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Kids Eat Free

9 free things to do with kids in Birmingham, AL (updated November 2026)

Updated Nov 2, 2026

By Kids Eat Free Map

We found 9 free things to do with kids in Birmingham between Nov 1 and Dec 15, 2026, led by Bart’s ArtVenture at the Birmingham Museum of Art, a free self-guided walk around Sloss Furnaces and the evening PJ Storytime at Hoover Public Library. Four are places with no admission charge (an art museum, a historic ironworks, a baseball museum and the Birmingham Botanical Gardens), and five are library story times in Hoover, Homewood, Vestavia Hills, Mountain Brook and Trussville, with days and times taken from each library’s own event calendar. Each entry lists its source and the date we checked it.

If you only have time for one

Which Birmingham museums are free?

Three on our list charge nothing to get in: the Birmingham Museum of Art (general admission is free every day, though some special exhibitions are ticketed), Sloss Furnaces (self-guided tours are free; guided tours cost a fee) and the Negro Southern League Museum (free for most visitors; groups of 10 or more are asked to give $1 each).

1. Birmingham Museum of Art and Bart’s ArtVenture

Area: downtown Birmingham, next to the Birmingham-Jefferson Convention Complex. Cost: general admission is free every day and covers the collection galleries and most exhibitions; Heroes & Villains: The Art of the Disney Costume is a separate $30 ticket. ArtVenture is free. Hours: ArtVenture is open Tuesday to Saturday 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. and Sunday noon to 4:30 p.m.; the museum’s own hours page would not load for us, but its event FAQ says the museum closes to the public at 5 p.m.

ArtVenture is the museum’s interactive gallery for children and the adults who bring them, with more than 15 hands-on stations in two rooms: the Sonat Gallery for crawlers and toddlers (light, color and texture) and the Hess Gallery for ages 5 to 12, with a weaving wall, a stop-motion station and a makerspace for projects like printmaking and pottery. The museum asks for one attentive adult for every four children and its visiting tips suggest planning about 30 minutes to an hour at the museum with a child, since little ones tire easily. Scavenger hunts are available at both entrances, strollers can be borrowed from the security officer at the parking lot entrance, and changing stations are in both first-floor restrooms off the Main Lobby. Snacks are allowed in the lobbies and sculpture garden but must stay sealed in the galleries. Parking location and cost are not listed on the pages we opened.

Sources: Birmingham Museum of Art visitor information, Hands on Spaces, Birmingham Museum of Art, Tips for Visiting, Birmingham Museum of Art and Event FAQ, Birmingham Museum of Art, checked Nov 1, 2026.

2. Sloss Furnaces National Historic Landmark

Area: Birmingham; the street address is not listed on the visit page. Cost: self-guided tours are free (a site map is a free download); public guided tours carry a small fee that is not listed. Hours: Tuesday to Saturday 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. and Sunday noon to 4 p.m.; Monday is not listed as an open day.

You can walk the grounds of the old iron-making furnaces on your own, and the visitor center has exhibits. If you want a guide, public tours run Tuesday through Saturday at 10:30 a.m. or 2 p.m. and are booked online. Sloss also runs docent-led night tours on dates shown on its event calendar, but it warns the site can feel a little scary at night, so daytime is the easier pick for young kids. Holiday closures between now and mid-December are not listed.

Source: Visit, Sloss Furnaces, checked Nov 1, 2026.

3. Negro Southern League Museum

Area: 120 16th Street South, downtown Birmingham. Cost: the city’s page says “Admission is free for most visitors”; groups of 10 or more are asked to donate $1 per person and should call 205-581-3040 ahead. Hours: Tuesday to Saturday, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.

The city-run museum displays artifacts from Negro Southern League baseball, and its visit page says visitors who know nothing about baseball will still enjoy it. Rules for everyone: no food, gum or drinks, and no animals other than service animals. Parking is not listed. Holiday closures for this period are not listed.

Sources: Negro Southern League Museum, City of Birmingham and Visit the NSLM, City of Birmingham, checked Nov 1, 2026.

Is the Birmingham Botanical Gardens really free?

Yes. Admission and parking are both free, and the Gardens say they are open every day of the year. Parks and trails are in our outdoor guide; the Gardens are here because they cost nothing for the whole family.

