World Museum, Liverpool
Five floors, free, and it covers three things small children reliably love: giant dinosaurs, an aquarium and a space gallery. The best wet-weather day within half an hour.
Walker Art Gallery
Liverpool, Merseyside
One of the best fine-art collections in England outside London, and it costs nothing to walk in. The trick with children is Big Art for Little Artists, the ground-floor children's gallery aimed at the youngest visitors, with costumes, games, books and craft materials on a theme that changes regularly. It turns a gallery visit from an ordeal of not-touching into something a four year old asks to repeat.
Do Big Art while everyone is fresh, then take whatever appetite remains upstairs - the Victorian rooms are full of shipwrecks, battles and dogs, which is what primary-age taste in art actually is. Open 10am to 5pm; the cafe and toilets are on the ground floor. An hour of Big Art plus an hour of wandering is a solid free morning.
Know before you go
- Big Art for Little Artists runs timed entry slots through the morning and early afternoon - head there first and ask at the desk, then do the grown-up galleries after.
- It sits on William Brown Street next to World Museum and Central Library, so a rainy day can hop between all three without getting wet for more than a minute.
Looking for more museums & science near Liverpool?
Also in Liverpool
Speke Hall
A Tudor hall with woodland walks, a maze and a natural play area in the grounds. Free if you have National Trust membership, and the indoor house is a good rain fallback.
Museum of Liverpool
The city's story with an overhead railway carriage to climb aboard and Little Liverpool, a dedicated hands-on gallery for under-6s. Free, on the waterfront, and the window views are half the fun.
Merseyside Maritime Museum
Titanic and Lusitania told in the city that crewed them, ship models, and the Seized! customs gallery in the basement where kids hunt smugglers. Free, and the Albert Dock outside is its own event.
Mersey Ferries River Explorer
The famous ferry across the Mersey run as a 50-minute sightseeing loop with commentary, and the honest truth is kids love the boat more than any museum. Hop off at Seacombe for Eureka! next door.
Calderstones Park
South Liverpool's favourite park: lake, playground, ancient trees and the Storybarn, The Reader's hands-on storytelling space in the old coach house. The neolithic Calder Stones are older than Stonehenge, which is a good fact to deploy.