Pittsburgh With Kids: Five Fun Family Activities

Thank you to the Carnegie Museum of Natural History, the Carnegie Museum of Art and the Duquesne Incline for providing complimentary tickets and a tour for my family.  All opinions are my own. 

Pittsburgh is known for its steel production, bridges and sports teams.  It’s only about two hours from our home in Cleveland and where my college roommate lives, so we often get the chance to visit. In the 19th century, Andrew Carnegie became one of the richest people in the world by modernizing steel production in the heart of downtown Pittsburgh, where the Monongahela River joins the Ohio River.  Now affectively called the “Steel City,” Pittsburgh used to be known as the “Smoky City” because of so much pollution from the mills. Very little of its industrial past remains in this city now known for its hills, bridges, parks and biking and jogging trails.

Accommodations in Pittsburgh With Kids

My husband often travels to Pittsburgh for business, so I took a few days off over our kids’ recent Spring Break, and the rest of the family tagged along for a two day trip.  We stayed at the Fairmont Pittsburgh and were very fortunate that our room was available when we checked in at 9 am.  It was great to drop off our bags and freshen up before heading off to explore some museums.  The Fairmont offers well-appointed guest rooms and luxurious and bright bathrooms, complete with a bathtub and separate shower area.  There is no pool, but we have never found a hotel in downtown Pittsburgh that offers a pool.  My kids’ only complaint was that the room didn’t have two bathrooms like our suite at the Treasure Island Beach Resort.  Sorry, kids, a hotel room with two bathrooms is not the norm….

Our room at the Fairmont

Our bright and beautiful bathroom

Our trip happened to coincide with the Pirates‘ Opening Day, and we were lucky to have a view of PNC Park from our window.  Our boys enjoyed checking out the festivities while their sister attempted to nap in the afternoon.  Strangely, we couldn’t find the game on television, but score updates from Siri sufficed, and a single firework signaled the Pirates first home win of the season.

A room with a view of Opening Day

Food in Pittsburgh With Kids

The Fairmont is centrally located downtown, but it was pretty cold during our visit, so we didn’t do as much exploring as we would have liked.  We did met my college roommate and a friend around the corner at NOLA on the Square for happy hour.  NOLA nailed the New Orleans vibe, both in its architecture and the art work displayed on the walls.  Because it was a relatively quiet Monday night, our group of seven was seated in the dining area but permitted to order from the pretty amazing happy hour menu.  With $4 cocktails, $4 appetizers and $1 gumbo ya-ya, we’ll definitely be back the next time we are in town.

After happy hour, we all enjoyed a delicious dinner at Nicky’s Thai Kitchen.  My husband regularly frequents Nicky’s and knows that their 1-5 rating is spicier than most.  Our family often orders our food in the hot category, but three was plenty spicy for us.  My husband once ordered a four and totally regretted it.

We really enjoyed our quick trip to Pittsburgh with kids and recommend these five fun family activities to other family travelers:

#1: Carnegie Science Center With Kids

It’s no secret that my kids love museums.  Of the dozens of museums my 10 year old has visited, the Carnegie Science Center is his favorite.  He’s probably not alone, as this is Pittsburgh’s most popular museum. The “science” portion of the museum is pretty cool, but the real draw for him is Highmark SportsWorks^®, which is housed in an adjacent building and uses more than 30 interactive sports exhibits to show how physics, anatomy, biology and chemistry control sports.  The Carnegie Science Center is part of the Carnegie Museums, and members can visit all four on the same membership, but we use our ASTC Travel Passport Program membership for free entry.

When we visited the Science Center on the day after Thanksgiving, the line for the new Ropes Challenge was too long.  So, on this visit, my sons went straight for the Ropes Challenge line when we arrived.  The Ropes Challenge consists of a series of challenges, including a rope bridge, rolling logs and a horizontal net that culminate in a zip line.  This is probably my boys’ favorite “exhibit” ever, especially the zip line.

My daughter was pretty excited to try the SkyTykes Ropes Course, located under the Ropes Challenge, while her brothers waited for their turn.

