The Best Things to do in Milwaukee with Kids

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Are you planning a trip to Milwaukee with kids and wondering what to do in Milwaukee with kids? You’ve come to the right place! Milwaukee is a great city to visit with kids, offering tons of indoor and outdoor entertainment options. We only had two full days to spend in Milwaukee but it didn’t take long to fall in love with the city! Read on for the best things to do in Milwaukee with kids.

Where to Stay in Milwaukee with Kids

There are many family friendly hotels in Milwaukee, so you won’t have a problem finding one. Since we had a car, we didn’t really care which part of the city we stayed in so I booked the Sheraton Milwaukee Brookfield Hotel and we explored the city from there. It’s a great hotel and we got upgraded to the club level room due to my titanium status and had access to the lounge which had breakfast, snacks and drinks throughout our stay. The hotel was about 15 minutes from all of the attractions we wanted to see but not in a busy, downtown area.

What to do in Milwaukee with Kids

There are a lot of fun things to do in Milwaukee with kids! From museums and playgrounds to fun restaurants and markets, Milwaukee is one of the best US cities to visit with kids and a great place for your next family vacation.

Discovery World Science and Technology Museum

One of the best things to do in Milwaukee with kids is visiting Discovery World. Unlike other science centers we have been to, this one was amazing and had exhibits that featured current technology. Super engaging for both adults and kids! The views from the museum are amazing too. You get to see Lake Michigan and the downtown skyline while you play. There’s also a small aquarium here too for fish loving kids. If you have a reciprocal membership to a museum in your home state, entry here is free.

Sprecher Brewing Co.

Now you might be thinking a brewery with kids? Absolutely! The Sprecher Brewing Co. offers brewery tours and kids are welcomed to attend. Not only do they make beer, but they also make many different flavors of soda, their most popular and biggest seller being the root beer (which was our least favorite!). Fun fact we learned during the tour: In WI, parents are allowed to buy alcohol for their underage children as long as they are present while they consume it. “An underage person accompanied by a parent, guardian, or spouse of legal drinking age may be sold or served alcohol beverages in any licensed premises.”

The tours are 30 minutes and adults can sample 4 beers with a tour ticket. Both kids and adults can sample unlimited sodas. While I wasn’t a fan of any beer (I’m not a drinker at all so I’m not one to judge beer!) but I did love their raspberry soda and Milana loved the grape. We loved the tour and Milana loved participating and answering questions during the tour. This is one of Milwaukee’s best things to do for kids and families.

Northwest Community Playground

Looking for the best playground in Milwaukee? Then head to the Northwest Community playground! Located a short distance from Discovery World, this awesome playground is great for kids of all ages. It’s located inside the Henry Maier Festival Park, look for signs for the playground to see where you should park. I believe we parked at gate 5 but not 100% sure. Either way, it wasn’t hard to find since there are signs for the playground.

The playground is fully fenced in with an attendant at the entrance. There are multiple playscapes for kids of all ages, it’s definitely one of the best playgrounds in Milwaukee!

Mars Cheese Castle

While this is technically in Kenosha, we stopped here on our way up to Milwaukee since we were driving from Chicago. If you like cheese, it’s worth the 35 minute drive to check out the Mars Cheese Castle! They have a ton of different flavors of cheese curds, tons of other cheeses, baked goods including kringles in many flavors and really everything in between. There’s also a cafe that serves food. If your family likes cheese, this is a great road trip from Milwaukee!

Milwaukee County Zoo

Another fun thing to do in Milwaukee with kids is to visit the Milwaukee County Zoo. While it’s not a huge zoo, it’s the perfect place to visit when you have a few hours to kill. They are AZA participants, so you will receive a 50% discount if you have a membership to a local participating zoo or aquarium near your home.

