Things to Do in NJ With Kids: 75 Family Attractions by Age and Region

New Jersey is a good state to be a kid in, and a manageable one to be a parent in, as long as you plan around the Parkway. Within about two hours of almost anywhere in the state there’s a science center with a newly upgraded planetarium, zoos with giraffes and lions, aquariums with shark tunnels, a battleship you can sleep on, a storybook theme park from 1955, boardwalk piers, model trains, mines and more free days out than you’d expect. Here are 75 things to do in NJ with kids, grouped by region, with the ages each one suits, what it costs in fall 2026, how long to allow, and what to do instead when it rains.

The list leans toward places that work for a family day, not just an hour. Six Flags Great Adventure and the American Dream mall are on it, but each has its own full guide, linked below; Shore towns get their own kid-by-kid treatment in our town guides.

Quick answer: Pick by age. Toddlers do best at Storybook Land, Turtle Back Zoo, Jenkinson’s Aquarium and the free Cape May County Park & Zoo; kids 6 to 12 at Liberty Science Center, Adventure Aquarium, Battleship New Jersey and Northlandz; teens at Six Flags Great Adventure, Steel Pier and Medieval Times. The best free days are the Cape May County zoo, the New Jersey State Museum (the planetarium costs extra), Paterson Great Falls and Twin Lights.

Last updated October 8, 2026. Prices, hours, seasons and closures were checked on October 3, 2026, against each attraction’s or park agency’s own website, and every price is dated in the text. Drive times are light-traffic routing estimates from Times Square and Philadelphia City Hall.

• Free: the Cape May County Park & Zoo and the Cohanzick Zoo, the New Jersey State Museum (the planetarium costs extra), Paterson Great Falls, Duke Farms, Howell and Longstreet farms, the Raptor Trust, the Great Swamp, Twin Lights’ museum, Batsto Village, and the Thomas Edison park for kids 15 and under.
• Book ahead: timed tickets at Adventure Aquarium and Grounds For Sculpture (it sold out until 2 p.m. on the first Saturday in October), Lakota Wolf Preserve tours, Duke Farms’ free Saturday parking passes, Storybook Land’s trick-or-treat and Christmas nights, and the pumpkin and Santa trains.
• Closed or changed: Kingda Ka is gone, the Six Flags safari is truck-only, Clementon Park is closing, the Garden State Discovery Museum and Bowcraft are closed, and the outdoor water parks and most Shore rides are done for 2026. See What’s changed.
• Costs to expect (fall 2026): $22 for adults and $19 for kids at Turtle Back Zoo, $32.99 at Adventure Aquarium (kids 15% off), $42.95 online at Storybook Land, $40 at Northlandz, and $76.95 for adults and $46.95 for kids at Medieval Times.

On this page: Best picks by age | All 75 at a glance | North Jersey | Central Jersey | South Jersey and the Shore | Rainy days | By season | Saving money | What’s changed | What to skip | FAQ

Best Things to Do in NJ With Kids by Age

Every child is different, but ride heights, attention spans and nap schedules are not. Use this as a starting point; each pick is described in full below.

Age	Best picks	Why they work
Babies and toddlers (under 3)	Storybook Land, Jenkinson’s Aquarium, Cape May County Park & Zoo, Pine Creek Railroad, Turtle Back Zoo	Short walks, gentle rides, low or no admission for the littlest (Storybook Land is free under 2)
Preschoolers (3 to 5)	Adventure Aquarium (free Pre-K pass), Storybook Land, Turtle Back Zoo, Land of Make Believe, Keansburg in season, Space Farms	Animals, kiddie rides and pay-as-you-go tickets that fit a short attention span
Kids 6 to 9	Liberty Science Center, Northlandz, Battleship New Jersey, Wild West City, Sterling Hill, the Statue of Liberty ferry	Hands-on exhibits, trains, a mine and a real battleship
Tweens 10 to 12	Six Flags Great Adventure, Medieval Times, the Absecon and Cape May lighthouses, Island Waterpark, American Dream	Real coasters, climbing challenges and indoor thrills
Teens	Six Flags (Fright Fest nights), Steel Pier’s SlingShot, Silverball, Big SNOW at American Dream, a battleship overnight	Things that feel grown-up, scary or both
Rainy days, any age	Liberty Science Center, Adventure Aquarium, the New Jersey State Museum, Northlandz, Island Waterpark	Indoors, big enough to fill a day

All 75 Family Attractions at a Glance

Costs are 2026 prices for the cheapest standard ticket (adults first, then children where they differ); drive times are light-traffic estimates from Times Square and Philadelphia City Hall. Click a name to jump to its entry.

#	Attraction	Best ages	Cost (2026)	From NYC	From Philadelphia
1	Liberty Science Center, Jersey City	2-13	Varies by date	20 min	1 hr 55 min
2	Statue of Liberty ferry, Liberty State Park	6+	$26, kids $17	20 min	1 hr 55 min
3	Turtle Back Zoo, West Orange	1-12	$22, kids $19	35 min	2 hr
4	TreeTop Adventure Course, West Orange	6-15	Junior $20, adult $30	35 min	2 hr
5	Medieval Times, Lyndhurst	5+	$76.95, kids $46.95	15 min	2 hr
6	American Dream, East Rutherford	2-15	Free entry; attractions extra	15 min	2 hr
7	Bergen County Zoo, Paramus	1-8	$10, kids $7 (residents $6/$4)	30 min	2 hr 10 min
8	Paterson Great Falls	All	Free	30 min	2 hr 10 min
9	Newark Museum of Art and Planetarium	4-12	$10, kids $8; planetarium $10	25 min	1 hr 50 min
10	Thomas Edison NHP, West Orange	8+	$15; 15 and under free	30 min	2 hr
11	Morris Museum, Morristown	4-12	$12, kids $8	45 min	2 hr
12	Fosterfields Living Historical Farm	2-9	$5 (Fall Farm Fun $15)	55 min	2 hr 5 min
13	Great Swamp National Wildlife Refuge	3+	Free	55 min	2 hr
14	The Raptor Trust, Millington	3+	Free	55 min	2 hr
15	Imagine That!!! Discovery Museum, Florham Park	1-7	$21.99 kids, $6.99 adults	45 min	2 hr 5 min
16	Funplex, East Hanover	4-14	Wristband from $29	45 min	2 hr 10 min
17	Space Farms Zoo and Museum, Wantage	2-12	$26, kids $22	1 hr 25 min	3 hr
18	Lakota Wolf Preserve, Columbia	5+	$17, kids $7.50	1 hr 30 min	2 hr 15 min
19	Land of Make Believe, Hope	2-9	$41 (reopens May 2027)	1 hr 20 min	2 hr 5 min
20	Wild West City, Byram	3-10	$37, kids $32 online	1 hr 5 min	2 hr 20 min
21	Sterling Hill Mining Museum, Ogdensburg	6+	$17, kids $15	1 hr 5 min	2 hr 45 min
22	Franklin Mineral Museum, Franklin	4-12	$25, kids $20	1 hr	2 hr 45 min
23	Mountain Creek, Vernon	4+	Sky Ride $14.99	1 hr 10 min	2 hr 50 min
24	Six Flags Great Adventure, Jackson	4+	From $45 online	1 hr 30 min	1 hr 10 min
25	Northlandz, Flemington	3+	$40, kids $32.50	1 hr 20 min	1 hr 15 min
26	Black River & Western Railroad, Flemington	2-9	Pumpkin Train from $22.99, kids $16.99	1 hr 20 min	1 hr 15 min
27	Duke Farms, Hillsborough	4+	Free	1 hr 5 min	1 hr 35 min
28	Howell Living History Farm, Hopewell Township	3-10	Free (corn maze $12-$15)	1 hr 45 min	1 hr
29	New Jersey State Museum, Trenton	4-12	Free; planetarium $5-$10	1 hr 30 min	50 min
30	Grounds For Sculpture, Hamilton	5+	$25, ages 6-17 $12	1 hr 30 min	50 min
31	Terhune Orchards, Princeton	2-10	$19.95 in advance	1 hr 30 min	1 hr
32	iPlay America, Freehold	3-14	Free entry; wristband $37.99	1 hr 15 min	1 hr 20 min
33	Keansburg Amusement Park	2-10	$1.50 a ride (reopens spring)	1 hr 5 min	1 hr 45 min
34	Historic Longstreet Farm, Holmdel	2-8	Free	1 hr	1 hr 35 min
35	Twin Lights, Highlands	5+	Free; climb $5, kids $2	1 hr 20 min	1 hr 55 min
36	Sandy Hook	All	Free after Labor Day	1 hr 20 min	2 hr
37	Silverball Retro Arcade, Asbury Park	7+	$10 an hour	1 hr 20 min	1 hr 40 min
38	Jenkinson's Boardwalk and Aquarium	1-10	Aquarium $19, kids $13	1 hr 30 min	1 hr 40 min
39	Pine Creek Railroad, Allaire	2-7	$6	1 hr 25 min	1 hr 25 min
40	Historic Village at Allaire	5-12	$5	1 hr 25 min	1 hr 25 min
41	Monmouth Museum, Lincroft	1-10	$15	1 hr 10 min	1 hr 40 min
42	Popcorn Park Animal Refuge, Forked River	2-12	$12, kids $7	1 hr 50 min	1 hr 15 min
43	Insectropolis, Toms River	3-10	$14	1 hr 35 min	1 hr 30 min
44	Casino Pier, Seaside Heights	4-14	Ride tickets	1 hr 50 min	1 hr 40 min
45	Island Beach State Park	All	$5-$10 a car off-season	1 hr 55 min	1 hr 40 min
46	Fantasy Island, Beach Haven	2-10	Ride tokens (reopens spring)	2 hr 25 min	1 hr 45 min
47	Thundering Surf Waterpark, Beach Haven	4-14	$48 (reopens summer)	2 hr 25 min	1 hr 45 min
48	Tuckerton Seaport	5+	$5	2 hr 10 min	1 hr 30 min
49	Adventure Aquarium, Camden	All	$32.99; ages 2-5 free	2 hr 5 min	10 min
50	Battleship New Jersey, Camden	7+	$35, under 8 $8	2 hr 5 min	10 min
51	Diggerland USA, West Berlin	3-10	From $46.99 online	2 hr	30 min
52	Johnson's Corner Farm, Medford	2-10	Fall tickets	1 hr 50 min	30 min
53	Storybook Land, Egg Harbor Township	1-7	$42.95 online	2 hr 35 min	1 hr 10 min
54	Historic Smithville, Galloway	All	Free	2 hr 25 min	1 hr 20 min
55	Lucy the Elephant, Margate	4+	Tour tickets	2 hr 45 min	1 hr 20 min
56	Atlantic City Aquarium	2-9	$15, kids $8	2 hr 45 min	1 hr 25 min
57	Absecon Lighthouse, Atlantic City	6+	$10, kids $6	2 hr 45 min	1 hr 20 min
58	Steel Pier, Atlantic City	5-14	Wheel $12.50, kids $8.33	2 hr 45 min	1 hr 20 min
59	Island Waterpark, Atlantic City	4-14	From $49	2 hr 45 min	1 hr 20 min
60	Marine Mammal Stranding Center, Brigantine	5+	Free (donation)	2 hr 45 min	1 hr 25 min
61	Forsythe Wildlife Refuge, Galloway	All	$4 a car	2 hr 30 min	1 hr 20 min
62	Playland's Castaway Cove, Ocean City	3-12	Ride tickets	2 hr 50 min	1 hr 25 min
63	Morey's Piers, Wildwood	4-16	Wristbands	3 hr 15 min	1 hr 50 min
64	Cape May County Park & Zoo	1-10	Free	3 hr 5 min	1 hr 40 min
65	The Wetlands Institute (temporary site)	4+	Paid	3 hr 10 min	1 hr 35 min
66	Cape May Lighthouse	5+	$12, kids $8	3 hr 25 min	2 hr
67	Cape May Point State Park and Hawk Watch	All	Free	3 hr 25 min	2 hr
68	Sunset Beach, Cape May Point	All	Free	3 hr 25 min	2 hr
69	Whale and dolphin watching, Cape May	4+	From $30	3 hr 20 min	1 hr 55 min
70	Cape May-Lewes Ferry	All	$11; kids free on foot	3 hr 20 min	1 hr 55 min
71	Historic Cold Spring Village, Cape May	5-12	$14, kids $10	3 hr 15 min	1 hr 50 min
72	Cohanzick Zoo, Bridgeton	1-10	Free	2 hr 45 min	1 hr
73	WheatonArts, Millville	5+	$14, ages 6-18 $8	2 hr 40 min	55 min
74	Batsto Village, Wharton State Forest	6+	Free; tours $1-$3	2 hr 20 min	1 hr 5 min
75	Santa Express, Cape May Seashore Lines	2-8	Seasonal	2 hr 30 min	1 hr

North Jersey: Things to Do With Kids Near New York City

North Jersey packs the state’s big science center, Turtle Back Zoo and the Statue of Liberty ferry within about half an hour of Manhattan, with farms, wolves, mines and old-time amusement parks an hour or so farther out in the hills.

1. Liberty Science Center, Jersey City

Paid (prices vary by date; members free). New Jersey’s big hands-on science museum is full of exhibits kids are meant to touch, climb and crawl through, plus live science shows and the Jennifer Chalsty Planetarium, whose 89-foot dome was upgraded with new laser projectors this fall; October’s lineup includes a Halloween laser show. Planetarium and 3D theater tickets are add-ons to general admission.

Plan it: hours change week to week and the center closes on some weekdays (it’s shut October 5-7, then open 10 a.m. to 4 or 5 p.m.), so check before you go. Parking costs $7. Family memberships cost $255 a year; Bank of America cardholders get in free on the first full weekend of each month. Allow 3 to 4 hours. Best for: ages 3 to 13, and the top rainy-day pick near New York.

2. Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island ferry, Liberty State Park

Paid ($26 adults, $17 ages 4 to 12, under 4 free, 2026). The ferry from Liberty State Park is the easy way to Lady Liberty for New Jersey families, with cheap parking, light rail nearby and the Ellis Island museum on the same ticket. Kids get a boat ride, a giant statue and a museum about the families who came through the island, and pedestal or crown access costs just 30 cents more (crown tickets sell out far ahead).

Plan it: ferries leave Liberty State Park every 45 minutes from 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. (the schedule through October 12), and boats from New Jersey stop at Ellis Island first. Start by 2 p.m. to see both islands. Parking in Lot 8 costs $7, or ride the Hudson-Bergen Light Rail. Allow 4 to 5 hours. Best for: ages 6 and up.

3. Turtle Back Zoo, West Orange

Paid ($22 adults, $19 ages 2 to 12, under 2 free, 2026). Essex County’s zoo packs more than 100 species from five continents onto a hillside in South Mountain Reservation: giraffes and lions in African Adventure, a miniature train through the woods, an Endangered Species Carousel and a Prehistoric Playground. Its Howl-O-Ween trick-or-treat night is Saturday, October 31, 4 to 8 p.m. ($5, $3 for members), when regular hours end at 1 p.m.

Plan it: open daily, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., rain or shine; no re-entry, and everyone 16 and under must be with an adult 18 or older. Parking is free in the South Mountain lots (except the Park ‘n Ride garage on weekdays). There’s no holiday lights event on the zoo’s 2026 calendar, whatever older posts say. Allow 3 hours. Best for: ages 1 to 10.

4. Essex County TreeTop Adventure Course, West Orange

Paid ($20 Junior Course, $30 Adult Course, $15 zip line, 2026). Right beside Turtle Back Zoo, a ropes course of bridges and platforms high in the trees, plus a zip line, turns a zoo day into a real adventure for older kids. The Junior Course takes riders 6 and up who are at least 48 inches tall; the Adult Course needs 54 inches (10 and up recommended), and the zip line age 6 and 80 pounds.

Plan it: open weekends and select holidays (including October 12), 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Riders must be under 250 pounds and wear athletic sneakers, and online reservations take a $10 nonrefundable deposit; course-and-zip-line combos cost $27 (junior) or $35. Allow 1 to 2 hours. Best for: ages 6 to 15.

5. Medieval Times Dinner and Tournament, Lyndhurst

Paid ($76.95 adults, $46.95 children, 2026). A dinner theater in a mock castle in the Meadowlands, where knights joust, sword-fight and race horses while you work through a four-course feast. Kids cheer for their section’s knight as if it were the Super Bowl, which is exactly the point. Children under 3 eat free on a lap, and a 15%-off code, 15MT, is advertised through December 31.

Plan it: fall shows run mainly Fridays at 7 p.m., Saturdays at 2, 5 and 7:30 p.m. and Sundays at 1 and 4 p.m.; there are no shows on Thanksgiving or Christmas Day, and extra shows run December 22-31. The castle opens an hour before showtime, parking is free, and the tip isn’t included. No outside food, balloons or toy weapons. Allow 2.5 hours. Best for: ages 5 to 13, and birthdays.

6. American Dream, East Rutherford

Paid (attractions ticketed separately; entry free). The mega-mall in the Meadowlands is really a cluster of indoor parks: Nickelodeon Universe (from $59.99), the DreamWorks Water Park (from $69.99), the Big SNOW ski slope, LEGOLAND Discovery Center (from $29.99) and SEA LIFE (from $24 for adults), all priced for fall 2026. It’s an all-weather answer for a whole day, if you budget for it.

Plan it: pick one or two attractions per visit and buy online for non-peak dates. Our American Dream mall guide has every price, the bus from Port Authority and the parking rules. Best for: ages 2 to 15, in any weather.

7. Bergen County Zoo, Paramus

Paid ($10 adults and $7 ages 3 to 14 from outside the county; $6 and $4 for Bergen residents, 2026). A compact, cheap zoo inside Van Saun County Park, easy to do in a morning with small children, with train and carousel rides at $3 each. Its Zoo Boo Halloween fundraiser, with trick-or-treat stations, shows and a train ride (a haunted one after dark), runs October 16-18, with rain dates October 23-25 and timed tickets sold online only.

Plan it: open daily except Thanksgiving and Christmas, 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. through November and 10 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. in winter; under 3 free. There’s no petting zoo. The Friends of the zoo’s Let It Glow lantern walk usually runs from November to January; check the zoo’s site for the 2026 dates before you plan around it. Allow 2 hours. Best for: ages 1 to 8.

8. Paterson Great Falls National Historical Park, Paterson

Free. A 77-foot waterfall in the middle of a city, where Alexander Hamilton planned America’s first industrial town around the falls’ water power. Kids get the roar and the spray from the overlook and the footbridge; parents get a painless history lesson.

Plan it: the grounds are open every day, and rangers are on hand Wednesday to Sunday, 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. There’s no visitor center or public restroom while a new center is built. The lot at 72 McBride Avenue Extension is open dawn to dusk and fills on weekends. Allow an hour. Best for: all ages, especially after a rainy week when the falls are at their loudest.

9. Newark Museum of Art and Dreyfuss Planetarium, Newark

Paid ($10 adults, $8 children; planetarium $10, 2026). A big art and science museum with a family-friendly Animal Kingdom exhibition through December 31 and a 50-seat planetarium showing Zula Patrol: Down to Earth for ages 4 and up (Thursday and Friday at 2 p.m., weekends at 1 and 2 p.m.). Its free Community Day: Autumn Fling, with an indoor corn maze and a petting zoo, is October 24 (register ahead), and Family First Saturdays run October 10, November 7 and December 5.

Plan it: open Thursday to Sunday, noon to 5 p.m.; under 3 free, and Newark residents free. There’s no on-site parking during construction, so use the Hahne & Co. garage ($13 if booked ahead) or the Newark Light Rail. Planetarium seats are first come, first served. Allow 2 hours. Best for: ages 4 to 12.

10. Thomas Edison National Historical Park, West Orange

Paid ($15 ages 16 and up; 15 and under free, 2026). Edison’s real laboratory complex, where kids can see the machine shop, the chemistry lab and the library where the inventor worked, plus early phonographs and movie cameras. Free admission for children makes it one of the cheapest family history outings in the state.

Plan it: the laboratory is open Thursday to Monday, 9:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., and closed Tuesday and Wednesday, Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year’s Day, and for a winter closure from January 1 to February 25, 2027. His Glenmont mansion is open weekends only, by separate timed tour. Card payment only. Allow 2 hours. Best for: ages 8 and up who like taking things apart.

11. Morris Museum, Morristown

Paid ($12 adults, $8 ages 3 to 17, 2026). Three things make this a family favorite: the Smithsonian Spark!Lab, a hands-on invention space for ages 5 to 12 with a junior corner for under-5s; the Guinness Collection of about 750 mechanical musical instruments and automata, demonstrated daily at 2 p.m.; and a model train gallery with 48 push buttons. Family Dino Tours with touchable fossil replicas run at 11:30 a.m. on the first three Saturdays of each month.

Plan it: open Wednesday to Sunday, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Spark!Lab runs noon to 4 p.m. in 30-minute sessions, with timed passes handed out only at the front desk on the day, and each ticket carries a $3 handling fee. Allow 2 hours. Best for: ages 4 to 12.

12. Fosterfields Living Historical Farm, Morris Township

Paid ($5, 3 and under free; Fall Farm Fun $15, 2026). A living history farm where kids meet cows, sheep, goats, pigs, horses and chickens and help with chores such as churning butter and collecting eggs. Every Saturday and Sunday through October 31, Fall Farm Fun adds cider pressing, wagon rides and pick-your-own pumpkins (a pumpkin is guaranteed only if you preregister).

Plan it: the regular season ends October 31 (Wednesday to Sunday, 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.); the farm reopens for Festive Farmyard, with Santa, on December 5-6 ($10) and a Hot Chocolate Walk on December 20 ($5). Allow 2 hours. Best for: ages 2 to 9.

13. Great Swamp National Wildlife Refuge, Morris County

Free. Twenty-six miles from Times Square, a 7,853-acre refuge of marsh and woods with boardwalk trails at the Wildlife Observation Center, where kids can look for turtles, frogs and birds without getting their feet wet, and about 11.5 miles of foot trails in all.

Plan it: open sunrise to sunset all year; the visitor center is open Tuesday and Thursday to Sunday, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Bring bug spray in warm months. Allow 1 to 2 hours. Best for: ages 3 and up, and a nature walk with a stroller-friendly boardwalk.

14. The Raptor Trust, Millington

Free (donations welcome). A wild-bird hospital since 1983, with a free self-guided Aviary Trail past about 50 resident hawks, eagles, falcons and owls that can’t be returned to the wild. Seeing an eagle up close does more for a child’s interest in nature than any field guide. Its free Owl-O-Ween, with crafts and a scavenger hunt, is October 24, 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. (registration required).

Plan it: open daily, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., from Labor Day to Memorial Day; no dogs, even in the parking lot, and no more than five children per adult. Icy paths can close it after winter storms, so call ahead (908-647-1091). Allow an hour. Best for: ages 3 and up.

15. Imagine That!!! Discovery Museum, Florham Park

Paid ($21.99 ages 12 months to 10 years, $6.99 ages 11 and up, as listed in 2026). A 16,000-square-foot indoor play museum for preschoolers and young kids, with more than 20 themed areas, including a three-story playscape, a craft room, an instrument room and a mini supermarket where toddlers can shop like grown-ups. Admission covers the whole day.

Plan it: open Tuesday to Friday, 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., and weekends 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.; closed Mondays except some holidays (it opens October 12, 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.). Prices now show only at online checkout, so confirm when you book. Adults must stay with their children, babies under 12 months are free, and outside food isn’t allowed (there’s a cafe). Allow 3 hours. Best for: ages 1 to 7, and a cold winter morning.

16. Funplex, East Hanover

Paid (fall wristbands from $45 on weekends, $29 on weekdays, 2026). An indoor family fun center with laser tag, a 4-D motion ride, electric go-karts, VR, bumper cars, bowling and a big arcade. The all-day wristband includes an hour of bowling with shoes and a $5 game card, and a $22 Kiddie Band covers the little-kid zones. Funtober, with pumpkin picking and decorating, a hay maze and kiddie tractor rides, runs October 10-11, noon to 6 p.m., included with a wristband.

Plan it: in October it’s open Fridays 4 to 9 p.m., Saturdays 10 a.m. to 10 p.m., Sundays 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. and Columbus Day; from November it adds Thursday evenings. Children 12 and under need an adult. South Jersey has its own Funplex in Mount Laurel, a 25-acre park with an indoor boardwalk, mini golf and outdoor rides, where fall weekend wristbands start at $42. Allow 3 hours. Best for: ages 4 to 14.

17. Space Farms Zoo and Museum, Wantage

Paid ($26 ages 13 to 64, $22 ages 3 to 12, 2026). A family-run zoo and museum complex in the far north of the state, open since 1927, with more than 500 animals of over 100 species and a sprawling, eccentric museum of antique cars, carriages, dolls and more. It’s old-fashioned in the best way.

Plan it: open daily, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. (last entry 4 p.m.), through November 1, 2026, then closed for the winter. Allow 3 hours. Best for: ages 2 to 12.

18. Lakota Wolf Preserve, Columbia

Paid ($17 adults, $7.50 children up to 11, plus tax, 2026). A nonprofit preserve in the Warren County hills near the Delaware Water Gap, where a guide leads you into an observation area surrounded by four wolf packs, then on to foxes, bobcats and lynx. Watching four packs of wolves at close range is the kind of thing kids remember for years.

Plan it: reservation only, with roughly 75-minute tours at 10:30 a.m. and 3 p.m.; arrive an hour early for the shuttle, and know that no-shows aren’t refunded. Tours are outdoors, rain or shine, with a half-mile trail (no open-back shoes) and no pets allowed, even left in the car. Tours book up to three months out. Best for: ages 5 and up who can stay calm around animals.

19. Land of Make Believe, Hope

Paid ($41 including tax for ages 2 and up; seniors $38, posted prices). An old-fashioned family theme park in the Warren County hills, with fairy-tale rides, shows, Santa’s barn and a pirate-themed water park, all included in one price, plus free parking and picnicking. It’s a toddler and young-kid park at heart, though the Black Hole slide is for ages 8 and up.

Plan it: closed for 2026; it reopens in May 2027 (its usual pattern is weekends from Memorial Day and daily from mid-June to Labor Day, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.). The park takes only cash or Discover on site (cards work online). Swim diapers are required in the water park, where strollers aren’t allowed. Allow a full day in summer. Best for: ages 2 to 9.

20. Wild West City, Byram

Paid ($37 adults, $32 children online; $45 and $39 at the gate, 2026). A Western-town theme park open since 1957, with a train ride and mini golf included and stagecoach rides for $7 more. In October it opens weekends and Columbus Day, 10:30 a.m. to 4 p.m., for its family-friendly Spooky Wild West City, while Haunted Wild West City (billed as PG-13) runs Friday and Saturday nights through October 31 ($30 online).

Plan it: save the haunted nights for older kids. Allow 3 hours. Best for: ages 3 to 10.

21. Sterling Hill Mining Museum, Ogdensburg

Paid (tour $17 adults, $15 ages 4 to 12, 2026). A real zinc mine you walk into on a two-hour guided tour (it’s 56°F underground), followed by a room of more than 700 minerals that glow in wild colors under ultraviolet light. Kids can also pan for gems at the outdoor sluice.

Plan it: from September 8 to June 26, 2027, public tours run on weekends only at 1 p.m., with tickets sold on site; collecting and sluicing are open daily. The Fall Mineral Festival is October 10, with an extra tour on Columbus Day. Allow 2 to 3 hours. Best for: ages 6 and up and every rock collector.

22. Franklin Mineral Museum, Franklin

Paid ($25 adults, $20 ages 3 to 16 with rock collecting, 2026). A few miles from Sterling Hill, this museum has a 32-foot wall of fluorescent minerals and lets kids collect on the 3.5-acre Buckwheat Dump, then check their finds under UV light in a darkroom. Two pounds of rock are included; more costs $2 a pound.

Plan it: open April through November, Wednesday to Sunday. Confirm the hours with the museum before you drive. Allow 2 hours. Best for: ages 4 to 12.

23. Mountain Creek, Vernon

Paid (Sky Ride $14.99; Adventure Package with the mountain coaster $29.99, fall 2026). In summer, Mountain Creek’s water park is the draw (closed for 2026, back next summer); in fall, its Fall Fest Weekends run through October 25 with a pumpkin patch, a hay maze, live music and lift rides to the top of Vernon Peak, plus the Alpine Mountain Coaster. In winter it becomes the state’s biggest ski area.

Plan it: Fall Fest runs Saturdays, Sundays and Columbus Day, 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. through October 12 and until 5 p.m. after that; tickets are sold online only. Allow 3 hours. Best for: ages 4 and up, and leaf-peeping without a hike.

Central Jersey and the North Shore: Things to Do in NJ With Kids Between the Cities

The middle of the state is where New York and Philadelphia families meet: Six Flags, the model trains of Flemington, the farms around Princeton and the boardwalks of Monmouth and Ocean counties. Much of it is within 90 minutes of both cities.

24. Six Flags Great Adventure, Jackson

Paid (online park tickets from $45, gate $90, fall 2026). The state’s big theme park has two whole kids’ areas, Jr. Thrillseekers and Bugs Bunny National Park, alongside the giant coasters older kids came for, and the Wild Safari now runs as guided off-road truck tours rather than a drive-through. On fall weekends (and Columbus Day) through November 1, the daytime Kids Boo Fest swaps scares for costumes and candy, while Fright Fest takes over at night. Kingda Ka is gone, imploded in 2025, and its replacement isn’t due until 2027.

Plan it: children 2 and under are free; tickets are date-specific and cheapest online. After Labor Day the park opens only on select days, so check the calendar. Our full Six Flags Great Adventure guide covers rides, heights and money-saving tricks. Allow a full day. Best for: ages 4 and up, and teens most of all.

25. Northlandz, Flemington

Paid ($40 adults, $32.50 ages 2 to 11 online, 2026). One man’s 35-year obsession, which bills itself as the world’s largest model railroad display: 8 miles of track, more than 100 trains, 400 bridges and canyons 35 feet deep, all walked through on a long indoor path. It’s gloriously eccentric, and a kid who likes trains will talk about it for a month.

Plan it: open daily, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. An outdoor train ride costs $18 for adults and $16 for kids. Allow 2 hours. Best for: ages 3 and up and every train fan.

26. Black River & Western Railroad, Flemington

Paid (Pumpkin Train from $22.99 ages 12 and up, $16.99 ages 3 to 11, 2026). A heritage railroad whose seasonal trains are made for families. The Pumpkin Train runs from Flemington to Everitt Farms, where the ticket covers about an hour at the patch with a corn maze, wagon rides and a petting zoo (pumpkins cost extra), on October 10, 11, 17, 18, 24 and 25 at 10 a.m., 12:30 and 3 p.m. Then the Santa Express takes over, with Santa and Mrs. Claus aboard and cocoa and cookies at Ringoes (from $36.99 and $33.99).

Plan it: Santa trains run November 21, 22 and 27-29 and December 5, 6, 12, 13 and 18-20, with 6:30 p.m. evening trains on some dates. Under 3 ride free on a lap. Flemington Station has no restrooms, and strollers aren’t recommended aboard. Allow 2 hours. Best for: ages 2 to 9.

27. Duke Farms, Hillsborough

Free. Doris Duke’s 2,700-acre estate is now a free nature preserve with 20 miles of paved and gravel trails, perfect for kids on bikes: bring your own or rent one from the self-service stations, and borrow a helmet free at the Farm Barn. The historic Orchid Range is open when the trails are.

Plan it: trails are open Tuesday to Saturday, 8:30 a.m. to 6 p.m., and the campus is closed on Sundays and Mondays. Saturday visits through October need a free parking pass, released each Monday at noon for that Saturday, and they often run out. The Farm Barn Cafe is closed until October 31. No pets. Allow 2 to 3 hours. Best for: ages 4 and up on two wheels.

28. Howell Living History Farm, Hopewell Township

Free (corn maze $15 ages 13 and up, $12 ages 5 to 12, 2026). A working farm run as it was around 1900, with horses pulling the plows and a different hands-on program every Saturday: baskets, brooms and blacksmithing on October 10, the corn harvest on October 17, fall foliage wagon rides on October 31, cider pressing on November 7, Thanksgiving hayrides on November 28 and Christmas on the Farm on December 5. The corn maze runs on fall weekends through November 8.

Plan it: open Tuesday to Saturday, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.; closed Sundays, Mondays and county holidays. Everyone signs in at the visitor center, and dogs, bikes, picnics and feeding the animals aren’t allowed. Allow 2 hours. Best for: ages 3 to 10, and Saturdays most of all.

29. New Jersey State Museum and Planetarium, Trenton

Free (planetarium $5 ages 3 to 12, $10 ages 13 and up, 2026). Free general admission covers natural history (fossils included), archaeology, history and art, and the planetarium, with an 8K projection system and 140 reclining seats, is one of the best deals in the state. It’s an easy rainy day for Philadelphia and Trenton-area families.

Plan it: open Tuesday to Sunday, 9 a.m. to 4:45 p.m. Planetarium shows run Tuesday to Friday at 2:30 p.m. and weekends at noon, 1, 2 and 3 p.m.; tickets are sold only at the box office, which opens 30 minutes before the first show. Weekend parking is free in the lots next door. Allow 2 to 3 hours. Best for: ages 4 to 12.

30. Grounds For Sculpture, Hamilton

Paid ($25 adults, $12 ages 6 to 17, 5 and under free, 2026). A 42-acre sculpture park where kids are allowed to be kids: walking paths, peacocks wandering the lawns, and giant, strange, often funny sculptures to find around every hedge. It turns an art outing into a scavenger hunt.

Plan it: timed tickets are released up to two weeks ahead and can sell out on fall weekends; it’s open 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and closed Tuesdays. Borrow a free Art Adventure Backpack at the welcome desk, and remember the rules: no climbing on the art or chasing the peacocks. Family days include Build A Scarecrow on October 31 and a STEAM Day on November 7. Allow 2 to 3 hours. Best for: ages 5 and up, and families who’d like one cultural outing that nobody complains about.

31. Terhune Orchards, Princeton

Paid ($19.95 in advance, $24.95 on the day, ages 3 and up, fall weekends 2026). The Mount family’s 250-acre farm runs Fall Family Fun Weekends every Saturday and Sunday through November 1, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., rain or shine, with farm activities, animals and seasonal food. After the April freeze, pick-your-own apples are very limited and sold only on select dates by timed reservation.

Plan it: buy ahead to save $5 a head; outside food, coolers and large bags aren’t allowed. Allow 2 to 3 hours. Best for: ages 2 to 10.

32. iPlay America, Freehold

Free to enter (unlimited iRide Band $37.99, 2026). A 150,000-square-foot indoor amusement park with go-karts, a spinning coaster, kiddie rides, two-level laser tag, a dark ride, a four-story foam-ball play structure and more than 250 arcade games. Rides are pay-as-you-go on a card ($3 to $10 each) or covered by the wristband, and the Junior Pass ($19.99) is the bargain for little ones.

Plan it: open Wednesday and Thursday 4 to 9 p.m., Friday 4 to 11, Saturday 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. and Sunday 11 to 9 (closed Monday and Tuesday, but open Columbus Day). Drivers on the go-karts must be 10 and 56 inches tall. A free Trick or Treat runs October 23, 5 to 8 p.m. (register ahead), and quieter Sensory Nights run October 15, November 12 and December 10. Allow 3 hours. Best for: ages 3 to 14 on a rainy weekend.

33. Keansburg Amusement Park and Runaway Rapids, Keansburg

Paid (ride tickets $1.50 each, 2026). An old-fashioned bayside amusement park, open since 1904 and still run by the founder’s family, with kiddie rides, go-karts and a family water park, Runaway Rapids, next door. You pay by the ride, which makes it ideal for small children who’ll only last an hour.

Plan it: the 2026 season is over (the rides closed after September 27 and the water park after Labor Day); it reopens in spring 2027. Ticket bundles save money (100 for $79.95 in 2026). Allow 2 to 3 hours. Best for: ages 2 to 10.

34. Historic Longstreet Farm, Holmdel

Free. An 1890s Monmouth County farm in Holmdel Park, with interpreters in period dress and working mules, horses, cows, pigs, chickens and sheep. Fall weekends bring free demonstrations: blacksmithing on October 11 and November 8, woodstove cooking in the out kitchen on Saturdays through November 28, and old-time music and quilting. In December, entries in its gingerbread contest go on display from December 5 to 13.

Plan it: open daily, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.; the farmhouse opens noon to 3:30 p.m. on weekends. Look, don’t touch: the animals can’t be fed or petted. Allow 1 to 2 hours, and add a playground stop in the park. Best for: ages 2 to 8.

35. Twin Lights Historic Site, Highlands

Free (tower climb $5 adults, $2 under 12, through October 31). A castle-like brownstone lighthouse on the bluffs above Sandy Hook Bay, with two towers, a free museum and views across the bay toward New York. Kids love that there are two towers and that you can climb one.

