The Denver Summer Activity Guide for Kids – Pt. 1 – Indoors

Thanks to Mile High Mamas’ Summer Activity Guide, we’re sharing hundreds of ideas for your Denver staycation in a two-part series – from waterparks to local trips to hikes to indoor fun. Part 1 below includes dozens of ideas for indoor fun in the mile high city, which are great for Spring when the weather isn’t consistently warm — or for Summer — when the sun is too hot to handle.  The Denver metro area has all you need for fun with your family — and your integrative pediatricians at Partners in Pediatrics want to help you be safe and active this summer!

Family Indoor Activities in Denver

Get out of the sun (or rain) and have an indoor adventure!

• Apex Center (Arvada) – Perfect for a hot weather day, this recreation and entertainment center houses two ice rinks, an awesome indoor aquatic play area, a climbing wall, gyms, an indoor track, a FREE indoor playground and more. 
• Arvada Center for the Arts & Humanities – Whether you play on Squiggles, an Interactive Sculpture Park, or go inside to see a children’s play or class, there’s plenty to do at the Arvada Center.
• Black American West Museum & Heritage Center – This museum is focused on researching and teaching about African-Americans in the Old West. There are cowboy, military and homestead exhibits, and more.
• Boondocks Fun Center (Northglenn, Parker) – Boondocks Fun Center is an 8-acre indoor-outdoor fun facility. Indoors you’ll find a futuristic laser-tag arena, a dual-seat Max Flight Simulator and a broad sweep of arcade games that run from Dance Dance Revolution to a Panzer tank simulator. From tiny tots to older teens, there’s a game appropriate for every player.
• Buffalo Bill Museum and Grave (Golden) – The Buffalo Bill Museum’s exhibits include memorabilia from Buffalo Bill’s life and Wild West shows, Indian artifacts, antique firearms and more. The spectacular views overlooking Denver are a bonus.
• Butterfly Pavilion (Westminster) – This small and cozy museum still boasts a lot of bang for the buck. When did you last stand in a tropical enclosure while tons of butterflies flitted around you? Definitely worth the jump up Highway 36.
• Children’s Museum of Denver / Joy Park – From crawling around in the nature tunnels to building something in the workshop, there’s something for every child to enjoy. Joy Park, a 30,000 sq ft outdoor experience, is filled with outdoor activities designed to captivate children’s imaginations, including zip-lining, climbing, spelunking, splashing, digging and messy all-in-play. Joy Park’s outdoor facilities are free to the public on the first Tuesday evening of the month in the summer.
• Climbing Walls – Are you or your kids climbing the walls? Take them to climb the walls…for real! Check out the climbing walls at Dick’s Sporting Goods or REI!
• Colorado Model Railroad Museum (Greeley) – Examine Colorado’s 5,500-square-foot model railroad, a wooden caboose from the Colorado and Southern Railroad and more than 1,000 railroad artifacts. Plus, watch actual trains come and go on nearby tracks.
• Colorado State Capitol building (downtown Denver) – Home of the Colorado Legislature and Governor. Give the kids a great history lesson and cross the street to Civic Center Park for a picnic.
• Colorado Sports Hall of Fame Museum (downtown Denver) – Housed in Empower Field at Mile High Stadium, the museum honors the legacies of The Mile High City’s greatest sports heroes, and features the Gallery of Legends, a “Great Moments in Colorado Sports” exhibit and a section celebrating the achievements of girls and women in Colorado Sports.
• Denver Art Museum (Downtown Denver) – Visit the Denver Art Museum this summer where kids under 18 receive FREE general admission every day! They offer games and activities for kids and families to have fun together at the museum, sparking curiosity and conversation during your visit. Denver Art Museum from Home offers at-home art-making and downloadable activities.
• Denver Museum of Miniatures, Dolls and Toys (Lakewood) – This museum “provides educational and cultural services to the greater Rocky Mountain region through the preservation, exhibition, collection and interpretation of the visual arts using miniatures, dolls and toys.”
• Denver Museum of Nature & Science (Denver) – DMNS is one of the premier natural history and science museums in the western United States with exhibitions, IMAX and planetarium shows, activities, and so much more.
• Downtown Aquarium (Denver) – Rainy day? Head to the aquarium! AND now there are lots of extra kid-friendly activities, like touching some of the aquatics on display or eating lunch surrounded by real fish tanks or their Shark Cage Experience.
• Family Sports Center – This 150,000-square-foot facility in Centennial is full of attractions including ice skating, laser tag, eXerGame Zone, inflatables, a climbing wall, bumper cars, an outdoor 18-hole miniature golf course, food concessions, and a restaurant.
• Fat Cats Fun Bowling (Westminster) – Once home to a skatepark, this well-kept, cavernous building now houses a state-of-the-art, 29-lane bowling alley. Clean and hopping, this alley offers bowlers and bystanders, from tykes to teenagers, a friendly place to party.
• Defy Gravity (Thornton) – This park features over 35 trampolines, including the famous angled wall trampolines, launching decks, Ninja Obstacle Course, Extreme Dodgeball, Aerial Silks, Trapeze, Battle Beams and so much more in a 36,000-square-foot facility.
• The Denver Firefighters Museum (downtown) – The Museum offers not only outstanding exhibits on the history of fire fighting in Denver focusing on the Denver Fire Department but innovative and exciting hands-on activities that allow visitors to interact with the traditional exhibits.
• FTW | Lucky Strike. Smack in the middle of Downtown Denver you can find a Pac-Man game screen with square footage that’s bigger than a bedroom, an upscale bowling alley, and 100 other arcade, pinball, and carnival-style games.
• Hammonds Candy Factory Tour (Denver) – Hammond’s complimentary candy factory tours are fun and educational for candy lovers of all ages. Hundreds of thousands of people from across the globe have traveled to see how the famous, handcrafted candy canes, ribbon candy, and lollipops are pulled, twisted, and shaped by hand. No reservations are required for small groups
• History Colorado Center (Denver) – This experiential museum makes Colorado history fun and has exciting new workshops and exhibits. Artifacts, stories, and art intermingle to tell the tale of Colorado and the American West. Designed for multi-generational audiences.
• iFly Denver. This indoor flight facility in Lonetree offers free-fall adventures with room for parties, meetings, and lessons.
• Littleton Museum – Located on 39 acres, this free museum consists of two living history farms (one from the 1860s and one from the 1890s), a small lake, a collections center, and a main exhibition and administration building.
• The Longmont Museum has hands-on education programs for all ages, an outdoor concert / performance series each summer, and a gift shop featuring local history books, souvenirs, and exhibit-related materials.
• Lyons Classic Pinball and Video. – When it’s too hot to be outside, duck in for classic pinball and ’80s arcade games. Stop next door for a family-friendly lunch at Oscar Blues or the Colorado Cherry Company for the best pies and ciders around.
• Molly Brown House Museum – Learn about the life and times of “Unsinkable” Molly Brown in her restored Victorian home in Denver, Colorado. This is one of the most visited historic sites in the state of Colorado, and one of only a handful of sites nationally dedicated to the interpretation of a woman’s story. Admission to the Molly Brown House Museum is by guided tour only.
• Movement Gyms (Baker, Boulder, Golden, Englewood, RiNo, Centennial (coming soon)) – Formerly known as Earth Treks, these climbing centers offer indoor climbing, yoga, and fitness gyms.

