Museums for little kids in Utah
Our picks for the under-six crowd: hands-on rooms, animals, big bones and places where nobody minds a little noise.
38 museums on this list, checked against their own websites in October 2026.
Natural History Museum of Utah
Twelve permanent exhibitions over four levels, from the Past Worlds dinosaur hall to gems and minerals, the Great Salt Lake and Utah's First Peoples.
This Is The Place Heritage Park
More than 450 acres, with a Heritage Village of settler homes and shops, costumed interpreters, a replica train and a pony carousel.
Hill Aerospace Museum
Free, with more than 70 historic aircraft and aerospace vehicles, an SR-71 Blackbird and the F-117 stealth fighter among them. No base pass needed.
By region
Salt Lake County 10
- Wheeler Historic FarmMurray Homes and farms FreeA 75-acre working farm and Salt Lake County park, open to the public since 1976 on land the Wheeler family farmed for 56 years. The grounds are free from dawn to dusk; the Victorian farmhouse, holding over 6,000 artifacts from the 1890s to the 1940s, is seen on a paid tour.
- Clark PlanetariumSalt Lake City Science FreeSalt Lake County's planetarium at The Gateway has more than 10,000 square feet of hands-on space exhibits you can wander for free. The shows cost extra: dome films in the Hansen Dome Theatre, big-screen films in the Northrop Grumman IMAX Theatre, and laser shows.
- Discovery Gateway Children's MuseumSalt Lake City KidsA 60,000 square foot children's museum inside The Gateway with more than 20 hands-on exhibits. Kids can climb into a real Life Flight helicopter, take the wheel of a semi-truck cab, dig for fossils, run a child-sized city and watch the Stillson River Railroad.
- International Peace GardensSalt Lake City Animals and gardens FreeA string of national gardens inside Jordan Park, each built with its own gate, statues and plantings by a different country or community. You can walk from a Little Mermaid statue in the Danish garden to a torii gate in the Japanese garden and a small Matterhorn in the Swiss one in one loop. It is best from May to October when the beds are in bloom.
- Natural History Museum of UtahSalt Lake City ScienceThe state's natural history museum, housed in the Rio Tinto Center, with twelve permanent exhibitions over four levels. Past Worlds holds the dinosaurs, a Ceratosaurus fossil is on display, and other halls cover gems and minerals, the Great Salt Lake and Utah's First Peoples.
- Red Butte Garden and ArboretumSalt Lake City Animals and gardensThe University of Utah's botanical garden and arboretum has about 3,000 species of plants and trees across 100 acres of themed gardens and natural areas in the foothills. Paths include the Water Conservation Garden and the Four Seasons garden. Admission is ticketed, hours change with the season, and it is half price in December, January and February.
- This Is The Place Heritage ParkSalt Lake City PioneerA state park of more than 450 acres where Heritage Village has settler homes and shops, costumed interpreters and hands-on pioneer activities, plus a replica train, a pony carousel and farm animals. The grounds also hold the This Is The Place Monument, dedicated in 1947, the Walk of Pioneer Faiths and the Pioneer Children's Memorial. Entering the park is free; the village experiences need a paid pass.
- Tracy AviarySalt Lake City Animals and gardensTracy Aviary covers eight acres of Liberty Park with more than 300 birds from around the world, many of them endangered or extinct in the wild, among themed exhibits and botanical gardens. Visits include interactive bird shows, keeper demonstrations, roaming animal encounters and more than a dozen nature play spots for kids. A second site, the Nature Center at Pia Okwai, is at 3310 South 1000 West in South Salt Lake.
- Utah's Hogle ZooSalt Lake City Animals and gardensHogle Zoo on Sunnyside Avenue keeps more than 150 species across zones like African Savanna, Primate Forest, Great Apes, Asian Highlands, Rocky Shores and Wild Utah. Current residents include snow leopard siblings Pavlova and Bhutan, a baby gorilla named Addo and a newly arrived red panda, William. It is a nonprofit and has been accredited by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums since 1979.
- The Gale MuseumSouth Jordan History FreeSouth Jordan's city museum opened in June 2006 in the building that used to be the South Jordan branch library, and many exhibits are built for small kids. They can practice on slates in an 1892 schoolhouse, gather eggs and hang laundry at the Beckstead farmhouse, and check what a Model T fill-up cost at a vintage service station. Older visitors get the Bingham Canyon copper mining story and From Gale to South Jordan, which covers the city's first 100 years; admission is free.
Davis, Weber and Morgan 9
- Hill Aerospace MuseumHill Air Force Base Military FreeMore than 70 historic aircraft and aerospace vehicles at a museum just off base by the North/Roy Gate, so no base pass is needed. The collection includes a B-17, an SR-71 Blackbird and the F-117 stealth fighter, and there are flight simulators and scavenger hunts. The museum suggests planning one to two hours.
- Utah State University Botanical CenterKaysville Animals and gardens FreeYou can walk the pollinator and edible demonstration gardens, the William A. Varga Arboretum and the trails around the Kaysville Ponds. Spooky Week at the BOOtanical Center runs October 26 to 30, 2026, with scavenger hunts, storytime and trunk-or-treat.
