regional park its gate costs $3 per vehicle carrying eight or fewer people on weekends and County holidays. It’s about 35 minutes north, and a whole day.
Everglades Holiday Park
Everglades Holiday Park, a 29-acre park at 21940 Griffin Road, runs airboat tours out into the Everglades and is open 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. (Everglades Holiday Park). It’s roughly 40 minutes west. Alligators, wading birds and sawgrass are the draw, and half a day covers it. Go in the morning during summer, before afternoon storms roll in. Children who dislike noise should try ear defenders first.
Parking, Storms and the Hours That Work With Small Children
Treat 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. from June through September as indoor or pool time. The rainy season runs roughly June through October, and June is the wettest month at about 9.6 inches, according to NOAA’s 1991 to 2020 normals for Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport. Afternoon storms are the usual pattern, which is why locals do the beach early, eat lunch inside and come back out at 5.
Beach parking is the other thing to plan. The Garfield, Nevada Street and Margaritaville garages plus on-street meters serve the Broadwalk, and all of them fill on winter weekends. To avoid moving the car twice, use the city’s all-electric Sun Shuttle, which runs in an East zone covering downtown and the beach and a West zone, meeting at City Hall. Rides booked through the Circuit app cost $2 per rider, you can also flag one down on the street and ride the route the driver is already on, and the free Holly-Go shuttle runs a fixed route.
Humidity is the quiet enemy of anything a family owns here. Strollers, camping gear and paper keepsakes left in a hot garage through a South Florida summer come out warped or mildewed, so climate-controlled storage in Hollywood is the default rather than an upgrade. Households mid-move often use a 10×10 unit, which holds the contents of a one-bedroom apartment, and a 5×5 locker, about the size of a small closet, holds the crib, the high chair and the bins kept back for a second child.
One last note. The Marine Environmental Education Center and the Art and Culture Center of Hollywood both run on set days and calendars rather than daily programming, so check before you drive. And the best time to visit Hollywood with children isn’t the adult answer, because May, after the December-through-April peak season, brings warm water without winter crowds or August heat.
Frequently Asked Questions
What are some fun things to do in Hollywood, Florida with kids?
Start with the Hollywood Beach Broadwalk and the free water playground at Charnow Park, then add ArtsPark at Young Circle for the splash pad and Friday movies. Anne Kolb Nature Center gives you mangrove boardwalks, T.Y. Park has the Castaway Island water playground from spring through September, and K1 Speed covers the indoor option. Jaxson’s in Dania Beach handles dessert.
What are the best free things to do in Hollywood, FL with kids?
Charnow Park’s water playground, the Broadwalk itself, ArtsPark and its Friday movie nights, the glass-blowing demonstrations at Hollywood Hot Glass and the Downtown Hollywood Mural Project all cost nothing. The Marine Environmental Education Center is free to the general public too. The monthly Hollywood Beach Sweep, which meets at Charnow Park on the second Saturday from 7 to 11 a.m., takes children 8 and up with an adult.
What are the best indoor things to do in Hollywood, FL with kids?
K1 Speed on Stirling Road is the main indoor option inside the city, with two go-kart tracks and an arcade. Anne Kolb Nature Center’s exhibit building, with its aquarium and Eco Room, works as a partial fallback. For a full rainy day, drive 20 minutes north to the Museum of Discovery and Science or 25 minutes to Young at Art Museum inside Broward Mall in Plantation.
What toddler activities are there in Hollywood, FL?
Charnow Park’s splash play and the toddler pool at Castaway Island are the two easiest wins with toddlers; the first is free, and the second charges a day pass and only opens in season. ArtsPark’s playground and splash pad sit next to shade and benches downtown. At Anne Kolb, the tower has an elevator as well as stairs, but the boardwalks are the better bet with a stroller.
What are some fun and family-friendly activities in Fort Lauderdale?
Fort Lauderdale is about 20 minutes north, and its main family draw is the Museum of Discovery and Science, which is indoor, air-conditioned and built for hands-on play. Las Olas Boulevard adds shops and restaurants, and the Water Taxi is a ride in itself. You can board it at the Hollywood stop at Margaritaville Hollywood Beach Resort, ride to the Hilton Marina in Fort Lauderdale and transfer there for Las Olas and the Galleria.
Where Hollywood Families Keep the Gear Between Seasons
Beach chairs, paddleboards and holiday bins are what a family collects in a beach city, and Value Store It’s Hollywood location rents month-to-month with no long-term contract, so the space can match the season. 10×5 units hold the contents of one room and suit long, awkward gear like boards and folded canopies. For a household in transit, 10×15 storage holds a two-bedroom apartment’s worth, a 10×20 space takes a three-bedroom home, and the 10×30 units, a garage and a half, fit a four-bedroom home. If you’re guessing, the storage size guide beats a tape measure.
Once the kids’ menu has run its course, the pillar guide to things to do in Hollywood covers the wider set, day trips from Hollywood orders the region by drive time, and the guide to where to eat in Hollywood picks up the dinner problem.
