The rainy season in Miami starts in the middle of May and lasts until October, so if you visit in the summer, you could have some gray, dreary days in your forecast. You had planned to sunbathe and splash in the waves with your kids, but now you can’t. How can you entertain the family on a rainy day in Miami?
Here are some great activities for making a rainy day in Miami fun:
- Visit the Miami Children’s Museum
- Play at FunDimension
- Learn at the Frost Museum of Science
- Browse the Dolphin Mall
- Cool down at Kendall Ice Arena
- See a movie at CMX Cinemas
- Grab food at Ms. Cheezious
As the list above shows, a rainy day does not have to ruin your Miami vacation. Sure, you’ll have to move some things around on your itinerary, but you’ll have so much fun anyway that you won’t really mind!
7 great ways to whittle away a rainy day in Miami
1. Miami Children’s Museum
On Watson Island Park is the Miami Children’s Museum, an indoor nonprofit-run museum that will make those rainy-day blues disappear in an instant.
Here, children are encouraged to create, imagine, learn, and play. These are some of the exhibits your children can explore while they’re here.
- Super Market: The accurate recreation of a Publix Super Market enables kids to feel like small adults as they browse for healthy and nutritious eats across a bakery, produce section, dairy section, and seafood section.
- South Florida and Me: Potentially your child’s first introduction to Miami’s ecosystems, the South Florida and Me exhibit features projections and interactive elements, including the ultra-fun Manta Ray xylophone musical stations.
- Sketch Aquarium: The virtual Sketch Aquarium allows children to populate the “waters” with sea creatures of their own creation by drawing them directly on the wall.
- Pet Central: Your future veterinarian can get some practice at the Pet Central exhibit. On stuffed animals, kids can issue x-rays and groom the pets while also learning why adopting animals is so important.
- Music Makers Studios: Your children can express their musical inclinations at the Music Makers Studios, which features instruments of all kinds, interactive elements, and lights and sounds to connect with one’s senses on a variety of levels.
- Multi-Sensory/Snoezelen Room: Speaking of senses, in the Multi-Sensory Room, overstimulated children can relax their senses.
- Castle of Dreams: The two-story sand castle with fantasy elements that is the Castle of Dreams features colored glass as far as the eye can see as well as a slide!
Outdoor exhibits are also available at the Miami Children’s Museum if you can visit again on a sunnier day.
2. FunDimension
As “the ultimate game center in Miami,” FunDimension is worth visiting even on a bright, clear day if you ask me.
The attractions here run the gamut but will entertain kids no matter their ages or what they’re into.
The arcade is full of redemption games where the kiddos will earn tickets when they play. Those tickets can be redeemed for exceptional prizes!
The indoor playground will let your kids burn off some energy even if it’s pouring outside. This isn’t your average playground though, as it features an obstacle course, tunnels, slides, a play wall, and a ball pit.
The laser tag arena is 3,500 spacious square feet with special effects, bright LEDs, fog, and music so the kids can truly immerse themselves in the experience.
In the Spin Zone are bumper cars, while the climbing wall will test your children’s physical prowess. There is also a video game room and VR entertainment here!
3. Phillip & Patricia Frost Museum of Science
A rainy day can be a wondrous educational opportunity when you take the family to the Frost Museum of Science.
The exhibits here will teach children about the way their bodies and minds work in conjunction with one another. The University of Miami provides exhibits as well about oceans, the environment, and our planet.
If your young kids are getting antsy, then show them the exhibits on dinosaurs, including displays of real fossils!
There’s so much more to do at the Frost Museum of Science than see the exhibits. The museum also has a planetarium known as the Frost Planetarium.
The planetarium seats 250 people and displays shows in 8K projection with 16 million colors. The surround sound and domed shape of the planetarium make the shows so much more immersive!
Oh, and did I mention there’s an aquarium on the grounds of the museum as well?
At The Royal Caribbean Vista exhibit, kids can see hammerhead sharks, devil rays, and fish swim across 500,000 gallons in a 10-foot tank.
The Dive is a 30-aquarium exhibit with all types of marine animals while The Deep shows you which creatures live deep below the water’s surface!
4. Dolphin Mall
If you’re feeling bummed out because of the rainy weather, you can at least drown your sorrows in some retail therapy at Dolphin Mall.
