Fun Weekend in Columbus with Kids

Planning a weekend in Columbus with kids? From hands-on museums to outdoor activities, this guide covers the best things to do for an unforgettable family trip!

Our family loves taking little weekend trips during the school year, and one of our favorite destinations is Columbus, Ohio. They’re such a great way to reconnect as a family and break up the monotony of the weekly routine. Plus, they give us something to look forward to on the calendar. If you’re looking for the best family-friendly activities in Columbus, this guide will help you plan the perfect weekend itinerary.

We love that Columbus is only a two-hour drive from Cleveland, which is just far enough to feel like you’re not at home but not so far that you burn a whole day getting there.

For this trip, we picked the kids up an hour early from school on a Friday and were back home early evening on Sunday. It of course, went by too fast (all vacations do!), but we were able to fit so many fun adventures into our weekend trip.

I’ve included our itinerary below and linked it to the destination websites.

If you’re looking for more things to do in Columbus, I have to shout out to these IG accounts (Eat Play CBUS, Whatshouldwedotoday_cbus, and Familyof614) as they have awesome content with great suggestions!

If you’re looking for things to do with kids in Columbus over a weekend, I hope this list helps you!

Day One: A Saturday of INDOOR & Outdoor Fun in Columbus

Westerville Library
126 S State St, Westerville, OH 43081

We love libraries, so when I saw the Westerville Library on one of the accounts I follow, I immediately added it to our itinerary. This library had a lot of super cute decor and special touches for kiddos, like an old rustic door that opens, fun cutouts in the walls for the kids to climb through, and a themed play area with toys for play. I saw that themes change every so often. When we were there, it was themed like a veterinary clinic.

Other fun things at this library were the playroom with a mini treehouse, an interactive floor projector, a lightboard, and a homework help center. 

We spent about a half an hour here. However, I’m sure if you had younger kids, you could spend more time thanks to the themed play area.

Hanby Park
115 E Park St, Westerville, OH 43081

After the Westerville Library, we went to Hansby Park, which is on the other side of the library parking lot. This playground had two different play structures: one for little littles and one for bigger kids. The older kid structure was really cool. It had two big slides, and the only way to access the slides was to climb to the top via the ropes course on the inside of the structure. There were also swings on site.

We spent about forty-five minutes at this playground.

Blacklick Woods Canopy Walk
6711 E Livingston Ave, Reynoldsburg, OH 43068

Next, we went to the Blacklick Woods Canopy Walk. This was one of the places I was most excited to visit on our trip. I love the canopy walk at Holden Arboretum, and when I saw there was a brand new canopy walk that opened in Columbus last year, I couldn’t wait to get there.

The canopy stands about forty feet above the ground and is a 1/8th of a mile loop. You get a spectacular view of the beech-maple forest, and one of the best parts is its ADA-accessible! There are three rope bridges, a treehouse with a fireman’s pole, and a fun little cargo net. The canopy walk is completely FREE and hours vary by season, so check their website for hours of operation.

We spent about an hour at the canopy walk and fifteen to twenty minutes in the nature center. The nature center was pretty small, but my kids enjoyed bird-watching and coloring.

Scioto Audobon Metro Park
400 W Whittier St, Columbus, OH 43215

After the canopy walk, we made our way over to the Scioto Audobon Metro Park. We had been here a few times before, and it has always been a hit with our family. This 119-acre park has plenty of different ways to get outside and enjoy a beautiful day.

One of the coolest features is the rock wall that stands 35 feet tall. It has bouldering, top rope, and lead climbing. There are four auto belays, but climbers must bring their own climbing harnesses. Children under the age of 16 must be accompanied by an adult. Climbers must be 13 years of age or older to belay. The climbing wall is open from 8am to 9pm from April 1 to September 30, and from 8am to 7pm from Oct 1 to March 31. (More info here.)

My kids did some bouldering on the small wall, and then we climbed up the water tower. You can’t go all the way up the water tower, but it’s still a great view.

We played on the playground for a bit and then made our way over to the Columbus Rotary Obstacle Course. The obstacle course features a quarter-mile running track plus a tire run and flip, an 8-foot wall, tunnel crawl, balance beams, monkey bars, cargo climb, belly crawl, over/under, and a log run.

After my kids were done on the obstacle course, we drove over to the on-site nature center. My kids loved this nature center! It was hard to get them to leave. 🤪

We spent about two hours at the Scioto Audobon Metro Park.

The Little Grand Market
710 Grandview Xing Wy Unit 112, Columbus, OH 43215

We were pretty hungry after a full day of adventuring, so we headed over to The Little Grand Market for an early dinner. This food hall features ten vendors with lots of tasty options for everyone in the family. It was pretty busy when we visited, but we were still able to find seating to enjoy our meals.

