75+ Things to Do This Summer

Booth Western Art Museum

There’s so much to do in metro Atlanta! Rescue your kids from boredom by planning a visit to these cities, attractions, parks and more.

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Artsy Experiences

At the High Museum of Art, view special and permanent exhibitions featuring all kinds of artworks. On the second Sunday of each month, explore art for free while enjoying art-making activities and live music.

Enjoy the art of theater at the Center for Puppetry Arts. Check out the Worlds of Puppetry Museum for a look at the history and traditions of puppetry from around the world and the legacy of Jim Henson. The Create-A-Puppet Workshop is a hands-on activity for building your own puppet.

MODA’s exhibit “Al Dente: The Design of Pasta” focuses on the delicious Italian culinary treasure. Virtual and in-person youth workshops for ages 6-18 show more about the design world with hands-on programs.

Visit The Art Barn for a look at farm life while making masterpieces. Enjoy hands-on time with chickens, ducks, bunnies, lambs, goats, donkeys, horses and pigs, sing a few favorite farm songs, explore the Friendship Garden, create a piece of art and more.

View the story of America with contemporary Western artwork, a Presidential Gallery and a Civil War art gallery at Booth Western Art Museum. The highlight of this museum is Sagebrush Ranch, an interactive gallery for children with hands-on stations, include riding in a stage coach, dressing in cowboy attire and saddling a horse.

Visit SCAD FASH Museum of Fashion + Film to see the intersection of art and fashion.

Get creative by taking cool photos at a Selfie Museum:

Look at intriguing public art pieces; many cities and areas display temporary and permanent installations:

Savoy Automobile Museum

Planes, Trains and Automobiles

Immerse yourself in the wonderful world of science at Tellus Science Museum. The Millar Science in Motion Gallery propels visitors through 100 years of changes in transportation technology exploring automobiles to rockets. Other permanent exhibits include minerals, gemstones and fossils, and special exhibits explore electricity, how things are made and the history of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Travel through the solar system with a show in the Bentley Planetarium.

Choo-choo! The Southern Museum of Civil War & Locomotive History is home to the “General,” made famous during the Civil War’s Great Locomotive Chase of 1862, as well as tons of locomotive technology, and you can even operate a diesel train simulator at the interactive Jolley Education Center.

Located at Delta headquarters near Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport, learn about aviation history at the Delta Flight Museum through interactive exhibits, planes dating back to the 1920s and a Boeing 737 flight simulator.

Travel the way they did in the old days with a train ride on the Historic Train or Park Train at Southeastern Railway Museum, and additional rides are $4.

Appreciate the beauty and history of automobiles at Savoy Automobile Museum as you inspect different makes, models and eras of cars.

Ages 3 and older can experience what it’s like to drive at TinyTowne with tiny cars, booster cars and smart cars. After cruising about, go on a train ride around the facility, or play games in the Carcade.

Atlanta History Center

Beat Brain Drain

Explore the wonder of water at Gwinnett Environmental and Heritage Center, the county’s first LEED-certified building. Step back in time to see the history of waterways, play with water for hands-on learning about the water cycle and discover the diverse ecosystem in Gwinnett. Enjoy the outdoors with five miles of walking trails.

Learn more about the people, cultures and historical events that have shaped Atlanta at Atlanta History Center with exhibits on the Civil War, the 19th Amendment, the Atlanta Olympics, folk arts and more. The site also includes beautiful gardens and historic houses.

What’s it like to be the president? Get an interactive view of the modern American presidency at the Jimmy Carter Library and Museum, which features a life-size replica of the Oval Office, a “Day in the Life of the President,” a map table for monitoring elections and more.

Part of Reinhardt University, Funk Heritage Center tells the story of early Appalachian settlers and Southeastern Native Americans through educational programming, exhibits, art and artifacts. Visit the Appalachian Settlement, and enjoy the outdoors with a walking trail and garden.