The biggest entertainment and outlet shopping destination in all of Miami, Dolphin Mall can entertain you and the kids all day long.
In Ramblas 9 is Bowlero, an indoor bowling alley where you and the kids can see who scores a strike first.
Dolphin Mall also has a Kids Empire, an indoor entertainment attraction with an interactive playground that offers climbing, building, spinning, and conquering elements.
If you have young’uns, Kids Empire features a Tots Area where you don’t have to worry about the bigger kids bowling over your little ones.
As if all that wasn’t great enough, there’s also a Dave & Busters on the grounds of Dolphin Mall where kids can play at the arcade to their heart’s content.
The Dolphin Mall offers exceptional dining for all sorts of palates and budgets.
Treat the kids to ice cream at the 4D Gelateria or Chi Chin Ice Cream Rolls, buy them a soft pretzel from Auntie Anne’s or a cinnamon bun from Cinnabon, or stock up on candy at Sugar King.
For a more substantial meal that appeals to kids’ tastes, there’s Burger King, Johnny Rockets, P.F. Chang’s, Sbarro, Rotelli Pizza & Pasta, Cheesecake Factory, and T.G.I. Friday’s.
5. Kendall Ice Arena
If there’s one state you might not expect to see any ice skating rinks, it’s Florida, but you’d be surprised!
No matter the time of year, Kendall Ice Arena creates a wintry atmosphere that will make the entire family forget all about the inclement weather outside.
You and the family can skate all seven days a week, with a live DJ available on Fridays to liven up the skating experience even more!
Do you not know how to skate? Kendall Ice Arena offers group classes for skaters of all ages and skill levels.
6. CMX Cinemas
What’s a better rainy-day activity than watching a movie with your loved ones? I’m hard-pressed to think of one!
Since you’re hundreds to thousands of miles from home, you can’t cuddle up on the couch like you usually do, but you can watch a film at CMX Cinemas.
You can choose from three Miami locations, the CMX Miami Lakes 13 in Miami Lakes, the CMX Dolphin 19 & IMAX at Dolphin Mall, and the CMX Brickell Dine-in.
All the theaters offer a comfortable atmosphere with plush seating, plenty of amenities, and all the popcorn you could ever want.
The variety of flicks is vast enough that you and the family should all be able to agree on which movie you want to see.
The CMX Brickell Dine-in theater cranks things up a notch with leather recliners and a chef-crafted menu (with cocktails, wines, craft beers, and liquor for the adults).
That theater is also the home of the CMX Stone Sports Bar, which is a two-story restaurant and lounge with a dining area if you want to eat before or after the movie but not during.
7. Ms. Cheezious
Speaking of eating, a nice comfort meal can send the blues packing when it’s raining. That’s why a visit to Ms. Cheezious is in order to round out your rainy-day activities in Miami.
At once a very popular food truck, Ms. Cheezious has since settled into its own permanent location on Biscayne Boulevard.
The restaurant specializes in grilled cheeses, but this is more than a few melty slices of Kraft cheese slapped between two pieces of toasted white bread.
You can order more mature grilled cheeses like grilled blue and bacon, goat cheese and prosciutto, or the croqueta monsieur with bechamel, Swiss cheese, tavern ham, and ham croquettes.
There’s an Italian grilled cheese, a grilled cheese with crab, and even a frito pie melt.
For the picky eaters in the family, you and the kids can also build your own grilled cheese, selecting the type of bread and cheese as well as picking additions such as a fried egg, spiced apple, tomato, buffalo or barbeque tempeh, prosciutto, tavern ham, house-smoked turkey, or house-cured bacon.
Don’t forget your sides such as sweet potato fries, chili cheese fries, or turkey three-bean chili.
If you don’t want to eat all that cheese, the Ms. Cheezious menu also has wings and salads.
Conclusion
Rainy days don’t have to get you and the family down, even if you’re on vacation! While trading in your sightseeing and beach plans is never ideal, you have so many great ways to spend time indoors in Miami.
You can visit a mall, take your kids to an entertainment center and arcade, while away an afternoon at a museum, or even see live animals at an aquarium.
I hope you consider these activities to entertain your kids all vacation long!