St. Louis

St. Louis seems to be the mecca of free children's activities! They have so much, seriously! The zoo is amazing and free. The science center is free, the botanical gardens are free...I know there's more just don't know off hand.

There is a train museum/store that I know is popular with my friend's kids. Ted Drewes is an amazing frozen custard place and there are a few around town. You will have a ton of fun, do it!!

St. Louis Zoo, City Museum, Botanical Gardens, Science Center, Butterfly House, Grants Farm, Six Flags (is expensive), Purina Farms, You can take an elevator to the top of the Arch and see the whole city. You may enjoy the art museum that is right by the zoo, Magic House, Frontier Park. Have fun!

My brother & sister-in-law live in St.Louis. Before we visited several years ago, I was a little skeptical about what there might be to do there (yeah -- I'll admit to a little Boston & seacoast snobbery.). We brought our two youngest kids ( a little older than yours at the time) and had a BLAST! Fabulous zoo! Grant's Farm was great. By all means, tour inside the arch -- it's really impressive inside & out & will help the kids understand our nation's westward expansion. Such a pretty area! Oh -- and visit Old St. Charles, too!

Have fun!

Grant's Farm is near St. Louis..... and if I read the information correctly, there is a fee for parking, but all other things are free? (Grant's Farm is owned by Anheiser-Busch)

http://www.grantsfarm.com/default.htm

You could easily spend most of the day there...... there is a deer park, animal shows, and of course, the HUGE Budweiser Clydesdales..... I remember when I went there (many years ago), that there was a 4 week old foal in the stables... and it was huge!

Don't miss the City Museum
http://explorestlouis.com/visit-explore/see-do/see-do-mem...

It defies explanation and is a total BLAST for everyone. (They have a slide that goes from the roof to 10 stories down the building - not for little kids, but you should try it!)

The Zoo is fabulous - buildings date from the 1904 World's Fair but have been updated inside to state of the art zoo levels. A new sea lion exhibit and show are super cool. It's a large zoo so be prepared. It has lots of options that are free and others that cost so it helps to go look online first so you know your choices. If you belong to your local zoo (love the cute Toledo Zoo) you may get a discount on the tickets there. The train is fun and good to get from one part of the zoo to another, but doesn't allow strollers so keep that in mind.

The science center is very hands on and interactive and Magic House also lots of fun. The Imax movies both at the Science Center and the Arch are usually very intertaining and informative.

The ride up the Arch and the view once you get there is stunning and the museum below it great. The movie about the Arch being made might sound corny, but it's by Guggenheim and is really compelling - in St. Louis burbs we watched it in school all the time growing up. (plan to take snacks - I don't think they have many food options there, just a little old-fashioned general store that has some cheese, salami, crackers and candy)

Your 4 year old may or may not be into dinos and bones, but the St. Louis area use to be home to an ancient culture similar to the Mayans. It's fascinating to learn about them at the remaining site of the Coahokian Mounds http://www.cahokiamounds.org/
And don't miss a trip to one of the original frozen custard places in the US Ted Drewes http://www.teddrewes.com/home/default.aspx
OK - now I'm homesick! (and hungry!)

We have the top free zoo! Seriously didn't know other cities charged for the pleasure of their zoos. Well I mean we charge it is just the tax payers pay.

City museum and Magic House are not too pricey.

We also have an amazing park system.

There are also physical places like Monkey Joes, Bounce U and Sky Zone.

Oh, almost forgot, the train museum.

Z.:

"Outside St. Louis" is a LOT of area! The Illinois side or the Missouri side?

There is a lot to do in St. Louis. On the 4th of July they have a parade by the Arch....

There is the Zoo - now I admit I have NOT been to the St. Louis zoo.

go to LivingSocial.com and find out if there are any deals on tickets to Six Flags St. Louis or the Zoo. To walk around the Arch is free - but to ride up to the top is NOT free. I don't remember how much it is.

There is a place called "THE MAGIC HOUSE" - that was years ago - that I went with my daughter....I googled it - found "Explore St. Louis" and am attaching links!

http://explorestlouis.com/visit-explore/see-do/see-do-mem...

http://explorestlouis.com/visit-explore/see-do/see-do-mem...

http://explorestlouis.com/visit-explore/see-do/see-do-mem...

Have fun!

We just went last weekend. The zoo is free--and really nice. The Children's Science center (http://www.slsc.org/) was also free ($10 for parking) and great! There are some activities that you have to pay for (IMAX movie, Lego room, etc), but there is a lot that is free, too! The Arch, of course. We had a coupon (found it online) for a free kid ticket with every adult ticket purchased. So, our group was 4 adults and 4 kids and we only had to pay for the adults to go up in the Arch ($10 per adult). My kids are 2, 5, and 7.

I used to live in the St. Louis area. Folks have already given you a list of some of our favorites (the zoo, the science center, Magic House, Grant's Farm), but I'd like to add one. The Missouri Botanical Garden (the do charge admission, but I remember it as being reasonable), which is in St.Louis, is an amazing place to go with children. In some parts you do have to keep to the path, but there are also areas where children can run. There is a children's garden, but my favorite is the Japanese garden.

For food, St. Louis has an Italian quarter where you can eat amazing food for reasonable prices. Someone has already mentioned Drewes frozen custard (YUM!), and I agree - you simply must make time to go by there. Another kid-friendly St. Louis specialty that you can find many places is "toasted" ravioli. It's not really toasted - it's fried raviolis that you dip in marinara sauce. Not exactly health food, but very, very tasty.

I do not know if it's still there, but there used to be a butterfly house that was a fantastic place to go with children, as long as your kids don't fear flying insects. You get to wander through the butterfly habitat, so there is a possibility of a butterfly landing on you.

Do be aware that there are some parts of St. Louis where you would not want to be with after dark. The folks at the time share could probably tell you specifically which areas of town to be careful in or to avoid. To the best of my knowledge, the areas around the major attractions are reasonably safe.

Outside the city in Illinois is Cahokia Mounds, which another poster mentioned. While my kids found it fascinating when they were older, when they were the ages of your kids, they simply weren't interested.