Milwaukee Public Museum

Do you have dinosaur lovers? Then the Milwaukee Public Museum is for you! Not only do they have an awesome dinosaur exhibit but 4 levels of some really amazing exhibits, everything from life in the rain forest to a replica of a European village. We didn’t quite know what to expect when coming here but it’s essentially what you would expect from a natural history museum and so fun to explore! This is another ASTC participating museum, which means you can get free admission with a reciprocal membership.

Milwaukee RiverWalk

Checking out the Milwaukee RiverWalk is a great thing to do with kids in Milwaukee. The RiverWalk winds through 3 popular neighborhoods, with some of the best restaurants, shops and pubs along it. Your kids will love strolling along this pedestrian only walkway and seeing all the things along the way.

Betty Brinn Children’s Museum

Since we had just come from Indianapolis, where we visited their children’s museum, we did not visit this one. However there is a children’s museum in Milwaukee, right in downtown. It has great reviews and if your kids like to visit children’s museums, they definitely check them out!

Bradford Beach

Looking for the best family friendly beach in Milwaukee? Bradford Beach is popular with families and a great place to spend the day on a hot summer day.

Where to Eat in Milwaukee with Kids

SafeHouse

While looking up kid friendly restaurants in Milwaukee, SafeHouse came up and I knew we had to go! You need a password to enter and when inside, you become a spy. Your kids will love going from room to room in the restaurant, looking for clues. This is a great spot for kids who don’t like to sit at the table while waiting for food. Don’t forget to bring a quarter for the phone booth!

Your first task is finding the actual restaurant, which is located in an alley and not labeled. We had lots of fun here and if you’ve ever been to Meow Wolf, this had similar vibes. Highly recommend for kids who like scavenger hunts! Come here for the fun, not the food as it’s nothing spectacular. Milana chose the fish tacos and I ordered mac and cheese from the kids menu since we also got cheese curds as an appetizer.

If you want so see a video of SafeHouse, check it out on our Facebook page!

Milwaukee Public Market

If your family can’t agree on what to eat, then head to the Milwaukee Public Market where everyone can get something different. This is one of the best places to eat with kids in Milwaukee because of the huge variety of food. We shared a panini from Foltz Family Market and a vegan shake, made from oat/coconut milk ice cream and almond milk colored with spirulina, from On the Bus. Grab your food and then head upstairs to eat, it’s a nice view of the entire market from upstairs too!

AJ Bombers

Another fun place to eat with kids in Milwaukee is AJ Bombers. While this has more of a bar atmosphere, every table near us did have kids so I wouldn’t hesitate to bring kids with you. The menu isn’t huge but had what we wanted.

Ask to sit at a table where the peanut bombs travel to! The bartender will fill the rocket with peanuts and shoot it over to your table, where you can collect the peanuts and enjoy at your table.

Best Custard in Milwaukee

It’s not a trip to Wisconsin without having some custard! Now I’m not going to tell you what the best custard in Milwaukee is, because I think you should try for yourself. We tried two that were recommended by locals and loved them both so it’s really hard to say which is best!

Kopp’s Frozen Custard

Kopp’s has been around since 1950 and is popular with locals and tourists alike. They also serve food if you have hungry kids and their burgers are actually amazing! Milana had one and we couldn’t believe how good it was, the food here was just as popular as the custard. The custard here was really good, I got the vanilla with hot fudge and strawberries and it was very good. It’s one of the best frozen custards in Milwaukee in our opinion!

Leon’s Frozen Custard

Another really good place to get custard in Milwaukee is Leon’s Frozen Custard. Leon’s has been in business since 1942 and the lines are still long, which says a lot! The flavor of the day the day we went was raspberry, which was amazing! Is it the best custard in Milwaukee? Come try for yourself!

As you can see, Milwaukee is a really fun city to visit with kids. We have been to many big cities in the US and Milwaukee is definitely in the top 10! Have you been to Milwaukee with kids? We’d love to hear about it in the comments. Want to save this to read later? Pin one of the images below.