11 Kid-Friendly Things to Do in San Antonio {Texas}

Travel dates :: February 26 – March 7

We were originally only going to stay in San Antonio, Texas five days but after we started exploring, we kept extending our stay. I was especially impressed at how kid-friendly the city was, so I thought I’d do a post specifically on 11 kid-friendly things to do in San Antonio! 

Of course this list isn’t complete, but these are 11 attractions we personally did during the week that I thought were especially family-friendly, especially for young kids!

Magik Children’s Theater
We got into town Friday afternoon and I was thrilled to find the local Magik Children’s Theater had two remaining shows of it’s production of James and the Giant Peach. We are huge Roald Dahl fans AND our kids – especially Liam – love live theater. So we attended the 1 p.m. performance of James and the Giant Peach at the Magik Children’s Theater. Right down the street from the Alamo, the Magik Children’s Theater is easily accessible and not far from the bus line. The production was AMAZING – lots of singing, great costumes and talented performers. After the show the performers lined up in the lobby and personally greeted anyone who wanted to meet them. Hadley got all their autographs and got her photo taken with the crazy aunts. I definitely recommend the Magik Children’s Theater for families visiting San Antonio! 

The Alamo
You can’t go to San Antonio and NOT see the Alamo. Really. It’s incredible. And it’s right downtown, very accessible and right off many bus routes. We were there during the day and it was crowded but we were able to walk through and see the detailed exhibits. I also recommend going at night – without the crowds and the way they light up the building is beautiful. We visited the Alamo with our friends the Bareneckers who also travel full-time, the picture above was taken with all our kids outside the Alamo at night. Right across the street from the Alamo is a local Gelato shop, Francesco’s Gelato – it was delicious and I bet it would be especially refreshing on a hot Texas summer day!

San Antonio Missions National Historical Park
The San Antonio Missions National Historical Park includes FOUR missions south of San Antonio. We went to Mission San Jose which has the Park Visitor’s Center. We watched a very informative movie in the visitor center and our kids completed the Junior Ranger Badge program (read about the Junior Ranger Program here). Then we toured the building mission grounds – it was unlike anything we’ve ever seen before! There are no admission fees to visit the missions and so much history!

The San Antonio Riverwalk
The Riverwalk in San Antonio is one of the most famous attractions of the city. The San Antonio River winds around and through the city – and located just one level below street level, you can walk along the meandering river-side paths. Beautifully landscaped and packed with local businesses, the Riverwalk could easily take a full day to explore! We ate a couple meals along the Riverwalk during our time in San Antonio – we found early in the day was much more kid-friendly (and less crowded) and there were lots of dining options.

San Antonio River Boat Tour
We are such travel geeks and LOVE narrated tours of cities we’ve never visited before. We LOVED the San Antonio River Boat Tour! The tour takes about 45 minutes and slowly floats down the San Antonio River while a charismatic tour guide told us all about the sites and history along the river. The kids especially enjoyed the river boat tour.

Tower of the Americas
Located right downtown, the Tower of the Americas is an easy walk from the Alamo, Riverwalk and Magik Children’s Theater. A 750-ft tower, the Tower of America reminds me a lot of the Space Needle in Seattle. You take an elevator up to the top and get panoramic views of San Antonio. The kids loved the views and we really could see forever! Your admission also includes a 4D movie Skies Over Texas which we watched at the base of the tower.

Hemisfair Park Playground
We came upon the Hemisfair Park Playground on accident – after leaving the Magik Children’s Theater and heading toward the Tower of the Americas. This park/playground is one of the COOLEST parks we’ve seen across the country. Our kids really didn’t want to leave. They have life-size checkers and chess, climbing toys, traditional playground equipment and beautiful public art. They also have free public restrooms. I wish we would have went back to the playground on a weekday when it was less busy and let the kids run around.

Natural Bridge Caverns
About a 45-minute drive from our RV Resort, the Natural Bridge Caverns were worth the drive! The narrated tour takes you 180-feet below ground and through half-mile of the amazing caves. Discovered by St. Mary’s University students in 1960, the Natural Bridge Caverns are the largest commercial caverns in Texas. The tour was an easy hike and very kid-friendly.

Natural Bridge Wildlife Tour
Right down the street from the Natural Bridge Caverns is the Natural Bridge Wildlife Tour. We did both in the same day and I would recommend others do the same thing since they are so close together. The wildlife tour is on the Natural Bridge Wildlife Ranch – a 450 acre ranch filled with more than 500 animals from 40 exotic, native and endangered species. You’ll be given a bag of animal feed at the entrance of the park and you drive your own vehicle through the ranch. We saw ostriches, zebras, giraffes, buffalo and much more.  They also have a wonderful petting barnyard and my kids loved petting the African Pygmy goats!

Six Flags
Just a little bit out of town you’ll find Six Flags Fiesta. . .oh my goodness what fun we had here! We had NEVER been to a Six Flags before so we didn’t know what to expect. We got to the park when it opened and spent the entire day riding rides, meeting characters and playing games at Six Flags. I went on the Batman ride, Jeremy went on the Superman ride, the kids stuck to the kiddie rides and arcades. We all had a blast and were exhausted by the time we got home that night.

San Antonio Zoo & Aquarium
We spent an entire afternoon at the San Antonio Zoo & Aquarium and we really enjoyed this place. We have been to a LOT of zoos during our travels but we really liked how the San Antonio Zoo was set up. The paths were easy to follow and the exhibits were really well done. The $4 soft serve ice cream cones were one of the best bargains in the park.

So those are our favorite things to do with kids in San Antonio, Texas. We  had a wonderful time exploring the city and going to these attractions. I say it’s definitely one of the most family-friendly places we’ve visited since hitting the road and I can see us visiting again in the future!

If you missed our earlier post, we stayed at Travelers World RV Park – find out what we loved about Travelers World RV Park here.

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Sponsored post :: The San Antonio Convention and Visitors Bureau provided us with complimentary admission to these attractions and others.The Magik Theater provided us with complimentary theater tickets to James and the Giant Peach. All experiences, opinions and photos in this post are our own. We honestly LOVED San Antonio and will definitely recommend it to our friends and family.