The Computer Museum of America explores technology and computing with exhibits focused on NASA and Apollo 11-17, supercomputers, a STEAM timeline, a collection of Byte Magazines and a WWII Enigma machine.

Operated by the DeKalb County School District, the Fernbank Science Center features the Jim Cherry Memorial Planetarium for a look at the stars, and you can look through the telescope in the Ralph Buice Jr. Observatory. It also includes live animal displays and an Apollo 6 Command Module.

Uncover how scientists merge old-fashioned detective work with high-tech science to crack the cases of mystery diseases at the David J. Sencer CDC Museum. Exhibits focus on a variety of public health topics and the history of the CDC.

Screaming Eagle Aerial Adventure at Chattahoochee Nature Center

Get Active

Challenge your body with rock climbing:

Stay cool on the ice:

Swing in the trees with these adventures:

Screaming Eagle Aerial Adventure at Chattahoochee Nature Center has two courses. Designed for ages 8 and older, the Zipline Canopy Tour showcases an aerial view of the area and Beaver Pond. The Aerial Adventure Course has 28 challenge elements.
Treetop Quest’s aerial adventure parks offer exciting challenges as you maneuver through obstacles and ziplines. Spider Quest at the Gwinnett location is a special harness-free challenge for the daredevil.
Historic Banning Mills’ Zip Line and Aerial Adventure Park holds the Guinness World Record for the longest zipline canopy tour with more than 3,000 feet of ziplines. Nestled along Snake Creek Gorge, take in incredible scenery.

Yellow River Wildlife Sanctuary

Amazing Animals

Visit with animals from all over the world at Zoo Atlanta, including amphibians, reptiles, elephants, zebras and more. A special Wild Encounters experience lets you get up close to an animal, and other special programs provide early morning or evening access to the Zoo. The area for kids includes Treetop Trail, the Endangered Species Carousel, a petting zoo and more.

Travel under the sea with Georgia Aquarium. View more than 50 species in the 6.3-million gallon Ocean Voyager tunnel, see penguins, rays, fishes, otters, whales and more, dive into multiple habitats with “Aquanaut Adventure: A Discovery Zone,” and explore ocean predators in “Sharks! Predators of the Deep.” Special experiences include animal encounters.

Spot animals from around the world at Yellow River Wildlife Sanctuary with deer, black bears, vultures, owls and more. Book a Sloth Encounter for one-on-one time with the sloths, Sid and Sue. Purchase a feed cup to serve the deer, bison, tortoise, sheep, goat, cattle, mini horse, mini donkey or alpaca, and you can pet the animals in the Petting Yard, Barn Yard and Bunny Yards for an up-close look.

The 80-acre Pettit Creek Farms has Georgia’s largest camel herd with 21 camels. It’s also home to giraffe, kangaroos, sheep, capybara, reindeer and more. The drive-through tour is available through August. Before your tour, purchase an optional feed bag for the animals.

Visit with fluffy alpacas at Creekwater Alpaca Farm. Along with alpacas, you’ll see bunnies, goats, sheep, horses, pigs, guinea fowl and Toulouse Geese. Explore the gift shop for alpaca fiber clothing, accessories and more.

Glover Park Concert Series

Free Fun

Kids ages 2-15 can bowl two free games per day with Kids Bowl Free. Participating centers in metro Atlanta include Stars and Strikes, Pin Strikes Entertainment Center and The Comet Pub and Lanes; visit the website for a list of centers and available days.

Get two free skate passes per child every week through Kids Skate Free. Kids must be 12 years and younger. Participating centers include Skate Zone and Sparkles Family Fun Centers.

Learn more about Civil Rights icon Martin Luther King Jr. at Martin Luther King Jr. National Historical Park. View his birth home and the Historic Ebenezer Baptist Church, and smell the blooms at the “I Have A Dream” World Peace Rose Garden.

Several stores offer in-person workshops for kids; these chains have multiple locations across Atlanta:

Enjoy a great movie on a big screen: