Family Fun in Seattle

Often referred to as the Emerald City, Seattle offers exciting adventures and activities for every age and interest.

Attractions for families and the kid in all of us:

The Space Needle
Seattle Center, 400 Broad St.
206.905.2100
www.spaceneedle.com

A 41-second elevator ride takes you up 520 feet to the observation deck of the Space Needle, built for the 1962 World's Fair. Enjoy a meal at SkyCity, the restaurant at the top that revolves 360° while you dine.

Pacific Science Center
Seattle Center, 200 Second Ave. N
206.443.2001
www.pacsci.org

Budding scientists of all ages will enjoy this staple of Seattle kid places. Take your kids back in time to meet roaring dinosaurs or into a special sun room to watch a butterfly emerge from its chrysalis. Kids love the giant robotic insects, the two-ton granite ball they can spin with their bare hands or predicting the weather on TV.

Ride the Ducks of Seattle
516 Broad St, Seattle
206.441.DUCK (3825)
www.ridetheducksofseattle.com

Tour Seattle by land and water on a WWII amphibious landing craft. This 90-minute adventure tour will have you "quacking up" through the streets of Seattle. You'll see the major sights of the Emerald City on land before you head out to the funky Fremont neighborhood where you'll splash into Lake Union.

Wild Waves & Enchanted Village
36201 Enchanted Parkway S, Federal Way
253.661.8000
www.sixflags.com/parks/enchantedvillage

Slide down chutes, through tunnels and over whitewater rapids, then splash down safely in the pools made to catch squealing youngsters - and parents who can't resist the fun - at Wild Waves water park. Built into the same Six Flags park is Enchanted Village, with rides and other amusements ranging from the Wild Thing rollercoaster to a 1906 antique carousel.

The Children's Museum, Seattle
Seattle Center, 305 Harrison St.
206.441.1768
www.thechildrensmuseum.org

Kids explore familiar places from their own neighborhoods and discover cultures from around the globe in kid-sized exhibits where they can skipper a sea-going ship, visit a tailor shop in Ghana or ride a tricycle around the Philippines. Driving a fire engine is child's play, and so is pretending to run a store or restaurant. For the ham in the family, a theater complete with costumes and sound effects encourages your little ones to take the stage.

Seattle Children's Theatre
Seattle Center, 201 Thomas St.
206.441.3322
www.sct.org

Time magazine recently named Seattle Children's Theatre one of the outstanding theaters of its kind. Plays written especially for children of varying ages and their families, many of them world premieres, are professionally produced on two state-of-the-art stages. Recent performances included Seussical, Sleeping Beauty, Peter and the Wolf and The Devil and Daniel Webster. The theater is open from September through June.

Other "don't miss" attractions include:

Pike Place Market
Between First Ave. and Western, from Pike to Virginia streets
www.pikeplacemarket.org

Born in 1907, Seattle's Pike Place Market is the granddaddy of farmers' markets. Today, it's a major tourist attraction with 200 businesses operating year-round, 190 craftspeople and 120 farmer booths - plus street performers and musicians. Flowers by the bucketful, flying fish, fresh pastries and fruit, handmade cheeses, local honey, wine, an assortment of restaurants, import goods, antiques, collectibles and lots of surprises are around every corner.

Ferries
www.wsdot.wa.gov/ferries

Traveling by ferry is a state of mind as much as a means of transportation to some of the Puget Sound's most historic and scenic sites. Views of the Olympic and Cascade mountains, the Seattle cityscape and the green shorelines will draw you out onto the deck to feel the salt breeze on your face. The state ferry system takes passengers and their vehicles from Seattle and nearby departure points to Vashon Island, the Kitsap Peninsula, the San Juan Islands and Canada.

Seattle Aquarium
Pier 59
206.386.4300
www.seattleaquarium.org

Meet Alki, the sea otter pup born at the Aquarium. Walk under the water in a glass dome as bluntnose sixgill sharks and other Elliott Bay creatures swim all around you. Touch a sea anemone. Learn about the lives of salmon at the world's first aquarium-based salmon ladder. Marvel at the impossibly bright-colored coral reef fish. And don't forget to wave to the giant Pacific octopus.

The Seattle Waterfront
Piers 52 to 70 on Alaskan Way
ci.seattle.wa.us/tour/water.htm

A bustling collection of attractions, restaurants and shopping, as well as starting points for ferries, cruise ships, the Victoria Clipper and Argosy boat tours are located here. Feed the seagulls at the statue of Ivar Haglund in front of Ivar's Acres of Clams, stroll by the fountains on the wooden piers of Waterfront Park, admire the view or shop for souvenirs.

Woodland Park Zoo
South Gate: 750 N. 50th St
206.684.4800
www.zoo.org

See more than 1,000 animals of 300 different species, from elephants and gorillas to piranhas and penguins, in naturalistic exhibits at the Woodland Park Zoo. Drop by at scheduled feeding times and talk with the people who care for the animals.

Bill Speidel's Underground Tour
608 First Ave.
206.682.4646
www.undergroundtour.com

After the Great Seattle Fire of 1889, the city was rebuilt over the top of the ruins. This guided tour takes visitors through the hidden subterranean passages that once were the main roadways and storefronts of old downtown Seattle and tells stories of the frontier people who lived and worked there.

Tillicum Village
Blake Island
206.933.8600
www.tillicumvillage.com

A short, narrated cruise takes you to an island village, where you'll feast on salmon cooked in the authentic Native American way. A stage show of traditional dances and stories entertains and teaches you about the people who lived in the Northwest first.

Information provided with permission of the Seattle Convention and Visitors Bureau.