Fun things to do in and around Austin – Animal Edition
Do your kids love hanging out with animals? And do they want to get hands-on with a favorite furry or scaly friend? See below for my Top 10 suggestions of where to take them in and around Austin as a family:
1) Sweet Eats Farm
Location:14400 E State Hwy. 29, Georgetown, TX 78626
Animal Activities: Farm & Petting Zoo, Pony Rides, Pig Races (3x/day), also has seasonal activities such as “hand bottle-feeding baby animals”
Cost: General Admission – $18.95 online/$23.95 at the gate, Special Events will require tickets (and may cost extra)
Details: Located in Georgetown but so family-friendly with jump pads, mazes, swing, slides and my kids’ personal favorite: apple cannons.
Animal Activities: So many options – check their site for details – but can include being a pen pal to a cat or dog, reading to rescue animals and learning about dog training.
Cost: Free, but registration is required
Details: Check age requirements – some are for 5 and younger and some are for 6 and older
Animal Activities: They offer volunteer workdays, public tours and seasonal events
Cost: Varies – but volunteer events are $10/person and public tours are $25/person
Details: Tours are two hours long and involve lots of walking. “You’ll get to get up close and personal with our residents to give lots of belly rubs, hear rescue stories, learn about how we care for over 200 pig residents as a volunteer team, and you’ll learn about the intelligence and joy of pigs!”
Note: Children must be at least 10 years old to attend a Volunteer Workday.
Leander Park | Extended Family Photo Session This extended family chose Tumlinson Park in Leander, Texas for a photo session celebrating their matriarch's 97th birthday. We made sure to get lots of pairings and combinations of all the local and visiting family...
f you’re lucky to have family in town or kids old enough for sleep-overs or to stay home by themselves – you may not need this advice. And while we have some favorite babysitters, we’ve also been checking out the local Parents Night Out options around town. So I wanted to share what I’ve researched. Here are some options if you want your kids to get a night out at the same time as you get a date night:
Thinkery
Location: 1830 Simond Ave, Austin, TX 78723
Age range: 4+ years old (must be potty-trained)
Cost: $45 first child, $25 each additional child ($5 discount for Members)
Details: Kids have the museum to themselves and live it up with pizza, hands-on STEAM activities, exhibit exploration and MORE!
Extra perks: Check out the special discounts offered in the Mueller community for your date night
Details: Night out of fun that includes gymnastics, trampoline, pit time, recreational swimming, games, snack, and a full length movie (G-PG) on a HUGE movie screen (includes a mid-evening light snack and a drink). Don’t forget to bring a bathing suit and a towel.
Schedule and to book:Saturday nights once/month 6:30pm – 10:45pm (Registration for each Kids Night Out starts TWO weeks before the date of the night.)
YMCA
Location: various
Age range: 3 – 12 years old
Cost: $30 members ($60 non-members)
Details: swimming, gym games, pizza, crafts and more
Details: Date Night is a 4 hour guided play session run by our professional and experienced staff. During these 4 hours your kids will climb and play in our awesome Pandamonium room! Kids will have toys, games, and all the climbing they can handle! Our classes are capped at 6 participants to ensure that your child gets plenty of attention and supervision. Crux will provide cheese/ peperroni pizza for your kids for no additional cost!
Leander Park | Extended Family Photo Session This extended family chose Tumlinson Park in Leander, Texas for a photo session celebrating their matriarch's 97th birthday. We made sure to get lots of pairings and combinations of all the local and visiting family...
If you’re lucky to have family in town or kids old enough for sleep-overs or to stay home by themselves – you may not need this advice. And while we have some favorite babysitters, we’ve also been checking out the local Parents Night Out options around town. So I wanted to share what I’ve researched. Here are some options if you want your kids to get a night out at the same time as you get a date night:
Thinkery
Location: 1830 Simond Ave, Austin, TX 78723
Age range: 4+ years old (must be potty-trained)
Cost: $45 first child, $25 each additional child ($5 discount for Members)
Details: Kids have the museum to themselves and live it up with pizza, hands-on STEAM activities, exhibit exploration and MORE!
Extra perks: Check out the special discounts offered in the Mueller community for your date night
Details: Night out of fun that includes gymnastics, trampoline, pit time, recreational swimming, games, snack, and a full length movie (G-PG) on a HUGE movie screen (includes a mid-evening light snack and a drink). Don’t forget to bring a bathing suit and a towel.
Schedule and to book:Saturday nights once/month 6:30pm – 10:45pm (Registration for each Kids Night Out starts TWO weeks before the date of the night.)
YMCA
Location: various
Age range: 3 – 12 years old
Cost: $30 members ($60 non-members)
Details: swimming, gym games, pizza, crafts and more
Details: Date Night is a 4 hour guided play session run by our professional and experienced staff. During these 4 hours your kids will climb and play in our awesome Pandamonium room! Kids will have toys, games, and all the climbing they can handle! Our classes are capped at 6 participants to ensure that your child gets plenty of attention and supervision. Crux will provide cheese/ peperroni pizza for your kids for no additional cost!
One of my New Years Resolutions is to go on more hikes. The kids love them (collecting sticks! throwing rocks in creeks! climbing over boulders!) – and this time of year (January – April) is one of the most pleasant seasons to be outside in Austin (if you’re not in a body of water).
And besides enjoying the trails, visiting these spots doubles as location scouting since all of them make great settings for family photo sessions. Things I keep in mind when picking a place to go as a family – we want easy parking, bathrooms if possible, not too crowded and trails around 1-3 miles long (your own criteria may vary).
