Nashville, Tennessee might be a music capital, but the city also offers children and families a great deal to do. Museums with kids' programs, theme parks and exploration of the city's musical heritage await families with children of all ages. You'll also find a few less obvious solutions to round off your family vacation into something worth writing home about.
Several museums in Nashville are kid-friendly or have children's programs. The Lane Motor Museum has a built-in children's play area with toy cars, and children under the age of five get in free. Older kids will enjoy the collection of one-off, primarily European vehicles collected by Jeff Lane.
Another car-themed museum in Nashville is Cooter's Place, the Dukes of Hazzard museum. Here, you can see vehicles and artifacts from the tongue-in-cheek Dukes of Hazzard show. The museum is owned and operated by Ben "Cooter" Jones, and other cast members make appearances from time to time.
The Country Music Hall of Fame is a Nashville institution. A visit here shows how Nashville helped to develop country music, and the museum has developed a set of questions to ask kids which will help them get more out of the visit. It also points out that this is a large museum and that you shouldn't try to see everything at once. The museum runs children's programs, including record-making, its own Girl Scout patch, family-friendly shows and a musical petting zoo, where children can try out a variety of instruments and make a happy cacophony.
Nashville offers two ranch experiences, each quite different. The Hermitage, an 1837 house museum, was home to President Andrew Jackson. It features guides in period costume, a wagon tour of the farm and an heirloom garden. You may also visit Jackson's tomb or eat at the Garden Gate cafe.
A Cowboy Town is also farm-themed; here, families can explore life as it was for cowboys. Activities include horse-riding, picnics, bonfires and campfire cookouts. You can also arrange birthday parties for your kids at Cowboy Town.
If you want to leave the city for a while, Nashville Shores is a country park and recreation resort within city limits. Located on J. Percy Priest Lake, you'll find a water park, marina, jet ski rentals and water sports here. Nashville Shores is a full-day adventure for families and you may also arrange birthday parties here.
While Adventureworks is mostly set up as a team-building facility, it also offers the Adventure Park and Canopy Zip Tour, obstacle courses and zip-line adventures for children and families. A variety of courses lets you pick the correct options based on your kids' energy levels. Children must be at least six years old, and some courses require that the child is at least 12 years old.
The Adventure Science Center started off as the Tennessee Children's Museum, but gradually became a science center. There's an on-site planetarium with frequent shows, but the museum's main attraction is its hands-on approach to showing kids science. Interactive areas, such as The Heart of It All and Brainstorm Theater are clearly focused on children. The museum also offers weekend birthday parties.
Nashville Zoo doesn't just have animals, it includes other attractions such as a jungle gym adventure playground and wild animal carousel, animal feedings, keeper talks and an on-site historic farm. Season tickets are available, so you can pick one environment at a time without overwhelming the youngest kids. You can stay here all day; concession stands provide the hot dogs.