• Monkey Bizness (Parker, Westminster, Colorado Springs) – You’ll find interactive inflatables, play structures, climbing walls, and games of all shapes and sizes. There is a separate section just for toddlers with their own play equipment.
• Museo de las Americas – The diversity of Latin American art and culture is the focus of this museum in Denver.
• Museum of Contemporary Art – This museum is an ever-changing group of works. Experience culture in the making. This museum is good for older kids: pre-teens or teens…and above!
• National Center for Atmospheric Research. Learn about global warming, the 21st century’s hottest topic, at the National Center for Atmospheric Research in Boulder. See a hailstone the size of a softball, watch as a miniature tornado is whipped up in front of your eyes, and get an up-close look at how lightning is created.
• Smiley Library. The lower level of the Smiley Library has a toy library where you can actually check out toys to take home with you.
• Urban Air Adventure Park (Near I-70 and Havana Street) – This 37,000 square foot full-service adventure park features next-level award-winning attractions, including the Spin Zone Bumper Cars, the fan-favorite high-tech Virtual Reality, and their signature Sky Rider, which gives you a birds-eye view of the theme park.
• The Wild Game Entertainment Experience (Evergreen) – Get competitive and interactive with over 50 video and prize games, bowling, live bands, sporting events and more.
• Wings Over the Rockies Aircraft & Space Museum – This museum is located in the former Lowry AFB on the east side of Denver, in a World War II-era Hangar. “Cockpit Demo Days” are the second Saturday of each month from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
• WOW (World of Wonder) Children’s Museum (Lafayette) – This interactive museum educates children in the areas of arts, sciences, and life.

We’re Here for You and Your Family

Summer is a fun time for families to get out, explore, and share some much-loved time together! While it’s the perfect time of year to go, go, go, make sure you’re taking time to check in with your integrative health care providers to maintain your children’s pediatric care and health coverage. Our team of integrative pediatric doctors can also offer complementary and alternative medical options and evidence based holistic treatments for common summer ailments — like sunburns, blisters, beestings, and more!

 

At Partners in Pediatrics, we are holistic pediatricians committed to educating the mile high city with integrative and functional wellness / health care topics to help you and your kids maintain optimal health. We are dedicated to providing your family with exceptional care using a holistic approach and combining conventional medicine and alternative remedies.

As always, please get in touch with us with any questions about summer safety. If you’re interested in more comprehensive advice, please contact us and speak with our team serving patients in downtown Denver, Littleton, City Park, and the surrounding areas of Colorado.

Thank you to Mile High Mamas for their comprehensive list of summer time activities in Denver!