Las Vegas Travel Guide: Things to do in Vegas with kids

Las Vegas aka “Sin City” is kid-friendly? That’s right! It’s definitely a family-friendly destination to visit! There are plenty of FREE and paid experiences to do that’ll fit whatever your budget is.

Let’s talk about the FREE activities first because who doesn’t like finding free things to do with kids, right?

• Seven Magic Mountains
  • This is a public art installation comprised of colorful boulders stacked on top of each other to form seven magic “mountains”. It’s a short drive from the strip but totally worth it for the gram.
• Aquarium Mermaid Show
  • Swing by the Silverton Casino on your way back from Seven Magic Mountains and see some real life “mermaids” swimming in the tank with fish! The mermaids also interact with the little kids surrounding the tank. The mermaids usually swim between Thurs-Sun but be sure to check the schedule listed on their website before going. Check out our Vegas travel vlog on YouTube.

• Welcome to Fabulous Las Vegas sign
  • The landmark that started it all. Depending on the time of day you go, there may be a short or long line for this but it went by pretty fast as people just took a photo and left.

• Tour inside the hotel casinos – each casino hotel has a different theme and attraction. There are a ton but here a few notable ones that I’ve experienced:
  • Bellagio Resort and Casino
    • Bellagio Fountains is the most iconic attraction you cannot miss! The fountain show has music with dancing water and lights. It runs every 30 minutes M-F 3:00-7:00 pm and every 15 minutes between 7:00 to midnight. The fountain show starts earlier on the weekends beginning at noon. Notable restaurants with the best views of the show are: Spago by Wolfgang Puck, Eiffel Tower Restaurant and Mon Ami Gabi (early reservations and requesting window/outdoor seating would be the best way to go if you want to catch the show during your meal).
    • Bellagio Conservatory and Botanical Gardens – free and open 24 hours! You don’t need to be a hotel guests to see this – it’s in the main lobby area. It gets redesigned four times a year to reflect the current season with beautiful trees, plants, and real flowers. I was there at 4AM one day and saw the staff potting in new flowers each morning. You can smell the fresh flowers too! We took the kids during the holiday season and they loved the big Christmas trees and the real life size gingerbread house.

• • Caesars Palace Forum Shops
    • Beautiful architecture inside with large statues and water fountains. Catch the “Fall of Atlantis” animatronic ~10-min show which runs every hour on the hour.
  • The Flamingo Wildlife Habitat
    • Take a stroll on 15 acres of gardens, waterfalls, exotic birds, turtles, and of course flamingos.
  • The Venetian
    • Think Venice, Italy but in Vegas. Enjoy a gelato while admiring all the architectural details here. More info on the gondola rides below.
• Other places to consider taking your kids to: Hershey’s Chocolate World, M&Ms World, downtown Container Park/Treehouse Playground, circus show at Circus Circus Casino Hotel. And if you all are up for hiking – consider visiting Red Rock Canyon or Valley of Fire State Park.

Moving on to the paid attractions for kids in Vegas:

• The Venetian gondola rides – there is an indoor and outdoor gondola ride. I’ve done both and I personally like the indoor ride better because the architecture and design inside felt more like I was in Venice. It is a little pricey but I do recommend booking your gondola reservation prior to going there.

• Discovery Children’s Museum – you can spend all day here! My kids did not want to leave after spending hours in this place. There are three different levels filled with activities catering to all different ages. The activities included a play gym, grocery store, different professions like pretend to be a dentist, doctor, car mechanic, or do some arts & crafts and learn some science! Tip: save the water activity on the first floor at the end because they’ll definitely get wet (bring extra clothes too). It gets pretty crowded on the weekends so go during the week if you can.
• Shark Reef Aquarium is located inside Mandalay Bay. My kids love all things water – from playing in it to observing sharks and other fish. This is a pretty small aquarium so you can either breeze through it within 30 min or take your time and spend a couple hours here. My kids ran through it because that’s how they roll but it was still a nice aquarium to visit.

The list of attractions can go on and on but this was what we mainly did during our 4-day trip here. There are also a ton of places to eat from casual to upscale catering to every type of eater out there. Thanks for reading and I hope you have an amazing trip in Vegas with your kiddos!

FTC: this post is not sponsored.