St. Louis

The Saint Louis Science Center hosts SciFest: Play and Creativity Expo, an all-day, free event showcasing how STEM concepts, innovation, play and creativity all go together. Visitors can get involved and engage their own creativity through exciting, hands-on activities. 

Young visitors and their families are invited to the Energy Stage at the Saint Louis Science Center to enjoy interactive read-alouds of science-themed picture books. Story times are followed by a short demonstration or discussion connected to the book's main concepts. 

Celebrating the history, culture, and people of Japan, the Japanese Festival at the Missouri Botanical Garden is one of the largest and oldest festivals of its kind in the United States. Your family can enjoy guided walking tours, bonsai, cooking, martial arts and origami demonstrations, sumo wrestling, and special activities for kids.

The Missouri Botanical Garden welcomes Santa during extended evening hours during Jingle in July. Santa will be in the Garden in his summer attire and will take photos with visitors from 5 to 7 p.m. Plus, outside the Children's Garden, visitors can meet and take photos with the Ice Queen.

Visit the library for free Library Pop-Up Play featuring interactive activities from The Magic House. These free pop-up play experiences are recommended for ages 5-10 and held at various branches of the St. Louis County Library and St. Louis Public Library.

Romeo & Zooliet is a wildly fun, family-friendly stage adaptation of Romeo & Juliet! It explores what would happen if animals at the Saint Louis Zoo put on their own Shakespearean performance after zookeepers go home for the night. The show stage and seating area is designed as an enchanting version of Shakespeare's Globe Theatre within the Zoo's Historic Hill area. "Romeo & Zooliet" is produced as a partnership of the Saint Louis Zoo and the St. Louis Shakespeare Festival. The production features dazzling animal puppetry by world-renowned Michael Curry Design, known for its work on Broadway's "The Lion King" and "Frozen," as well as Olympic and Super Bowl ceremonies.

Aquarium visitors will be immersed in a world of shark-centered adventures and have opportunities to get up close to the sharks during Shark Week at the St. Louis Aquarium.