Your Age-by-Age Summer Bucket List
For kids 6 and younger
- Swim their little faces off: Seattle has some great wading pools for your little tadpoles. One of our favorites is Magnolia’s outdoor “Pop” Mounger Pool. With a small and heated (94 degrees!) wading pool for the littles and a larger 50-foot corkscrew slide in the bigger (and colder) pool, your little Nemos won’t want to leave this aquatic utopia.
- Tip: Get there early to stake out a prime lounging spot in the sun.
- Pet a goat or pick some berries: On select weekdays from mid-May to June, preschoolers get the run of Remlinger Farms, a U-pick farm/mini amusement park in Carnation. During these half-price “Toddler Weekdays,” not all of the rides are open, but there’s still plenty for kids to enjoy, from berry picking to a petting zoo, with fewer crowds.
- Tip: There’s a restaurant and snack bar on site, but you can save some bucks by bringing your own snacks and eating at one of the outdoor picnic areas.
- Create a ferry tale: Looking for a cheap and fun escape with your small adventurers? Take the ferry from downtown Seattle’s Colman Dock over to Bainbridge Island for an easy day trip. The Seattle-Bainbridge crossing takes a mere 35 minutes, and you’ll get to enjoy great views of the Seattle skyline and the islands while underway. The best part? Kids younger than 6 ride for free! Once on Bainbridge, it’s a 10-minute walk from the ferry terminal to the Kids Discovery Museum (KiDiMu), which has play areas and — wait for it — its very own pirate tree house.
- Tip: KiDiMu is free on first Thursdays, and the family-friendly Bainbridge Island Museum of Art, right next door, is always free for kids.
