events for kids and families in St. Louis

The Pet-acular Holiday Bazaar is a family-friendly event, especially for dogs and kids! This St. Louis-favorite returns to the state-of-the-art Purina Event Center the weekend of Dec. 3-4 and offers fun for all ages, including a Kids Activity Area and photos with Santa. 

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.

It's the food truck event that started them all! Local food trucks gather for an evening of friends, fun, live music and plenty of great food at Sauce Food Truck Fridays. St. Louis' favorite mobile restaurants will be dishing out fresh fare and local brews in Tower Grove Park.

Celebrate eagles from around the world at World Eagle Day. Learn more about these majestic creatures as well as fun raptor facts with presentations from World Bird Sanctuary naturalists throughout the day.

The Doris I. Schnuck Children's Garden reopens for the season at the Missouri Botanical Garden on March 26 for the general public. The garden introduces youngsters at their most impressionable age to the significance of plants and nature in fun and innovative ways. Occupying nearly two acres west of the Climatron conservatory, the Children's Garden brings botany and 19th-century history to life through a variety of interactive themes will appeal to both kids and adults. 

Hop on over to Des Peres Park for the annual Easter Egg Hunt, where your kids can meet the Easter Bunny and have their picture taken with him. The event is free. Children will be separated into age groups to decrease crowding. 

Come over to the dark side and meet the amazing birds that exist by moonlight. Owl Prowls are an opportunity for families to learn about owls from the naturalists at the World Bird Sanctuary.