Plan it: after Labor Day it’s open Wednesday to Sunday, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. (last climb 3:50). Allow an hour. Best for: ages 5 and up.

36. Sandy Hook, Gateway National Recreation Area

Free after Labor Day ($20 beach parking in summer). A long spit of beaches, trails, old forts and the oldest continuously operating lighthouse in the United States, by the Park Service’s account. Kids can climb the lighthouse on first-come tours, poke around Fort Hancock and look for New York across the water.

Plan it: the park is open 6 a.m. to 9 p.m.; lighthouse tours are first come, first served, Friday to Monday, 1 to 3:30 p.m., and the visitor center is open Friday to Monday, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Allow a half day. Best for: all ages.

37. Silverball Retro Arcade, Asbury Park

Paid ($10 an hour, $25 all day, 2026). More than 200 pinball machines and classic arcade games from the 1930s to now, all on free play once you’ve paid for your time, right on the Asbury Park boardwalk. Parents get nostalgia, kids get unlimited flippers, and nobody has to hunt for quarters.

Plan it: open 10 a.m. to midnight Sunday to Thursday and until 1 a.m. on Fridays and Saturdays; half an hour costs $7.50. Allow 1 to 2 hours. Best for: ages 7 and up, and a rainy boardwalk day.

38. Jenkinson’s Boardwalk and Aquarium, Point Pleasant Beach

Paid (aquarium $19 adults, $13 ages 3 to 11, 2026). A compact, kid-scaled boardwalk with a small aquarium, rides and arcades. The aquarium is open every day except Thanksgiving and Christmas, so it works in any season, and fall weekends bring half-price rides.

Plan it: the aquarium is open 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily; under 3 free. Rides run noon to 6 p.m. at half price on fall weekends through October 25, and Boo at the Boardwalk (trick-or-treating, characters and Halloween fun) runs October 17-18 and 24-25, noon to 4 p.m. Allow 2 to 3 hours. Best for: ages 1 to 10.

39. Pine Creek Railroad, Allaire State Park

Paid ($6 ages 3 and up, $2 under 3, 2026). A volunteer-run narrow gauge railroad founded in 1952 that gives 15-minute train rides through the woods next to Allaire Village. It’s cheap, short and exactly the right length for a 4-year-old.

Plan it: trains run on weekends, 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., about every half hour; tickets are sold only at the booth and are good for that day. Special events have their own prices. Best for: ages 2 to 7.

40. Historic Village at Allaire, Farmingdale

Paid ($5 ages 4 and up on regular weekend days, 2026). A living history museum in Allaire State Park, set in the 1830s iron-making village of the Howell Works, with a bakery, general store, craft shops and historic homes open on weekends. It shines in December: a Holiday Evening Stroll through the lit village (December 11-12 and 18-19, $12) and Christmas at Allaire with Santa on December 13 and 20 ($12).

Plan it: the shops and historic homes are open weekends, 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., from April through December. Pair it with the Pine Creek Railroad next door. Allow 2 hours. Best for: ages 5 to 12.

41. Monmouth Museum, Lincroft

Paid ($15, under 2 free, 2026). A family museum on the Brookdale Community College campus with two wings built for kids: the Wonder Wing, an under-the-sea play area for ages 6 and under with a pirate ship, rope bridges and a treehouse, and the Becker STEAM Wing, with fossils, a paleo lab and a space center with a replica Friendship 7 capsule and an astronaut simulator.

Plan it: open Tuesday to Sunday, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. (the Becker wing is closed Tuesdays). Strollers stay outside the Wonder Wing, and storytime is at 11 a.m. on weekdays. Allow 2 hours. Best for: ages 1 to 10.

42. Popcorn Park Animal Refuge, Forked River

Paid ($12 adults, $7 ages 3 to 11, 2026). Run by the Associated Humane Societies since 1977, this sanctuary for more than 200 rescued animals (tigers, a lion, a black bear, monkeys, a wallaby and plenty of farm animals) is the old Popcorn Park Zoo under its newer name. One thing older guides get wrong: visitors can no longer feed the animals popcorn.

Plan it: open daily, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. (last entry 3:30), except Thanksgiving, Christmas Eve and Day, and New Year’s Eve and Day; no outside food or pets. Boo at the Refuge, with trick-or-treating and a costume parade, runs October 17-18, noon to 4 p.m. Allow 1 to 2 hours. Best for: ages 2 to 12 who love animals.

43. Insectropolis, Toms River

Paid ($14, under 3 free, 2026). “The Bugseum of New Jersey” is a small, one-floor museum of live ants, a working honeybee hive, tarantulas, aquatic insects and a crawl-through mud tube that shows how termites tunnel. Kids who start out squeamish usually end up holding something at the daily 2 p.m. touch presentation.

Plan it: school-year hours are Friday and Saturday 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. and Sunday noon to 5 p.m.; tickets are sold at the door only. Most families spend 45 minutes to an hour. Best for: ages 3 to 10, and a rainy morning at the Shore.

44. Casino Pier, Seaside Heights

Paid (ride tickets and wristbands). Seaside Heights’ amusement pier has a mix of kiddie rides and real thrills (the Hydrus coaster, a Ferris wheel, a Skycoaster and a Sky Ride over the boardwalk), plus an arcade that stays open all year. Its water park, Breakwater Beach, is closed for the 2026 season.

Plan it: rides run on weekends only through October 11, 2026, then the pier closes until spring. Allow 2 to 3 hours. Best for: ages 4 to 14.

45. Island Beach State Park, Seaside Park

Paid ($5 NJ residents, $10 non-residents per car off-season, 2026). Ten miles of undeveloped barrier-island beach and dunes, about as close to a wild beach as New Jersey gets, with a guarded swimming area in summer and plenty of room to dig, fish and look for crabs the rest of the year.

Plan it: summer fees run $6 to $20 a car depending on residency and day; swimming is allowed only when lifeguards are on duty, in summer. Allow a half day. Best for: all ages, and fall beach walks without the crowds.

46. Fantasy Island Amusement Park, Beach Haven

Free to enter (rides by token card). Long Beach Island’s only amusement park is a classic family boardwalk-style park with 18 rides, where adults ride free with a child on several kiddie rides. Its 2026 ride season ended on October 3, but the arcade stays open all year (weekends in fall, daily for the week after Christmas).

Plan it: rides cost 4 to 8 tokens on a reloadable card ($1 a token, with bonus value on bigger loads). Plan a summer evening visit; rides return in spring 2027. Best for: ages 2 to 10.

47. Thundering Surf Waterpark, Beach Haven

Paid ($48 all day in 2026; closed for the season). Long Beach Island’s water park, next to Fantasy Island and now owned by the same family, celebrated its 50th summer in 2026 with tube slides, kids’ areas and two 18-hole adventure golf courses with caves and waterfalls ($15 adults, $12 children 10 and under).

Plan it: the water park reopens in summer 2027; children under 42 inches can’t ride the big tube slides, and riders 42 to 48 inches must wear a life jacket and ride with an adult. Allow a half day in summer. Best for: ages 4 to 14.

48. Tuckerton Seaport and Baymen’s Museum, Tuckerton

Paid ($5, under 5 free, 2026). A 40-acre maritime village on Tuckerton Creek, with exhibits on the decoy carvers and baymen of Barnegat Bay and a lighthouse you can climb. It’s a low-key, low-cost stop on the way to Long Beach Island.

Plan it: check fall hours before you go (it was open Friday to Monday, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., in September). Allow 1 to 2 hours. Best for: ages 5 and up.

South Jersey and the Shore: Things to Do With Kids Near Philadelphia and Atlantic City

South Jersey has the state’s biggest aquarium, a battleship, a 1950s storybook park and, on the coast, the boardwalk piers. Philadelphia families can reach most of it in under an hour and a half; from New York, the Shore end is a long drive best done overnight.

49. Adventure Aquarium, Camden

Paid ($32.99 general admission before tax, fall 2026). The state’s big aquarium, right on the Camden waterfront, claims more than 15,000 animals, and it puts the sharks where kids can’t miss them: a 40-foot Shark Tunnel, which the aquarium calls the longest in New Jersey, and Shark Bridge, an 81-foot V-shaped suspension bridge inches above the sand tiger and nurse sharks. The Nile hippos in Hippo Haven are the other headliner. Children get 15% off the adult price, and preschoolers aged 2 to 5 get in free with a Pre-K Kid’s Adventure Pass.

Plan it: entry is timed and priced by date, so book online. Last entry is 90 minutes before closing, and it’s closed on Thanksgiving. Fall weekdays are the quietest time, and school groups have usually left by 1 p.m. Allow 2 to 3 hours. Best for: every age, and the best rainy-day pick on the Philadelphia side.

50. Battleship New Jersey, Camden

Paid ($35 adults, $30 ages 8 to 17, $8 under 8, 2026). Next door to the aquarium sits an Iowa-class battleship launched for World War II, which the museum bills as the most decorated battleship in American history. Kids clamber up ladders, squeeze into bunk rooms and stand under the 16-inch guns. Guided tours start daily at noon ($45 adults, $18 under 8), and families can sleep aboard in the crew’s bunks on Overnight Encampments ($85 donation a person, meals from the chow line included).

Plan it: after Labor Day it’s open Thursday to Monday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. (last boarding 4 p.m.), and closed Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Thanksgiving and Christmas. Wear sneakers; the ladders are steep. Allow 2 to 3 hours. Best for: ages 7 and up, and anyone who builds model ships.