- Heritage Museum of LaytonLayton History FreeLayton's city museum covers the history, people and culture of Layton and nearby towns, from Native American heritage and pioneer settlement to neighborhoods and everyday life, through artifacts and historic photographs. The collection includes the Dell Adams gun collection, an old prescription cabinet and a train exhibit, and the Joseph Hill Cabin can be toured on request. Kids get an exploration corner and a monthly scavenger hunt, and entry is free.
- George S. Eccles Dinosaur Park and Elizabeth Stewart Natural History MuseumOgden DinosaursAn 8.5-acre park in Ogden with an outdoor sculpture park of dinosaurs and other prehistoric creatures plus three indoor museums. The Stewart Museum of Paleontology has dinosaur skeletons and reconstructed prehistoric habitats, the Ogden Natural History Museum covers fossils, rocks and minerals, and the Gem and Mineral Museum shows gemstones and crystals from around the world. A new inclusive dinosaur playground is open.
- Museums at Union StationOgden Trains and carsOgden's historic train depot holds four museums under one ticket: the Utah State Railroad Museum, the John M. Browning Firearms Museum, the Browning-Kimball Classic Car Museum and the Utah State Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum. It also has the Wattis-Dumke Model Railroad and two galleries, the Gallery at the Station and the Myra Powell Gallery, that put up new exhibits each month.
- Ogden Botanical GardenOgden Animals and gardensA garden in Ogden.
- Ogden Nature CenterOgden Animals and gardensA nature preserve on Ogden's west side with over 1.5 miles of easy trails past ponds and marsh, and a mews of Utah birds of prey that are too injured or imprinted to return to the wild. The visitor center's Discovery Room has seasonal exhibits and a few live native animals, and kids can climb the large treehouse, built from poles salvaged from the Lucin Cutoff trestle over the Great Salt Lake, or play in the Nature Nook.
- Treehouse Children's MuseumOgden KidsA nonprofit children's museum in downtown Ogden built around stories, imaginative play, literacy and the arts. Its galleries include a train crossing with scaled locomotives, a small-town main street with shops and a fire station, and a 30-foot climbing tree.
- Utah State Railroad Museum (Union Station)Ogden Trains and carsHoused at Ogden's Union Station, with Union Pacific Northern 833 and the X-26 turbine engine, plus a restored Red Cross hospital car, a railroad post office car and the 2002 Olympic Winter Games cauldron car. Indoors, the Wattis-Dumke model railroad follows the transcontinental line past spots like the Lucin Trestle and Weber Canyon. One ticket also covers the Browning firearms, classic car and cowboy and western heritage museums in the same building.
Utah County 7
- Butterfly BiosphereLehi ScienceThanksgiving Point's insect attraction. In the Beverley Taylor Sorenson Butterfly Conservatory, more than a thousand live butterflies from around the world fly freely, and the Discovery Zone holds hundreds of live insects plus a permanent colony of 120,000 leafcutter ants.
- Curiosity FarmsLehi Homes and farmsA working farm at Thanksgiving Point where kids meet goats, cows, pigs, ponies and rabbits, including a kunekune pig named Mashed Potato. Beyond the animals there is a hydroponic Plant Lab, a Livestock Learning Lab and an Innovation Station on farm technology.
- Museum of Ancient LifeLehi DinosaursNow called the Mountain America Museum of Ancient Life, this is Thanksgiving Point's dinosaur hall, with 60 complete mounted skeletons and more than 50 hands-on exhibits. The newer Need for Speed exhibit sets Jurassic predators like Ceratosaurus and Tanycolagreus side by side, and in the lab you can watch paleontologists and volunteers dig out a 150-million-year-old Barosaurus. Tickets are timed, so buying ahead is the move.
- Museum of Natural CuriosityLehi KidsA hands-on children's museum at Thanksgiving Point with more than 400 exhibits spread across areas like the Rainforest, Kidopolis, Water Works and the Discovery Garden, plus a rotating Innovation Gallery. Newer additions are a Thomas and Friends train exhibit and Teamwork in the Wee Jungle, a play area for kids 3 and under. Tickets are sold per person, and members get in free.
- Thanksgiving PointLehi OtherA nonprofit in Lehi that runs seven attractions over two campuses, including the Mountain America Museum of Ancient Life, the Museum of Natural Curiosity, the Butterfly Biosphere, Ashton Gardens and Curiosity Farms. The dinosaur museum has 60 complete dinosaur skeletons and more than 50 hands-on exhibits, and visitors can watch paleontologists and volunteers uncover a 150 million year old Barosaurus. Admission is ticketed, and dinosaur museum tickets are timed, so buy ahead.
- BYU Bean Life Science MuseumProvo History FreeBYU's Monte L. Bean Life Science Museum covers living things from bacteria to whales, with galleries on evolution, endangered species, freshwater and ocean life, African wildlife and the world's waterfowl and pheasants. Admission is free.
- BYU Museum of PaleontologyProvo Dinosaurs FreeBYU's fossil museum says it holds one of the largest dinosaur collections in the world, and it shares a front parking lot with LaVell Edwards Stadium. Exhibits include Kosmoceratops, Supersaurus and Camarasaurus vertebrae, the pterosaur Caelestiventus hanseni from the Saints and Sinners Quarry, and displays on collecting fossils and lab tools.
