Kid-friendly museums around Seattle

These museums are chosen for hands-on: water tables, structures to climb, planes to sit in, rather than things behind glass. There's a fit for everyone from 2 to 10.

The Eastside's first choice is KidsQuest in downtown Bellevue, built for ages 0–10 with its own under-3 area. Around Seattle Center you'll find the Seattle Children's Museum and Pacific Science Center (butterflies, dinosaurs), easy to pair with the Monorail; the Museum of Flight in Tukwila has kid-sized planes to climb into and a real Concorde; the Burke at UW has a T. rex skull. Farther out, Imagine Children's Museum in Everett is much bigger than KidsQuest, and the Children's Museum of Tacoma is pay-what-you-will.

• 7 places
• 1 free
• 7 stroller-friendly
• closest is 5 min away