My little explorer

Other highlights of the sports complex include a 24-foot rock climbing wall (which even my daughter tried out), a batting cage, a 10-meter dash and various challenges for endurance and balance.

Father-son climb

Race against Olympic sprint times

My kids may not have left the Highmark SportsWorks^® with a deeper understanding of center of mass and inertia or reciting facts about physics or biology, but the interactive exhibits are certainly fun and provide some basic exposure to the concept that science is everywhere.  This bright complex is also a perfect place for kids to burn energy, especially on cold or rainy days.

Inside the Carnegie Science Center, my boys’ favorite exhibit is Roboworld, which is considered the world’s largest permanent robotics exhibition.  Roboworld features more than 30 interactive displays, including a robot who shoots baskets with impressive precision and another who challenges visitors in air hockey.  My kids could spend hours playing air hockey with a robot or comparing basketball precision.

We also checked out the Little Learner Clubhouse for the first time on our last visit.  Because many exhibits focused on a younger audience have an age limit for participation, we often avoid them even when we have two adults.  However, I was glad that this exhibit is designed for children six and under and their families.  So, my older sons were able to accompany their younger sister, who absolutely loved the water table.   Even though this exhibit was clearly geared for younger children, my boys had fun with the tomato stand.

The Miniature Railroad & Village is a fun but unexpected exhibit at the Science Center.  This enormous village provides a tour of western Pennsylvania and includes over 250,000 trees.  Of course, our favorite miniature was Fallingwater.

We’ve had lunch at Center’s River View Café several times.  The Café is currently under renovation and open with only a limited menu, but its convenience is key as there really does not seem to be any other lunch options within walking distance.  My  kids thoroughly enjoyed their hot dog kids’ meals and cheese steak sandwich.  A new wing is also currently under construction, but the exhibits are all open during the renovations.

E-motion cone

• Kid Facts:  The E-motion cone, which is a large inverted cone on top of the Science Center was installed in 2000.  It is lit up at night with colored lights that signal the weather forecast for the next day.  Red means warmer, blue means cooler, and green means no change.  The cone flashes when precipitation is expected, and the color yellow indicates severe weather.
• Pro Tip:  Because of its proximity to the Steelers’ Heinz Field, the Carnegie Science Center is closed when the Steelers have home games with 1 pm or 4 pm kickoff times and may close early for evening games.

#2: Carnegie Museum of Natural History With Kids

The Carnegie Museum of Natural History was founded in 1896 by Pittsburgh industrialist, Andrew Carnegie, and gained notoriety in 1899 when its scientists found the fossils of the Diplodocus carnegii.  Carnegie gifted a cast of its diplodocus skeleton  to England at the request of Edward VII, and “Dippy” was featured in  Hitze Hall of London’s Natural History Museum for many years before being replaced by Hope, a blue whale skeleton, in July 2017.  Dippy is currently on tour across the United Kingdom for the next two years.   The original diplodocus skeleton was admittedly a major draw for us to visit the Carnegie Museum of Natural History.  It is housed in a space that oddly resembles a hotel lobby, but the exhibit is still a dream for any young paleontologist.

The Carnegie Museum of Natural History maintains one of the world’s most prominent dinosaur collections. The Dinosaurs in Their Time exhibit is the world’s largest collection of Jurassic dinosaurs and the third largest collection of mounted dinosaurs in the US and includes two Tyrannosaurus Rex skeletons and a triceratops skeleton.

One of two Tyrannosaurus Rex skeletons

My kids are fascinated by gemstones, so the Hillman Hall of Minerals and Gems was a big hit.  Over 1,300 specimens are artistically displayed throughout several rooms.

I see a few that I’d like

The Bone Hunters’ Quarry gives kids 10 and under a chance to dig for bones with brushes and chisels.  This interactive exhibit occupied my children for a solid 10-15 minutes until the 10 year old started getting bored.

• Kid Facts:  The diplodocus skeleton was found on an expedition to the Morrison Formation sponsored by Carnegie. The Morrison Formation in Utah is the most fertile source of North American dinosaur fossils.