51. Diggerland USA, West Berlin

Paid (from $46.99 online, 2026). A construction-themed park where kids drive and ride real diggers, dump trucks and other heavy machinery, now run by Enchanted Parks. Its Diggerfest fall festival adds hayrides, fire-truck rides, pumpkin decorating, mazes and a costume parade on weekends, with “Dig or Treat” trick-or-treating on weekend mornings through November 1. Then, from November 20 to January 3, the park becomes a 1.5-mile drive-through holiday light show ($37 a car online).

Plan it: rides run weekends through October 25 (11 a.m. to 6 p.m.) and Columbus Day, then on select days in November, last on November 29. Everyone 36 inches or taller needs a ticket, including adults who won’t ride; shorter children get in free with limited attractions. Outside food is limited to kids’ snacks and water. Allow 3 to 4 hours. Best for: ages 3 to 10 who stop for every backhoe.

52. Johnson’s Corner Farm, Medford

Paid for fall activities; the market is free to browse. A big Burlington County farm with a fall harvest festival every day from September 12 to November 1, 2026, plus Columbus Day: pumpkin picking (99 cents a pound) and fall farm activities, and a bakery famous for cider donuts and pies. The April freeze wiped out the apples, so there’s no apple picking this year, and the farm labels its fall tickets accordingly.

Plan it: the market and ice cream counter are open 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. daily. Allow 2 hours. Best for: ages 2 to 10 and a pumpkin with your name on it.

53. Storybook Land, Egg Harbor Township

Paid ($42.95 online, $45.95 at the gate, ages 2 to 64, 2026). A family-run storybook park that has been open since 1955, with 19 gentle rides and dozens of nursery-rhyme buildings you can walk into. It’s built for small children, which is exactly why parents of toddlers love it: nothing is too big, too fast or too far. Fall brings its Fall into Fun Festival (hay maze, hayrides, pumpkin patch) on October 9-12, 16 and 23, and Trick or Treat Weekends, with 12 treat stops, on October 17-18 and 24-25 (dated tickets, online only).

Plan it: fall hours are 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. on weekends and Columbus Day and 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. on open Fridays; under 2 free, seniors and military $39.95, and the park is closed October 26 to November 13. Then the Christmas Fantasy with Lights fills it with more than a million lights on select nights from November 14 to December 30 (nightly November 27 to December 23 and December 26-30; Santa until the 23rd); tickets, online only, go on sale after Halloween weekend. Allow 3 to 4 hours. Best for: ages 1 to 7.

54. Historic Smithville, Galloway

Free to walk. A village of old South Jersey buildings brought together around the 1787 Smithville Inn, now full of about 50 small shops and eateries. It’s at its best on festival weekends: the free Irish Festival on October 10-11, a Monster Bash costume contest on October 24, and, from November 27 to January 6, a Holiday Light Show, with a Christmas Train Ride and a talking tree on weekends until Christmas.

Plan it: fall shop hours are 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. on weekdays (7 p.m. Saturdays). Enter Absecon or Galloway in your GPS; it may not know Smithville. Allow 1 to 2 hours. Best for: a holiday evening with small kids.

55. Lucy the Elephant, Margate

Paid (tour tickets at the gift shop). A six-story wooden elephant built in 1881, which you climb into by the spiral stairs in her hind legs. Kids find it hilarious, and adults find it surprisingly moving: she’s a National Historic Landmark celebrating her 145th birthday in 2026. Her fall party, Trunktoberfest, is Saturday, October 17, 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Plan it: open daily through October (11 a.m. to 4 p.m. weekdays, 10 to 5 weekends), then closed Mondays and Tuesdays from November 2 to December 8. Tickets are sold at the temporary gift shop across the street at 9219 Atlantic Avenue. There’s no restroom at the elephant and only ten parking spaces. Allow 45 minutes. Best for: ages 4 and up who can manage stairs.

56. Atlantic City Aquarium, Gardner’s Basin

Paid ($15 ages 13 and up, $8 ages 3 to 12, 2026). A small, friendly city aquarium that reopened in 2025 after a five-year closure, with a 25,000-gallon Mid-Atlantic tank starring Groman, a 225-pound loggerhead sea turtle, plus a coral reef tank, jellies and a touch area with horseshoe crabs. It’s a fraction of the price of the big one in Camden and a good hour’s break from the boardwalk.

Plan it: open daily, 9:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. (last entry 5:15), and closed Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year’s Day. Parking is free. Allow an hour. Best for: ages 2 to 9.

57. Absecon Lighthouse, Atlantic City

Paid ($10 adults, $6 ages 4 to 12, 2026). New Jersey’s tallest lighthouse, 171 feet and 228 climbable steps, with its original 1857 Fresnel lens still in place at the top. The climb is a real workout and a great bragging right for an 8-year-old. On Lighthouse Challenge weekend, October 17-18, kids 11 and under climb free, and a Pumpkin Patch Family Fun Festival runs on October 22, 1 to 4 p.m.

Plan it: under 4 free. Allow an hour, and save it for a clear day. Best for: ages 6 and up with strong legs.

58. Steel Pier, Atlantic City

Paid (The Wheel $12.50 adults, $8.33 children, 2026). Atlantic City’s amusement pier has about 20 ticketed rides, games and a 227-foot observation wheel with 40 enclosed, temperature-controlled gondolas. After summer it shrinks to weekends: rides and games run Saturday noon to midnight and Sunday noon to 9 p.m., while The Wheel also turns weekday evenings, 4 to 9 p.m.

Plan it: children 2 and under ride The Wheel free; ride tickets and wristbands don’t work on it. The SlingShot is for big kids only (48 inches and up). Allow 2 hours. Best for: ages 5 to 14, and The Wheel at sunset for everyone.

59. Island Waterpark at Showboat, Atlantic City

Paid (from $49, or $29 twilight from 4 p.m., 2026). An indoor water park on the boardwalk, kept above 80 degrees under a retractable roof, with 11 slides, a lazy river, a FlowRider surf machine and a kids’ area. It’s one of the few water parks in the state that keeps going after summer.

Plan it: in October it opens Fridays and Saturdays noon to 8 p.m. and Sundays (and Columbus Day) noon to 7 p.m. Children under 36 inches get in free but can use only the lazy river, the Kidz Zone and the Adventure Pool, and anyone under 16 needs a companion 16 or older. Bring towels (none provided); lockers cost $15 to $25. Buying online includes free parking. Allow 3 to 4 hours. Best for: ages 4 to 14 on a cold day.

60. Marine Mammal Stranding Center Sea Life Museum, Brigantine

Free (suggested $5 donation). The group that rescues stranded seals, dolphins and sea turtles on the Jersey Shore runs a small museum of life-size models and artifacts, and a live video feed from the animal hospital, which itself is closed to the public. It’s a short, meaningful stop, and a good way to explain why you don’t walk up to a seal on the beach (stay 150 feet away).

Plan it: allow 30 to 45 minutes. Its Pup Strut fundraiser is October 10 at 16th Street and Ocean Avenue. Best for: animal-loving kids 5 and up.

61. Edwin B. Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge, Galloway

Paid ($4 per vehicle). The refuge’s 8-mile Wildlife Drive loops through salt marsh with the Atlantic City skyline on the horizon, and kids can hunt for egrets, herons and other water birds from the car or from two observation towers. More than 360 bird species have been recorded here.

Plan it: open sunrise to sunset all year; the visitor information center at 800 Great Creek Road opens Wednesday to Sunday, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Bring binoculars and allow 1 to 2 hours. Best for: car-nap-age kids and young birders.

62. Playland’s Castaway Cove, Ocean City

Paid (ride tickets). With Wonderland Pier gone, this is Ocean City’s amusement park: 32 rides on the boardwalk, billed as the town’s oldest amusement park and celebrating 65 years, plus the same company’s Golden Galleon Pirate Golf and go-karts next door. Ocean City is a dry town with a family crowd, which suits it well.

Plan it: its 2026 ride days end with the weekend of October 10-11; it reopens in spring. Allow 2 to 3 hours. Best for: ages 3 to 12.

63. Morey’s Piers, Wildwood

Paid (wristbands, ticket cards and water park tickets). The big one: three amusement piers on the Wildwood boardwalk (Surfside, Mariner’s and Adventure) and two water parks, Ocean Oasis and Raging Waters, with everything from kiddie boats to serious coasters. Its fall Oktoberfest runs on weekends through October 11.

Plan it: after mid-September the piers open on weekends only and close for the year in October; plan a summer trip for the water parks. Allow a full day in summer. Best for: ages 4 to 16, and the reason many New Jersey families take a Wildwood week.

64. Cape May County Park & Zoo, Cape May Court House

Free. One of the best free days out in the state: a real county zoo with an African lion, giraffes, zebras, a cheetah, an Amur leopard, an Andean bear, a red panda and bison, inside a county park, where admission and parking cost nothing. It’s open every day of the year except Christmas, which makes it the default shoulder-season plan for Shore families. Its free Boo at the Zoo, with a costume contest, is Saturday, October 24, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., and Princess and Pirate Day is November 7.

Plan it: 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. through October 29, 2026, then 10 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. until March 11, 2027. Food can’t come into the zoo, but you can picnic in the park around it; strollers and wagons rent at the gift shop, and the carousel runs on fall weekends. Arrive early in summer for parking, and leave a donation if you can. Allow 2 to 3 hours. Best for: ages 1 to 10, and grandparents on a budget.

