Glasgow with toddlers – 5 things to do

When you think of weekend breaks with younger kids, Glasgow with toddlers probably isn’t the first destination to spring to mind. Which is, frankly, ridiculous. As one of the UK’s largest cities, it’s got a sizeable population under three, and as I discovered, some fantastic activities and attractions to keep them – and older siblings – entertained.

press trip*

So if you’re looking for places to take toddlers in Glasgow, here are my top five ideas, perfect for keeping younger ones entertained.

For more ideas of things to do in Glasgow with kids, check out my top picks

1. Glasgow Science Centre

The Glasgow Science Centre is so geared towards kids, it’s hard to get them out – Minnie and I spent almost six hours exploring, with only the briefest stops to eat/sleep, and I still felt there was more to discover.

Read more about our day out at Glasgow Science Centre here.

For starters, three floors of interactive exhibits, special activities and shows laid on, plus play areas that double as a way to explore the world from a mini crane to water displays.

Then there’s information on the human body, a small planetarium – which has different shows aimed at different age groups, including a lovely one for younger kids – plus the IMAX next door.

Visit at weekends and during school holidays and there are extra events taking place, including a live science demo on the day we visited. Not to mention all the child-friendly facilities you’d expect, to make your day out a bit easier.

2. The Botanic Gardens

On a sunny day, expect to find Glasgow’s botanic gardens packed with families – although it’s spread out so much that never felt crowded when we visited. 

Check out our review of our visit to Glasgow Botanic Gardens with a toddler.

The children’s garden aims to help educate and inspire kids, but is also a lovely peaceful spot to play in Glasgow for toddlers including a small wooden house which kept my daughter entertained for a surprising amount of time.

The children’s garden is also next door to a (less peaceful but also fun) playground which is helpful if you’ve got older siblings as well.

But you can also wander through the rose garden and arboretum, find plenty of open space to run around and discover the plant houses, particularly with older children.

Best of all, there’s no entry charge if you’re looking for free things to do in Glasgow with toddlers or have an hour to kill while you’re visiting the city.

3. Kelvingrove Art Gallery & Museum

No visit to Glasgow is complete without stopping at Kelvingrove museum, no matter how old you are, but even the youngest visitors will love the animal galleries, including an animated dinosaur, plus a succession of creatures from an elephant (aka Sir Roger) and giraffe down.

There are also museum bees, arms and armour, a display of masks, a Charles Rennie Mackintosh Gallery, French, Dutch and Scottish art and temporary exhibitions – in total, 8,000 objects in 22 themed galleries.

That’s before the temporary exhibitions too and some grand architecture and decorative flourishes (not to mention an organ). There’s also a lift between floors if you’re pushing a buggy.

I managed to time our visit at my daughter’s nap time, so she snoozed happily as I investigated some of the galleries aimed more at grown-ups and then headed to the child-friendly areas when she woke.

4. Kelvingrove Park

Wrapped around the museum building, Kelvingrove Park is lovely to wander through with toddlers – there are shaded paths along the river Kelvin or several playgrounds (and skatepark) on the other side.

During our visit, picnickers and a bouncy castle had come out along with the sunshine too, but it’s a lovely place for little ones to stretch their legs regardless – and further across the park, it felt much calmer if you need somewhere to chill out after a busy day in the city.

Either way, if you’re looking for good walks for buggy naps while visiting Glasgow with toddlers, keep this on the list.

For more tips on visiting Glasgow with kids, check out my family guide to Glasgow

5. The Tron Theatre

Sadly our own visit didn’t coincide with any of their workshops or performances for young kids, but there’s a whole selection at the Tron Theatre targeted at the under fives, including Tiny And Tall Tales, which should be on your list of things to do with toddlers.

Glasgow has more than one family-friendly theatre option too: if you’re travelling with slightly older children, it’s worth checking out the performances which are taking place at Sharmanka Kinetic Theatre as well.

And if you’re planning your own toddler days out in Glasgow, here are four things I didn’t expect…

1. It’s hugely friendly

I’m not saying I expected everyone to be unfriendly but often big cities can be a bit impersonal – definitely not so for Glasgow.

From the woman who nearly missed her own bus helping me to change money for my own fare coming back from the cathedral to the endless string of people who stopped to wave at Minnie or help carry her buggy, I felt instantly welcomed.

2. It’s very child-friendly

Easy to navigate with a pushchair or toddler, there are pedestrian areas in the centre, plenty of green space, those fantastic family-friendly attractions and a good public transport system if you’d rather not walk long distances.

3. Walking tours seem thin on the ground

I tend to find that most cities have a selection of walking tours – some general tourist ones, some themed on history, food, architecture and art, others linked to famous people.

Oddly, Glasgow seems to have something of a gap in the market – the School of Art does run some tours, although these were (understandably) postponed during my visit shortly after the fire, and I found one other duo offering tours (sadly all booked up) but that was about it.

4. It’s a perfect base to explore

There’s enough to keep you entertained in Glasgow for quite a while – our long weekend was packed. But if you do have longer, it’s less than an hour’s drive to Loch Lomond and the Trossachs National Park, or around two hours to Oban on the west coast.

Or it’s easy to head to Edinburgh in under an hour on the train, and Stirling in just over 30 minutes if you want to combine more than one city break in your trip.

**First published 2014, updated 2020**

PIN FOR LATER: GLASGOW WITH TODDLERS

Disclosure: My trip to Glasgow was courtesy of VisitScotland – all ideas of things to do with toddlers in Glasgow are my own.

Main/pin image courtesy of Depositphotos, all other images copyright MummyTravels

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