If you’re looking for kid-friendly hiking spots in and around Austin (or want ideas for where you next family photos should be), here are my Top 10 favorites:
Bull Creek District Trail
1. Bull Creek District Trail
Bull Creek – Our favorite and most visited park. There are boulders you can climb (near the small parking lot). There’s about a mile hiking trail that goes along the water. Bull Creek is also a favorite location I use for family photo sessions. (We’ve had our own family photos taken here twice)
Address: 6701 Lakewood Dr., Austin, TX 78731
Parking: two lots
Bathroom: yes
Balcones District Park
2. Balcones District Park
Balcones District Park – Another kid-friendly park with a small playground and pool (only open in Summer). It’s also where I take 75% of my wildflower portraits each Spring.
Address: 12017 Amherst Dr, Austin, TX 78759
Parking: yes
Bathroom: yes
St. Edwards Park
3. St. Edwards Park
St. Edwards Park – This 80-acre park has criss-crossing trails that can take you by the water or not. Keep an eye out for their small waterfall.
Wild Basin Wilderness Preserve – Wild Basin is part of the Balcones Canyonland Preserve, and it’s 227 acres of Hill Country woodland. Did you know you could apply to be an Artist in Residence there? (which led me down a rabbit hole of researching other Texas artist residency programs – see some options here).
Address: 805 North Capital of Texas Highway
Parking: yes
Bathroom: yes
River Place Nature Trail
5. River Place Fern Trail
River Place Fern Trail – We’ve only made one trip out to this trail so far, but have plans to definitely head back soon. There’s a lovely playground across the street we ended up at as well.
Lady Bird Lake – Hike and Bike Trail – Honestly it stresses me out a little to take the kids hiking here since it’s always so crowded – so we’re more likely to rent canoes and enjoy the lake from the water or just hit the patches of wildflowers by the baseball fields instead.
Address: multiple entry points
Parking: yes
Bathroom: yes
Circle C Ranch Park
8. Circle C Ranch Park
Circle C Ranch Park – A bit south for us to go regularly, but still a nice walk and does get lovely wildflowers some years.
Address: 6301 W Slaughter Ln, Austin, TX 78739
Parking: yes
Bathroom: yes
McKinney Falls State Park
9. McKinney Falls State Park
McKinney Falls State Park – Roughly 20-30 minutes from Austin, and it has an admission charge. But enjoy nine miles of trails to explore around Onion Creek. Good for bluebonnets as well.
Pedernales Falls State Park – Roughly an hour drive outside of Austin, also has an admission charge – but such a beautiful spot! I can’t get over the stunning color of the water. Swim, hike, climb over the limestone rocks – and then hop over to the Hill Country Science Mill in Johnson City to make a full day of it (a winning combo we’ve done at least three other times).
Address: 2585 Park Rd 6026, Johnson City, TX 78636
Parking: yes
Bathroom: yes
Those are our Top 10 favorite hikes in and around Austin.
Bat watching boat cruise on Lady Bird Lake in Austin, Texas.
Looking for things to do in Austin with kids? I’ve lived here since 1994, and while I’ve seen it change a bunch, I wanted to share some of my current favorite things to do with kids throughout the year. Whether you’re an Austin native or visiting from out of town, I recommend the following places to visit. So grab your camera & your kids to explore all year long…
Johnson City Science Mill
JANUARY – Visit Museums!
In January, the weather may be iffy, so it’s a good time to explore some indoor options. Some of our favorite museums in Austin (and nearby) to visit with kids include:
Hill Country Science Mill– located in Johnson City, TX. Great hands-on science experience (and their cafe has A+ mac and cheese)
DoSeum – located in San Antonio, TX. We spent over four hours there recently.
St. Edwards Park
FEBRUARY – Go on a Hike!
In February it’s not too hot to be outside (like over half the year in Austin). So take this opportunity to go on some hikes with your family. Kid friendly hikes can be found at each of the following:
St. Edwards Trails – also fun to visit in the summer to splash in the water, but lovely throughout the year.
Balcones Park – also good later in Spring for wildflowers
Emma Long Park – multiple trails, small stretch of beach on the shores of Lake Austin
Common Ford Park – nice dock for fishing, scenic old barn good for photo backdrops
Sweet Berry Farm strawberry, Marble Falls, Texas
MARCH – Pick Strawberries!
Spring is a great time to go pick your own fruit. Some farms we really like include:
Sweet Eats Farm – in Georgetown. Also fun to visit in the summer to pick peaches, wade in the river and ride the ziplines or to visit in the Fall for Pumpkins.
Sweet Berry Farm – in Marble Falls. Also fun to visit in the Fall for Pumpkins, pick your own flowers and Corn Mazes.
There are also loads of kid-friendly events during SXSW over Spring Break.
Mix of different colored bluebonnets
APRIL – Bluebonnets!
The wildflowers are out – go visit the Wildflower Center and admire all the bluebonnets, indian paintbrush, primrose, poppies and all the other Texas natives in bloom. And it’s tradition to get your photos taken in the flowers.
It’s still hot but being on the water is always nice. Try a Bat-watching boat tour on Lady Bird Lake. We got tickets to the Lone Star Cruises – and it was a hit with all ages. Cost is $12/adult; $7/kid; $10/seniors. The tour lasts about an hour, runs from March – October, but if you go in August, the bat colony is a real sight to see. You can also rent a kayak or canoe and hang out under the bridges at sunset.
In celebration of Back to School – Visit the Downtown Central Library. The kid’s area is amazing. Board games to play, books to read, toys to play with and lots of computers. I also want to try theirCookbook Cafe with rotating cookbook menus.
Pumpkin Patch at Barton Hills Farm
OCTOBER – Pick Pumpkins!
Sure you could go to the grocery store and spend under $20 on a fresh pumpkin – but what’s the fun in that? Get dressed up in your costume, drive a bit out of town and explore nearby farms – and then buy your pumpkin.
