The best things to do in North Lauderdale, FL with kids start inside the city and widen out in rings. Hampton Pines Park, the Jerry Resnick Aquatic Center and the North Lauderdale Sports Complex fill a morning without leaving the city’s 4.7 square miles. About 15 minutes north puts you at Butterfly World and Fern Forest Nature Center. Half an hour east gets you a lifeguarded beach and a science museum. This guide covers all three rings, with age ranges, free options and a plan for the afternoon it rains.
How North Lauderdale Works for Families
North Lauderdale is a 4.7-square-mile residential city in north-central Broward County, home to 44,794 people at the 2020 census (U.S. Census figures via Wikipedia). There’s no beach, no theme park and no hotel inside the city limits. What there is: 17 parks across more than 150 acres, a public pool with a water playground, and a sports complex running soccer, baseball, basketball and cricket (City of North Lauderdale Parks and Recreation).
Think in drive times, the way a parent here already does. Ring one is everything inside the city, zero to 8 minutes, and almost all of it’s free or close to it. Ring two runs 10 to 20 minutes into Coconut Creek, Coral Springs and Sunrise, where the ticketed attractions sit. Ring three is 25 to 35 minutes to the coast and downtown Fort Lauderdale.
Visit Lauderdale calls North Lauderdale a quiet residential suburb, and that’s honest. The big days out are close, but they’re a drive, and nothing past ring one is walkable. For a broader look at the area beyond the family angle, the wider things to do in North Lauderdale guide covers the same ground for all ages.
Inside the City: Free Parks, a Public Pool and Ball Fields
Ring one costs almost nothing. Three city sites carry a full morning for kids from toddler age through middle school, and two of the three are free to enter. This is the layer most guides skip, because they’re really Fort Lauderdale guides wearing a North Lauderdale headline.
Hampton Pines Park
Hampton Pines Park at 7800 Hampton Boulevard is the single best free thing to do in the city with children. There’s a lake for fishing and boating, kayak and paddleboat rentals, two playgrounds, beach volleyball courts and a fitness trail, plus seven pavilions with grills and utility hookups that rent out for parties. Boats run $3 per half hour or $4 per hour, and a small shelter is $70 a day (City of North Lauderdale rental facilities). Anyone 16 to 64 who fishes needs a Florida license (FWC). Book a pavilion ahead for a weekend, and come back in October for Haunted Hamptons, which runs October 9 to 23, 2026 (city events calendar).
Jerry Resnick Aquatic Center
The Jerry Resnick Aquatic Center at 701 SW 71st Avenue has a junior Olympic-size pool and a water playground for small children. The city notes there are no water slides at this time. It’s heated in spring and fall but only open March through October, with weekday hours of 2 to 5 p.m. during the school year and 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily in summer (City of North Lauderdale Aquatics). It shares its address with the sports complex, which makes a swim-then-play afternoon easy. When the pool closes for the winter, the floats, boards and pool bags need somewhere to go, and a 5×5 locker, about the size of a small closet, holds them.
North Lauderdale Sports Complex and Bicentennial Park
The North Lauderdale Sports Complex on Southwest 71st Avenue is where the city’s youth leagues run, including cricket, which is worth knowing about if your family follows it. Every April the city scatters 11,000 filled plastic eggs across the complex for its egg hunt (City of North Lauderdale Parks and Recreation). Check the city calendar before turning up for casual play, because league bookings take many evenings. Bicentennial Park at 6100 Kimberly Boulevard is the smaller everyday option. Two seasons of cleats, bats, bikes and helmets fill a garage quickly, which is why a 5×10 storage unit in North Lauderdale is a common fix.
Big Bang Pizzeria and Little Mike’s Pizza
Big Bang Pizzeria at 977 SW 71st Avenue sits just down the road from the sports complex, which makes it the natural post-game stop. Little Mike’s at 8005 Kimberly Boulevard is the other local slice shop, a family-owned New York-style pizzeria with wings and garlic knots. Both do pickup and delivery, which matters at 8 p.m. on a game night. More options are in the best restaurants in North Lauderdale guide.