Coppa Gelato
925 N State St, Westerville, OH 43082

After our adventuring, we went back to our hotel to swim and relax for a few hours. Later that night, we were jonesing for some sweet treats, so we went back out for gelato. We all really loved our picks, and the staff were so friendly. Definitely recommend visiting if you’re a gelato fan!

Day Two: Exploring Downtown Columbus

Columbus Museum of Art
480 E Broad St, Columbus, OH 43215

On Sunday, we grabbed a quick bite at one of our favorite coffee shops (Fox in the Snow–be warned it gets real busy!) and made our way to our first stop: Columbus Museum of Art.

We love, love, love the Cleveland Museum of Art, so we were very excited to check out the Columbus Museum of Art, and it did not disappoint. I was so impressed with the thoughtful and interactive opportunities the museum offers for kids to engage and understand art. 

The first place we visited in the museum was the Big Idea Gallery inside the JPMorgan Chase Center for Creativity. There, our kids played a game related to shapes and did their own hands-on art projects where they learned basic weaving, sculpting, and how artists use shapes to create artwork. 

They especially loved the current cat exhibit, where they were challenged to come up with creative ways to integrate their own art into cat photographs, along with opportunities to express how different pieces of cat-related art made them feel through tags.

From there, we made our way into the Wonder Room, an experimental gallery designed as a place for intergenerational exploration, play, connection, and discovery. My kids really liked building structures with the wooden blocks and magnetic felt boards.

We spent at least an hour and a half in the JPMorgan Chase Center for Creativity before moving on to the rest of the art museum.

While there is less art on display than the Cleveland Museum of Art, the Columbus Museum of Art has some really great artwork. While we were there we saw pieces from Norman Rockwell, Henri Matisse, Pablo Picasso, Pierre-Auguste Renoir, and Claude Monet.

It took us about thirty to forty-five minutes to work our way through the art sections of the museum. All told we were at the Museum of Art for a little over two hours.

The Columbus Museum of Art has FREE admission on Sundays. We parked in the museum parking lot, which only cost $7.

Columbus Metropolitan Library | Main Library
96 S Grant Ave, Columbus, OH 43215

After the art museum, we made our way over to the Main Library, which is only a few blocks away. It was raining so we opted to drive over there and parked in their parking garage which was very reasonably priced.

This library has some really beautiful architecture. They also had a really cool exhibit on display from the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame (Exhibit Info Here) that runs from Mar 4 - May 22. They had rock-and-roll-themed pinball machines that were free to play. Which was a fun surprise!

After playing pinball for a bit, we went over to the kids’ section on the main floor. We happened to be walking in during Storytime, and while my kids had no interest in it (they’re too old now 😭), I was happy to see they have it available.

This is a really great and spacious kids' area with lots and lots of books, which is something I really appreciate. I feel like there’s a trend with libraries right now to get rid of books in kids' spaces, and I don’t get it!

The kids area has some really amazing features, like a ‘Draw Alive’ where kids can color farm animals, scan them, and watch them come to life on the wall. They also had some building stations, a model train set, a scavenger hunt, and plenty of space for reading and playing.

We spent about an hour at Main Library.

Billy Ireland Cartoon Library & Museum
1813 N High St, Columbus, OH 43210

Our last stop for the day was the Billy Ireland Cartoon Library & Museum located on the campus of Ohio State University. After parking on the street, it took us a quick minute to figure out how to get into the building. It’s in Sullivant Hall and the entrance is on the north side of the building.

I highly recommend this museum if you have a kiddo who loves drawing and/or making cartoons (or if you love them!). Named after the Ohio cartoonist Billy Ireland, this museum holds the world's largest and most comprehensive academic research facility documenting and displaying original and printed comic strips, editorial cartoons, and cartoon art.

It’s not very big as far as square footage goes, but the amount of art they have inside is staggering. From Peanuts to Marvel Comics, there are lots and lots of panels available to be seen – all for FREE!

The two current exhibits they had when we visited Edward Koren’s work featured in New Yorker and The Lone Crusader: Larry Ivie and Fandom in the Golden Age of Comics.

We only lasted about twenty minutes at this museum. We probably could have tasted longer if it were up to my son, but my daughter was over it fairly quickly. That being said, I’m sure if you had a comic lover in your family, you could spend more time here.

Be warned that in the exhibit, there were a few more risque drawings, so if you have younger eyes with you, it’s probably best to stay close.

That was our weekend getaway to columbus!

We had an amazing time on our quick weekend trip to Columbus! Of course, we only scratched the surface of all the family-friendly attractions this city has to offer.

If you’re planning a trip and want even more things to do in Columbus with kids, be sure to check out our full guide: Columbus with Kids. You’ll find even more of our favorite spots, must-visit attractions, and hidden gems to explore!