Things to Do in Mexico City With Kids: 7 Museums, Zoo and Play

For a family day in Mexico City, start in the Bosque de Chapultepec (Chapultepec Forest), where the Papalote children’s museum and the Chapultepec Zoo sit in the same park. For indoor play, KidZania in Santa Fe and the newer Museo Yancuic in Iztapalapa can fill most of a day, and the Antique Toy Museum near Metro Obrera suits kids and parents alike.

The list below runs from Chapultepec west to Santa Fe, then to central, northern and eastern neighborhoods. Hours come from the city’s official tourism site, so check the venue before you set off.

Papalote Museo del Niño, Chapultepec

Papalote Children’s Museum opened in 1993 with the motto “touch, play and learn,” and has since opened branches in Cuernavaca and Monterrey. “Papalote” is the Nahuatl word for kite. The building, a large blue tiled structure by architect Ricardo Legorreta, is easy to spot from across the park.

Inside, five sections take children through nature, biology, civics and creative workshops, with temporary exhibitions and special events on top. The museum also has an IMAX screen, one of the largest in the country, which shows educational films and documentaries. Parents who need a pause can step into the Jardín Maya, a garden with an archaeology theme and a small pyramid to explore. On some Thursday nights the museum opens for adults only.

Hours: Monday to Friday 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Saturday 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Getting there: the Capital Bus tour stops here on its route through the second section of Chapultepec, close to the Los Pinos Cultural Complex and the Calzada Flotante.

Zoológico de Chapultepec

The Chapultepec Zoo is treated as Mexico’s national zoo. It opened in 1924, founded by Mexican scientist Alfonso L. Herrera, and holds 1,236 animals of 222 species of mammals, birds, reptiles and amphibians. Children can see elephants, monkeys, giraffes and bighorn sheep, along with endangered species such as the Mexican wolf, the jaguar and the axolotl, plus pandas, volcano rabbits (teporingos) and parrots.

The zoo was rebuilt at one point, and animals were grouped by climate zone. It belongs to the city’s environment ministry, alongside the San Juan de Aragón zoo and the Los Coyotes zoo in Coyoacán, and all three work as wildlife conservation centers. Guided tours and summer courses for kids are available.

Getting there: the zoo is in Chapultepec, a short walk from the Museo Nacional de Antropología, Chapultepec Castle and the Chapultepec lake. If you have older kids into history, our guide to Mexico City’s history and archaeology museums covers the anthropology museum next door.

KidZania Santa Fe

KidZania Santa Fe opened in 1999 under the name Children’s City. It is a child-sized city of streets, a hospital, bank branches, supermarkets and a fire station, where kids try out jobs such as doctor, journalist, police officer or pilot. They earn the park’s own currency, KidZos, and decide how to spend it on goods and services. The concept began in Mexico City and has spread to dozens of cities abroad.

Hours: Tuesday to Sunday in shifts, usually 9:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m., with longer hours on weekends and during holidays; closed Mondays for maintenance. Getting there: the Capital Bus route through Chapultepec continues west to the Santa Fe shopping area.

Museo del Juguete Antiguo México (MUJAM)

The Antique Toy Museum opened in 2008 and covers about 150 years of toys, games, dolls and pastimes. The collection grew out of two neighboring shops, the Dulcería Avenida candy store and La Primavera stationery store, which ran for about 70 years on what is now Eje Central Lázaro Cárdenas and sold toys mostly between Christmas and Three Kings Day. Most pieces were gathered over some 55 years at tianguis (street markets), flea markets and antique fairs.

The displays are dense, so the free guided tours, about 90 minutes long, help. They ask visitors to look closely, describe what they see and join in, which works well with school-age children.

Address: Calle Dr. Olvera 15, half a block from Eje Central. Getting there: just north of Metro Obrera, Line 8. The museum is a short trip from the sights in our Centro Histórico landmarks guide.

Museo Tezozómoc

The Tezozómoc Museum is an interactive science and technology museum on the southeast corner of Parque Tezozómoc. It reopened in August 2022 after a long pandemic closure. Its two permanent exhibitions cover applied mathematics and physics, and most of its programs are aimed at children and teenagers, though adults find plenty to do. It also hosts festivals, talks, a science fair and workshops on mechanics, robotics and sustainability.

Hours: Tuesday to Friday 10 a.m. to 1 p.m.; weekends 10 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Tickets: visits are usually by reservation, and mornings work best.

Museo Yancuic, Iztapalapa

Museo Yancuic, formally the Museo Infantil y Juvenil Yancuic (MIJY), opened in spring 2024. Its name is Nahuatl for “new.” The building won a national architecture competition in 2015, and its interior is a big part of the appeal for children. With 20,000 square meters of space, it combines exhibitions on art, science and technology with a cinema and performance stage, a multipurpose room, a bookshop and an art studio pavilion. Interactive displays deal with the environment, parks, recycling and community life.

Hours: Wednesday to Sunday 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.; last entry 4 p.m. Getting there: a few minutes on foot from Metro Constitución de 1917, at the foot of the Cerro de la Estrella and part of the area’s large transport hub.

Acuario Michin, Gustavo A. Madero

Acuario Michin is an aquarium inside the Parque Tepeyac shopping center in the north of the city, which makes it an easy indoor stop for a rainy afternoon. The city tourism page lists location details only, so check opening hours and ticket prices with the aquarium before going.

Address: Calzada San Juan de Aragón 399, colonia Granjas Modernas, Alcaldía Gustavo A. Madero (inside Parque Tepeyac). Getting there: Metro Martín Carrera is about 0.91 km away; Metro Talismán is slightly farther.

Tips for visiting

Pair Papalote and the zoo on a single Chapultepec day, since both are in the same park.
Check opening days: KidZania closes on Mondays, Museo Tezozómoc opens Tuesday to Sunday, and Museo Yancuic only Wednesday to Sunday.
Go early to Museo Tezozómoc, where weekday hours end at 1 p.m.
Book the free guided tour at the Antique Toy Museum if your kids like stories behind objects.
For teenagers who like art, our comparison of Mexico City’s art museums adds more options.

Quick answers

Is Papalote open on Sundays?

The city tourism site lists Papalote hours as Monday to Friday 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Saturday 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., with no Sunday hours given. Confirm on the museum’s own channels.

Which kids’ places in Mexico City are open on Mondays?

Papalote lists weekday hours that include Monday. KidZania Santa Fe closes on Mondays, and Museo Tezozómoc and Museo Yancuic do not open that day.

What animals can kids see at the Chapultepec Zoo?

The zoo keeps 1,236 animals of 222 species, including elephants, giraffes, monkeys, jaguars, Mexican wolves, axolotls and pandas.

Checked against official sources in November 2026. Hours, prices and rules change: confirm on the official page before you go or apply.