Places to Visit and Things To Do In Kuala Lumpur With Kids

There are so many awesome activities, attractions, places to visit and things to do in Kuala Lumpur with kids. KL is such a family-friendly destination that you’ll be spoilt for choice when deciding what to do with your little ones.

We have been to Kuala Lumpur twice as a family. The first time we visited was as a family of three when we stayed for about 10 days and our eldest (only daughter at the time) was 3 years old. Our second visit came during our first year as a family of four when we stayed for a month. (At the time, our youngest daughter was still a baby and our eldest was five).

Based on these two trips, here are our highly recommended things to do in KL for families!

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1. KL Bird Park

Kuala Lumpur Bird Park is one of the most popular KL attractions for kids.  It’s a large green expanse full of tropical birds, so it’s possible to spend several hours wandering through the grounds. Most of the birds are roaming free, although there are some in cages.

Split into different zones, you’ll experience walk-in aviaries, the flamingo pond, and activities such as bird feeding and shows. If you’re thinking about adding the KL bird park to your list of things to do in Kuala Lumpur with kids, you can find all the details on things like opening hours and admission prices on their website.

2. KL Forest Eco Park

KL Forest Eco Park (previously known as the Bukit Nanas Forest Reserve) was one of our favorite places to visit in Kuala Lumpur for kids. You can burn up a bit of energy on the easy hiking trails and enjoy the stunning forest canopy walkway. 

We absolutely love spending time in nature for the physical and mental health benefits, and this is a great place to do so. Best of all, it’s located in the city, so you can visit straight after you’ve had enough shopping or general city hustle and bustle.

3. KL Butterfly Park

The KL Butterfly Park is another great option of things to do in Kuala Lumpur with kids. We didn’t actually visit the butterfly park as a family, although I personally visited many years beforehand, and enjoyed it. It’s not far from the KL bird park, so you could visit these Kuala Lumpur kids attractions one after the other if you wanted to.

4. Enjoy an outdoor playground

One of the things we were most looking forward to when we returned to KL was the outdoor playgrounds. Many places in Southeast Asia have minimal to no outdoor playgrounds on offer (except the ones that are attached to cafes!) Malaysia, however, has many outdoor playgrounds to choose from.

Most of the playgrounds in KL, and Malaysia in general are very simple, and often the equipment is quite old. It’s easy to take outdoor playgrounds for granted if you live in a developed country. We miss them very much when we don’t have them, and appreciated having plenty of them to choose from in KL.

So if you’re looking for low-key things to do in Kuala Lumpur with kids, ask the locals, or check out Google maps to find your closest outdoor playground.

5. Taman Rimba Kiara

Taman Rimba Kiara is such a lovely place to visit in Kuala Lumpur with children. It’s a super family-friendly park and there are also some advanced hiking and mountain biking trails.

One thing we love about Malaysia is how many accessible, free parks there are. In this one park we saw so much wildlife!

Firstly we waited out the rain (for some time!) by watching some sort of large variety of lizard (there were 3 of them) swimming up and down the stream and climbing in and out. One even caught a big fish!

When it had cleared a little we followed a nice mini hill path (paved) and did the obligatory playground stop afterwards. We saw plenty of birds, squirrels, some turtles and of course the cheeky monkeys that like to hang out at these places.

There’s a little stream that runs through the park, which is great for kids to splash and play in. There were a few people in the stream catching tiny fish to take home to feed to their big fishes ??.

We’d definitely recommend that you add this park to your list of family things to do in Kuala Lumpur, especially if you love wide open green spaces!

6. National Science Center

The National Science Center in KL is high on our recommendation list of things to do in KL with kids! The girls went there twice, once with mum and once with dad. 

There is so much to see and do in the center and it’s only 6rm to enter (under 7’s are free). That’s $1.40USD! Many of the indoor kids activities in KL are set at a much higher price point, so it’s so nice to have this place and all that it offers.

You might arrive and think it’s just the indoor area, but there’s a lot more to it. Make sure the kids have their swim suits because there’s a cool splash water park area. Basically it’s a playground set in water. There is also a butterfly and small animal section (separate from the main building), two playgrounds, and a dinosaur area.

