Come see the sea during opening day of the St. Louis Aquarium. The 120,000 square-foot aquarium is open to the public for the first time on Christmas Day.
Your journey through the St. Louis Aquarium starts along a freshwater river and the shallow waters of a salt marsh, then moves into the deep, dark abyss of the ocean. Visit the Shark Canyon, featuring 80 varieties of sharks, The Deep, with jellyfish, eels, and sea dragons, the Changing Rivers, featuring river otters, the Confluence Gallery with regional fish, the Ocean Shore, with horseshoe crab, sea cucumbers, stingrays, and lots more.
Dec. 25 hours are noon to 6 p.m. Hours from Dec. 26 to Jan. 4 are 10 a.m. to 9 p.m.
More information and tickets: stlouisaquarium.com
March brings a very special kind of tropical madness to the Butterfly House in Faust Park! Thousands of breathtaking Blue Morpho butterflies take up residence to welcome spring.
Stop in and have some fun in the indoor pool at the Lodge of Des Peres with your little one at this drop-in swim time for kids up to age 6. No pre-registration is needed; Water Waddlers is open to residents and non-residents of Des Peres.
See the amazing sea lions at the Saint Louis Zoo perform for the crowd and cheer them on from the bleachers as the popular Sea Lion Spring Training Shows return. You'll see these beautiful animals perform flipper walks, ball balancing, Olympic-style dives on a high-diving platform, lots of splashing and even more surprises!
The Saint Louis Science Center has expanded its Preschool Science Series to include new offerings for different age groups of young scientists. Storybook STEM is for ages 3 to 5.
Explore the Saint Louis Zoo in the evenings at the Chinese lantern festival Animals Aglow! Animals Aglow returns to illuminate the Saint Louis Zoo for the second year with dozens of new, towering lanterns and light displays.