65. The Wetlands Institute, Cape May Court House

Paid. The marsh-science center known for its terrapins and aquarium closed its Stone Harbor campus to the public in September for construction. It reopens on Saturday, November 7, 2026, at a temporary home, the New Jersey Coastal Conservation Center at 600 North Delsea Drive in Cape May Court House, open weekends 9:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.

Plan it: check the program schedule before you go, since the temporary site is smaller than the old campus. Allow an hour. Best for: curious kids 4 and up.

66. Cape May Lighthouse, Cape May Point

Paid ($12 adults, $8 ages 3 to 12, 2026). The 1859 lighthouse at the tip of the state takes 199 spiral steps to climb, with the ocean and Delaware Bay below. Kids who like counting steps are in heaven, and the state park around it has easy trails and the Hawk Watch platform, where fall hawk-spotting is free.

Plan it: daily 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. in October; from November, winter hours of noon to 3 p.m. on select days. Allow an hour. Best for: ages 5 and up.

67. Cape May Point State Park and the Hawk Watch

Free. The 244-acre park around the Cape May Lighthouse has short marked trails through dunes and marsh (the half-mile red trail is wheelchair accessible and leads to blinds on Lighthouse Pond), a small museum with live reptiles, and, every day from September 1 to November 30, the Hawk Watch platform, where official counters tally the hawks, falcons and eagles streaming south. Kids who’ve never looked up for long will be amazed.

Plan it: gates are open 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.; swimming isn’t allowed, and there are no trash cans, so carry out what you bring. Pair it with the lighthouse climb. Allow 1 to 2 hours. Best for: all ages, binoculars in hand.

68. Sunset Beach and the Cape May diamonds

Free. On the Delaware Bay side of Cape May Point, kids comb the shore for “Cape May diamonds,” clear quartz pebbles polished by the surf, while the broken concrete hull of the World War I ship Atlantus sits just offshore, 100 years after it ran aground in 1926. Come at the end of the day for the sunset over the bay.

Plan it: it’s at the end of Sunset Boulevard; swimming isn’t the point here. The summer flag ceremony returns in late May 2027. Allow an hour. Best for: all ages, and pocketfuls of pebbles.

69. Whale and dolphin watching, Cape May

Paid (from $30; $40 adults and $30 ages 7 to 12 on the American Star, 2026). Bottlenose dolphins are close to a sure thing off Cape May from spring to fall, and whales turn up in season. The Cape May Whale Watch & Research Center’s 100-foot American Star lets one child 6 or under ride free with each paying adult, and the Cape May Whale Watcher promises a free pass if you don’t see a marine mammal.

Plan it: trips run most days in October and thin to weekends in November and December. Bring layers and seasickness remedies. Allow 2 to 3 hours. Best for: ages 4 and up who can sit still on a boat.

70. Cape May-Lewes Ferry, North Cape May

Paid ($11 one way for adults on foot, September and October 2026). An 85-minute ride across Delaware Bay to Lewes, Delaware, and back is a cheap, easy adventure for kids, and children 13 and under ride free on foot this fall.

Plan it: from October 19 there are four weekday sailings each way and seven on weekends. Arrive 30 minutes early on foot. Allow a half day for a round trip with lunch in Lewes. Best for: all ages.

71. Historic Cold Spring Village, Cape May

Paid ($14 adults, $10 ages 3 to 12 on the village’s price list). An outdoor living history museum of restored 1800s buildings where costumed interpreters demonstrate blacksmithing, printing and other old crafts. Its regular season has ended, but October brings Ghoul Spring Village, a family haunted walk, on October 16, 17, 23 and 24, then a Candlelight Walk on November 14 and a Holiday Celebration on December 12.

Plan it: enter on Seashore Road by Cold Spring Brewery (the Route 9 gate is closed), and check the event price, which can differ from regular admission. Allow 2 hours. Best for: ages 5 to 12.

72. Cohanzick Zoo, Bridgeton

Free. Open since 1934 and billed as New Jersey’s first zoo, this small city zoo in Bridgeton City Park has more than 100 animals of 47 species, led by two Bengal tigers, Rishi and Mahesha, plus leopards, mountain lions, a gibbon, lemurs and fennec foxes. Its free Boo! At The Zoo, with trick-or-treating and a costume contest, is Saturday, October 24, 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Plan it: open daily, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. in fall and winter (closed Christmas). Parking is free, and you can bring a picnic, since there are no full-time food stands. Allow 1 to 2 hours, and add the park’s playgrounds. Best for: ages 1 to 10, and a cheap South Jersey morning.

73. WheatonArts, Millville

Paid ($14 adults, $8 ages 6 to 18, 5 and under free, 2026). Watching artists blow and shape molten glass in the Glass Studio is mesmerizing at any age, and the campus adds the Museum of American Glass, pottery and flamework studios and a free nature trail. Kids 5 and up can make their own fused-glass piece (book by phone). HalloWheaton, with free admission and campus-wide trick-or-treating, is Saturday, October 24, 1 to 4 p.m.

Plan it: open Thursday to Sunday, 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., April through December. The Holiday Studio Sale runs November 27 to December 6. Allow 2 hours. Best for: ages 5 and up.

74. Batsto Village, Wharton State Forest

Free to walk (mansion tours $3 ages 12 and up, $1 ages 6 to 11, 2026). A preserved 19th-century iron and glassmaking village in the middle of the Pine Barrens, with a sawmill, gristmill, blacksmith shop, general store and a post office so old it never got a ZIP code; kids can still mail a postcard with a hand-canceled stamp. Free walking tours run through October.

Plan it: mansion tours run Wednesday to Sunday at 11 a.m., 1 and 2 p.m. (up to 15 people each). Bring bug spray in warm months. Allow 2 hours. Best for: ages 6 and up and a Pine Barrens day.

75. The Santa Express, Cape May Seashore Lines

Paid (seasonal tickets). For its 31st season, the volunteer-run Seashore Lines runs 85-minute Santa trains from Tuckahoe on Saturdays, November 28 and December 5, 12 and 19, and Wednesday, December 23, and from Richland on Sundays, November 29 and December 6, 13 and 20, mostly at 10:45 a.m., 1:30 and 4:10 p.m., plus 6:30 p.m. Santa Starlight trains on December 11 and 18.

Plan it: book early, and note that no trains run into Cape May City itself in 2026. Best for: ages 2 to 8 who still believe.

Rainy-Day Things to Do in NJ With Kids

New Jersey weather turns on you, usually on the one Saturday you planned outdoors. These are the indoor picks from the list, roughly from north to south:

• Near New York: Liberty Science Center, the American Dream mall’s indoor parks, Medieval Times, the Newark Museum of Art and its planetarium, the Morris Museum and the Thomas Edison lab.
• In the middle: Northlandz, the New Jersey State Museum and planetarium, iPlay America, Insectropolis, Silverball Retro Arcade and Jenkinson’s Aquarium.
• Philadelphia side and the Shore: Adventure Aquarium, Battleship New Jersey (mostly under cover), the Atlantic City Aquarium, Island Waterpark at Showboat (weekends in fall) and the Marine Mammal Stranding Center’s museum.

Everyone else has the same idea when it pours, so book timed tickets early, aim for opening time and save the outdoor plans for the next dry day.

Things to Do in NJ With Kids by Season

Season	Best family picks	Dated events (2026-27)
Fall (now)	Farms, pumpkin patches, zoos, Storybook Land, Jenkinson’s, fall weekends at Six Flags	Storybook Land Trick or Treat Weekends, Oct 17-18 and 24-25; Jenkinson’s Boo at the Boardwalk, Oct 17-18 and 24-25; Ghoul Spring Village, Oct 16-17 and 23-24; Lighthouse Challenge (kids 11 and under climb Absecon free), Oct 17-18; Six Flags Kids Boo Fest, weekends through Nov 1; Terhune and Johnson’s fall festivals through Nov 1
Holidays	Light shows, Santa trains, holiday villages	Storybook Land Christmas Fantasy, select nights Nov 14 to Dec 30; Diggerland drive-thru lights, Nov 20 to Jan 3 ($37 a car online); Smithville Holiday Light Show, Nov 27 to Jan 6; Santa Express trains, Nov 28 to Dec 23; Allaire’s Holiday Evening Stroll, Dec 11-12 and 18-19; the Black River & Western’s Santa Express, Nov 21 to Dec 20; Fosterfields’ Festive Farmyard with Santa, Dec 5-6; Christmas on the Farm at Howell Farm, Dec 5; Christmas at Allaire with Santa, Dec 13 and 20
Winter	Indoor science, aquariums, indoor water parks, skiing	Liberty Science Center, Adventure Aquarium and Island Waterpark (weekends); the Wetlands Institute reopens at its temporary home on Nov 7; Mountain Creek and Campgaw ski seasons usually start in December
Spring and summer	Amusement piers, water parks, beaches, Land of Make Believe	Storybook Land reopens in spring 2027; Keansburg, Casino Pier and the Wildwood piers reopen in spring; water parks open around Memorial Day (Hurricane Harbor opened May 23 in 2026)

How to Save Money on Things to Do With Kids in NJ

A family of four can spend $200 before lunch at the big attractions, but New Jersey also has more free and nearly free days out than its reputation suggests. A few habits help:

• Start with the free list. The Cape May County Park & Zoo, the New Jersey State Museum, Paterson Great Falls, Duke Farms, the Great Swamp, Twin Lights’ museum, Batsto Village, Historic Smithville and Sandy Hook after Labor Day cost nothing, and the Marine Mammal Stranding Center asks only a $5 donation. Howell Living History Farm, Longstreet Farm, the Cohanzick Zoo in Bridgeton and the Raptor Trust’s aviary trail are free as well.
• Know the free-kid rules. Preschoolers 2 to 5 get into Adventure Aquarium free with its Pre-K pass, children 15 and under are free at the Thomas Edison park, under-4s ride the Statue of Liberty ferry free, under-3s are free at Six Flags, and children 13 and under ride the Cape May-Lewes Ferry free on foot this fall.
• Buy online. Six Flags’ online tickets started at $45 against a $90 gate price this fall, Wild West City saves $8 an adult online, Storybook Land $3, Terhune $5, and Island Waterpark throws in free parking.
• Look at memberships. If you’ll go twice, a membership often wins: Liberty Science Center’s family membership is $255 a year, and the Atlantic City Aquarium’s annual passes start at $40 for children.
• Use the bank card. Bank of America cardholders get free general admission at Liberty Science Center on the first full weekend of each month through Museums on Us.

