Family Friendly Activities in Las Vegas

 

Bringing kids to Vegas is a controversial topic, but it’s one of the entertainment capitals of the world, and tons of kids LIVE there, so there is no shortage of kid friendly things to do in Las Vegas. It’s one of our family’s favorite places to visit, and we actually spend several months there each year!

As a family who travels full time in our RV, we can go wherever we want, whenever we want! Our kids enjoy playing sports, so we settle down in Las Vegas each fall so we can enroll them in fall sports.

Where We Stay

We stay in the Thousand Trails park in Las Vegas, where we can stay free for 21 days at a time. It’s not the nicest park in the city, but it’s free with our membership, and because we have so many friends that use the Thousand Trails system, we always have friends passing through which is so much fun. We do our week out just down the road at Arizona Charlie’s. We have also stayed at Oasis Rv Resort, which is the nicest RV park in Vegas, but also the priciest!

Entertainment

There are so many entertainment options in Las Vegas, it can be overwhelming, so we will highlight some of our personal favorite things to do, so you can narrow down your options a bit if you’re planning a trip to the Vegas Valley. We always search for free things to do whenever we visit an area, so I’ll start with some of our favorite FREE things for families to do in Las Vegas!

Family-Friendly things to do on the Las Vegas strip

We will start with free stuff to do on the Vegas Strip. We have a big truck, so our favorite place to park for free is at Palazzo. We JUST fit in with their height limit if 7’.  Another free parking option its Treasure Island. They have one floor in their parking garage for taller vehicles. 

If you are flying into Vegas and won’t have a vehicle, check out this convenient option for getting around. 

Here is a list of some of the free things to do on the strip:

Simply walking through the hotels is mesmerizing. The Venetian is one of my favorites, with the gondolas and blue sky painted ceilings…we really enjoy just walking around and seeing all the beautiful architecture and decor!

Free family-friendly things to do off the Las Vegas strip

Container Park is downtown on Fremont street and is a must-see if you have kids! It’s a retail, dining, and play park made entirely of shipping containers (look for the 55-foot-tall fire breathing praying mantis outside). There is a large, contained playing area where kids can run wild and have fun. Just a few steps away is the…

Fremont Street Experience. This area is under a canopy of LED lights paired with music where you can see really cool light displays right above your head. The canopy is about 50x bigger than the world’s largest electric sign and runs the length of four blocks, and the light show starts at dark. There’s also a zip line you can do down the street and under the canopy (not free). Most of the street gets blocked off to anyone under 21 after a certain time at night though.

Wetlands Park is truly a hidden gem in Las Vegas. I’m so glad a friend recommended it. It contains a series of trails through various terrains that we really enjoy. There is an AMAZING nature center there that is super informative and educational. You can spend hours just in the nature center learning about the area and its inhabitants. You could easily spend several days exploring all the trails and the nature center in depth. GREAT roadschooling activity!

The Silverton Hotel and Casino has free parking and an aquarium that holds more than 117,000 gallons of water, which is home to thousands of tropical fish. There are mermaids that swim several times a day! Check their website for updated mermaid swim times HERE. 

Ethel M Chocolates is a chocolate factory in the outskirts of Vegas in Henderson. There’s a free chocolate tour with samples, and you can also take a stroll through their amazing outdoor garden with 300+ species of cacti! During the Christmas season, the entire garden is beautifully decorated with Christmas lights. You can also pay for an extensive chocolate tasting/learning experience with a small group of people or sign up for a chocolate tasting/wine pairing event, which sounded like a great date night.

Red Rock Canyon is one of our favorite places…ever. This is a place you really have to see in person to appreciate. It’s a national conservation area, so a national parks pass grants you free admission. They have a Jr. Ranger program that the kids loved! Their visitor’s center is something else! It’s pretty big and has an indoor area as well as an extensive outdoor area. Certain times of the year they require you to make an online reservation in advance, which is $2. Be sure and check to see if you’ll need a reservation before going! We’ve hiked, climbed, picnicked, biked and driven the scenic drive there. Red Rock Canyon is chock full of fun things to do and stunning beauty.

