Learning Adventures for Kids in Gatlinburg
Published Dec 7, 2023
Keep kids entertained–and slip in some sneaky learning–when you try these educational adventures in Gatlinburg.
Nature and the Smokies
Gatlinburg sits on the doorstep of Great Smoky Mountains National Park, where kids can learn about animals, plants and conservation while having a blast. Go to any park bookstore and pick up the Junior Ranger Activity Guide booklet, stuffed with interactive fun about everything from black bears to dung beetles. When kids complete activities, they earn a Junior Ranger badge!
Sciences, Seas and Space
Touch a ray as it glides past. Watch sharks circling as you ride in a glass-bottomed boat. Explore a tropical rainforest and a coral reef. Ten thousand creatures call this world-class aquarium home, and experts are on hand to teach kids about the underwater world.
WonderWorks features interactive science activities. Climb inside a replica space capsule and try out a space suit. Visit Earthquake Cafe and feel the world shake. Enter the Hurricane Shack to get blown away. Get your mitts on gears and pulleys. Make bubbles so huge they’ll swallow your friends!
History
- Great Smoky Mountains Heritage Center
More than a dozen authentic, historic buildings are on display. See a moonshine still, smokehouse, outhouse, sawmill, wheelwright shop and much more. For older kids and teens, the center offers one-time workshops teaching herbal folk medicines, open hearth cooking, and other traditional skills.
Drive this valley’s 11-mile loop road and stop at 19th-century barns, cabins and churches built by early European settlers. Don’t miss Cable Mill, where kids can watch millers grind corn. Check for blacksmith demonstrations here, as well as annual demonstrations of sorghum syrup making.
Hands-On Crafting
Thirteen artisans welcome kids and adults to try traditional crafts. Contact artisans directly for information about workshops. Participating artisans work on hand-dipped candles, pottery, glass art, baskets, paintings, soaps, wood carvings and leather goods.
- Arrowmont School of Arts and Crafts
Kids as young as five and as old as 18 can craft everything from wire jewelry to wooden chopsticks. Book your sessions before you arrive in town! Arrowmont Kids Craft Night Workshops are one-time events. Family Workshops are one-day events including lunch.
Stay in a Gatlinburg cabin so you’re close to all these kid-friendly activities. Book your family vacation now. But don’t tell the kids it’s educational!
