Top 10 Things to Do in Memphis With Your Family This Summer

Top 10 Things to Do in Memphis With Your Family This Summer

School's out, the weather's warm, and no one wants to be stuck inside at home. Here are the top 10 things to do in Memphis with your family this summer:

1. Rock out at Rock'n'Romp

Rock'n'Roll at Rock'n'Romp

Rock'n'Romp is a monthly series of afternoon concerts featuring some of Memphis' coolest bands. Bands like Harlan T. Bobo, the Magic Kids and the Warble play for an audience of hipster kids and their parents. The shows are free for kids and $5 for adults, and they happen at different locations every month. Check out the Rock'n'Romp schedule.

Perfect for: music lovers, hipster parents, dancing kids

2. Pick out some veggies at Memphis' farmers markets

Hungry families can pick up the supplies for an awesome dinner at Memphis' handful of farmers markets. The markets carry a little bit of everything - produce, flowers, cheese, meat, coffee, and crafts are common. Some of the markets have weekly cooking demonstrations, live music, activities and free pet sitting.

Perfect for: hungry families, locavores

3. Take in a Movie at the Orpheum

On summer weekends, Memphis' ritziest theater turns into a movie house. They show classic movies like Ferris Bueller's Day Off, Mary Poppins, the Wizard of Oz, the Sound of Music, and Back to the Future. Before each movie, there are games, a performance on the Orpehum's legendary Wurlizter organ, and cartooon shorts. Admission is $7 for adults and $6 for kids 12 and under.

Perfect for: older kids, movie nerds, those looking to escape the heat

4. Play in the city's best back yard

Crawl through the wormholes in My Big Backyard

My Big Backyard (the Memphis Botanic Garden's kid-friendly area) is part garden, part playground, and completely amazing. Kids will love the playhouses, tree houses, stream, interactive sculptures, and open fields that are perfect for playing. You can cool off in the "thunderstorm" that happens every 30 minutes. Admission to My Big Backyard is included with regular garden admission (only $5 for adults and $3 for kids).

Perfect for: kids of all ages, sculpture lovers, amateur horticulturists

5. Feed the Birds at the Memphis Zoo

I can't recommend the Memphis Zoo highly enough - all of the exhibits are incredible and there are a ton of things to see and do. While you're there, stop by the Birds and Bees exhibit. Inside, you can see two active beehives (behind glass, of course) and learn about all of the things that bees produce. Pick up a birdseed stick in the outdoor aviary and and let the 500 parakeets eat out of your hands.

Perfect for: kids of all ages, kids who love bugs, families looking for a hands-on experience

6. The Levitt Loves Kids Concerts at the Levitt Shell

On Tuesdays and Saturdays in July, the Levitt Shell is hosting kid-friendly concerts in Overton Park. Pack a picnic and head to the outdoor ampitheatre to hear teen girl band the Hot Pink Paperclips, the New Ballet Ensemble, David Chicken and more. The Tuesday shows start at 10:30 a.m. and the Saturday shows start at 5 p.m.  All of the shows are free.

Perfect for: kids who love to dance, families looking for an awesome picnic spot

7. Walk the Mississippi River on Mud Island

Paddleboats at Mud Island River Park

Walk across the pedestrian bridge (or take the monorail) from downtown Memphis to the Mud Island River Park. Once you're on the island, kick your shoes off and follow the scale model of the lower Mississippi river to the Gulf of Mexico (which, unlike the real Gulf, includes paddle boats). Admission to the park is free, but monorail and museum tickets cost a few dollars.

Perfect for: educationally-minded parents, kids who love water, paddle boat enthusiasts

8. Splash around at Peabody Park

For a small urban park, the Peabody Park (at the corner of Higbee and Cooper in Midtown) has a lot going on. There's a field and a huge playground, but Peabody's defining feature is the splash park. Kids of all ages can cool off under the water features (think sprinklers, showers, and fountains). It's free.

Perfect for: the overheated, kids of all ages

9. Loose your inside voices at the Children's Museum

At the Children's Museum, kids can pilot a FedEx plane, fix a car, anchor a news show, act on stage, create priceless works of art, shop in a child-sized grocery store, and climb in the skyscraper (a giant indoor jungle gym). The museum is celebrating its 20th birthday this year with special touring exhibits on the life of bugs and nature in Japan.

Perfect for: kids 12 and under, parents looking for an inside place to play

10. Explore Oaklawn Garden

Oaklawn Garden, Germantown, Tenn.

Oaklawn Garden is part garden and part outdoor history museum - plants grow around objects from Shelby County's past. There are several train cars (including a caboose), the original Germantown jail cell, and plenty of spots to picnic.

Perfect for: the whole family, photo ops, explorers

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Susan Bjorklund
I like you list of "must do" events. Thank you for making them family friendly too!
June 7, 2010 4:28pm
Michael
I love it when you do these things. You have introduced me to tons of different things in Memphis that I didn't know about. Keep'em comin!
June 7, 2010 6:48pm
Walt Geminn
Collierville has two spray parks too. Suggs and Johnson park.
June 30, 2010 4:18pm
Robyn
Thanks so much for this. I am moving to Memphis from DC (to work for St. Jude's) and I have a toddler. I hear so much negativity about Memphis from Memphians - it's really nice to see someone appreciating the positives! I am looking forward to exploring Memphis with my family, enjoying a lower cost of living, less traffic (almost anywhere has less than DC), etc.
July 8, 2010 9:17pm