Lake Mead was about 30 min. from our RV park and well worth the drive! It’s a National Recreation Area on the Colorado River. You can get in free with a National Parks pass. Be sure to stop in the visitor’s center, which has a lovely view of the lake, as well as a ton of history about it. Kids can request a junior ranger book, and after completing and returning it, can earn their Jr. Ranger badge! Hoover Dam was about 10 minutes from Lake Mead. We didn’t take the tour, but we did drive around it, then parked in the free lot and walked across the bridge for a better view!

Hemenway Park is in the same area as Lake Mead and Hoover Dam, so it’s the perfect final stop for the day. There are nice lake views, and bighorn sheep frequent the park! Even if there aren’t any grazing in the grass the day you go, the kids can still have fun playing at the playground.

The Pinball Hall of Fame is free to get in, but if you want to play some games, bring your quarters! It’s a fun experience and you can spend as little or as much as you want here. 

Area 15 is another place where you can spend nothing and just walk around and observe, or spend a lot with all the cool options to visit once you step inside. There is free parking, and even walking around is an experience. It’s dark, with lots of neon lights and cool things to look at. There are little shops to browse or buy things, and several places to grab a drink or some food. It’s also the home of Meow Wolf, which we haven’t experienced but heard amazing things about. It becomes 21 and over only at 10 PM! 

A Boxabl tour is free and really interesting if you’re interested in tiny houses! Boxabl headquarters are in Las Vegas and you can schedule a factory tour and tour their Casita tiny house model. Factory tours are only for adults, but anyone can tour the Casita. 

If you’re not afraid to spend some money on entertainment, you’ll have an even harder time deciding what to do, due to the milllllions of options! Here are just a few things to out on your radar for some guaranteed Vegas fun. 

Favorite family-friendly activities in Las Vegas (not free)

The Pogo Pass is a pass you buy that is good for a year and gives you free admission to tons of activities around Las Vegas. (They have them in other cities too.) Just a few of the things you get to enjoy with a Pogo Pass are Cowabunga Bay Water Park, Seaquest, Nevada Climbing Centers, Las Vegas Mini Grand Prix, Discovery Children’s Museum and more. There are trampoline parks, arcades, bowling lanes and even minor league baseball games that are included with the pass. 

Get 50% off your Pogo Pass purchase by using code: WANDER50 

Our family loves seeing live shows, and there are always some goods ones playing in Vegas! Three family favorites are Blue Man Group, the Cirque de Solei show “Mystere” and Mat Franco. 

There are some great museums in Vegas, and if you have an ASTC reciprocal museum membership, the Neon Museum and Natural History Museum are included, giving you free access! Other fun museums our family has enjoyed in Vegas include the Mob Museum, Discovery Children’s Museum (free if you get the Pogo Pass) and Nevada State Museum.

 
 

One of our favorite places is Springs Preserve. It’s a place you can spend all day. If you buy a ticket to Springs Preserve you also get admission to Nevada State Museum, which is on the property. There is a train ride, a nature trading post where kids can trade in things they find in nature, a botanical garden, butterfly house, walking trails, wildlife exhibits, cafe and more. There is so much to see and do there that you will definitely want to plan on spending a lot of time there. It’s one of our top picks for families to visit to learn more about the area. It’s about half inside and half outside, so make sure to check the weather and go when it’s nice out to get the most out of your visit. 

FlyOver Vegas hosted us and we got to experience two different “flight” locations. FlyOver uses immersive technology that gives you the feeling of flight. You sit with your feet dangling before a 52.5-foot-wide spherical screen while the film whisks you away on an exhilarating journey above iconic locations and natural wonders. We enjoyed it, but wish it would’ve been longer! 

Some friends took our kids to the Lion Habitat Ranch and they said it was pretty awesome. You can pay an additional fee to feed giraffes or even lions there!

 
 

There are endless possibilities when it comes to entertainment in Las Vegas. Adults and kids alike can experience all kinds of new and exciting things there. What is your favorite thing to do in Vegas? Let us know in the comments below!

 
Aaron & Lauren, The WanderpreneursComment