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Get the Details For The Polar Express in St. Louis This Holiday Season

Christmas may be months away, but St. Louis Union Station has an early gift for everyone who loves the holidays. Due to the overwhelming popularity of The Polar Express Train Ride, St.

Rise Up Festival Celebrates St. Louis with Family-Friendly Fun

On the national stage, St. Louis isn’t always seen in best light. You know, with Toyotas disappearing into sinkholes and movie stars tweeting photos of non-postcard worthy views from the comfort of their four-star hotel rooms. But those of us in the know love St. Louis for all of its envy-inducing traits – the free, world-renowned attractions for families, its thriving arts scene, and its culturally-rich neighborhoods where mom-and-pop shops mingle with award-winning restaurants.

Blanket Fort Festival

Kids can get creative as they build blanket forts, enjoy face painting, listen to folk tales, watch puppet shows, visit the Magical Musical Forest and lots more at this free festival, which hopes to harness the creativity of many to build an interactive playscape the whole family can enjoy.

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Get Organized for the School Year with These Tips From a Pro

As God as my witness, I’ll be more organized this summer, I told myself in May. The kids will clean up after themselves every day without complaint. And I won’t buy another pair of goggles until we find the ones we lost! Lies, all lies. Now that summer is a bust, I wanted to get a head start on the back-to-school chaos. It was clearly time for an intervention.

Missouri Rice Day at GROW

Kids can learn how to grow rice and how it's processed through hands-on demonstrations and arts & crafts activities.

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End of Summer Splash Bash

Celebrate the weekend before many kids go back to school with a pool party!

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Flower Scientist

Kids can learn how a botanist works as they use tools to dissect flowers and explore how flowers benefit the world.

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DIY Fidget Spinners Workshop

Make your own custom fidget spinners from a variety of household materials at this free workshop for all ages.

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8 Essential Events for Families This August

The kids may be gearing up for back-to-school, but there's still plenty of summer fun left. Here are our top picks for family-friendly events in August around the St. Louis area:

Wildwood Summer Balloon Glow

See a beautiful balloon glow with five hot air balloons and enjoy lots of kids' activities, like the Bubble Bus and face painting at this community event that benefits the YMCA.

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CAM Art Bus at Citygarden

Kids love the CAM Art Bus! Your kids can enjoy the water features at Citygarden and a visit by the Contemporary Art Museum's Art Bus.

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Sneakers with Soul Helps Kids Go Back to School with New Shoes

Back to school shopping is an exciting annual ritual for kids of all grades – filling supply lists, getting new backpacks, clothes and shoes.

Get Back to the Farm with Family-Friendly Food Tours

In their citified or suburban lives, the closest many kids ever get to experiencing farming today is when the sprinklers start up to water the veggies in the Schnucks produce aisle.

St. Charles County Fair

Activities include carnival rides, bounce house, a petting zoo, a rock wall, entertainers, tractor pulls, a rodeo, demolition derby, live music and food vendors. Carnival rides are free with paid admission.

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Free Movie Screening at the Saint Louis Zoo: Chasing Coral

Come to the Saint Louis Zoo for a free movie night. See the film Chasing Coral, a winner at this year's Sundance Film Festival.

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Archeology Day

You can tour a 2,000-year-old excavation site, try pottery making, spear throwing, weaving, sort soil samples and more.

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A Taste of COCA

Bring your whole family to COCA to see what this multidisciplinary community arts center has to offer for all ages during Taste of COCA. Enjoy sample classes and a free breakfast.

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Y is for Yoga

Your child will stretch their imagination with stories and exercise in this yoga story time.

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Shrek the Musical

Perfect for all ages, Shrek the Musical brings all the beloved characters you know from the film to life on stage and proves there's more to the story than meets the ears.

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Things to Do

Budding Artists Preschool Art Program

At this free art program for ages 3-6 the focus is on the process of making art rather than the finished product. Dress to get messy!

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Museum Babies Storytelling

Bring your babies and toddlers to this free story time at the Missouri History Museum.

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Bubble Bus at the Library

Tuesday, June 23, 2026

Friday, June 26, 2026

Get ready for tons of free, soapy fun! Come to the library to play with tons of bubbles with the Bubble Bus.

