Free Things to Do in Seattle

Free playground at Seattle Center with separate areas for ages 2-5 and 5-12. Musical instruments, climbing structures, 30-foot climbing tower. Fully accessible. Open year-round.

Free splash fountain at Seattle Center where kids run through water jets shooting from a dome. Built for the 1962 World's Fair. Packed on warm days. Lawn around it works for picnics. Open year-round, water jets seasonal.

Rem Koolhaas building with a dedicated kids floor. Free storytime, crafts, and STEM activities. Weekly story times for ages 0-5 include Spanish sessions. Kids love the bright-red escalator spiral.

534-acre park with a renovated playground (ages 2-5 and 5-12), zip line, cargo nets, and trails to a lighthouse and beach. Stroller-friendly easy trails. Ranger-led nature walks on weekends. Fully accessible playground.

Free waterfront museum on South Lake Union with classic wooden boats kids can climb on. Two free rowboats daily, first-come first-served. Free Sunday public sailings. Rentable pedal boats, rowboats, and sailboats. Seasonal kids boat building workshops.

Seattle history museum with interactive exhibits on the Great Fire, Boeing, and tech boom. Full-size seaplane on the ceiling, periscope with live lake views. Kids 14 and under always free. Free for all first Thursdays 5-8pm.

223-acre park with salmon-themed climbing structures, a bridge over railroad tracks to the beach, and forested trails. In fall, salmon spawn in Piper's Creek and rangers explain the lifecycle. Playground has separate toddler and older kid areas. Free parking.

Free to visit. Watch boats rise and fall in the lock chambers connecting Puget Sound to Lake Union. Fish ladder has underwater viewing windows for watching salmon migrate (best summer and fall). Botanical gardens and a small free visitor center on-site.

19-acre park on Lake Union built around ruins of a gasification plant. Industrial structures are fenced off but cool to look at. Big hill with downtown and Space Needle views, open fields for kite flying, play barn with picnic tables. Free.

2.5-mile sandy waterfront in West Seattle with downtown skyline views across the bay. Shallow, calm water (cold though) for wading. Paved path for strollers, bikes, scooters. Beach fires in designated rings. Free family art drop-ins at the Bathhouse Art Studio on weekends.

Free outdoor market every Sunday, year-round rain or shine. 150+ vendors with crafts, antiques, food, produce. Walk over to see the Fremont Troll under the Aurora Bridge afterward.

Free Victorian greenhouse on Capitol Hill with five rooms of tropical plants, orchids, cacti. Warm and humid, good rainy-day stop. Volunteer Park around it has a playground, a water tower you can climb, and the Asian Art Museum.

Free 20-acre Japanese garden in South Seattle, started by self-taught gardener Fujitaro Kubota in 1927. Stone bridges, waterfalls, koi ponds, paths through old-growth trees. Kids like the bridges and stepping stones. Rarely crowded. Free parking.

Free nine-acre sculpture park on the waterfront run by SAM. Large-scale works by Calder, Serra, and Bourgeois. The Z-shaped path goes from the city down to the water with Elliott Bay and Olympic Mountain views. Open year-round, dawn to dusk.

Always free. 19th and early 20th century European and American paintings plus rotating contemporary shows. Quieter and less crowded than SAM. Open late Thursdays until 8pm.

Watch free live in-studio performances through a glass-walled gallery at KEXP's Seattle Center space. Up to 70 visitors per session, free tickets 90 minutes before each show on a first-come basis. Cafe on-site.

Free waterfront museum on South Lake Union with classic wooden boats. Two free rowboats daily, first-come first-served. Free Sunday public sailings on larger boats. Sailboats, rowboats, and pedal boats also rentable.

First Thursday of every month, 6-8pm. Dozen-plus galleries open up, most with wine and snacks. Free. Capitol Hill and Ballard have their own art walks on other nights.