Weekender: Family Fun Ideas for Seattle, the Eastside and South Sound

Every Northwest kid has spotted a scuttling crab or a bright purple sea star. Have your kids found a moon snail collar or a chiton? This could be their moment! Explore local beaches during extra-low tides, meet firefighters, wear your costumes and go trick-or-treating (what!?). There’s so much good stuff on deck for this sunny July weekend. Read on for all our top picks, and have a great one!

10 activities for family fun this weekend:

1. Gather your blankets and cozy up for an outdoor movie or pop-up drive-in, or plan a family outing to a real, old-school drive-in theater (Thursday–Saturday).
2. Launch your weekend by skipping cooking! Instead, dine on food truck fare and enjoy live music outdoors (Friday).
3. Bring bikes for kids to ride the free Kiddie Kilo and catch thrilling bike-racing action at the velodrome during the Marymoor Grand Prix (Friday–Saturday).
4. It’s another weekend of minus tides and many chances to encounter fascinating marine life at many Puget Sound beaches (Friday–Sunday).
5. Cruise by Bellevue Arts Museum to pick up a free Kids Fair craft kit — projects showcase the Pacific Northwest (Friday–Sunday).
6. Visit the phenomenal Children’s PlayGarden for an all-abilities open-play session (Saturday).
7. Ferry your crew to Lake Wilderness Park for this year’s free Kids’ Festival, featuring inflatables, games, prizes and lots more kid-friendly fun (Saturday).
8. Meet firefighters, inspect equipment and learn about fire safety at Puget Sound Fire Authority’s community open house (Saturday).
9. Snag a spot in one of Bellevue’s excellent ranger programs featuring some different kinds of buggy fun this round (Saturday).
10. Celebrate the opening of a new pollinator garden and learn all about the wonderful work that bees and other pollinators do for us (Saturday).
11. Show off your best costumes during Halloween in July at Westlake Park and enjoy trick-or-treating, "Thriller" dance classes, face painting and more (Sunday).

More anytime-fun ideas:

• Frolic in the fragrant fields at family-friendly lavender farms around the sound.
• All aboard! Plan your family train adventure on a mini train or scenic railroad excursion.
• Explore kid-friendly hiking trails at a newly revamped area that is — important! — not too far away.
• Bookmark our cheat sheet of fab new playgrounds around town to try out with kids.
• Let’s go swimming! Splash at a swimming hole or jump in a lake! With little tykes, frolic in a wading pool or at the spray park.

Plus, our family fun calendar features great virtual and in-person events — every day of the week!