English-Friendly Kids Activities in Stockholm

A touring exhibition about James Cameron, the director of Titanic and Avatar, and his other life as a deep-sea explorer. Kids see props from his films, film projections, rare objects and the underwater cameras and technology he used to explore the ocean depths.

It suits kids curious about the deep sea, underwater technology or how films get made.

Soft textiles, sculptural furniture and handmade objects fill this design exhibition, including a giant plush orangutan and armchairs with bear ears. More than 100 designers from 23 countries show work about play and making things by hand. Two Dutch designers planned the rooms with their children, Ko and Puk. It is a gallery show, not a play area, so it suits kids who like looking closely at strange, colorful things.

Häpp! is a gentle dance show by ZebraDans about two friends, two wooden stools and the simple joy of dancing together. With soft live music, a bit of humor and a little magic, the friends make the stools float and spin.

There is very little talking, so kids who don't speak Swedish can follow it. It suits toddlers and preschoolers who do better with a calm show.

Kurt and Kio are bored, the stare-at-the-ceiling kind of bored, until Kio decides a fort will fix everything. They just don't have one. What follows is an adventure around the living room, told mostly through movement and humor by two mime-trained actors. It's based on Lisen Adbåge's Swedish children's book Kurt och Kio vill ha koja, and suits kids who like silliness more than a long story.

One of Sweden's biggest Christmas fairs fills Taxinge Slott in Sörmland, with more than 100 Swedish craftspeople selling handmade work. It's a day for ticking off Christmas gifts while kids wander the stalls with you.

The castle calls itself Kakslottet, the cake castle, and has its own café for fika. It's a browsing day, so it suits kids happy to look around more than ones expecting a program of activities.

A family circus show by Swedish company Below Zero. Seven acrobats move across a set that suggests mountains, waves and a glacier, while two musicians play newly written folk music live, from whispering fiddles to drums and club beats.

Expect risky balancing acts, flips, a haute couture catwalk and bodies thrown meters into the air. It is told through bodies and music rather than words, so kids need no Swedish.

London's Natural History Museum runs this yearly wildlife photo competition, and this is the exhibition of the results: 100 photos picked from 65,403 entries from 121 countries. Kids get a dung beetle shot at eye level by the young winner, along with animal moments few people ever see. It is all looking and no touching, so it suits animal fans more than toddlers who need to move.

A drop-in workshop at Liljevalchs, the art gallery on Djurgården, where kids make their own mask with educators and artists on hand to guide them. The idea comes from Ylva Snöfrid's exhibition The House of the Muses, where masks are part of her rituals. The starting question: who are you, and who would you like to be? You can also try the show's Exquisite Corpse ritual.

A hands-on chemistry session in the workshop of the Nobel Prize Museum, in the middle of Gamla Stan. Kids run two experiments: they start a chemical reaction inside a plastic glove and make a substance that wasn't there before, then use what the museum calls "fart juice" to watch liquids change in front of them. It suits kids who like to mix things and see what happens.

A hands-on craft workshop at the Swedish History Museum, where kids make their own Viking-style bracelet. Vikings wore arm rings, mostly silver or bronze, and the old sagas tell of heroes swearing oaths on them or earning one as a reward for something brave.

Each kid decides what their own ring stands for, and the real ones are on show in the museum's Viking World exhibition.

Språkfesten (The Language Party) is Stockholm City Library's day about growing up with more than one language. Authors and illustrators read picture books aloud, often in two languages, and kids can ask them questions and get a book signed. A book fair carries children's books in Swedish and about 20 other languages. It suits multilingual families most; the main stage leans adult, so head for the kids' stage.

A pig who can only say "moo" baffles the other farm animals, then falls for a curious goat and goes silent. Two actors tell the story through mime, movement and music, with no spoken lines, so kids follow it in any language.

A gentle romantic comedy about being different and being liked as you are. It suits preschoolers who enjoy silly animals more than older kids after a big plot.

#Stockholmsjul turns streets and squares across central Stockholm into a walk of Christmas lights, a million LEDs in all. Swedish Christmas figures get a modern look: moose, reindeer, deer, spruces, cones, angels and a giant mistletoe.

Kids can help pick the route on the free light map and spot the animals along the way. It suits families happy to walk a while in the cold.

Two mimes and their puppets take toddlers down into a glittering underwater world of two seahorses, singing fish and a cheeky axolotl. Then a yellow boot comes bobbing by, and someone is hiding inside.

There is no talking at all. The story runs on movement, music and the set, like a picture book acted out, so kids who don't speak Swedish follow it as easily as anyone.

Children and adults work side by side in the museum's Workshop, making their own memory boxes with paint and collage. The theme comes from the exhibition of Monir Shahroudy Farmanfarmaian, whose Heartache Boxes are small sculptures holding memories from her life. It suits families who would rather make something together than walk through galleries.

A solo physical theater show for toddlers and preschoolers about how hard it is to learn something new, and how proud you feel when you suddenly can. Per Dahlström sweeps, stumbles, whistles and rides a unicycle, losing heart along the way until a small green horn turns into a cheeky bird that won't let him quit. It suits kids learning to try again when something goes wrong.

Gröna Lund opens Lilla Området, the small-kids corner of the amusement park, for a new winter season built around Christmas. Kids ride winterized carousels, watch ice-skating shows and Gnutt performances, meet the Ice Queen, and hand their wish lists to Tomten, Tomtemor and their elves.

