Does your family love to find great learning sites for your kids while you travel? Are you curious to know more about how things are made, how science works or learn more about the U.S., it’s landforms, history and people? Are you searching for fun places to travel to, so you can add to your child’s education? If, yes then this list is for you.
The United States is overflowing with amazing learning opportunities! They can be found in the form of museums, National and State Parks, factory tours and more.
Most people are familiar with the incredible museums found in New York, Chicago or the Smithsonian Museums in Washington D.C. But I’m here to help you find the fantastic, lesser known learning sites for kids across the U.S. where they make learning a lot of fun!
Most of these hidden gems are not found in big cities and this makes them harder to find when researching for an upcoming trip. This is why I wanted to share with you some of the highlights that I’ve discovered.
Each site was specifically chosen for this list because I felt that they went above and beyond in how they presented information. They really encouraged learning in an engaging and exciting manner. In short, they are Amazing Learning Sites for Kids!
Let’s Learn About The United States with Your Traveling Feet!
Fun Learning Sites for Kids in the United States!
1. National Park Service Junior Ranger Program
The Junior Ranger Program as a whole is the Best Education Program about Nature that I’ve come across in travel in the entire United States! And Fantastic Learning Sites for Kids!
There are over 200 Junior Ranger Programs at National Parks throughout the U.S.. These programs not only teach kids about nature, but also help them to discover the history behind the land and encourage them to observe their surroundings. In addition, they show how to protect these lands for future generations.
Every activity is presented in a fun and interactive way and We Love Them!
Just pick up a Junior Ranger booklet at any National Park Visitor Center and have your child complete the activities that are marked for their age. Then return the booklet to any visitor center in the park. Your child will then be sworn in as a Junior Ranger. Next, they will receive a certificate and a badge for their accomplishment!
These activities are grouped by age level and designed to be fun for children all the way up to 13 years+.
The National Parks are one of our favorite top learning sites for kids in the U.S.. This is definitely something you shouldn’t miss when visiting our wonderful National Parks.
Website: https://www.nps.gov/kids/junior-rangers.htm
2. Jelly Belly Factory Tour
Fairfield, California
Our Family Loves the Jelly Belly Factory Tour! And it’s FREE!
This tour is listed as one of the best factory tours in the United States and its not hard to see why.
This self-guided walk takes you on an elevated, 1/4 mile trip above the factory floor. Here you have a bird’s eye view of the entire operation. Explore at your own pace and watch the numerous videos along the path that explains in detail what is going on down on the floor.
Learn why it takes 14 days to make a single jelly bean!
And don’t forget to try the free sample bar of over 50 Jelly Belly flavors at the end of your tour! This is an extremely tasty travel education that I think anybody would love!
Website: https://www.jellybelly.com/california-factory-tours
3. Corning Museum of Glass
Corning, New York
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Hot Glass Demonstration! -
Bryan’s Glass Sculpture!
Our Family Loves the Corning Museum of Glass!
Here we learned more about glass than we ever thought possible! Incredible live demonstrations show you how glass objects are made, shaped and even broken. Their museum section reveals beautiful works of glass art and shows the progression of glass through history and by culture. Make sure you see their live Hot Glass Demonstration, their Flameworking demonstration, their Optical Fiber Demonstration and their Glass Breaking Demonstration.
Another highlight is that you can create your own glass masterpiece to take home! What a fantastic travel education opportunity! I know that our family will treasure the glass creations we made forever!
This was definitely a great learning site for our kids and a Family Favorite!
In addition, Kids under 17 get in Free!
Website: www.cmog.org
4. Frogmore Cotton Plantation & Gins
Ferriday, Louisiana
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Historic Cotton Gin -
Slave Quarters
Frogmore Cotton Plantation & Gins is an incredible learning site for kids that I just happened to stumble upon in a travel magazine.
Here, on the “Cotton Then & Now Tour,” you’ll discover what life was like on a working cotton plantation in 1790. Your guide will show you the old slave quarters and tastefully discuss their daily life. They will also discuss their daily chores and show you how the cotton was picked. (You can pick cotton too from mid-July to April)
Next you will learn all about how the cotton gin and machinery changed everything!