10 to 20 Minutes Out: Butterflies and Ferns
Ring two is where the paid attractions start, and both below are north of the city on easy roads. They suit younger children best, and both work as a half day rather than a full one.
Butterfly World
Butterfly World at 3600 W Sample Road sits inside Tradewinds Park in Coconut Creek, with thousands of butterflies in aviaries, tropical gardens and a lorikeet encounter where kids feed the birds from a cup of nectar. It’s open 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Saturday and 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday, with last entry at 4 p.m. Go mid-morning on a sunny day, because that’s when the butterflies are actually flying rather than resting. Hours and admission are on the Butterfly World visitor page. Tradewinds Park is a Broward County regional park, so the county gate fee of $3 per vehicle for eight or fewer occupants applies on weekends and County-observed holidays, and not midweek (Broward County Parks fees).
Fern Forest Nature Center
Fern Forest Nature Center at 201 S Lyons Road in Coconut Creek is a Broward County nature center, flat and shaded, with an elevated boardwalk through cypress swamp and hardwood hammock. Entry is free, because the county’s weekend gate fee applies at its regional parks rather than its nature centers (Broward County Parks fees). The shade is the point: it works on a July morning when open parks are unbearable. Read the interpretive signs near the center with the kids first, because they explain what this corner of Broward looked like before it was built out, and that turns a walk into something they remember.
25 to 35 Minutes Out: Beaches, a Science Museum and Indoor Play
Ring three is the beach and downtown Fort Lauderdale. Budget the drive honestly, because the I-95 corridor slows badly at rush hour. If you want to push further than these, the day trips from North Lauderdale guide covers the two-hour radius.
Pompano Beach and the Fisher Family Pier
Pompano Beach is the most efficient beach day from North Lauderdale because you park once and get a lifeguarded beach, a playground, a splash pad and the Pompano Beach Fisher Family Pier in one stretch. Lifeguards are on duty 9 a.m. to 4:45 p.m., and the Pier Garage at 3460 NE 3rd Street is the easy place to park (Pompano Beach Parks). It gets busy by early afternoon. Bring an umbrella, because the sand itself has no shade.
Lauderdale-by-the-Sea and Friedt Park
Lauderdale-by-the-Sea is the quieter alternative, a low-rise town with a reef about 100 yards off the beach that older kids can snorkel to (Town of Lauderdale-by-the-Sea). Friedt Park on Bougainvilla Drive has a shaded playground with mist machines, which buys you an hour out of the sun, and nearby metered parking caps at three hours. One real caution: there are no lifeguards on this beach.
Museum of Discovery and Science
The Museum of Discovery and Science at 401 SW 2nd Street in downtown Fort Lauderdale is the default rainy-day plan for families across this part of Broward. The Florida Ecoscapes exhibit has otters and alligators, and there are dig pits and the AutoNation IMAX theater. It’s open 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Saturday and noon to 5 p.m. Sunday (MODS), and it’s a Water Taxi stop, so you can arrive by boat and make the trip itself part of the day.
Xtreme Action Park
Xtreme Action Park at 5300 Powerline Road packs more than 200,000 square feet of indoor activity: go-karts, bowling, an arcade, a ropes course, trampolines, roller skating, laser tag, VR and mini golf. It’s open noon to 10 p.m. Monday through Thursday, until 1 a.m. Friday and Saturday, and 10:30 a.m. to 11 p.m. Sunday (Xtreme Action Park). Since Galaxy Skateway on Southgate Boulevard closed, this is the nearest full-size indoor skating and karting complex to North Lauderdale.
Weather, Parking and What to Do When the Sky Opens
Summer highs here run 88 to 90 degrees, and the wet season from May through October brings frequent afternoon thunderstorms. June is the wettest month at about 9.6 inches, with August and September near 8 inches (NOAA climate normals). The storms are short and they cool the afternoon down, so the local habit is outdoor mornings and indoor afternoons rather than canceling the day. Anyone planning a visit around the weather should read the best time to visit North Lauderdale guide.
