Best Things to Do with Kids in Fort Lauderdale

A truly phenomenal experience, Butterfly World awaits the true nature lover in us all. Located approximately fifteen miles north of downtown Fort Lauderdale in beautiful Coconut Creek, this fascinating exhibit has been entertaining and instructing adults and children of all ages since its opening in 1988. Guests enjoy walking through a screened-in aviary that looks like a tropical rain forest and is filled with some two thousand caterpillars and multicolored butterflies. Outside the aviary are extensive gardens, including a rose garden, a small pond, a gift shop, and a pavilion containing mounted specimens of exotic insects and butterflies from around the world.

When it comes to family activities in Greater Ft. Lauderdale the Art and Culture Center of Hollywood is a cherished cultural center that is a perhaps the most all-inclusive stop, offering a myriad of art exhibits, theater, music and dance performances for every age. Little ones particularly enjoy lively performances by the Atlantic Coast Theatre for Youth, while older family members are intrigued by compelling gallery displays. Of course, the entire family can also dance and sing along together during dynamic dance and musical performances. Log onto their website for the latest exhibit information. Located right off Young Circle on the popular Harrison Street.

Clearly one of western Broward County's most popular attractions, being the home to the Florida Panthers Hockey Team as well as many events from world-shaking concerts to political rallies. Previously known as the Broward County Civic Arena, The National Car Rental Center and the Office Depot Center, this entertainment venue continues to offer top names in music and sports, trade shows, circuses and ice shows, among others. Built in 1998 this modern and sophisticated edifice features a 25,000-seat center for concerts, over 20,000 for basketball events and nearly 20,000 for hockey, 17,000 square feet for trade shows. Two food courts are available, all with plenty of parking provided.

The whole family will be thrilled at this live experience where you can come face to tooth with grinning gators at this most raved-about family attraction in the magnificent Everglades. An easy drive west of Fort Lauderdale, you will climb aboard a state-of-the-art covered airboat and be learn from knowledgeable guides at the Everglades Holiday Park. Be entertained and educated while passengers delight in striking panoramic views of the Everglades, colorful exotic birds and, of course, enormous wild gators that sidle right up to the boat. Afterward, a sidesplitting and informative live gator show affords the opportunity to hold and take pictures with a young alligator.

One of the most unique attractions within Fort Lauderdale, Fla., is its waterways. Over 300 miles of navigable boating avenues snake through this glamorous city and the county of over a million. Whether for sight seeing or as a mode of daily transportation, the Fort Lauderdale Water Taxi is the trolly in the water, and it's probably the best way to see it all. And what's best, kids absolutely love this. The captain and crew are a wealth of information and inform their riders with recommendations of where to dine, and where to be entertained. A daily pass will get passengers on and off at 19 stops and over 60 businesses, including the shops and restaurants at Las Olas Boulevard, Las Olas Riverfront/Briny Pub at 40 West Las Olas Boulevard, the always fantastic Downtowner Saloon and the 15th Street Fisheries, among others.

Today, the story of Florida's Seminole Indians is told as well as painstakingly exhibited in an amazing setting at Ah-Tah-Thi-Ki Seminole Indian Museum on the Big Cypress Seminole Indian Reservation in Clewiston, Fla., northwest of Fort Lauderdale. Arrive here, and step back in time. What's more, it's ideal for kids, too! They may just not want to leave. Once on site, start by walking through the museums and enjoying the amazing exhibits and collections on display. Here, learn their spiritual Green Corn Ceremony and Catfish Dance, their lively stickball game, silversmithing, weddings and other aspects of their 1890s culture. What's more, modern technology eases visitors back in time with a multi-touch Microsoft Surface touch table. Interact with this digital content from the museum's collection. Also, get ready to view the museum's thousands of artifacts that cover 300 years of Seminole history and their living culture.

Begin your imagination activation here! Visitors seeking creative family activities are charmed by this colorful center in near-by Davie, right of I-595 just a few miles west of Downtown Fort Lauderdale, featuring innovative hands-on exhibits. Amidst a bright, spacious atmosphere, children play the drums in an African village and learn the Japanese art of origami in the Global Village exhibit. Then, it's on to papermaking in Earthworks followed by customizing objects into art in a psychedelic Pop Art wonderland. The possibilities are as simply endless as your imagination is unleashed. Surely an unforgettable experience for the entire family. This is South Florida's creative engine!

As part of the Museum of Discovery and Science in Downtown Fort Lauderdale, the AutoNation IMAX Theatre is an amazing entertainment and educational complex that is perfect for the entire family. This 300-seat theater features a 60-ft. x 80-ft. screen and a 15,000-watt digital sound system that delivers six discrete channels of clear sound through 42 speakers. The amazing IMAX™ projector's 15,000-watt Xenon bulb projects images onto the five-story-high screen. The steeply sloped cinema seats bring the audience close to the screen, so that the size of the image dominates your peripheral vision, resulting in a type of virtual reality which immerses the audience in the film. Great for kids for a rainy day or a fun-filled weekend.

The Fort Lauderdale Museum of Discovery and Science shows just how much fun science can be. This is amazing for fun for the entire family, and conveniently located right in Downtown. Focusing on the local environment, displays include the Everglades Airboat Adventure, a real coral reef with sea creatures and tropical fish and a replica of an oak forest complete with mosses, lichens, and air plants that grow without soil. And here you won't have to wait for a hurricane to blow in to feel its incredible force. Visitors are in awe as they experience hurricane force winds in the Storm Center — all very safely!