Made for families with younger children. Kids hoping for the big thrill rides should know only the little-kids area is open.

Tomtebobarnen is a dance and music show for toddlers, loosely based on Elsa Beskow's picture book Children of the Forest. Three performers in red mushroom hats play siblings through a year in the woods: they grow, squabble, play and learn about each other. Teater Tre tells it through dance, movement, music and play, and the room is small, so the youngest sit close to the action.

A Christmas market on Djurgården that has run since 1903, with stalls of crafts in textile, wood, ceramic and wool, plus marzipan, Christmas bread and hand-dipped candles.

For kids, the draw is Santa's workshop, where they make their own Christmas craft, then dancing around the tree and carols in Seglora church. Much of it is outdoors, so dress for the cold.

Kungsträdgårdens julmarknad fills the park in central Stockholm with Christmas stalls run by students from the city's upper secondary schools. Kids can wander between the stands, look for a small gift and take in the holiday bustle.

It's a market rather than a show, so it suits families happy to browse. Toddlers in strollers do fine; school-age kids with a bit of pocket money get the most out of it.

An Advent market at Wenngarn Castle outside Sigtuna, with more than 40 hand-picked crafters in the orangery selling silver, ceramics, textiles, food and art. Open fires in the park serve glögg, sausages and kolbullar.

Kids can warm up by the fires and slip into the candlelit chapel for a short concert. It's a calm market without the crush, a good pick for families who find big city markets too much.

Sigtuna's traditional Christmas market takes over the old town's streets and squares with market traders, traditional Swedish Christmas food and a packed program. It grew out of the town's Christmas celebration in the early 1960s, when market stalls were first added.

It suits families happy to wander outdoors in the winter cold, browsing stalls with a stroller or small kids on shoulders, with choir singing along the way.

Each Advent the Royal Stables (Hovstallet) in Östermalm hosts a Christmas market, with around seventy craft makers from across Sweden selling handmade gifts in every material.

For kids, the draw is the King's horses: the stable stays open to visitors, so they can say hello to the horses trained for royal processions on state visits. It suits kids patient enough for some gift browsing between horse visits.

Schysst Jul is the Christmas market Svalorna Latinamerika runs every year. Each exhibitor is picked for putting ecological sustainability and social justice first, so the stalls are full of products made with people and the planet in mind.

It is a good place to shop for presents together. Kids can help choose something for a grandparent or teacher, and older kids who like picking gifts get the most from it.

Nobel Week Lights is a light art festival that turns Stockholm's streets and squares into canvases during the darkest time of the year. International and local artists, designers and students build large-scale light artworks that interpret the Nobel Prize and the ideas behind it.

Kids walk from one glowing piece to the next, so it suits a toddler in a stroller as much as a curious teenager. Everything is outdoors.

Torekällberget, Södertälje's open-air museum, turns back the clock for a Christmas market in the style of the 1800s. Kids can step into the historic homes as the households get ready for Christmas, browse the market stalls on the square and catch live Christmas music around the grounds, with a sing-along too.

It suits families who like to wander at their own pace, and the weekend closes with a Lucia procession.

Lucia is one of Sweden's best-loved traditions, and Storkyrkan, the medieval cathedral in Gamla stan, is a classic place to see it. The Lucia procession enters in white with a crown of candles, and choirs sing the Lucia and Staffan songs of the day.

This is the family performance of the cathedral's Lucia concerts. It suits kids who can sit quietly through a concert in a dim, candlelit church.

Skansen has celebrated New Year's Eve since 1893, and the midnight countdown on the Solliden stage is broadcast live on Swedish TV by SVT. Families count down together outdoors, with Stockholm as the backdrop.

It suits kids who can stay up late and cope with a crowd in the winter cold. Daytime visitors can explore the park earlier in the day; the evening is all about the countdown.

A sad boy and an angry girl are each playing alone when magic stirs their rooms, a chest pulls them in, and they come out in each other's place. Scared, then curious, they play, fight, make up and dance into a friendship neither expected.

Two Royal Swedish Ballet dancers perform up close, to an original symphonic score recorded by the Royal Swedish Orchestra.

Kulturnatt is the evening when cultural venues all over Stockholm stay open late, each with a program of its own. Every place is its own organizer, so the night looks different depending on where you go, and there are guided walks outdoors too.

With small kids, pick two or three spots close together and leave it there. Older kids who like staying up get a rare night out in town.

Three dancers and a whole lot of cars. A little car has lost its map and circles a roundabout, a rattly old car makes strange noises and needs a tow, a tired truck can't make it up the hill, and a sports car just wants to go fast.

Classical ballet meets playful sound design in this show by dance company TUBO, made for young kids who love playing with vehicles.

Minimaran is a running race just for kids, ending with a finish at Stockholms Stadion. Children run out of Gärdet and through the Lill-Jansskogen woods before the last stretch to the stadium.

It suits kids who like to run, from first-timers to school-age runners ready for a longer course, and younger siblings get an event of their own.

Nordiska museet shows how people in Sweden and the Nordic countries have lived, from the 1500s to today. In the Children's Playhouse, kids do the chores on an 1890s farm, tend wooden animals and shop at the village store.

Staff hand out maps for two family trails in English: Mission: Vaesen, a hunt for an escaped vaesen, and Mission: The Arctic, through an iceberg in the Great Hall.