4. Birmingham Botanical Gardens

Area: Birmingham; the street address is not listed on the pages we opened. Cost: free admission and free parking. Hours: not listed for this season. The visit page gives 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. daily through Nov 1, 2026 (last winter it was 7 a.m. to 5 p.m.), but lists no hours after that date, so check before an evening visit.

The visit page says, “The Gardens are free and open to the public every day of the year.” For kids, it offers a children’s treasure map in its maps section. The Gardens Café is open Tuesday to Friday 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., and the Leaf & Petal gift shop Monday to Saturday 9 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. and Sunday noon to 5 p.m. There are a limited number of large-vehicle parking spaces, and the Gardens advise locking your car and leaving valuables at home. No free family events between Nov 1 and Dec 15 are listed.

Sources: Visit, Birmingham Botanical Gardens and Birmingham Botanical Gardens home page, checked Nov 1, 2026.

When are library story times around Birmingham?

Every weekday somewhere, and on some Saturdays. Hoover has the busiest calendar, including an evening PJ Storytime on Thursdays; Homewood has a morning program Tuesday through Thursday and a Saturday baby time; Mountain Brook’s Emmet O’Neal Library holds its story times at the Jewish Community Center during its renovation. None of the calendars we opened list a fee, and a few programs need registration, noted below. We could not read the Birmingham Public Library’s event calendar, and its latest news post lists no November dates, so its branches are not in this guide.

Three of these run on Tuesday mornings (Hoover’s Together with Tots, Homewood’s Music and Movement and Emmet O’Neal’s All Together Storytime). Tuesday is also the biggest kids-eat-free night around Birmingham: see where kids eat free on Tuesdays in Birmingham.

5. Hoover Public Library story times

Area: 200 Municipal Drive, Hoover (Youth Program Room unless noted). Cost: no fee is listed on the library’s calendar; the library says any resident of Hoover or Jefferson County can get a free card. Hours: the library is open Monday to Thursday 9 a.m. to 9 p.m., Friday 9 a.m. to 6 p.m., Saturday 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Sunday 1 to 5 p.m.

Story times on the calendar between Nov 1 and Dec 15, 2026:

The calendar marks some programs “Registration required”; check the event before you go.

Source: Hoover Public Library event calendar, checked Nov 1, 2026.

6. Homewood Public Library story times

Area: 1721 Oxmoor Road, Homewood. Cost: no fee is listed on the library’s calendar. Hours: the calendar lists, for the week of Nov 2, Monday, Tuesday and Thursday 9 a.m. to 9 p.m., Wednesday, Friday and Saturday 9 a.m. to 6 p.m., and Sunday 2 to 6 p.m.

Programs for little kids on the calendar, which showed dates through Dec 1, 2026:

The Storypalooza page lists no registration. Questions go to the library at 205-332-6600.

Sources: Homewood Public Library event calendar, Storypalooza, Homewood Public Library and Homewood Public Library event page, checked Nov 1, 2026.

7. Vestavia Hills Library in the Forest story times

Area: Downstairs Program Room, 1221 Montgomery Highway, Vestavia Hills. Cost: not listed. Hours: the library lists Monday and Tuesday 9 a.m. to 8 p.m., Wednesday to Saturday 9 a.m. to 6 p.m., and Sunday afternoon until 5 p.m.

The children’s program room calendar showed dates through Nov 17, 2026:

Phone: 205-978-0155.

Sources: Children’s Program Room events, Vestavia Hills Library in the Forest and Vestavia Hills Library home page, checked Nov 1, 2026.

8. Emmet O’Neal Library story times (Mountain Brook)

Area: while the library is being renovated, most story times are at the Jewish Community Center, 3960 Montclair Road; bring ID to check in. Cost: not listed. Hours: the library is closed Nov 11 (Veterans Day), Nov 26 and 27 (Thanksgiving) and Dec 24 to 27.

Phone: (205) 879-0459.

Source: Emmet O’Neal Library event calendar, checked Nov 1, 2026.

9. Trussville Public Library story times

Area: 201 Parkway Drive, Trussville. Cost: not listed. Hours: Monday, Tuesday and Thursday 9 a.m. to 8 p.m., Wednesday and Friday 9 a.m. to 6 p.m., Saturday 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. and Sunday 1 to 5 p.m.

The calendar, which showed dates through Dec 1, 2026, lists Children’s Storytime with Mr. Michael on Thursdays at 9:30 and 10:30 a.m. (Nov 5, 12 and 19) and Preschoolers at Play with Ms. Megan on Friday, Nov 13, 10:30 to 11:30 a.m. No registration is listed for either. Age ranges are not listed. Phone: 205-655-2022.

