About a month ago I was contacted by www.WeJustGotBack.com to write a guest post of five free things for kids to do in the Cleveland area. And it couldn’t be seasonal, like the Cleveland Orchestra’s annual free summer concert on Public Square or this week’s Winterfest complete with fireworks, nor could it be for locals only, like the Zoo’s free admission to Cuyahoga County residents on Mondays.
So, here is the list I came up with for the post. If you want details, you’re going to have to visit the blog at WeJustGotBack.com. 🙂 Plus, for the month of November, there’s a post for a different city each day full of free activities.
- Lake Erie Nature & Science Center
- Rockefeller Park Greenhouse
- Cleveland Museum of Art
- NASA Glenn Research Center
- Wade Oval
Other free things to do in and around Cleveland include:
- The Nature Center at Shaker Lakes
- Enjoying the Cleveland Metroparks or Cuyahoga Valley National Park
- Build a sandcastle at the beach or drive along Coastal Ohio
- Ride a bike along the Ohio & Erie Canalway Towpath Trail
- Play in Squire’s Castle
- St. Patrick’s Day Parade
- Cleveland Orchestra community concerts: MLK Day at Severance Hall and July 4th week on Public Square
- Winterfest
- Free events at University Circle include Parade the Circle, Holiday Circlefest and Wade Oval Wednesdays
- Most festivals throughout the summer are free
- International Women’s Air and Space Museum at Burke Lakefront Airport
- Preston’s H.O.P.E Playground
- Explore Lakeview Cemetery, Garfield Monument and Wade Chapel
- Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland Learning Center and Money Museum
- Cleveland Browns Training Camp in Berea
- Pro Football Hall of Fame Parade
- The Sculpture Center
- Cleveland Police Historical Society Museum
- MLK Day – free admission to many area museums
- Holiday activities downtown at Tower City Center
Can you think of more? Please share!
Until next time,
Lorelei
Filed under: cleveland events, cleveland things to do, discounts, family | Tagged: cleveland, cleveland events, cleveland things to do, family, free admission, kid-friendly, kids activities |
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I found out through a link on your blog that the showrooms for Rainbow playgrounds have open play for an hour a couple times a week. There are several showrooms around the city. Nothing touristy, but perfect to get my kids moving around, especially because they are way past the mall playground age (which I dislike going to anyway). I sure hope I’m right that these showrooms are indoors 🙂
Just a side note, the NASA Glenn Center only allows admission to US Citizens.
Thanks Renata! I’d heard of this before, I think several of the Playground World locations, that sell rainbow playgrounds, do this. http://www.pgworld.com/
The toddler is still happy with the mall playgrounds, we go to Southpark or Great Northern malls often in the winter when the toddler just needs to get out of the house for an hour on a Saturday or Sunday. But in about another year we’re going to have to find something more challenging for him!
Yes, that’s the place! Thanks for the link because I couldn’t remember if I had bookmarked it. Interestingly enough, their website has changed since I saw it 2 weeks ago (although maybe I was looking at an old one). I’m glad you posted the link because the one I was going to take my kids to is now used as warehouse only (but the other one is just as far away). A downer for working parents, though, is that the free play is not offered on weekends, although both locations listed have them on Friday mornings.
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On Sat. April 2nd from 12-4 we’ll be having our 3rd annual Kidz Spring Spectacular. Last year about 1,200 people came. We’ll have 6 inflatables, 2 balloon artists, games, bowling, face painting, food, candy, and more! Everything is free. NO donations accepted. It’ll be at Brush High School. For more info feel free to visit http://www.lovecleveland.org or call 216-297-9399