The tour concludes with revealing their 900-bale-per-day computerized cotton gin that currently works this 1800 acre plantation.
Our family was really impressed with how this site was run. The history was told in a family-friendly manner and the authentic furnishings gave a real picture as to how the people lived here on this plantation. Our family learned so much at Frogmore Plantation and really thought that they did a great job engaging our children with their sites, stories and activities.
Website: http://www.frogmoreplantation.com/
5. Dinosaur Ridge
Morrison, Colorado
Over 300 spectacular dinosaur tracks are found at Dinosaur Ridge, leading paleontologist to rank it the #1 track site in the nation!
This site is located only 30 minutes from the heart of Denver and can be seen for free if you walk, instead of taking the bus, for the 3 mile round trip trail.
We loved Dinosaur Ridge! We had never seen anything like this before! It’s crazy to think that you are standing right where actual dinosaurs stood! Our boys, who love dinosaurs, were ecstatic to find this! They especially loved the small sectioned off area where they could climb on the rock and compare their hands and feet to that of an actual dinosaur! This is a fantastic learning site for kids!
Website: www.dinoridge.org
6. Cold Hollow Cider Mill
Waterbury Center, Vermont
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Watching apple cider being made -
Watching the donut robot make cider donuts
Cold Hollow Cider Mill is a fantastic free spot my friend suggested that our family should stop and see while visiting Vermont.
I was so happy that we went!
We learned how donuts are made by watching the donut robot make dozens of delicious cider donuts. They make over 800 dozen per day!
We learned how apple cider is made and watched the apples get pressed the old-time way. Then we were able to sample the fresh apple cider!
We also were able to observe their bee colony! This was behind glass with a tube to the outside. It was incredible to watch these amazing insects as they built their comb and created honey from pollinating.
We were shocked by how much we learned at this small site and blown away that it was all Free! Ok so you might have to buy a cider donut or two, but the donuts alone are worth every penny.
Website: https://www.coldhollow.com/
7. Museum of Science and Energy
Oak Ridge, Tennessee
If you are at all interested in learning about energy then the Museum of Science and Energy in Oak Ridge, TN is the place for you.
The town of Oak Ridge is a former “secret city,” that led the Manhattan Project during WWII. This museum focuses on the work of the scientists that lived here and on the science behind energy.
Our family enjoyed this museum and the many hands on activities found in the Exploration Zone. But overall the reason that this museum made this list is that here you can experience the hair-raising Van der Graaf generator!
This is an experience you will remember forever!
Side note: Only one person needs to touch the Van der Graaf generator, and everyone touching that person will feel its effects. So if your kids are scared, just have them hold hands with the person touching it so everyone can experience its hair-raising effects!
Website: www.amse.org
Read More: Great Places to Visit in Tennessee
8. Earthquake Trail
Point Reyes Station, California
Earthquake trail is a spectacular site that I remembered visiting in my childhood and I just had to bring my own children here.
This loop trail is only 0.6 miles long and leads you to the dramatic site where the 1906 earthquake caused the ground to move ~21 feet!
It’s hard to comprehend that this fence used to be one straight line!
Seeing a site like this can really help you grasp, even more so than a museum, how violent and powerful an earthquake really is. I was seriously impressed with this natural display of an earthquake’s power and think this is a fantastic learning site for kids about earthquakes!
Website: https://www.nps.gov/pore/planyourvisit/hiking_guide.htm
9. Future of Flight Aviation Center & Boeing Factory Tour
Mukilteo, Washington
We loved touring the only commercial jet assembly plant that is opened to the public in North America!
Here you can view 747, 767, 777 and 787 Dreamliners on the assembly line in the world’s largest building (by volume) before they fly in the sky.
This tour is overflowing with airplane information and we loved seeing the assembly process of these huge airplanes!
Please note that children must at least 4 feet tall to go on this incredible tour.
Website: https://www.futureofflight.org/
10. Mammoth Site of Hot Springs
Hot Springs, South Dakota
The Mammoth Site of Hot Springs boast the largest concentration of Columbian Mammoths in the World!
