15 Best Family-Friendly Activities in Downtown Milwaukee

Have you ever wondered what it would be like to live in the heart of a city? Downtown Milwaukee real estate is the perfect location to access the best the city has to offer. Families can find an abundance of incredible attractions and activities to fill their weekends with great memories.

 

Veterans Park offers an enormous open green space situated between the beach on Lake Michigan and downtown Milwaukee. Visitors can enjoy numerous types of outdoor fun, including picnicking, jogging, playing fetch with the family dog, or kite flying. Families should also keep an eye out for special events held in the park throughout the year.

Pay respects to those who have served our nation at the Vietnam Veterans Memorial or the war memorial building connected to the art museum. The Gift of Wings is a unique shop where visitors can rent different types of pedaled vehicles or buy a new kite and practice flying for the annual Kite Festival.

 

Get some exercise on Lake Michigan or the Milwaukee, Menomonee, or Kinnickinnic Rivers as you explore the city’s waterways at a leisurely pace. The entire family can rent kayaks, canoes, and even paddle boards from the Milwaukee Kayak Company.

This three-mile-long paved path meanders alongside the Milwaukee River in downtown. As you stroll along the scenic waterway, you can observe local landmarks and artwork, stop for a refreshment at a waterfront restaurant, and admire the city's diverse architecture, which serves as a reminder of the eclectic origins of the city's early residents. If you think the activity and energy of urban living are for you, take note of downtown Milwaukee condos for sale as you explore.

 

Explore the city's famous, or sometimes obscure and quirky, landmarks and learn exciting facts you’ve never known about downtown Milwaukee real estate. Your family will work together to complete challenges sent to your phone and document them with photos. Two family-friendly activities from Milwaukee Scavenger Hunt include Wisconsin Mural Mecca and a Splash of Color.

 

Historic Milwaukee Inc. organizes various tours to celebrate Milwaukee's art, architecture, and history. Knowledgeable docents guide multiple enlightening tours, so there is a themed excursion for everyone. If you are sightseeing with young children, sign up for the Lulu and Rocky Family Tour, designed explicitly with six- to 10-year-olds in mind. Other tours include Downtown, Bayview, North Point Mansions, the Historic Third Ward, and Public Art and Sculptures. Each tour is best enjoyed by ages 12 and up.

 

Milwaukee’s outdoor concert venue, Henry Maier Festival Park, is home to some of the country's best concert series and music festivals. Perhaps the most famous of these is Summerfest, in which a diverse collection of bands and music groups perform across several stages.

Families can also enjoy festivals celebrating the homelands and cultures of the city’s original inhabitants, including the German Festival, Festival Italiana, Irish Festival, and Polish Festival. If you own one of those nearby downtown Milwaukee condos for sale, imagine being able to step outside and walk to the best events in the city.

Enjoy an evening of America's favorite pastime as you cheer the Milwaukee Brewers Baseball Team to victory. No home games today? There are still exciting attractions to see at the American Family Field. Check out the Selig Experience, a high-tech exhibit that celebrates the history of Major League Baseball in Milwaukee and honors Allan Selig, the former Brewers owner responsible for bringing the team to the city. Your family may also enjoy a field tour, offering a behind-the-scenes look at the stadium and the highlights of local baseball history.

 

For the last 50 years, Milwaukee Boat Line’s double-decker passenger boats have been entertaining and enlightening locals and visitors alike with scenic two-hour tours of the city. A knowledgeable and enthusiastic guide narrates each tour. Their newest tour, “Shipwrecks on the Great Lakes,” promises to be a thrilling tribute to the thousands of sailors whose ships never made it back to port.

 

Theater lovers will enjoy a live performance of plays, musicals, and tribute concerts with some of the greatest performers of popular culture. Milwaukee Repertory Theater offers student matinee tickets at discount prices, and some shows feature pre-performance talks with the actors. Not all performances are appropriate for all ages, so research the show before you go.

 

The Mitchell Park Domes at the Horticultural Conservatory brings the botanical gardens indoors. Each of the three domes boasts a futuristic greenhouse design devoted to a different type of flora. The floral dome hosts shows throughout the year, so beautiful flowers are always in bloom, and children may enjoy exploring the cacti in the desert dome.

 

Animal lovers of all ages will delight in exploring the 2,000 animals who call the Milwaukee County Zoo their home. Favorite activities and attractions at the zoo include the sea lion show, watching the otters play in their home, and feeding animals in the petting zoo area.

 

At this attraction, you will journey through time and space and marvel at our past, present, and future. Families can enjoy an immersive night sky and peer deep into outer space as constellations and planets are projected around the vicinity. Learn more about the amazing features of our planet and its history as you enjoy a movie in the Dome Theater.

 

The Safe House is a unique Milwaukee restaurant dedicated to espionage. Everything here is spy-themed, from the menu to the decor. Your children are guaranteed to enjoy the interactive experience as they participate in a spy mission mystery while waiting for dinner to arrive.

 

The Betty Brinn Children's Museum offers a creative play space that allows children to think outside the box, solve challenges, and engage in realistic experiences. In the hometown section, children can play in a kid-sized community with a bank, grocery store, and a home. Science City allows them to test their hypothesis as they conduct simple science experiments. At Betty Brinn Children’s Museum, kids are encouraged to let their imagination and creativity flourish.

 

Celebrate science and technology with the hands-on exhibits at the Discovery World Science Center. Children can enjoy 18 exhibit stations, including an aquarium, a robotics station, a virtual reality room, a design lab, and a host of others.  

Downtown Milwaukee is filled with history, culture, family-friendly attractions, and much more. Perhaps you began your journey downtown simply looking for a fun family activity, but now you’re intrigued by the idea of living with close access to the city's best amenities.

One of the downtown Milwaukee condos for sale may be just what your family needs. Reach out to Peter Mahler and his team of knowledgeable agents who will help you find the perfect downtown Milwaukee real estate for you and your family.