A causeway the Viking Jarlabanke built in the 1000s on the road to Roslagen, still lined with rune stones from his time. Today's foot and bike path follows the original route through a rebuilt landscape of ash, rowan and a winding stream.

The Jarlabankeleken playground has a Viking ship, a climbing sculpture, swings, a sandbox and a play rune stone. Boards in the rain shelter tell the area's Viking story.

Tegnérlunden is a hilltop park with a pavilion at the top and an artificial stream that runs down the slope, past small pools and under a stone bridge, into a paddling pool filled for kids in summer. Beside it, a fenced playground has swings and a sandbox.

A bronze of Astrid Lindgren hugging a child stands in the northwest corner; her book Mio, My Son opens in this park.

Kanaanbadet is a municipal beach on Lake Mälaren, inside the Grimsta nature reserve. It has two beaches roped off with buoy lines, since jet skis and boats pass close by, plus a small diving tower, wide lawns, a sand volleyball court, a basketball court and minigolf. A kiosk and Kanaans Café, with outdoor tables at a 19th-century house, cover snacks and lunch.

A city-run beach on Lake Mälaren with wide sand and grass areas, inside the Sätraskogen nature reserve. Kids can jump off the jetty and swim to a summer climbing raft with climbing panels on its sides. The youngest have an accessible playground, and a ramp lets wheelchair users into the water. Grills, a volleyball court and a large outdoor gym sit by the sand.

Kampementsbadet is a city-run outdoor pool on Gärdet, open since 1962. The main pool is 25 by 12.5 meters and runs from 0.9 to 1.4 meters deep, with a separate paddling pool for toddlers.

Lawns surround both pools for sunbathing and picnics, and a low entrance building holds changing rooms, showers, toilets and a kiosk.

Vanadisbadet is a city-run outdoor pool set in a former quarry inside Vanadislunden park, sheltered on the southwest side. There are three pools: a 25-meter pool (90 to 190 cm deep), a children's pool (60 to 115 cm) and a splash pool for the smallest swimmers. A sun terrace looks out over the city. The 1938 functionalist pool reopened in 2014 after a renovation.

Trudelutten is a nature playground on Jyllandsgatan with an outdoor gym right beside it, so kids can play while adults train. It sits where Kista meets Järvafältet, which makes it a natural stop to rest and let kids run on a walk across the fields.

The city is reworking the park, with better lighting and clearer entrances, and plans to finish in 2027.

Lida Friluftsgård is an outdoor area on the shore of Lake Getaren, with forest trails, a sandy beach, an inn and a treetop adventure course.

Kids climb a balance playground built from ropes and logs, walk short storybook trails made for small children, swim off a shallow beach in summer and sled two hills in winter, with machine-made snow whenever it is cold enough.

Observatorielunden is a wooded hill topped by the city's old observatory, which dates to the 1700s and now houses a waffle café in one wing. Its slopes are a popular sledding run when snow falls, and the top is a well-known viewpoint to the east.

Below the hill by Sveavägen, a large pond is used for ice skating in winter, next to a man-made stream designed by Gunnar Asplund.

Locals call it Stora Bleckan. At its center is a city-run parklek, a staffed playground with one of the city's biggest slides, a zip line, trampolines, swings, sandboxes, climbing frames, ping-pong tables and courts for basketball and bandy.

The parklek building has indoor toilets, a changing room, a play room and a clubroom for older kids, and pens hold pigs, goats, sheep, rabbits and guinea pigs.

Kronobergsparken covers about 5.5 hectares, most of it a high hill that tops out at 40 meters above sea level, the highest point on Kungsholmen. A parklek (play park) sits in the southwest corner.

Halfway along the west side is the Jewish cemetery Kronoberg, laid out in 1787. The Kronkvarnen windmill stood on the hill's north side until it burned down in 1835.

A skating track plowed across the natural ice of Magelungen, one of the city's biggest lakes, on the border with Huddinge. The track is cleared near Farsta gård in winters when the ice is thick enough, so kids get long, open stretches of lake ice instead of laps around a rink.

It suits kids who already skate steadily. Beginners will find a rink easier.

Zinkensdamms IP, known locally as Zinken, is a City of Stockholm sports ground from 1937, designed by architect Paul Hedqvist. In winter the whole field is artificially frozen into a big outdoor ice surface, and it is the home ground of Hammarby IF's bandy team, which plays in Elitserien, the top Swedish league. Public skating sessions share the ice with club training and matches.

The ice hall at Östermalms IP is an indoor hockey rink, roofed over in 2005, on a sports ground that opened in 1906 and hosted events at the 1912 Olympics. In skating season it opens for public skating, so kids can lap the ice under a roof whatever the weather.

Outside, the same grounds hold Stockholm's only oval skating track, and Djurgården plays its home bandy matches there.

A small outdoor ice rink set on Medborgarplatsen, the large Södermalm square locals call "Medis". In winter kids skate laps right in the middle of the square; in summer the same spot turns into a terrace with benches.

A big public library stands on one corner of the square, and the 17th-century Lillienhoff Palace sits diagonally across.

An outdoor artificial ice rink laid each winter over the park's seven-a-side football pitch, in use since December 2005.

Beside it is the park's playground, known for its orange-red rubber hills, so siblings who aren't skating have somewhere to climb. Astrid Lindgren lived on Dalagatan, at the park's eastern edge, and the terrace there bears her name.

