Virginia with Kids

Located in Central Virginia, Amazement Square is a hands-on museum designed specifically for children. The interactive exhibits cover topics like Native American culture and history, gravity and electricity, and life on a farm, and there's also an exciting climbing structure that connects all four floors of the museum.

Most days of the week, the museum also hosts special programs that allow kids to explore various aspects of art, science, and engineering. There are several private spaces that can be booked for birthday parties, and the entire space can even be booked for an overnight slumber party with optional access to the planetarium.

27 9th St, Lynchburg, VA 24504, Phone: 434-845-1888

Formerly located inside the Navy Hill School building, the Children's Museum of Richmond is one of the best kids' museums in the state.

The museum is dedicated to inspiring learning through play, and highlights of the exhibits include an interactive hospital with a life-sized "operations" game, a sand box where kids can dig for dinos and treasures, and a farm-themed area designed for children under the age of three. There's also a cozy book nook where kids are encouraged to read. If you can't make it to the main museum in Richmond, there are also satellite locations in Fredericksburg, Chesterfield, and Short Pump.

2626 W Broad St, Richmond, VA 23220, Phone: 804-474-7000

Found at the Beagle Ridge Herb Farm in Wytheville, the Flying Flowers Butterfly House is home to more than 30 different species of native Vermont butterflies.

All visitors can participate in a short educational program about the butterfly's life cycle and other fun facts, with plenty of time for questions. After the educational program, visitors can enter the butterfly house in small groups, where they'll have the chance to feed and pet a butterfly. The house is open between mid-May and the end of September, and at the end of the season, guests are invited to come participate in the monarch butterfly tagging event.

1934 Matney Flats Rd, Po 419, Wytheville, VA 24382, Phone: 276-621-4511

Home to animals from six of the world's seven continents, the Fort Chiswell Animal Park is an interactive zoo where visitors are encouraged to touch and feed many of the animals.

The petting zoo is home to familiar animals like deer and llamas, but the real highlight of the park is the Safari Bus Tour, which takes visitors on an exciting adventure through the outback, where they'll spot animals like zebras, camels, and buffalo. The bus tour is included in the price of admission, and if you'd like to feed the animals, food can be purchased from the gift shop.

569 Red Hollow Rd, Max Meadows, VA 24360, Phone: 276-637-6754

The perfect destination for history lovers of all ages, the Frontier Culture Museum is an outdoor living history museum that tells the story of what life was like for the area's first settlers.

There are 11 permanent exhibits, each of which represents life in a different part of the Old World or America, including an English farm, an Eastern Woodland indigenous settlement, and an Irish forge. Costumed interpreters can be found all throughout the museum, answering questions and doing their best to bring history to life. Visitors are welcome to explore the museum on their own, but guided tours are available if arranged in advance.

1290 Richmond Ave, Staunton, VA 24401, Phone: 540-332-7850

One of the oldest show caves in the country, Grand Caverns has been offering tours to the public since 1806.

The standard tour is suitable for visitors of all ages, and it leads visitors on a mile-long stroll through a beautiful cave decorated with natural stalactites and stalagmites. On select days, there's also an exciting Adventure Tour that takes visitors deep into an unlit cave that hasn't been open to the public since the 1800s. Above ground, the property offers a mini golf course, a swimming pool, a picnic area, and several beautiful walking trails.

5 Grand Cavern Rd, Grottoes, VA 24441, Phone: 540-249-5705

Home to both domestic and exotic animals, Infinity Acres Petting Ranch is an educational petting zoo where visitors are encouraged to learn about animals in a fun, interactive way.

It specializes in group tours, and visitors will have the chance to participate in activities like bottle feeding baby goats, walking llamas, and feeding animals. The ranch is open year-round, but visits are by appointment only. During the summer, kids can be enrolled in a week-long day camp program where they'll learn how to groom animals, create wool art, and play catch and release fishing games.

136 Joppa Rd #4242, Ridgeway, VA 24148, Phone: 276-358-2378

Occupying more than 20 acres, the Leesburg Animal Park is a family-owned and operated petting zoo where visitors can meet animals from all over the world.

The petting zoo area is home to barnyard animals like donkeys, bunnies, and llamas, and the exotic animal exhibits boast creatures like zebras, squirrel monkeys, and sloths. Aside from the animals, there's also a three-level kids' play area with a trampoline and a giant slide. Wagon rides are offered between mid-March and the end of December, and special holiday activities and festivals are held during the Easter, Halloween, and Christmas seasons.

19246 James Monroe Hwy, Leesburg, VA 20175, Phone: 703-433-0002