School is out, the sun is shining and kids are running around the house saying “Mama, I’m bored.” What do you do? You find some activities that will entertain and keep them busy for for a couple of hours before their snack and a nap.

I wanted to share a few ideas of what you can do to get your child involved with something fun and interactive. There are many things to do but just in case you are looking, these ideas may help.

Austin Zoo
10807 Rawhide Trail
Austin, Texas 78736
Phone: (512) 288-1490

The Austin Zoo is a small non-profit zoo and animal sanctuary with over 350 rescued animals. Animals at the Austin Zoo include lions, tigers, bears, monkeys and reptiles.Another good suggestion is to bring snacks and water for the kids. A cash only concession stand is available on site. The Austin Zoo is a great thing to do in Austin with kids because it only takes about an hour and a half to go through the zoo and kids can get very close to the animals.

There is also a petting zoo area where kids can feed animals like goats, deer, sheep and llamas with food purchased from the gift shop. The Austin Zoo also offers a 20 minute train ride through the Texas Hill Country where animals like emus, alpacas and longhorns can be seen from the train.
Blazer Tag Adventure Center
1701 West Ben White Boulevard
Austin, Texas 78745
Phone: (512) 462-0202

For families that like high energy activities, laser tag at Blazer Tag is one of the fun things to do in Austin with kids. Blazer Tag is a locally and family owned entertainment center in South Austin. Blazer Tag is suitable for children ages seven and up as well as fun for adults. Players wear light-weight vest and phasers to tag opponents with a visible laser light beam and score points.

Each player gets a computer-generated scorecard that shows his or her score, hit-to-shot ratio, rank and winning team. Laser tag games take place inside of a three story, ten thousand foot arena with towers and ramps. Blazer Tag also has an indoor ropes course, a video game arcade, concessions and rooms for birthday parties.
Millennium Youth Entertainment Complex
1156 Hargrave Street
Austin, Texas 78702
Phone: (512) 472-6932

Millennium Youth Entertainment Complex is an entertainment facility located in East Austin and owned by the City of Austin. The Millennium Youth Entertainment Complex has a 154-seat movie theater, a 16-lane bowling alley, video arcade area, a food court, and a 12,500 square foot roller skating rink. The Millennium Youth Entertainment Center is open Wednesdays, Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays.

Thinkery Austin Children’s Museum
1830 Simond Avenue
Austin, TX 78723
Phone: (512) 469-6200

The Thinkery is one of the fun things to do in Austin for families with kids because there are different activities to interest children from infants to 11 year olds. Kids can draw with lasers, create music with water, sculpt with magnetic fluid and have fun while learning with both permanent and traveling exhibits.
Chaparral Ice Center
2525 Anderson Lane
Austin, Texas 78757
Phone: (512) 451-5102

Chaparral Ice Center is an indoor ice skating rink offering fun things to do in Austin with kids year round. This locally owned and family operated ice skating rink is located in North Central Austin inside Northcross Mall. Public ice skating and skate rental are available every day.

For more ideas, visit http://austintex.com/to-do-austin-fun-places-kids-family/.

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Photos: Google

Damita Miller-Shanklin, Ujima