It’s been said that the best things in life are free, but when it comes to visiting museums and other attractions with kids, it’s not always clear when they are free. Mommy Poppins has set out to uncover these freebies so Boston families can enjoy the best of the city without breaking the bank. Here, we've ID'd the museums that let young children—and in some cases, all kids—in at no charge.

If you're working your way through our Boston Kids' 100 Things to Do bucket list, you may want to coordinate with the cut-off ages below; some of the museums you can catch on their free admission days, but several other attractions really drive home the bittersweet point that you're only young once.

Always Free

• Arnold Arboretum
• Boston Fire Museum
• Bunker Hill Museum
• Longyear Museum
• Metropolitan Waterworks Museum
• Saugus Iron Works
• The Telephone Museum
• USS Constitution Museum (donations encouraged)

Free for kids under 1

• Boston Children’s Museum
• Children's Museum of NH
• Discovery Museums
• The Children’s Museum of Easton

Free for kids under 2

• Drumlin Farm
• EcoTarium
• Edaville Family Theme Park (home to Thomas Land)
• Franklin Park Zoo
• Ipswich River Wildlife Sanctuary
• Roger Williams Park Zoo
• South Shore Natural Science Center
• Stone Zoo
• Swan Boat Rides

Toddlers tour Fenway Park at no charge. Photo courtesy of Smart Destinations/CC BY 2.0

Free for kids under 3

• Battleship Cove
• Canobie Lake Park
• Charles Hayden Planetarium
• Fenway Park Tours
• Garden in the Woods
• Harvard Museum of Natural History
• Museum of Science
• Mugar Omni Theater
• New England Aquarium
• Seacoast Science Center 
• Simons IMAX Theatre at the Aquarium
• Six Flags New England 
• Springfield Museums (includes The Amazing World of Dr. Seuss Museum)
• Southwick’s Zoo

Free for kids under 4

• Plimoth Plantation

Plimoth Plantation. Photo courtesy of Massachusetts Office of Travel & Tourism

Free for kids under 5

• Fruitlands Museum
• Boston Tea Party Ships and Museum
• Concord Museum
• MIT Museum
• Paul Revere House
• Spellman Museum of Stamps and Postal History
• Old South Meeting House

Free for kids under 6

• Custom House Maritime Museum
• Mapparium

Explore the galleries at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. Photo courtesy of MFA

Free for kids under 7

• Museum of Fine Arts (MFA) (17 & under are free after 3pm on weekdays; weekends; and public school holidays)

Free for kids under 12

• Fuller Craft Museum
• The “T”

Free for kids under 13

• DeCordova Sculpture Park and Museum
• JFK Presidential Library and Museum
• Museum of African American History

Photo by Natasha Moustache/Institute of Contemporary Art

Free for kids under 17

• ICA - Institute of Contemporary Art
• Peabody Essex Museum

Free for kids under 18

• Harvard Art Museums
• Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum

Free for kids under 19

• Old State House Museum

Published 2015; updated in 2018, 2019