Nationalmuseum holds paintings, sculpture, applied arts and design from 1500 to today. For kids, the draw is Colour!, a hands-on exhibition for ages 6 to 12: they put on a lab coat and color goggles, step through a color portal and explore rooms of light.

Free family activities run in the ground-floor studios, and low display cases in the Design Depot put ceramic lions and porcelain dogs at kid height.

Monteliusvägen is a 416-meter walking path along the steep edge of Mariaberget, high above Söder Mälarstrand. Terraces and benches, some with fixed tables, look out over Riddarfjärden to City Hall, Riddarholmen and Gamla stan. Steps and cobbled lanes like Blecktornsgränd climb up from below, and the path opens onto two small parks. Kids can spot pieces of old millstones set into the retaining walls.

Fjäderholmarna is a cluster of small islands, the nearest part of the Stockholm archipelago to the city center. Stora Fjäderholmen has craft studios including a glassworks, a forge and a pottery, some offering day workshops, plus a permanent exhibition of traditional boats and rocks to swim from.

Food runs from a smokehouse and an archipelago restaurant to a brewery and a chocolate maker.

A guided boat tour run by Strömma that leaves Strömkajen, enters the quiet Djurgården canal (Djurgårdsbrunnskanalen) and runs through the Royal National City Park. Kids watch historic buildings, museums, green shores and the big contemporary sculptures of the Princess Estelle Sculpture Park slide past, then the city skyline opens up on the way back. A live English-speaking guide tells stories about the island's history and nature.

The Djurgården ferry is SL's line 82, a short public-transport crossing from Slussen to Allmänna gränd on Djurgården, with a request stop at Skeppsholmen. The boats are built the same at both ends, so they never turn around, a design used since the line began in 1897 for the Stockholm Exhibition.

The Djurgården landing is close to Gröna Lund, the Vasa Museum and Skansen.

Ninja World is the indoor ninja warrior hall at the Sports Club Vallentuna gym, which has more than 150 padded obstacles in all. Six courses run from easy to very hard, and kids earn a colored wristband for each one they clear. Smaller kids get a 10-obstacle parkour course and a Baby Park of soft blocks. Next door, OCR Heaven adds military-style obstacles, treadmills and a bouldering cave.

Bowl-O-Rama has 29 lanes, which makes it the biggest bowling hall in the city. On weekend evenings half the hall turns into disco bowling with neon lights and music, while the other half stays lit as usual.

Local bowling clubs train here, so casual players often bowl next to league regulars, and staff or experienced bowlers can share tips. A restaurant serves food and drinks between games.

Birka Bowling & Dart is a 17-lane bowling hall on Birkagatan in Vasastan, open since the early 1970s. Three of the lanes sit in a glassed-in VIP lounge with disco lights and an iPad for choosing the music.

Alongside bowling there are social darts with automated scoring, billiards, a restaurant known for its burgers and a sports bar. Daytime suits families; after 6pm the party lighting comes on.

An indoor activity center in the Arninge industrial area with a 40-vest laser tag arena spread over several levels, six interactive bowling lanes, a 9-hole darklight minigolf course under UV light, an arcade hall, billiards, darts, shuffleboard and indoor golf.

Kandy'z candy shop stocks close to 1,000 kinds of candy, the ice cream café serves soft-serve and scoops, and the restaurant serves food from opening to closing.

A dark, smoke-filled laser tag arena in Vasastan where players in vests hunt each other through UV-lit corridors to music. Each 16-minute game takes up to 40 players, in two to eight teams or everyone against everyone.

Between games, the lobby has a live scoreboard, arcade games, darts, foosball and table tennis. Birthday party packages bundle games with food, ice cream and a candy bag.

Laserdome Bromma is a laser tag arena on several floors, kept dark and smoky with UV lighting and music. Up to 40 players wear vest-style jackets and play in two to four teams or all against all, with personal score sheets afterward.

The same activity center has Quest, 15 team challenge rooms that mix puzzles and physical tasks, plus The Cube puzzle boxes for teens and adults.

Laserdome Farsta is a laser tag arena lit by UV light, with three themed zones (toxic waste, biotech and lava), smoke machines, sound effects, and corridors and alcoves to hide in. Players suit up with a sensor vest and a laser gun and play everyone against everyone or in teams. A computer tracks every hit, and scores go up on a screen in the lobby after each game.

YOUMP's biggest trampoline park covers 4,200 square meters with trampolines from wall to wall. Beyond the open FreeJump area there's a ninja course, a big airbag, dodgeball, an AirTrack tumbling strip, a slackline and a separate toddler and baby area. No experience is needed, and kids jump at their own level.

The park also runs birthday parties, trampoline classes, holiday camps and evening discos.

A trampoline park inside the Heron City leisure center at Kungens Kurva. Beyond the trampolines there are foam pits for practicing flips, a ninja course, colorful climbing walls that need no helmet or special shoes, and dodgeball.

Kids can also drive mini go-karts on a track. Add-ons include the SkyRider, a rail zip line high over the park, and Valo Arena, a mixed reality game floor played without a headset.

A trampoline park on the second floor of the Nacka Forum mall. Besides the main trampoline court, kids can flip into foam pits, run the ninja course, scale the climbing walls, play dodgeball or indoor football, and try parkour, Battle Beams, the Jump Tower and the SkyRider. Staff may have time to help kids learn a new trick. It suits kids who need to burn energy on a dark day.

JumpYard Barkarby is an indoor trampoline park with rows of connected trampolines, foam pits for practicing flips, and high-performance trampolines with padded walls for wallrunning.

