The 15th is the big, family-heavy corner of southwest Paris, and it rewards a morning close to home: wide parks with fountains and lawns, puppet shows, a water park for wet days and small museums that don't take all afternoon. This list gathers the places and events we've checked across the arrondissement, so you can plan a local outing without crossing town.
ARBRE is the current show from the Bormanns, a circus family now in its eighth generation, under their year-round big top near Pont du Garigliano. Acrobats, aerialists, dancers and horses share the ring, with special effects and a magical tree tying the acts together around a theme of caring for nature. Little kids get the stunts and the animals; older kids and adults pick up the family-history thread.
An exhibition that tells the history of the post through fairy tales. The entrance hall has an old stagecoach pulled by postal drones, and the way in is through an ogre's wide-open mouth. Inside, families cross a life-size forest that smells of moss.
Among the 500-plus objects: copies of Peau d'Âne's dresses and a braid of postal hair over two meters tall, a nod to Rapunzel.
Patins en Folie is an open-air ice rink in Parc André Citroën, billed as the city's largest. Mornings suit beginners and families, with a separate area for small children and lessons from skating pros.
In the evening, music and lighting turn the ice into a dance floor for teens and adults. A food village serves hot chocolate, waffles and seasonal dishes between laps.
Storyteller Gilles Bizouerne and cellist Elsa Guiet tell the misadventures of Gray Wolf (Loup gris), a hungry wolf who struggles to catch his dinner. This time he has swallowed a fly and has no idea how to get it out. Elsa plays and sings along as Gilles spins this and other silly stories about clumsy anti-heroes. It's in French, so it suits kids who follow spoken French.
A first go at sculpture in the studio-museum of Antoine Bourdelle. The session starts with a playful walk through the museum, where toddlers get a first look at the sculptor's work. Then everyone sits down with a lump of clay, and each child, helped by a parent, models a face. Parents take part fully alongside their child, and every family goes home with what they made.
Les Mélomanes en culotte courte are family concerts by the Le Palais royal orchestra, made for babies and young kids. Children sit on mats or in a parent's arms, and they are free to move around, dance, sing along and get close to the musicians.
Each program brings different instruments or voices, and the music alternates with moments where the performers talk and play with the children.
France's biggest farm show fills the Porte de Versailles halls with cows, sheep, goats, pigs, horses and donkeys, brought in by breeders from across the country. Kids can get close to the animals, watch the judging in the show rings and taste food from every French region and overseas territory.
It suits animal-mad kids of any age. Expect big crowds, especially at weekends.
France's postal museum fills three floors by Gare Montparnasse with postal vehicles, carrier uniforms, sorting gear and a panorama of French stamps from the first issues to today.
Kids pick up a free game booklet or a multimedia guide with a family trail at the front desk, then hunt for clues through the rooms. Storytelling visits and printmaking workshops add a hands-on side.
A covered 90-seat puppet theater inside Parc Georges-Brassens, run by the company Les Marionnettes de Vaugirard. Shows star Polichinelle, the hook-nosed hero of the old Paris glove-puppet tradition, played behind a carved wooden booth with red velvet curtains.
The puppeteer talks straight to the audience and plays off the kids' reactions. Sets, costumes and puppets are made in the theater's own workshop, alongside antique boxwood heads with glass eyes.
Aquaboulevard is a big indoor water park at Balard, with the water kept at 29°C all year. Inside are two wave pools, 11 slides, rivers with a current, geysers, water mushrooms and jacuzzis.
In summer, outdoor pools and a 4,000 m² sand beach open too. A Gaumont cinema, a McDonald's and a Decathlon share the same complex.
Built on the site of the old Vaugirard slaughterhouses, this hilly park has a duck pond with a belfry, a stream with a small bridge, a lookout and a pinot noir vineyard.
For kids there are swings, sandpits, a climbing wall, a carousel, pony rides, ping-pong tables and a Guignol puppet theater. A beekeeping society keeps hives here, and a scented garden carries braille labels.
The world's largest tethered balloon rises 150 meters above Parc André Citroën on a steel cable, carrying up to 30 passengers for a flight of about 10 minutes. It runs on helium and an electric winch, so the ride is silent, with a 360-degree view over the Seine and the Eiffel Tower.
Since 2013 it has also worked as a flying lab that measures the city's air pollution.
Parc André-Citroën sits on the site of the old Citroën car factory beside the Seine. A long central lawn runs down to a canal, renovated in 2024 with shallow streams, floating gardens and geyser jets near the river.
Kids run through the fountain jets on hot days, then head to the playground, the merry-go-rounds or the ping-pong tables. Glass greenhouses and a series of themed gardens round it out.