7. Petronas twin towers

The Petronas towers are located in the heart of Kuala Lumpur City Center (KLCC). They offer amazing views of the surrounding city. I went up these about 12 or 13 years ago when I was backpacking and it was nice to return with my family.

It’s not a ‘cheap’ outing at 80rm per adult, which was about $50USD for all of us. However, it’s pretty spectacular. It’s a good idea to book in advance, or come in the morning and book for later that day since there are limited numbers allowed in each time slot. 

We arrived about 2pm and got the last 4:30pm tickets. There’s plenty to do in the area while you’re waiting though. You can check out the mall, KLCC Park, or the Petrosains Science Discovery Center inside the mall while you wait.

On your trip up the towers, you first get taken up to the skybridge at 170m above the ground, and then to the top after that.

8. KLCC Waterpark and Playground

Visiting KLCC Park is one of the best things to do in KUala Lumpur with kids. It’s situated next to the Petronas twin towers and is a lovely green space amongst the busy city.

There’s a huge playground, a splash park for the kids (families only – more on that soon), and paths to meander.

You might want to be aware of a few rules of the park before you go. When you get close to the splash park there are a few very serious whistleblowers who are there to make sure you play by the rules?.

I understand that rules are created for safety, and sometimes for order and whatnot. In my opinion, these rules go a little overboard. It felt a bit like we were in Singapore again, where there also seem to be plenty of rules about what you can and can’t do.

KLCC Water park rules

First you should know that the splash area is only for families. So the second you step foot on the steps that lead down to it, you will get the whistle blown and told to leave if you don’t have kids with you.

Other rules include no diapers in the splash area. I presume they mean no regular diapers. Romy had a swim nappy on and I had to convince them it was designed for the water. I did ask them if they would prefer the potential for a poo in the pool?. They decided the swim nappy was OK after this, even though it’s not on the rules board.

Also, there are no swimsuits allowed for parents, but of course you must watch your children very closely. This is much easier to do whilst sitting in the water if you have a baby, so be prepared for wet clothes ?.

No shoes or sandals are to be worn in the splash area. And no sitting on the swing with a baby on your lap. Swings are for bigger kids. Babies go in baby swings!

That is all…although maybe read the rule board before you enter too?. Have fun! I got three whistle blows on our first visit and only one on the second so I learned from my experiences. Seriously though, it’s a fantastic and free option to add to your list of things to do in Kuala Lumpur with kids.

9. SS2 Monday night market

I love the fresh food markets around SE Asia. OK, so maybe not the fishy parts and the smells that come with it ?.

And OK, I don’t enjoy going alone with both of my young girls because that’s just too full-on, so I’ll usually wait until Colin or someone else is available to help out. Sometimes known as ‘wet markets’ some markets are open morning only, all day, or night only. They’re your best bet for local (sometimes organically grown) produce. They’re also a great spot to try out the local street food. Just beware of all the plastic they’ll try and add into the mix.

There’s definitely a slow shift in consciousness going on in that space though. Various places, including businesses, states, and islands are taking steps to ban single use plastics.

The SS2 Monday night market in KL is quite a big one, and it happens every Monday night. Get there early (5pm or so) to avoid the crowds. Just ask a taxi to drop you off at McDonald’s (?). SS2 and the market starts there.

10. Visit some family-friendly cafes

KL is not short on family-friendly cafes. It’s likely you’ll find a great cafe with a play space for the kids inside most of the malls. This makes them a fantastic and chilled out option of things to do in Kuala Lumpur with kids.

Marmalade Cafe in Bangsar Village II had a play area that allowed us to spend several hours there. Antipodean Cafe in Atria mall is a New Zealand owned cafe! Their play area is awesome. It’s right in the middle of the cafe so you can sit beside it and check in on the kids over your shoulder.

Seriously, little Romy played happily in here for probably an hour, which was amazing for mama. In terms of cafes, it could be the best place to bring baby in KL! The play space has a TV and plenty of toys. Although we’re not fans of TV in our family I don’t mind taking a break from time to time. The girls were much more interested in the toys anyway.

11. Go on a family-friendly hike

I’m so glad that we got to check out a few of the many hiking trails on offer in KL. This had been probably the biggest thing I was looking forward to after not having any nature trails easily accessible from Hoi An.

Taman Tugu is located in the Botanical Gardens area of KL. We went on a lovely little family-friendly trail walk with our new friends and another family.

