22 Boston Museums for Kids to Explore

Amanda Banta:  Battleship Cove combines history with an exciting hands-on museum experience for families. The complex is home to five vessels that are National Historic Landmarks, including the USS Massachusetts, built in and launched from Quincy in 1941. There are exhibits on board the ships as well as in the Maritime Museum, which celebrates Fall River's maritime history. Also within the complex is a restored antique wooden carousel dating back to 1919.

The highlight of the Waterworks Museum is the set of towering 19th century steam engines that once pumped millions of gallons of fresh water into Boston. Kids can learn about one of the first metropolitan water systems through a variety of exhibits and special events.

Amanda Banta:  At the Children's Museum in Easton, kids can get a hands-on learning experience in everything from dinosaurs to rocket ships, with a pretend theater, STEM lab and a fishing boat in between. Also, there is an outdoor space used in good weather for a butterfly garden, a tree house exploration and for fossil discovery.

The Museum is housed in a former fire station and there's still a brass fire pole in the building. Kids can channel their inner fireman and slide down the pole on the way to an emergency!

Erin P.:  The Blue Hills Trailside Museum is located within the 7,000-acre Blue Hills Reservation. The museum is home to a natural history museum as well as outdoor wildlife exhibits. The wildlife exhibits feature animals, such as snowy owls and a river otter, that have been rescued and would not be able to survive on their own in the wild.

Tracy Snyder Molina:  Explore thousands of specimens drawn from Harvard’s vast research collections including dinosaurs, meteorites, gemstones and animals from around the globe. Be sure to check out the world’s only mounted Kronosaurus, a 1600 pound amethyst geode and the world famous Glass Flowers exhibit.

Tracy Snyder Molina:   The Peabody Museum is among the oldest archaeological and ethnographic museums in the world with one of the finest collections of human cultural history found anywhere. Kids will particularly enjoy the impressive and towering Native American totem poles and ancient Mayan sculptures on exhibit.

The Harvard Museum of the Ancient Near East always offers free admission. This Museum explores the rich history of cultures connected by the family of Semitic languages. Exhibitions include a full-scale replica of an ancient Israelite home, life sized casts of famous Mesopotamian monuments, authentic mummy coffins, and tablets containing the earliest forms of writing.

Tracy Snyder Molina:  Set in a beautiful 15th-century Venetian-style palace with 3 stories of galleries including a gorgeous flower-filled courtyard, the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum is a unique museum with lots to look at and enjoy for visitors of all ages. Family guides are available free of charge at the information area in the Living Room. The Education Studio offers Saturday drop-in art activities for kids over 7.

Tracy Snyder Molina:  The MFA is one of the most comprehensive art museums in the world with nearly 500,000 works of art. For a fun family activity, try the Art Connections Cards. Search for objects and images to learn interesting facts and get ideas for art-making activities!

Tracy Snyder Molina:  The Mapparium's world-famous, 3-story, stained-glass globe offers a three-dimensional perspective of the world of 1935, enhanced by A World of Ideas, an original presentation that features a rich orchestration of words, music, and LED lights to illustrate how ideas have traversed time and geography and changed the world.

Tracy Snyder Molina:  A host of science-based exhibits thrill families, including a garden walk & insect zoo, indoor lightning demonstrations and a play-based park exhibit where kids can learn about the science of motion. Dinosaur lovers won't want to miss the nearly-complete triceratops skeleton and full-size T-rex model. Kids love shows in the 4-D theater, planetarium and IMAX dome.

Tracy Snyder Molina:  The John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum is dedicated to the memory of our nation's 35th president and to all those who seek a better world through the art of politics. School-aged children familiar with this period of history are best suited for a visit to the museum exhibits. Younger children will enjoy the museum's free family Celebrate! Events.

Tracy Snyder Molina:  The Boston Sports Museum, housed on the 5th and 6th levels of TD Garden, holds a half-mile of exhibits with some of Boston's best sports memorabilia. Visit exhibits dedicated to Boston hockey legend Bobby Orr, mementos from the original Boston Garden, Adam Vinatieri's Super Bowl shoes and more. A great stop for any Boston sports fan!

Tracy Snyder Molina:  Perfect for families to gather and discuss the history of "Old Ironsides," the USS Constitution Museum features several hands-on exhibits. The USS Constitution Ship offers self paced tours of the top three decks. Crew members are on hand to answer questions and give oral presentations about the ship's storied past.

Amanda Banta:  Climb 294 stairs to the top of the Bunker Hill Monument to get a bird's eye view of the Boston skyline alongside your history fix. The granite structure, towering more than 200 feet high, is a tribute to one of the first battles of the American Revolution. If you aren't ready for that climb, you can enjoy the green area around the structure and explore the Bunker Hill museum across the street, which is an old branch of the Boston Public Library.