The 15th is the big, family-heavy corner of southwest Paris, and it rewards a morning close to home: wide parks with fountains and lawns, puppet shows, a water park for wet days and small museums that don't take all afternoon. This list gathers the places and events we've checked across the arrondissement, so you can plan a local outing without crossing town.
ARBRE is the current show from the Bormanns, a circus family now in its eighth generation, under their year-round big top near Pont du Garigliano. Acrobats, aerialists, dancers and horses share the ring, with special effects and a magical tree tying the acts together around a theme of caring for nature. Little kids get the stunts and the animals; older kids and adults pick up the family-history thread.
An exhibition that tells the history of the post through fairy tales. The entrance hall has an old stagecoach pulled by postal drones, and the way in is through an ogre's wide-open mouth. Inside, families cross a life-size forest that smells of moss.
Among the 500-plus objects: copies of Peau d'Âne's dresses and a braid of postal hair over two meters tall, a nod to Rapunzel.
Patins en Folie is an open-air ice rink in Parc André Citroën, billed as the city's largest. Mornings suit beginners and families, with a separate area for small children and lessons from skating pros.
In the evening, music and lighting turn the ice into a dance floor for teens and adults. A food village serves hot chocolate, waffles and seasonal dishes between laps.
Storyteller Gilles Bizouerne and cellist Elsa Guiet tell the misadventures of Gray Wolf (Loup gris), a hungry wolf who struggles to catch his dinner. This time he has swallowed a fly and has no idea how to get it out. Elsa plays and sings along as Gilles spins this and other silly stories about clumsy anti-heroes. It's in French, so it suits kids who follow spoken French.
A first go at sculpture in the studio-museum of Antoine Bourdelle. The session starts with a playful walk through the museum, where toddlers get a first look at the sculptor's work. Then everyone sits down with a lump of clay, and each child, helped by a parent, models a face. Parents take part fully alongside their child, and every family goes home with what they made.
Les Mélomanes en culotte courte are family concerts by the Le Palais royal orchestra, made for babies and young kids. Children sit on mats or in a parent's arms, and they are free to move around, dance, sing along and get close to the musicians.
Each program brings different instruments or voices, and the music alternates with moments where the performers talk and play with the children.
France's biggest farm show fills the Porte de Versailles halls with cows, sheep, goats, pigs, horses and donkeys, brought in by breeders from across the country. Kids can get close to the animals, watch the judging in the show rings and taste food from every French region and overseas territory.
It suits animal-mad kids of any age. Expect big crowds, especially at weekends.
France's postal museum fills three floors by Gare Montparnasse with postal vehicles, carrier uniforms, sorting gear and a panorama of French stamps from the first issues to today.
Kids pick up a free game booklet or a multimedia guide with a family trail at the front desk, then hunt for clues through the rooms. Storytelling visits and printmaking workshops add a hands-on side.
A covered 90-seat puppet theater inside Parc Georges-Brassens, run by the company Les Marionnettes de Vaugirard. Shows star Polichinelle, the hook-nosed hero of the old Paris glove-puppet tradition, played behind a carved wooden booth with red velvet curtains.
The puppeteer talks straight to the audience and plays off the kids' reactions. Sets, costumes and puppets are made in the theater's own workshop, alongside antique boxwood heads with glass eyes.
Aquaboulevard is a big indoor water park at Balard, with the water kept at 29°C all year. Inside are two wave pools, 11 slides, rivers with a current, geysers, water mushrooms and jacuzzis.
In summer, outdoor pools and a 4,000 m² sand beach open too. A Gaumont cinema, a McDonald's and a Decathlon share the same complex.
Built on the site of the old Vaugirard slaughterhouses, this hilly park has a duck pond with a belfry, a stream with a small bridge, a lookout and a pinot noir vineyard.
For kids there are swings, sandpits, a climbing wall, a carousel, pony rides, ping-pong tables and a Guignol puppet theater. A beekeeping society keeps hives here, and a scented garden carries braille labels.
The world's largest tethered balloon rises 150 meters above Parc André Citroën on a steel cable, carrying up to 30 passengers for a flight of about 10 minutes. It runs on helium and an electric winch, so the ride is silent, with a 360-degree view over the Seine and the Eiffel Tower.
Since 2013 it has also worked as a flying lab that measures the city's air pollution.
Parc André-Citroën sits on the site of the old Citroën car factory beside the Seine. A long central lawn runs down to a canal, renovated in 2024 with shallow streams, floating gardens and geyser jets near the river.
Kids run through the fountain jets on hot days, then head to the playground, the merry-go-rounds or the ping-pong tables. Glass greenhouses and a series of themed gardens round it out.