Kids can also climb the colorful Clip 'n Climb walls with no helmet or special shoes, tackle the Mini Ninja obstacle course built for the youngest, play trampoline dodgeball, and knock friends off the Battle Beam into the foam pit.

Kaatach is a play center of about 3,000 square meters indoors and out, with the yard open all year. Inside, kids drive electric cars through a mini town with traffic lights and a fire station, climb a digital climbing wall, and play in kid-size houses styled as a school, bank and hospital. Outside are trampolines, pirate boats and climbing towers with slides, plus a fairground from May to September.

Funland is an indoor play center (lekland) inside the Sollentuna Centrum mall, with ball pits, one-way slides and a Lego corner.

Its main draw is drop-off play: older kids stay with the staff while parents run errands or sit down for a coffee. Staff photograph each child with the adult who checks them in, and only that adult can collect them. A party room hosts birthday parties.

A big indoor play center from the Leo's Lekland chain, beside Länna shopping center. Kids run between a pirate ship with ball cannons, a volcano climb, trampolines, a ball pool, a parkour course and a row of slides, including the Tiger, Snake and Zebra slides.

A bistro serves snacks and full meals, and every structure is built so parents can join in.

A large indoor play center by Arninge Centrum, with a climbing volcano, the Volcano, Tubby and Snake slides, trampolines, a ball pool, a pirate ship with ball cannons and a Jungle Race points game. Kids under five get their own Mini World area.

One ticket covers unlimited play until closing, and an on-site bistro feeds kids and adults, since outside food isn't allowed.

Leo's Lekland Barkarby is a big indoor play center with thousands of square meters of play space. Kids climb the Volcano and the stretchy nets of the Spider Tower, race down the Volcano Slide and the Racing Slide, fire foam balls from the Pirate Ship cannons and bounce on trampolines. Under-5s get their own Mini World zone, and adults can join in on all the equipment.

Leo's Lekland Kungens Kurva is a large indoor play center with slides, trampolines, climbing towers and ball pools spread over thousands of square meters. Kids can fire the Ball Canons on the pirate ship, run the Jungle Race, ride trikes on their own track and kick a ball around the Sports Arena.

Children under five get Mini World, a separate area built for their pace.

Gustavsbergsbadet is a swim center with an adventure pool, a lap pool, a gym and a relaxation area. In the adventure pool, a lagoon leads outdoors into a current channel, and there are two slides: the 77-meter Magic Eye, ridden on a ring alone or together, and the 36-meter Turbo, a fast solo drop. Toddlers get a stepped splash pool 10 to 50 cm deep, kept at 30-32°C.

Tyresö Aquarena is a public swimming hall run by Medley, with five pools: a 25-meter lap and exercise pool, a warmer 16-meter multi-use pool, a tropical-themed adventure pool with a water slide, a bubble pool, and a 30 cm deep splash area for the youngest. There are also two saunas. On weekends and school breaks, the hippo mascot Flodis often drops by.

Vilundabadet is a swim center run by Medley, with four pools. The adventure side has two water slides, a beach pool and a current pool, plus a 30 cm deep splash area with small slides for the youngest.

Alongside sit a 25-meter pool, a teaching pool with an adjustable floor, a hot tub, two saunas and a café. Weekends and school holidays bring obstacle courses and pool toys.

A public swimming hall run by Medley, with four pools: a 50-meter lane pool, two multi-use pools and a kids' pool. Toddlers get a play area kept at 34 degrees, while older kids head for the two water slides (one with rings, one timed), the 1 m and 3 m springboards and the 3 m diving tower. An obstacle course goes up in the pool during every school break.

Husbybadet is an indoor public swimming hall in Husby with a 25-meter pool (1.2 to 4 meters deep, 27 degrees) and a separate teaching pool (0.7 to 0.95 meters deep, 29 degrees), plus a gym. The old adventure section with its water slides is permanently closed because of damage that can't be repaired, and the bubble pool and splash pool are closed too. The city plans a new Husbybadet.

Eriksdalsbadet is the City of Stockholm's big public swimming complex beside Årstaviken, and Sweden's national arena for competitive swimming. Indoors there are 50-meter and 25-meter pools, a diving pool with a tower and a teaching pool.

The adventure pool has water slides, several whirlpools and a section where you can swim out into the open air. A large outdoor 50-meter pool opens in summer.

A 4H farm run for children and teens by Ulvsundasjön lake, near Huvudsta Castle. Goats, sheep, horses, rabbits, hens and a cat live here, and the animals are out in the paddocks to see during the day.

The big yellow house holds a café with fresh buns, a play corner with toys and books, and a changing room. Outside there is a public grill anyone can use.

A 4H farm in Akalla by, a village dating from the 1800s beside the Järvafältet nature reserve. Horses, ponies, sheep, goats, pigs, rabbits, chickens and ducks are out in their paddocks every day of the year, and families can book a guided visit to meet them up close.

The village also has a café, ceramics workshop, mini golf, playground, barbecue area and paddling pool.

Eolshälls 4H-gård is a youth-run farm on the Lake Mälaren shore in Axelsberg, run by the nonprofit 4H. It keeps Swedish heritage breeds, including Fjällnära cows, Gestrike sheep and Öland dwarf hens, plus horses, rabbits and cats.