Park City and Heber 1
Cache and Box Elder 3
- World of Puppetry MuseumBrigham City Art FreeA puppet museum inside the Northern Utah Center for the Arts, which rebranded from the Fine Arts Center. Opened in 2000, it holds over 150 puppets from 16 countries, from Indonesian shadow and rod puppets and Burmese and Indian marionettes to a 1940-50 Howdy Doody set, Kermit and Lamb Chop. Kids can pull marionette strings, perform at a shadow stage and make a puppet craft.
- Stokes Nature CenterLogan Animals and gardensA nonprofit nature center in Logan Canyon, established in 1997, and the official educational permittee of the Uinta-Wasatch-Cache National Forest and the Logan Canyon Children's Forest. It runs Adventures with a Naturalist outings, guided snowshoe and cross-country ski trips, and snowshoe rentals, along with school programs and summer camps.
- Golden Spike National Historical ParkPromontory Trains and carsThe spot where the ceremonial last spike of the transcontinental railroad was driven on May 10, 1869, with a visitor center holding exhibits, a theater and a bookstore. Replica locomotives Jupiter and No. 119 are moved out to the Last Spike Site each day to recreate the meeting of the rails, and you can walk or drive fifteen miles of the original grade, including the Big Fill. No fuel or food within 27 miles, so fill up first.
Southern Utah 4
- Bryce Wildlife Conservation MuseumBryce Canyon City ScienceA wildlife museum on Scenic Byway 12 in Bryce Canyon City, open April through October. Dioramas place mounted animals in recreated natural habitats, with displays on local wildlife and conservation. Out back is a herd of live fallow deer that visitors can hand-feed on request.
- Rosenbruch Wildlife MuseumSt. George ScienceMore than 300 taxidermy animals from around the world are staged in natural habitat scenes at this museum attached to the Dixie Convention Center. Kids get an interactive children's gallery, and there is a separate insect room. An audio tour is listed as coming soon.
- St. George Children's MuseumSt. George KidsA downtown St. George children's museum with 15 hands-on exhibit spaces over two floors, most of them built for pretend play. Upstairs kids can run a grocery store, an auto garage, a vet clinic, an airport and a radio station; downstairs there is a submarine, a dinosaur room, a castle, and art, music and science rooms.
- St. George Dinosaur Discovery SiteSt. George DinosaursBuilt over the actual rock surface where dinosaurs walked about 200 million years ago, with an elevated boardwalk that puts you right above the original tracks. Alongside the Grallator and Eubrontes footprints are fossil fish, plant impressions, ripple marks and even raindrop impressions from an Early Jurassic lake. You can watch paleontologists work in the fossil prep lab, and kids get an outdoor dino park with a sandbox.
Eastern Utah 4
- The Dinosaur MuseumBlanding DinosaursA nonprofit dinosaur museum in Blanding with exhibits on feathered dinosaurs, dinosaurs from around the world, and eggs and babies. One room covers dinosaurs in the movies, from The Lost World and King Kong to Godzilla, and there is a sculpture gallery. The site also carries a memorial page for paleontologist Stephen A. Czerkas.
- Dinosaur National Monument Quarry Exhibit HallJensen DinosaursThe hall is built over a wall of about 1,500 dinosaur bones from the Late Jurassic Morrison Formation, roughly 150 million years old, with eight species still in it, including Stegosaurus and Allosaurus. There are several spots where you can touch real fossils, and other displays cover the small mammals, clams, amphibians, reptiles and plants that lived alongside them. The hall is a short drive from the Quarry Visitor Center, and in summer a free shuttle runs because parking is limited.
- Moab GiantsMoab DinosaursA dinosaur park at SR-313, about 9 miles north of Moab off US 191, that pairs an outdoor trail of more than 100 life-size dinosaur models with an indoor Tracks Museum. Kids can dig in the Dig-It-Out excavation sites, run around the dino playground and catch a 3D film. The park suggests setting aside two to three hours.
- Utah Field House of Natural History State Park MuseumVernal ScienceA 90-foot Diplodocus skeleton greets visitors in the rotunda of this state park museum in Vernal. The Jurassic Gallery shows a Stegosaurus and an Allosaurus over a Haplocanthosaurus, and the Eocene Gallery has a wall of leaf fossils and a diorama of life on the shores of Lake Uinta. In the Fossil Lab you can pick up a bone and chisel, and a rock wall lets visitors try to spot fossils among the pebbles.
The museums keep their own hours. We keep a weekly list.
Three free Thursday emails, each about its own corner of Utah.
- The Bench PressSugar House, Millcreek, Holladay and the east bench.Subscribe, free
- The Happy CamperLehi, American Fork, Highland, Alpine, Cedar Hills, Pleasant Grove and Lindon.Subscribe, free
- The Group ProjectProvo and Orem.Subscribe, free
Photos, left to right and top to bottom: Chris Light, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons; Beneathtimp, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons; Xboxtravis7992, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