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Sea Lion Shows at the Saint Louis Zoo

See the Zoo's California sea lions perform acrobatic and athletic feats, including Olympic-style dives on a high-diving platform, flipper walks, frisbee tosses and plenty of surprises. While on stage with the sea lions, the Zoo's trainers explain sea lion behavior and positive-reinforcement training, in addition to the need for conserving the sea lion's ocean habitat.

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Storytelling in the Museum from the Missouri History Museum

Storytelling in the Museum is an in-person storytelling event happening at 10:30 a.m. at the Missouri History Museum. This event, perfect for the preschool set, features engaging stories with themes like Shapes, Black Music Month, STEAM, Juneteenth, The River, and more.

Storytelling in the Museum is free.

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Kids Unleash Their Creativity at Hands-On Summer Art Camps

Your creative child may have numerous opportunities throughout the school year to express themselves through art projects and other hands-on art experiences, but what about summer? When the classroom is closed, what do you do? Send your child to an artistically engaging summer camp, of course!

Dinoroarus Comes Roaring Back at the Saint Louis Zoo

The Dinoroarus exhibit will bring prehistoric fun back to the Saint Louis Zoo this summer with 20 lifelike dinosaur animatronics and sculptures on the Zoo's Historic Hill.

Travel Back in Time Every Friday at the Missouri History Museum’s Free Summer Family Fun Series

There comes a point every summer when all that “free time” isn’t so fun anymore. Your kids are bouncing off the walls, it’s too hot to hit the playground, and every activity seems to come with a big price tag. That’s when the screens come out, and parents find themselves counting down the minutes to bedtime. Thankfully, when Friday rolls around each week, your family can experience a mini summer getaway through history – no travel required.

Summer STEM Camps Create Hands-On Fun + Immersive Learning for Kids & Teens

Want your child to learn about subjects in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math), and have fun doing it? Help them further understand the inner workings of what's all around them by enrolling them in a STEM-fueled summer camp. You may be surprised at the wide variety of highly-acclaimed summer camps in the St. Louis area that put new and exciting twists on STEM concepts, creating hands-on fun for kids with the benefit of introducing them to some of the latest technologies in AI, engineering, coding and more.

Your Guide to Free Outdoor Family Movies this Summer

Seeing a movie at the theater is a magical experience, but when summer rolls around, it’s time to get outside and enjoy free movies on the big screen! Free family movie nights abound across the St. Louis area, so grab your kids, a blanket or lawn chairs, and get ready for some cinematic fun under the stars. Here's where to find them:

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One hour a week. It doesn't sound like much. But ask any Olympia parent, and they'll tell you - one hour a week has a way of changing everything. Maybe it's the moment your toddler sticks their first landing and looks up with that enormous grin. Maybe it's watching your school-age kid tackle something hard and realize they can do it. Maybe it's your teen finding a place where they truly belong.

Those moments add up, week after week. At Olympia Gymnastics, we've been creating those moments for St. Louis families for 47 years. Our coaches don't just teach skills, they show up for your kids. They get to know them, celebrate their wins, and cheer loudest on the hard days. One hour. Big Impact. Olympia Gymnastics + Ninja | 9 locations across the St. Louis area. LEARN MORE

Our Summer Camp Guide at stlcamps.com is the fastest and easiest way to find the perfect summer camps for your kids! We feature camps for ages 18 months to 18 years of age, and for every interest you can imagine. Our guide is searchable for your child's age, camp location, type of camp, camp dates, and even extended care availability. Whether your child is into sports, arts, robotics, coding, outdoor adventures, musical performance, climbing or just about anything else, you'll find it at stlcamps.com! Book your child's camp sessions now! GET STARTED

Visit the Missouri History Museum on Fridays in June and July for their Summer Family Fun Series! Enjoy a variety of free family activities, including crafts, performances, food, movement, and more! All activities are tied into Museum exhibits and St. Louis history, and focus on a different theme each week. This summer kids and families can learn about Juneteenth, celebrate America’s 250th birthday, explore Vietnamese culture in STL, and discover the wonders of the Mighty Mississippi!

Storytelling in the Museum programs are part of the fun this year, with themes that match the rest of the day’s activities. Don’t forget, the History Clubhouse is open for play and exploration! In this hands-on family gallery, kids can travel back in time to the World’s Fair, Cahokia and more as they learn about the history of the city they call home. Appropriate for ages 2–12. Fridays, June 5-July 31, 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. For more detailed information on each day’s activities, visit the Museum’s website.

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