Kids can see the animals in the paddocks and book a 30-minute ride. Members can join animal-care courses and school-holiday day camps, and the farm hosts birthday parties and seasonal markets.

A small farm run by the nonprofit youth group 4H, with sheep, goats, pigs, hens and rabbits in paddocks that kids watch from the fence. Visitors can't go in or feed the animals, but one may wander over to say hello.

Next door is a city-run public playground with two shared grills for a picnic cookout.

Stora Skuggans 4H-gård is a nonprofit farm run like an old Swedish farmstead, set in Ekoparken on Norra Djurgården. Most of the animals are Swedish heritage breeds kept in gene-bank conservation projects: mountain cows, Jämtland goats, Rya sheep and Hedemora hens, plus rabbits, cats, Icelandic horses and a Shetland pony.

Visitors walk between the paddocks to see the animals, and walking paths run through the parkland around the farm.

Judarskogen is a 95-hectare forest reserve wrapped around the small lake Judarn. A marked 2 km nature trail circles the lake, with eight signs on how the last ice age shaped the land.

Gravel paths and forest trails cross pine and spruce woods, open meadows and boulder slopes. Kids can find the pond built for newts and other amphibians north of the lake, and follow Ryssmuren, an old stone wall.

Hellasgården is an outdoor center on Källtorpssjön, inside the Nackareservatet nature reserve. In summer there is a sandy beach with swimming jetties, canoe, kayak and SUP hire, minigolf and forest trails.

In winter the lake gets a plowed skating track of about 2.5 km when the ice allows, and there is a sledding hill across Ältavägen. A lakeside sauna, a café and a restaurant sit by the water.

Tyresta protects the largest old-growth forest south of the Dalälven River: centuries-old pines, tall spruce, smooth bedrock and small forest lakes. Trails run from walks under an hour to weekend hikes, and several suit children.

At the main entrance, Tyresta by is an 18th-century farmyard with farm animals and a small country shop. Kids can walk through the area burned in the 1999 wildfire and see the forest growing back.

Flatenbadet is the city's largest outdoor swimming beach: 1,200 meters of shoreline on Lake Flaten, with several swimming docks and a diving tower. A separate children's beach, Barnbadet, sits at the north end.

The yellow wooden entrance buildings date from 1934 and now serve food. The beach lies inside Flaten nature reserve, with a campsite to the south.

Smedsuddsbadet is a small sandy city beach on Riddarfjärden, right beside the Västerbron bridge and next to Rålambshovsparken. Kids can swim off the sand, play on the lawn behind it and walk out on the boat jetty.

There are changing rooms, toilets and two outdoor showers. In summer a café runs from the yellow wooden villa on Smedsudden, which is also home to the canoe club.

Långholmsbadet is the public swimming beach on the north shore of Långholmen, a green island between Södermalm and Kungsholmen, right beside the Västerbron bridge and facing Riddarfjärden.

A path follows the shore around the whole island, past the old prison buildings. East of the bridge sits Långholmens klippbad, a rocky swimming spot first laid out as a bath for women and children.

Rosendals Trädgård is a biodynamic market garden on Djurgården, run by a foundation. Paths lead past vegetable plots, a rose garden, an orchard, a vineyard and greenhouses, and there is a playground and an educational garden for children.

The greenhouse café cooks with the garden's own harvest, and the wood-fired bakery holds Stockholm's largest oven. From late July, kids can cut their own bouquet in the flower field.

Haga Park is an English-style landscape park on the western shore of Brunnsviken, with open lawns, woods and winding paths. Scattered across it are buildings from Gustav III's time: the blue-and-yellow Copper Tents (home to Haga Park Museum and a café), the Echo Temple, the Chinese Pagoda and the Turkish Kiosk. Kids get room to run, picnic on the lawns and hunt for the next pavilion.

Tantolunden is one of the largest parks in the inner city, spread over a hill that slopes down to Årstaviken. Winding paths lead up to the top, and the slopes fill with sleds once snow falls.

There is a playground, a beach volleyball court, minigolf and a frisbee golf course. Up the hill, more than 100 allotment gardens with small cottages have been tended behind their fences since 1915.

Rålambshovsparken, known locally as Rålis, is a big park under the Västerbron bridge, with wide lawns that run down to Riddarfjärden. Kids get the Rålambshovs Parklek playground, the Domarring play sculpture, and Rålis Skatepark, with bowls of different depths and a large street section.

The park also has a beach volleyball court, a boule pitch, and a 5,000-seat open-air amphitheater where Parkteatern often plays in summer.

Hågelby 4H Farm is a small farm run by the local 4H club inside Hågelbyparken. Horses, sheep, goats, pigs, hens, rabbits and cats live here, and families can walk the park paths and look into the paddocks without booking. Kids can pet the animals that come up to the fence, and the park also has a playground. On cold days the hens and pigs stay in the henhouse and stable.

A themed playground in Vilundaparken built around the factories that once filled Väsby. Kids crawl inside a giant Hasselblad camera, slide out of a Volvo Amazon door handle, and play firefighter on the fire truck or mechanic in the car workshop. A play farm, a school and a Konsum shop round it out.

Artist and set designer Tor Svae, who made themed spaces at Junibacken, designed it.

The western playground in Norra Stationsparken, a new park in Hagastaden, is built around tall crystal-shaped play towers linked by slides and climbing bridges. There is also a big climbing frame, a sandpit, a group swing and a small climbing wall.

An open lawn next to the playground has room to run around and spread out a picnic.