What’s Changed for Families in New Jersey

Plenty of family-guide advice online is out of date. These are the changes that matter most.

Place	What changed	What it means for you
Kingda Ka, Six Flags	Closed in November 2024 and imploded on February 28, 2025; the replacement coaster has slipped to 2027	Don’t promise anyone a ride on it
Six Flags Wild Safari	No more driving your own car; guided off-road trucks only	The safari tour is included with a park ticket when you board inside the park
Clementon Park and Splash World	The owners announced in September 2026 that they are closing the park and offering it for sale; its last day was Labor Day	Don’t plan a 2027 visit unless a buyer reopens it; the park itself points families to Sahara Sam’s indoor water park
Wonderland Pier, Ocean City	Closed since October 2024; the arcade reopened without rides, and the city issued an unsafe-structure notice in September 2026	Go to Playland’s Castaway Cove instead
The Wetlands Institute	Stone Harbor campus closed for construction; reopens November 7 at a temporary home in Cape May Court House	Weekends only, 9:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
Atlantic City Aquarium	Reopened in 2025 after five years closed	Back on the list, at $15 for ages 13 and up
Paterson Great Falls	No visitor center or restrooms while a new center is built	Plan a bathroom stop before you arrive
Apple picking	The April 2026 freeze hit fruit across the state	Pumpkins yes, apples mostly no this fall
Cape May Seashore Lines	No trains into Cape May City in 2026	Its Santa trains leave from Tuckahoe and Richland
Popcorn Park, Forked River	Now called Popcorn Park Animal Refuge, and visitors can no longer feed the animals popcorn	Same place, same prices ($12 adults, $7 kids)
Garden State Discovery Museum, Cherry Hill	Closed in March 2020 for the pandemic and never reopened	Try Imagine That!!! in Florham Park or the Monmouth Museum’s Wonder Wing
Bowcraft Amusement Park, Scotch Plains	Closed; the township now calls it the former park and has a redevelopment plan for the site	Skip it, whatever older lists say
Camden Children’s Garden	Its website now shows only a parked page, so it may not be open	Call before you go
Turtle Back Zoo holiday lights	No holiday lights event on the zoo’s 2026 calendar	For lights, go to Storybook Land, Smithville or Diggerland
Diggerland USA	Now run by Enchanted Parks	Still open on fall weekends through November 29

What to Skip

• Buying gate tickets at Six Flags. The gate price was double the online price this fall.
• A boardwalk ride day after mid-October. Most Shore piers close their rides by mid to late October; Jenkinson’s half-price rides run through October 25, and the aquariums stay open.
• Outdoor water parks this fall. They’re closed until next summer; Island Waterpark in Atlantic City (weekends) and the DreamWorks Water Park at American Dream are the indoor alternatives.
• Promising apple picking. After the April freeze, most farms have few or no apples this year; go for pumpkins.
• Old guides that send you to Kingda Ka, the Six Flags drive-through safari, Wonderland Pier, Clementon Park or the Garden State Discovery Museum. All are gone or closing.
• Squeezing three big attractions into one day. Two is a good day; three is a long car ride home with someone crying, and it may not be a child.

Things to Do in NJ With Kids: FAQ

What is there to do in NJ with kids this weekend?

In October 2026, the best weekend bets are farm fall festivals such as Terhune Orchards and Johnson’s Corner Farm, Storybook Land’s Trick or Treat Weekends (October 17-18 and 24-25), Jenkinson’s Boo at the Boardwalk, Six Flags’ daytime Kids Boo Fest, Mountain Creek’s Fall Fest (through October 25) and, if it rains, Liberty Science Center or Adventure Aquarium.

What are the best free things to do in NJ with kids?

The Cape May County Park & Zoo is the standout: free admission and parking, open every day but Christmas. The New Jersey State Museum (the planetarium is extra), Paterson Great Falls, Duke Farms, the Great Swamp, Twin Lights’ museum, Batsto Village and Sandy Hook after Labor Day are free too, and children 15 and under get into the Thomas Edison park free.

What can you do with kids in NJ on a rainy day?

Liberty Science Center, Adventure Aquarium, the New Jersey State Museum and planetarium, Northlandz, Battleship New Jersey, Medieval Times and the indoor parks at the American Dream mall all work in the rain. In Atlantic City, Island Waterpark at Showboat keeps going on fall weekends, and Silverball in Asbury Park has more than 200 games on free play.

What is the best zoo in New Jersey for kids?

Turtle Back Zoo in West Orange is the biggest draw, with more than 100 species, giraffes and lions, a train ride and a carousel. For value, the Cape May County Park & Zoo is free. Space Farms in Sussex County is an old-fashioned family zoo and museum with over 500 animals, open daily through November 1, 2026.

Where can you take a toddler in NJ?

Storybook Land in Egg Harbor Township is built for toddlers, with 19 gentle rides and children under 2 free. Jenkinson’s Aquarium, Turtle Back Zoo, the free Cape May County zoo, the Pine Creek Railroad’s 15-minute train rides and Adventure Aquarium, where ages 2 to 5 get in free with a Pre-K pass, are all easy with small children.

What are the best things to do in NJ with kids at Christmas?

Storybook Land’s Christmas Fantasy with Lights (select nights from November 14 to December 30), Historic Smithville’s Holiday Light Show (November 27 to January 6), the Diggerland drive-thru light show (November 20 to January 3), the Seashore Lines’ Santa Express trains and Christmas at Allaire with Santa on December 13 and 20 are the family favorites this season.

Are any water parks open in New Jersey in the fall?

The outdoor ones aren’t: Hurricane Harbor, Mountain Creek Waterpark, Runaway Rapids and Breakwater Beach all closed for 2026 by mid-September. Indoors, Island Waterpark at Showboat in Atlantic City opens on fall weekends (from $49, or $29 after 4 p.m.), and the DreamWorks Water Park at the American Dream mall runs year-round.

What are good things to do in NJ with teenagers?

Six Flags Great Adventure tops the list, especially on Fright Fest nights. Steel Pier’s rides and SlingShot, the Silverball arcade, Medieval Times, Big SNOW at American Dream, the Absecon Lighthouse climb, a Sterling Hill mine tour and Battleship New Jersey’s overnight encampments all hold a teenager’s attention better than a playground.

Related New Jersey Guides

• The best things to do in New Jersey, for the whole family and beyond
• Six Flags Great Adventure: rides, heights, tickets and the safari
• The American Dream mall: Nickelodeon Universe, the water park, Big SNOW and more

Sources and How We Checked

We checked every price, hour, season and closure on this page on October 3, 2026, on each attraction’s own website or its county or park agency’s site, and we note in the text where a business’s own site was offline or out of date. We did not visit for this update, and nothing here is sponsored. Drive times in the table are light-traffic estimates from the OSRM routing engine, rounded to five minutes.

• Liberty Science Center
• Adventure Aquarium
• Turtle Back Zoo
• Storybook Land
• Cape May County Park & Zoo
• New Jersey State Museum
• Six Flags Great Adventure

New Jersey Tourism Guide is an independent publication. We are not affiliated with Visit New Jersey or the New Jersey Division of Travel and Tourism, the National Park Service, NJ Transit or any attraction listed here, and no one paid to be included.

Photo Credits

• Shark tank at Adventure Aquarium: photo by Laya Gerlock from Philippines, via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 2.0)
• Liberty Science Center: photo by King of Hearts, via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)
• Turtle Back Zoo entrance: photo by Davidng913, via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)
• Northlandz, Flemington: photo by Magpieturtle, via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 4.0)
• Keansburg Amusement Park: photo by Mr. Matté (if there is an issue with this image, contact me using this image's Commons talk page, my Commons user talk page, or my English Wikipedia user talk page; I'll know about it a lot faster), via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)
• Jenkinson's Boardwalk: photo by Famartin, via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)
• Pine Creek Railroad: photo by Ryancasey93, via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)
• Storybook Land giant shoe: photo by Martin Lewison, via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 4.0)
• Giraffe at the Cape May County zoo: photo by Jim, the Photographer from Springfield PA, United States of America, via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 2.0)
• Battleship New Jersey: photo by Vladsinger, via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 3.0)