Take a 30 minute guided tour of this active indoor dig and discover why there is such a large concentration of fossils here.
This fantastic learning site for kids seriously impressed our family. We loved that it was an actual, active dig site! Seeing fossils still immersed in the rock, just waiting to be carefully dug out, helps you realize all the hard work that goes into creating the fossil structures that we find in museums everywhere today.
Website: https://www.mammothsite.org/
Read More: A Family Vacation Guide for One Week in South Dakota
11. Conner Prairie
Fishers, Indiana
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Making candles -
Stick and Hoop game -
A school class in 1836
Conner Prairie is one of the Top Living History Museums in the United States and they do a fantastic job at bringing history to life! This is an outstanding travel education site for your family!
Here you can experience life in 1836.
You can study in a one room school house, watch a tradesperson work, interact with 19th century villagers or even learn a new trade yourself!
Learning opportunities are everywhere!
Our boys especially loved watching the blacksmith work, pottery being made, playing time-period games and learning in the one room school house.
They also loved being able to make candles, learn how to de-seed cotton and weave cloth on a small loom!
We Loved Learning at Conner Prairie! This was one of the best living history places that we’ve been too and we felt that they did an incredible job making it fun for kids to learn all about what life was like in the U.S. in 1836.
Website: www.connerprairie.org
Read More: Incredible Places We Visited in Indiana
12. Kitt Peak National Observatory
Tucson, Arizona
Kitt Peak National Observatory is home to one of the largest arrays of optical and radio telescopes in the world!
We chose to participate in their 4 hour family friendly “Nightly, Observing Program” and we loved it!
On this program you will begin the evening with seeing a dramatic sunset over the Arizonan desert. This is followed by learning how to use a star chart and locate constellations in the sky. Finally, you will get to view numerous planets, nebulas and other astronomical objects that are visible in the night sky through their research-class high powered telescopes!
This was such a great travel education experience and we learned so much about the night sky!
Website: https://www.noao.edu/kpvc/Prog/index.php
13. Tennessee Aquarium
Chattanooga, Tennessee
Our Family was seriously impressed with what we learned at the Tennessee Aquarium.
This aquarium tells the incredible story of a drop of water that starts on the mountain tops, flows into the rivers and ends up in the ocean.
Excellent information is provided at each of these stages. The aquarium takes you on a journey to discover the animals that live in the different types of rivers throughout the world. They immerse you into these different environments and they show you how the aquarium is striving to protect these waters.
This museum focuses on the Tennessee River, the Amazon River, African Rivers and to those found in Eurasian water. It also teaches about different ocean environments near the rivers like tropical coves, reefs and the arctic rocks.
Our family favorites were seeing the enormous River Giants like the powerful Arapaima, seeing the feared anaconda and piranhas and marveling at the incredible looking cuttlefish (my new favorite). We also loved coming eye to eye with the gigantic Japanese spider crabs and touching real prehistoric looking sturgeons!
Website: www.tnaqua.org
Related Post: Great Places to Visit in Tennessee!
14. Omaha’s Henry Doorly Zoo
Omaha, Nebraska
Omaha’s Henry Doorly Zoo and Aquarium consistently ranks as one of the Best Zoos in the United States!
Here you can find the World’s Largest indoor desert at the Desert Dome, America’s Largest indoor rainforest in LIED Jungle and walk through the World’s Largest nocturnal exhibit at Kingdoms of the Night!
We especially loved how they switched the day/ night cycle in the nocturnal exhibit (below desert dome). This allows visitors to see these animals active during the day. Bats were flying, a fossa from Madagascar was out and moving, and we saw aardvarks and bush babies out and about.
We loved how each exhibit in this zoo immerses you into the world of these animals and their habitats.
Website: http://www.omahazoo.com/
15. California State Railroad Museum
Sacramento, California
We loved visiting the California State Railroad Museum!
Here you can discover 19 meticulously restored steam locomotives! Our kids loved climbing aboard and experiencing the sleeping car and the dining car. The railroad china in the dining car was beautiful!. They also loved pretending to sort mail in the mail car and pretending they were a train conductor in the SP 4294 train.