A playground built as Valleby, the town from the LasseMajas Detektivbyrå books by Martin Widmark and Helena Willis. Kids play in miniature versions of the houses from the stories: the police station, the gold shop, a hot dog kiosk, the hotel, a lighthouse and the boat where the detective agency works.

Climbing nets, swings, a sandbox and a soccer field sit alongside, with an open lawn for picnics.

A theme playground built around Mulle Meck, the Swedish picture-book mechanic, by artist Tor Svae with the books' creators, from old scrap. Kids climb into Daisy Diesel's garage, Wilma von Winkelhock's observatory, a space rocket and a boat by a small pond, watched over by Mulle and his dog Buffa.

In summer a children's book library and café open inside the park.

Lilla Kvarnholmen is a playground built as a small copy of Kvarnholmen from the days when its mills still ground flour, designed together with people who live here. Kids can "cook", play shop in a little Konsum store, climb aboard the boat Tre Kronor, and slide down a miniature of the old Tre Kronor mill.

Next to it sit an amphitheater and a south-facing boules court looking out over Svindersviken.

A themed playground on the corner of the Krubban block, built around the site's history: 1600s house gables, small red cottages, a windmill, horses and an old Esso gas station.

Kids climb, slide, dig in the sandpit, spin on a carousel shaped like a giant hand and play in a pale-blue bus modeled on Östermalm's classic bus line 31. It opened in December 2019.

The play area on Mariaberget follows a countryside theme by artist Tor Svae: small farmhouses, a barn, and wooden farm animals kids can climb on, plus a small artificial-grass pitch. A huge hollow ash tree stands by the Bastugatan entrance.

The park is named after author Ivar Lo-Johansson, who lived across the street, and looks out over Riddarfjärden and Gamla stan. In winter, the south slope is a sledding hill.

The playground in Vasaparken is known for its orange-red hills of rubber asphalt, built in 2006 as part of a park upgrade that won the Siena Prize for landscape architecture. Kids climb and run over the mounds.

Beside it, an artificial-turf pitch hosts seven-a-side football and turns into an ice rink in winter, and a summer café sits in the park's old 1910 toilet house.

Uggleparken is a themed playground in the grounds of Kristineberg Palace, opened in 2013 and designed by the Danish studio Monstrum. All the play equipment is hand-carved wood over a soft rubber surface.

Two 5.5-meter owls, the King and the Queen, have slides built inside. Around them, kids balance along giant ants, spin on mushrooms, swing in hammocks strung between flowers and clamber over huge beetles.

The playground in Tessinparken was rebuilt around the theme "The Little City", picked through a public consultation and modeled on the 1930 Stockholm Exhibition and the functionalist buildings around the park. Kids get functionalist-style playhouses, a construction crane, a tram, a slide, a sand play area and climbing frames.

A large swing area sits next to the park activity building, with mini-golf and a basketball court close by.

Humlegårdens parklek is the playground inside Humlegården, a central park that began as a royal garden where King Johan III grew fruit, spices and hops. A parklek is one of the city's staffed playgrounds, run by trained staff.

The park around it adds a skateboard ramp, open lawns, a statue of Carl Linnaeus and the National Library of Sweden.

A themed playground built like a small shipyard, with a tugboat, a carpentry shop and a workshop with tools for pretend repairs. The design honors Anders Franzén, the naval archaeologist who found the wreck of the 1628 galleon Vasa in 1956.

The park also has a skate park, so older siblings have something to do while younger kids play.

Bryggartäppan recreates a Södermalm workers' neighborhood from the late 1800s at child scale. Small wooden houses, among them a workshop, a smithy, stables and a factory building, give kids a whole village to run between and play inside.

Old fruit trees and lilac bushes frame the grounds. In summer there are outdoor pools for splashing and a café selling waffles, coffee and ice cream.

Rum för Barn is the children's library on the fourth floor of Kulturhuset, with books in over 50 languages and plenty of cozy corners for reading together. Staff greet families at the entrance and help track down a particular book or suggest the next one.

The library also runs readings and activities for kids, listed on its events page.

Hammarbybacken is a 93.5-meter hill built up from construction spoil, with a blue, a red and a black run reached by T-bar lift, a snow park with jumps, boxes and rails, and a gentle green children's slope with two conveyor belts.

In summer the hill switches to a Mountain Coaster, rubber-ring tubing, a SummerSki slope of artificial grass, and a climbing park on poles with a 100-meter zip line.

An outdoor public rink in Kungsträdgården, the central park locals call Kungsan, open to everyone each winter while the weather allows. It works for a first wobbly try on skates as well as a few laps after a walk around the city center.

Through the season the rink hosts skating discos, try-it sessions, figure skating shows, concerts and choir performances, plus the switch-on of the city's Christmas lights.

Skansen-Akvariet is a privately run zoo and aquarium on the Skansen grounds, packing about 200 exotic species into 3,000 square meters: fish, corals, crocodiles, snakes, naked mole-rats, marmosets, lemurs, baboons and parrots.

In the Children's Rainforest, kids walk in among some of the animals, and a pet corner lets them touch a snake and a spider. The animals on show vary with the season.

Gröna Lund is Sweden's oldest amusement park, open since 1883 on the Djurgården waterfront. Its 30 rides run from big roller coasters and drop towers to bumper cars, carousels, teacups and Ferris wheels.