#3: Carnegie Museum of Art With Kids

The Carnegie Museum of Art was founded by Andrew Carnegie in 1895 and is housed in the same building in Oakland as the Carnegie Museum of Natural History.  One of the most unique features of the Carnegie Art Museum is the Hall of Architecture, which includes the world’s third-largest collection of plaster architectural casts.  Andrew Carnegie financed a tinted cast of the West Portal of Saint-Gilles-du-Gard, which may be the world’s largest architectural cast.  Saint-Gilles-du-Gard is considered one of the most beautiful Romanesque portals.  The Hall also includes almost 140 other full-size plaster casts.

We were also pretty excited to find the special exhibit, Hiroshige’s Tōkaidō Road, had opened just a few days before our visit.  This series of woodblock prints depicts landscapes and people that master printmaker, Utagawa Hiroshige, encountered when traveling from Tokyo to Kyoto.  We enjoy Hiroshige’s art so much that we have one of his prints at home, but our print is not one of this series.  This special exhibit includes a complete set of 55 prints from the first (Hōeidō) edition of Hiroshige’s Fifty-Three Stations of the Tōkaidō.  Vincent Van Gogh collected ukiyo-e with his brother, and their collection included Hiroshige’s works.   Van Gogh incorporated similar bright colors, natural details and unconventional perspectives into his own works.

Like most major art museums, its impressionist gallery includes paintings by Vincent Van Gogh and Claude Monet.  Van Gogh’s Wheat Fields at Auvers Under Clouded Sky was one of his famous series of wheat field paintings.  While Van Gogh and Monet are our favorites, we didn’t make it here until well past nap time for my three year old, who found the large bench very comfortable.

Van Gogh’s Wheat Fields at Auvers Under Clouded Sky

Monet’s Water Lilies (Nymphéas)

I love the convenience of two museums in one, which made it logistically possible to visit two museums on the same day we drove to Pittsburgh and still spend most of the afternoon relaxing in our hotel room.  While we did not have a chance to explore all the galleries, the collection was impressive, and we look forward to future visits.

• Kid Facts:  The Hall of Architecture contains the largest collection of plaster casts of architectural masterpieces and the third largest in the world (behind the Victoria and Albert Museum and Musée national des Monuments Français).

#4:  Children’s Museum of Pittsburgh With Kids

The Children’s Museum of Pittsburgh is an interactive museum for kids that is also a member of the ASTC Travel Passport Program.  We visited twice previously before our recent trip, and this is the only museum where I have spent an entire day back when my boys were 1.5 and 3.5.  While most families likely visit for only 2-3 hours at a time, there is definitely enough to occupy kids all day.  We had a wonderful day thoroughly exploring each and every exhibit in detail and spending hours in the Studio creating works of art.

Our recent visit was during our second afternoon in Pittsburgh and took place after a morning at the Carnegie Science Center.  My daughter didn’t get a nap until we were in the car headed back to Cleveland but was so excited about all the exhibits that she forgot to be cranky.  As soon as we arrived, she headed straight for the two-story climber that thankfully has entrance and exit openings only at the bottom.  Her brothers followed her in but quickly came out, indicating that the climber had a strong odor of feet.  Nevertheless, this climber attracted my daughter like a magnet.  She probably spent a solid 20 minutes climbing all the way to the top and then back down while my boys worked on draw bots in the MAKESHOP®.  She did get a bit stuck at one point, but she got a bit of a boost from a slightly bigger kid and kept moving.  At the very top, kids are out of sight for a few minutes, which was a bit disconcerting at first, but the other parents milling around at the bottom assured me that the same thing happened with their kids.

A dream climber for kids

My boys happily worked in the MAKESHOP® just opposite the climber while I hung out at the wall dividing the two areas to keep an eye on all of them.  The kids used household boxes to anchor markers in place and then attached motors to make them move on their own.  The project involved tape, hot glue and a lot of trial and error, and this was my boys’ favorite exhibit at the Museum.  My daughter was too young to create one on her own, but she enjoyed spectating and working on a draw bot with one of the Museum guides (who did most of the heavy lifting).