Wonderful information is provided throughout the museum regarding the history and evolution of trains in the United States. This museum discusses both the good and the bad surrounding how the tracks were laid and the people who laid them. And we loved how they use interactive exhibits to explain the science behind how trains work!
Website: https://www.californiarailroad.museum/
16. Exploratorium
San Francisco, California
The Exploratorium is by far one of the coolest hands-on science museums I have ever been too!
Here you can experience over 650 hands-on inquiry-based exhibits that teach you to think and ask questions to better understand the world around you!
This museum is great for kids but is also amazing for adults! In fact every Thursday night they open this museum up specifically for 18+ Adults only.
I had never experienced a science museum this well put together before. The experiments were well thought out and they all worked. I loved how they weren’t cheesy and most were easy enough for kids to understand but still fun enough and thought-provoking enough to interest adults.
This really is a spectacular museum and a great learning site for kids and for the entire family! This is our favorite hands on science museum in the U.S.! It is an incredible place for kids to learn. And it is definitely one of the first places you should visit with your family if you are ever in San Francisco, CA.
Website: https://www.exploratorium.edu/
17. Boston Tea Party Museum
Boston, Massachusetts
The Boston Tea Party Museum is probably the most fun I’ve ever had reenacting history!
Your tour begins by immersing you into an interactive colonial town meeting. Here you will become a part of the dramatic events and outrage against “No Taxation without Representation” that lead to the Boston Tea Party.
Next, your tour leader will lead you out to storm one of the authentically restored tea ships, the Eleanor and the Beaver, as you take part in the “Destruction of Tea!” Each person gets to throw tea overboard into the same body of water where the Boston Tea Party took place over 240 years ago!
Then, you will be led to Griffin’s Wharf to experience the events from the morning after the Boston Tea Party. Listen to the debates and ramifications from the previous nights actions and then decide if you yourself are a Patriot or a Loyalist.
Don’t Miss this Incredible Learning Site for Kids!
Website: www.bostonteapartyship.com
18. Indianapolis Children’s Museum
Indianapolis, Indiana
The Indianapolis Children’s Museum is the world’s largest children’s museum and one of the best children’s museums in the United States!
Interactive experiences here make learning a ton of fun! And kids won’t even realize that they are learning! Here they can uncover the mystery behind an Egyptian tomb, recreate a Terra Cotta soldier like an archaeologist, touch a real T-Rex bone and even watch actual paleontologists work in their lab! They can even step foot onto the museum’s International Space Station! And there is So Much More!
Website: https://www.childrensmuseum.org
Read More Here: Incredible Places We Visited in Indiana
19. Kennedy Space Center
Cape Canaveral, Florida
Get ready for an out-of-this-world learning experience at the Kennedy Space Center!
Here you will discover how space exploration all began, learn about ongoing missions and get a glimpse into the future of space travel.
Stand in awe at the space shuttle Atlantis. Gaze up at the Saturn V, the largest rocket ever flown. Relive the excitement of the moon landing and even touch an actual moon rock!
At Kennedy Space Center you will be inspired to shoot for the stars, because here you will learn that even “impossible” dreams can come true.
Website: https://www.kennedyspacecenter.com/
I hope you enjoyed this list of Top Learning Sites for Kids for your next vacation in the U.S.!
This is in no way a complete list of all the amazing learning sites for kids in the United States. There are so many! This is just a list of the top learning sites for kids that we have come across on our travels throughout the U.S.. These are sites that we felt did an amazing job at making learning fun! Each of these sites seriously impressed our family with their presentation of information and their unique learning experiences. And we highly recommend them!
I hope your family enjoys these learning sites for kids as much as our family did!
Go Learn About the World with Your “Traveling Feet!”
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Fantastic learning sites for kids in the U.S. where kids will learn without even realizing it!
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2 comments
Jenny,
You are amazing! Loved all of the new information, even though I have seen and heard about most, it still blows my mind how much you love sharing and
Thanks! I love sharing our trips because I really hope that it can help other people discover amazing sites around the United States and inspire them to explore the world with their children!
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