If you want to check out Taman Tugu, get the taxi driver to drop you off at Taman Tugu Nursery. The trails start there and you can have a bathroom and water refill stop there (or wait out the rain if needed!).

The trail is beautiful and very well maintained. Although it is family friendly we would not recommend bringing a buggy on the trail! One member of our party ended up having to carry a buggy around the whole trail as there are a number of steps. Lucky it was a fold up one at least ?. There are several branches to the trails so you can go for a short walk or a much longer one.

Bukit Gasing hiking trails

Bukit Gasing is another trail that we went on with other friends. We first had a vote on either doing a 40 minute or 80 minute route. Ayla and I got out voted and we went on the 40 minute route. However, it turned into about three hours after we got a little lost and ended up doing probably both trails plus more?.

The moral of the story is: don’t rely on the sparse trail markings on Malaysian hiking trails. Do yourself a favour and download maps.me and use the offline maps from that. (Google maps doesn’t display all the trails).

Luckily every person was a total trooper and we were all glowing with smiles as we finished up our wee adventure.

12. Have fun at one of the many indoor playgrounds

I’m not a fan of malls but have grown to fully appreciate the indoor playgrounds you can find inside them in SE Asia. Indoor activities in KL offer a welcome reprieve from the heat, and of course, kids love them. Therefore, they’re a great option to add to your list of things to do in Kuala Lumpur with kids.

KL has a lot of malls, and you’re likely to find an indoor playground inside each one of them. They’re relatively expensive in terms of things to do with kids but worth it for the entertainment value for young kids in my opinion!

Whichever indoor playground in KL you choose, entry fees are usually cheaper on the weekdays. The prices we saw ranged from about 30rm to 65rm per kid (about $7-$15USD).

The indoor playgrounds we visited during our time in KL

We ended up visiting three indoor play areas during our four week stay.

Firstly we went to the spaceship play area inside the massive one Utama (32rm entry off peak). This mall also has plenty of other entertainment options including indoor sky diving, a surf simulator and an indoor climbing gym!

The second play area we tried was at paradigm mall and at 30rm was the best one in my opinion. Your kid gets harnessed in and makes their way around the climbing circuit with a big slide at the end. They can go around as many times as they like. 

There is a small soft play area for the wee babes, a climbing wall, simulated rides, and you can eat your own snacks. There are also a couple of other indoor play options on the same level.

The 3rd play area we visited was in Atria Mall. They have an indoor playground there called jungle gym, which we opted out of because we didn’t have a lot of time that day and the price was quite high. It was 45rm kids, 25rm for under 2’s, and 5rm for adults to sit and watch. These were the off peak rates!

But just outside the jungle gym is another play space. You can take a train ride around the mall floor, make some arts and crafts and go on the ride on toys. Ayla got the combo package of a train ride, horse ride and craft (she chose a magnet) for 20rm.

Endless other indoor things to do in Kuala Lumpur with kids

I noticed that the Atria mall also offers art sessions (50rm 1 hour, 100rm 2 hours) and music classes. The IPC mall also has baking sessions (70rm 1 hour).

There is really no shortage of things to do with kids in KL on a hazy, rainy, or boiling hot day. Overall it’s such a family friendly place.

If the big kids want an indoor thrill there’s even a full-sized indoor roller Coaster in KL! Check out the Berjaya Time Square Theme Park website for all the details. Other popular indoor Kuala Lumpur childrens attractions include Kidzania KL and Mega Kidz World.

Other things to do in Kuala Lumpur with kids

There are so many other things to do in Kuala Lumpur with kids, that we didn’t get time to do ourselves. Some other Kuala Lumpur kids activities that other families have enjoyed include:

• Bukit Bintang for its upscale malls, fashion boutiques, and lively sidewalk restaurants
• Sunway Lagoon Theme Park, located about 20 minutes from Kuala Lumpur, has over 80 attractions to enjoy
• The Batu caves, which is a hill with some beautiful caves, temples, and a very large and spectacular buddha statue. I visited the Batu Caves many years ago, pre-children, and can confirm it’s awesomeness!
• Another family we met really enjoyed the Islamic arts museum, so be sure to check it out if it’s something your family could be interested in

You can also check out Happy Go KL for the latest information about activities and events for kids in KL.

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