For a washed-out afternoon with younger children, Kids Hideout at 1495 N Federal Highway in Fort Lauderdale is a boutique indoor playground built around a pretend-play mini city, with a walk-in, all-day open play pass for ages 0 to 8 and enrichment classes (Kids Hideout). Sawgrass Mills in Sunrise is the other reliable indoor hour: more than 350 stores, fully air-conditioned, and plenty of room to walk off energy.
Money-wise, everything in ring one is free or close to it, which is the real answer to the cheap-day question. Beach parking in Pompano and Lauderdale-by-the-Sea is paid, so the garages and a clear time limit keep it predictable.
Hurricane season runs June 1 through November 30, peaking around September 10 with most activity from mid-August to mid-October (NOAA National Hurricane Center). North Lauderdale sits inland at roughly 10 feet of elevation, so surge isn’t the local worry, but wind, rain and power outages are. Between the humidity and storm prep, Halloween costumes, holiday decorations and photo boxes do noticeably better in climate-controlled storage in North Lauderdale than in a garage.
Frequently Asked Questions
What are the best free things to do in North Lauderdale, FL with kids?
Hampton Pines Park is the strongest free option: a lake, two playgrounds, beach volleyball and a fitness trail, with no admission. Bicentennial Park and Silver Lakes Park are smaller free neighborhood options among the city’s 17 parks. Outside the city, Fern Forest Nature Center in Coconut Creek is free, shaded and flat.
What are the best indoor things to do in North Lauderdale, FL with kids?
There’s no large indoor attraction inside the city limits, so the indoor answers are all a drive. Xtreme Action Park in Fort Lauderdale is about 25 minutes and covers karting, bowling, skating, laser tag and mini golf under one roof. The Museum of Discovery and Science and Kids Hideout are both around 30 minutes southeast, and Sawgrass Mills works for an air-conditioned hour.
What’s the most fun place for kids near North Lauderdale?
For ages roughly 3 to 8, Butterfly World in Coconut Creek is a strong pick, largely because of the lorikeet encounter where children feed the birds. For ages 8 and up, Xtreme Action Park wins on sheer variety. If the day has to be cheap, Hampton Pines Park with a rented paddleboat is the closest thing the city has to a guaranteed good afternoon.
Is Fort Lauderdale a good place to go with kids?
Yes, and it’s close enough to treat as North Lauderdale’s backyard at 25 to 35 minutes. The Museum of Discovery and Science, the Water Taxi and Hugh Taylor Birch State Park all work well with children, and Fort Lauderdale Beach Park at 1100 Seabreeze Boulevard is open 5 a.m. to midnight. Traffic on I-95 is the only real friction, so leave outside rush hour.
What can families do in North Lauderdale with kids this weekend?
A typical local weekend starts with a morning at Hampton Pines Park or, from March through October, the Jerry Resnick Aquatic Center, then lunch at one of the pizzerias near the sports complex and an afternoon at Butterfly World or on the sand at Pompano Beach. In October, add Haunted Hamptons; each April brings the city egg hunt and the North Lauderdale Days festival.
Where Value Store It Fits In
Families in North Lauderdale run out of room in a predictable order: strollers first, then bikes, then the plastic bins that only come out in December. Value Store It keeps two facilities in the city, both rented month-to-month with no long-term contract.
Our North Lauderdale location covers the middle and far end of that range. 10×5 storage handles the contents of one room, and a 5×15 unit takes the contents of two rooms, about a studio apartment. 10×10 storage units fit a one-bedroom apartment, 10×15 space a two-bedroom apartment and a 10×20 unit a three-bedroom home. A 10×30 unit holds a four-bedroom home, and RV parking in North Lauderdale takes the camper that won’t fit beside the house.
The North Lauderdale II facility carries its own lineup a short drive away. It starts with a 5×5 locker at North Lauderdale II and a 5×10 unit at the second site for boxes and gear, runs through 10×5, 10×10, 10×15 and 10×20 sizes, and adds climate-controlled units at North Lauderdale II plus boat storage and car storage for whatever currently lives in the driveway. If you’re not sure which size fits, the storage unit size calculator is faster than guessing, and staff at either facility can walk you through an empty unit before you commit.
