Top 10 Kid-Friendly Ways to Celebrate Fall in Seattle

We know that there are parents out there (besides ours—and hi, Mom) who read Seattlest, Or, maybe you're a parent who's just moved to the Seattle area and wondering what the natives do when The Grim strikes again for the winter. Or maybe you've got young visitors coming into town, and you're not sure how to entertain them. We also know that sometimes parents just need a list to activate our sleep-deprived brains. We're raising cups of coffee in solidarity.

Here are some of our favorite ways to celebrate autumn with the kiddos in Seattle.

1. Take in a show at the Seattle Children’s Theater at the Seattle Center. Currently, they are running an adaptation of your bedtime favorite and ours, Harold and the Purple Crayon.

2. Go to a pumpkin patch, a corn maze, or a cider mill (or all three). The helpful (and free) Seattle’s Child magazine has a great list here.

3. Some of our most popular tourist attractions are good for kids, too, with good reason. If you live here, be a tourist in your own town. Check out the Pacific Science Center, the Seattle Aquarium, the EMP (Experience Music Project), and the Woodland Park Zoo. If you plan to visit several of these,make sure you look at the CityPass program if it will fit your needs.

4. Need to burn off some energy? Take a family indoor hike through the main branch of the Seattle Central Public Library, starting at the top and walking all the way down the spiral stacks to the kid’s section. Alternately, there’s a great list of covered or sheltered playgrounds here at the website Red Tricycle.

5. Eating options can include a well-maintained play area AND good grownup-friendly food. (We’d like to see more of these, please.) Try Twirl Cafe in Queen Anne, Vios in Ravenna Third Place Books or Capitol Hill, Serendipity Cafe in Magnolia.

6. Go to some of the best kid-friendly sections in city bookstores: Elliott Bay Books, Alphabet Soup in Wallingford, Secret Garden in Ballard.

7. Need an aquatic change of scene? There's nothing like a boat ride to make you feel like you've "gotten away" without actually going very far. If it’s not too chilly, take the water taxi to West Seattle, or any of the short ferry rides (Seattle-Bainbridge, Seattle-Bremerton).

8. Museums: not only the renowned Children’s Museum of Seattle, but also day trips to the children’s museums in Bellevue, Tacoma, and Olympia. Art museums like the Tacoma Art Museum have kid-friendly “make your own art” areas. And don’t forget other museums such as the Wing Luke Museum in the ID, or the Northwest African American History museum, the Museum of Flight, or the Burke Museum of Natural History and Culture at UW.

9. Tour a different neighborhood. Here’s a sample neighborhood tour: visit the Gasworks Park Kite Shop in Wallingford, stop at Essential Baking Company for snacks, then head out to Gasworks Park to fly the kites. Visit the Fremont Troll for endless picture opportunities.

10. More parks that are worthwhile: Carkeek Park, Volunteer Park (with conservatory). And last but not least, the Japanese garden in the Arboretum will have spectacular opportunities to see and collect fall foliage.