Source: Trussville Public Library event calendar, checked Nov 1, 2026.

What can we do for free with kids on a weekend?

On Saturdays, the Birmingham Museum of Art’s ArtVenture, Sloss Furnaces and the Negro Southern League Museum are all open, and Homewood’s Baby Bunch meets Nov 7, 14 and 21. Hoover’s library has a Story Hike on Nov 21, Saturday Storytime on Nov 28 and a holiday story time on Dec 12. On Sundays, ArtVenture and Sloss open at noon. The Botanical Gardens are open every day. If you finish on a Sunday, 11 spots near Birmingham have a kids-eat-free deal that night, including Moe’s Southwest Grill on 4th Avenue South (kids 12 and under); see Sunday kids-eat-free deals in Birmingham.

At a glance

PlaceAreaCostWhenGood for
Birmingham Museum of Art and ArtVentureDowntownFree (one $30 special exhibition)ArtVenture Tue to Sat 10 to 4:30, Sun 12 to 4:30Crawlers to age 12
Sloss FurnacesBirminghamFree self-guidedTue to Sat 10 to 4, Sun 12 to 4Kids who like machines and history
Negro Southern League Museum16th Street SouthFree for most visitorsTue to Sat 10 to 4Baseball fans
Birmingham Botanical GardensBirminghamFree, free parkingDaily; winter hours not listedA stroll with a treasure map
Hoover Public LibraryHooverNo fee listedMon to Fri, some Saturdays; PJ Storytime Thu 6:30 p.m.Babies to age 10
Homewood Public LibraryHomewoodNo fee listedTue to Thu 10 a.m.; Sat 10:30 a.m.Babies to pre-K
Vestavia Hills LibraryVestavia HillsNot listedMon to Thu (dates through Nov 17)Ages 2 to 5; after-school K to 2nd grade
Emmet O’Neal LibraryMountain Brook (at the JCC)Not listedTue to Thu morningsBabies to age 5
Trussville Public LibraryTrussvilleNot listedThu 9:30 and 10:30 a.m.Little kids

Where can kids eat free after a free outing?

Kids Eat Free Map lists 47 restaurants within 25 miles of downtown Birmingham with a kids-eat-free or cheap kids meal night; 8 are confirmed on the restaurant’s own website and the rest come from Birmingham Mom Collective’s kids-eat-free guide (updated Sep 16, 2026). Tuesday has the most, 22, then Sunday with 11 and Monday with 9 (our numbers, checked Nov 1, 2026). A few that line up with this guide:

Deals come from the sources credited on each listing; call ahead if it matters.

How we picked
  • What qualified: places and programs in the Birmingham area that cost nothing for a whole family, with no paid ticket or membership, that run on a regular schedule or are dated between Nov 1 and Dec 15, 2026. Library story times count if the library’s calendar lists them without a fee. Our five top picks are the ones open most often or with the most for kids to do.
  • What we checked: each place’s own pages (the museums, Sloss Furnaces, the City of Birmingham, the Botanical Gardens and each library’s event calendar) on Nov 1, 2026. Story-time dates come from library calendars, which change and which showed only a few weeks ahead (Vestavia Hills through Nov 17, Homewood and Trussville through Dec 1), so look at the calendar the week you go. The Birmingham Museum of Art’s hours page would not load for us, so its full museum hours are not listed here.
  • About cost: none of the library calendars we opened list a fee, but only Hoover’s page mentions anything free (library cards for Hoover and Jefferson County residents).
  • What we left out: the Birmingham Civil Rights Institute, where children below grade 4 are free but adults pay $15; Birmingham Public Library branches, because its event calendar would not display any events for us and its latest program roundup gives no November dates; the Vestavia Hills Tree Lighting Festival on Nov 19, 2026 at 6 p.m., because its page lists no cost; Vulcan Park and Museum, because its FAQ does not say what is free; and parks and trails, which are in our outdoor guide (all pages checked Nov 1, 2026).
  • This guide was researched and drafted with AI tools, and every fact was checked against its linked source on Nov 1, 2026.

More: Where kids eat free in Birmingham · Kids eat free on Tuesdays in Birmingham · Kid-friendly restaurants in Birmingham · Outdoor places to take kids in Birmingham

Sources

Where kids eat free in Birmingham