10 Best Family Things to Do in Detroit

The Henry Ford Museum of American Innovation is part of a 2-museum complex that traces the life, work, inventions, and accomplishments of Henry Ford. The indoor museum offers a gigantic collection of interactive exhibits in the form of games, activities, and touch screens. Kids can do everything from building their own race cars to working in a classic 1960s service station and auto repair shop. The museum also has a "With Liberty and Justice For All" exhibit that features the bus in which Rosa Parks made her famous stand (or sit) against inequality.

The museum is a place where kids can learn the history of cars, how they're made, and how to repair them. It's 25 minutes west of downtown.

The Detroit Zoo offers the chance to view over 2,400 animals from over 235 species and was among the first in the U.S. to feature natural habitats. The original zoo opened in 1883 but was forced to close. The current version opened in its place in 1928. This is one of the largest family attractions in Michigan and has in many ways set the standard for other zoos all over the world.

You can explore more than 15 enormous habitats as well as animal encounters, thrill rides, a carousel, a miniature train ride, and even a 4D theater and simulators. Little ones can run and jump on a playground. The zoo is 15 minutes north of downtown.

C.J. Barrymore's is a gigantic play park covering 26 acres of land and filled with games, go-karts, golfing, and even thrill rides for kids of every age. Whether your children are toddlers or late teens, or you're just a kid at heart, you can go on rides like a Ferris wheel, spinning coaster, freefall drop, and saddle sling. You can go bowling, play video games, drive bumper cars, ride the 4D XD Dark Ride, and have a round of laser tag.

You can enjoy on-site food and drinks from 3 food and drink trucks offering everything from snow cones for kids to craft beer for grown-ups. It's about 35 minutes north of downtown Detroit.

LEGOLAND Discovery Center Michigan is a different kind of theme park, one that engages kids' creativity and building skills as well as offering rides, games, food, and fun. Here you can lose yourself in a gigantic playground full of LEGO building blocks of every shape, size, and color imaginable. Kids can easily spend all day engaging their imagination and building new structures, but that's only where the fun begins.

The park also offers epic attractions and rides from LEGO Racers to Kingdom Quest, the Duplo Farm, Miniland, and Merlin's Apprentice Ride, as well as VR experiences and costumed LEGO characters. It's all about 35 minutes north of downtown.

SEA LIFE Michigan Aquarium is an aquatic zoo offering up-close looks at over 2,000 creatures from 250 different species, making it among the largest of its kind in the state. Here you can delve into the mystery of Earth's own alien landscape: the depths of the world's oceans. You can walk through freshwater, harbor, seahorse mangrove, and shipwreck exhibits to see the kinds of ecologies that develop in these regions. You can also get up close to pet crabs, sea stars, urchins, and other creatures in the Touchpool.

Adults and kids will learn how coral reefs function and why they are so important to ocean and land ecology. You'll find all this and more just 35 minutes north of downtown.

Greenfield Village is part of a 2-museum complex dedicated to living history in Detroit, offering 90 acres with 80 preserved historical buildings, costumed characters, and interactive activities. At this museum, you can explore buildings ranging from the 17th century through the modern age and learn how life has evolved in the Americas over the past 400 years. You can see the home of the Wright brothers, visit Edison's lab, walk through Henry Ford's house, see working historic farms, and watch real artisans in action. You can ride on a horse-drawn carriage and a steam-powered train. You can even ride in a real Model T.

This museum is a great spot for all ages. It's 25 minutes north of downtown.

Marvin's Marvelous Mechanical Museum offers a chance to explore the history of mechanical and electronic games in a historic building that started as a pharmacy. This museum is among the most famed in Detroit, having been featured in magazines and on television. The building dates to 1937 when it served as a pharmacy whose owner, Marvin Yagoda, was an expert at mechanical and electrical games. Today you can see animatronic dummies, model airplanes, arcade games, P.T. Barnum "freaks," electric chairs, a coin-op fortune teller, and many other mechanical curiosities.

Many of the machines are operational and hands-on, so you can pop a coin in and play the games or watch them work. It's 30 minutes northwest of downtown.

The Michigan Science Center, or MiSci, offers more than 300 hands-on interactive exhibits and activities that allow kids of every age to engage their imagination and passion for STEM. They can explore the principles and applications of everything from technology to engineering, space, physics, and health and medicine. You can also attend workshops, listen to speakers, witness demos, and see exciting educational films at one of the largest IMAX movie theaters in the state.

Whether your kids are already passionate about science, technology, engineering, and math or you're looking to ignite that passion, this is a great spot. It even has a 5-and-under area for the little ones. It's 8 minutes north of downtown Detroit.

Mt. Elliott Park is a gigantic riverfront park with cascades, cannons, and many other interactive activities for kids, both water-based and otherwise, allowing for days of fun. You can have fun with schooner-themed water areas, relax to the gentle sounds of wind chimes, and walk acres of beautifully landscaped green space. You can fish off of piers and grab a meal at an on-site café. The park is accessible to people of all ages and needs, and the activities were designed with the help of an international water-park designer.

This riverfront park offers the chance to escape from the hustle and bustle for a day of relaxation and fun. It's right in downtown Detroit.

Midway Sports & Entertainment is a theme and play park with all manner of rides and attractions from sports to outdoor adventures to games, food, and fun for all. You can play mini golf, visit batting cages or a golf range, go rock climbing, or play on a bungee course. You can ride go-karts and spinning bumper cars at the Spin Zone.

The park sells Fun Cards that let you ride any ride or attraction with just the swipe of a card, as well as purchase food and drinks at the snack bar where you can relax and have a great meal between play excursions. The park is 21 minutes southwest of downtown.