The Museum’s Studio offers hands-on creating opportunities for kids of all ages.  Because we were short on time and stayed for a long time at the MAKESHOP®, we did not make it to the Studio this time, but it’s a beautiful multimedia space with wonderful supplies that allow kids to create paint, sculpt and silkscreen.  The Studio is housed in a former planetarium and is a beautiful and bright space to inspire creative juices, and smocks are available.  Because I am not crafty by nature, I really appreciate prepared craft projects.

The Studio’s ceiling

Creating in the Studio

My boys really enjoyed the Waterplay exhibit on our previous visits.  Honestly, I judged other museum waterplay exhibits against this one for years.  Previously, full length rain ponchos and crocs were available for kids to use while exploring in the water.  This time, only smocks were available, and almost all the other kids had changed into swimming attire or had stripped down to their underwear, and it seemed more like a spray park than it had been before.  An ideal day at the museum for me does not involve hauling swimsuits and towels, and even my three year old would not be comfortable wearing only panties in public.  My kids were hesitant because they did not want to get soaked, so this exhibit definitely lost some of its luster this time around.  While the snow table was unique, we all agreed that the Wonder Lab at the Children’s Museum of Cleveland is now our waterplay gold standard.

All geared up during a prior visit to the Waterplay area

My daughter was pretty excited to find a puppet of her friend, Daniel Tiger, in the Museum’s Nursery.

We thoroughly enjoyed our visit to the Children’s Museum of Pittsburgh and will definitely be back.  While some of the exhibits are more age appropriate for my daughter, her brothers had fun accompanying her as she explored those areas and particularly enjoyed the MAKESHOP®.  I think it’s been offseason or rainy on each of our three visits, but we hope next time, we can check out the Backyard.

• Kid Facts:  Mr. Rodgers’ Neighborhood was filmed in Pittsburgh from 1968 to 2001, and the Children’s Museum of Pittsburgh maintains some great memorabilia.
• Pro Tip:  Try to visit the Studio first so that art masterpieces dry before it’s time to leave.  The Studio is housed in a former planetarium and is a beautiful and bright space to inspire kids’ creative juices.

#5:  Duquesne Incline With Kids

The Duquesne Incline in Pittsburgh is an amazing example of living history that combines a trolley ride up Mount Washington, engineering genius and an amazing city view.  We visited on Thanksgiving before our turkey feast with friends.  The beautifully detailed original trolley cars sit on platforms that keep them level while transporting Pittsburghers and visitors up and down Mount Washington without a driver.  The 794-foot wooden track was both an engineering masterpiece and a work of art.

Interior of the trolley car

Wooden track

At the station at the top, there are historical exhibits that provide an overview of the history of Pittsburgh, its many inclines and the engineering challenges that the engineers had to overcome to build and operate the Incline.

Trolley car traveling down the Incline

Tom Reinheimer’s tour of the Upper Station gave us an overview of the history of Pittsburgh, its many inclines and the engineering challenges that the engineers had to overcome to build and operate the Incline.  Tom then took us to the David H. Miller Working Museum to tour of the Incline’s hoisting machinery.  The Incline still uses its original hoisting equipment that features giant cogs with wooden gear teeth.

Hoisting equipment

The highlight of the Incline is the magnificent view of Pittsburgh’s “Three Rivers” – the confluence of the Allegheny River and the Monongahela River, which together form the Ohio River and the city’s “Golden Triangle” central business district.  Other highlights include views of the outline of Fort Duquesne, the Steelers’ Heinz Field, the Pirates’ PNC Park, the Carnegie Science Center and many bridges (up to 18 can be visible).  For more details, check out our Spotlight feature on the Duquesne Incline.

• Kid Facts:   USA Today recently named the Duquesne Incline as one of the 10 great streetcars, trams and funiculars.
• Pro Tip: The Duquesne Incline accepts only cash and requires exact change.

Find Out More About Pittsburgh With Kids

Interested in finding out more about visiting Pittsburgh with kids?  Check out our other blog posts about Pittsburgh and nearby Fallingwater.