Younger kids head for Pettson och Findus Värld, a house built in 1720 full of nooks to hide in and buttons to press. Pentathlon game stalls, summer concerts and food stands fill the gaps between rides.

Skansen is the world's oldest open-air museum: historic houses and farmsteads from across Sweden that show how people lived and worked over the centuries. Its zoo keeps Nordic wild animals such as moose, bears and seals, plus traditional Swedish farm breeds.

Lill-Skansen, the children's zoo, has small animals and big indoor and outdoor play areas with a snake slide. The Baltic Sea Science Center shows life under the Baltic.

Millesgården is the former home and studios of sculptor Carl Milles and his wife Olga, built on a granite cliff on Lidingö. Sculptures and fountains, including the Triton fountain, stand along stepped terraces, with the artist's home and an art gallery of changing exhibitions alongside.

Kids can hunt for Milles' angels in the park, fill in a sculpture-hunt booklet, or follow a children's trail folder from reception.

Moderna Museet is Sweden's state museum of modern and contemporary art, in a Rafael Moneo building on the island of Skeppsholmen. The collection runs from Picasso, Dalí and Matisse to Louise Bourgeois and a model of Tatlin's Tower, alongside changing exhibitions.

Outside, the sculpture park has Alexander Calder's The Four Elements and the bright painted figures of Le Paradis fantastique by Niki de Saint Phalle and Jean Tinguely.

Avicii Experience is a tribute museum to Swedish DJ and producer Tim "Avicii" Bergling, one floor below street level at Sergels Torg. The 350-square-meter exhibition follows his life and music career through interactive rooms, untold stories and music that has never been released.

The room kids remember is the one where they get to try performing in front of tens of thousands of screaming fans.

An illusion museum with more than 70 interactive exhibits, each built for posing and photos. Kids hang from the furniture in an upside-down living room, try to stay steady in a spinning tunnel, disappear into the walls of the Camouflage Room and watch their reflections repeat forever in a hexagonal mirror room. A Kaleidoscope exhibit lets them make their own patterns while picking up a little about light and reflection.

A 2,500-square-meter indoor exhibition on Skeppsholmen with 26 animatronic dinosaurs, two complete skeletons and three skulls. The dinosaurs stand in built sets with plants, water, wind, light, sound and scent, so kids walk through a prehistoric world instead of past glass cases.

It comes from the team behind Paradox Museum and Fotografiska. Moving animatronics with sound can be a lot for toddlers who scare easily.

Sweden's oldest museum, founded in 1628, fills the southeastern corner of the Royal Palace with armor, coronation robes and royal carriages. Kids come face to face with Streiff, the stuffed warhorse Gustavus Adolphus rode at Lützen, and the bloodstained clothes of kings.

The Children's Armoury lets them touch, smell and explore royal history under a starry ceiling, and the Palace Mouse trail sends families hunting through the galleries.

The Nobel Prize Museum fills the old Stock Exchange building on Stortorget. Its main exhibition, These Things Changed the World, shows over 250 objects donated by Nobel laureates.

Kids can follow the Little Explorer quiz trail, searching for clues about scientists, authors and Alfred Nobel himself, listen to a children's audio guide on a phone, or read, play and experiment in the Bubble Chamber playroom.

Sweden's largest cultural history museum fills an ornate 1907 building on Djurgården with over 1.5 million objects, covering everyday life in Sweden from the 1500s to today, from homes and set tables to Sami crafts.

Kids walk into the great hall under a giant painted and gilded oak statue of King Gustav Vasa by Carl Milles. Artur Hazelius, who also founded Skansen, started the museum in 1873.

Spårvägsmuseet tells the story of Stockholm's public transport inside the renovated Gasverket gasworks. Floors 1 to 3 hold 13 vehicles, from horse-drawn carriages and boats to trams and buses, plus old uniforms, tickets and T-bana art. Floor 4 walks through the history in order.

Kids can ride the mini T-bana, and those who need to burn off energy get Snabbare, a running track on floor 3.

Sweden's largest museum runs from dinosaur skeletons in Fossils and Evolution to the native animals of Nature in Sweden, set in their habitats. Polar Tracks covers the Arctic and Antarctica, and Treasures from the Earth's Interior has gemstones and crystals.

The Animal Human is the most hands-on hall, where kids test how their bodies work against other animals. The building also holds Cosmonova, an IMAX dome theater 23 meters across.

Tekniska museet, the National Museum of Science and Technology, has ten hands-on exhibitions across 12,000 square meters. In Teknoleket, the youngest visitors build marble mazes and turn cog wheels. In The Mine, kids walk the dark old mining tracks, then try drill simulators and detonate explosives. Play Beyond Play has game stations, and the Wisdome Stockholm dome runs 3D shows on space and nature.

Historiska museet holds The Viking World, billed as the largest Viking exhibition in the world, with 2,500 original objects, interactive stations and old Norse tales. Prehistories covers Stone Age tools, art and some of the first runes, and the Gold Room shows Viking Age silver pendants and Migration Period gold collars.

Free activity trails send kids through the exhibitions, and the courtyard gives them room to run.

Armémuseum tells Sweden's story of war and peace through the soldiers, women and children who lived it, from the 1500s to today. Full-scale scenes with life-size soldiers and original weapons fill Artillerigården, a former artillery depot whose buildings date from the 1700s.

The Trophy Chamber holds flags and spoils captured from defeated armies, and a smaller exhibit covers Raoul Wallenberg's rescue work in World War II.