Time flies once kids come onto the scene, and before you know it, toddlers become teenagers. Travel is a great way to teach kids about the world around them. It awakens their sense of wonder, especially if it is combined with play. A perfect way to create family memories is to amass a bucket list of experiences and destinations that appeal to both children and adults.

Start with The Strong National Museum of Play in Rochester, NY, devoted to the history and exploration of play. Interactive displays keep little ones busy discovering a world of superheroes at the American Comic Book Heroes exhibit; colourful fish and sea creatures in a massive coral reef aquarium; a butterfly garden; and displays dedicated to Sesame Street, Peanuts, and more. museumofplay.org

Youngsters get a close-up look at rescued sea turtles at the Georgia Sea Turtle Center on Jekyll Island where the public can observe the reptiles being fed and receiving veterinary care. georgiaseaturtlecenter.org

San Francisco, CA, is made for fun. The California Academy of Sciences in Golden Gate Park houses a massive indoor rainforest (home to butterflies, poison-dart frogs, orb-weaver spiders and snakes), planetarium, aquarium and natural history museum. More than 20,000 marine animals, including turtles, sharks and rays, are found at the Aquarium of the Bay. Older kids will be amazed by the free Cable Car Museum where steel cables and hundreds of small pulleys power the world-famous cable cars up and down the city’s incredible hills. sftravel.com

Skip Bourbon Street in New Orleans and head farther west to Lafayette, Louisiana. Kids will be mesmerized by what they learn about the natural world on a swamp tour. Expose them to hands-on displays at giant building stations or to the opportunity to play the role of a lifesaving paramedic or a patient-in-need in a full-sized ambulance at the Children’s Museum of Acadiana. Lafayette is also home to the Jean Lafitte National Historical Park and Preserve, the top spot to explore Acadian music, storytelling, dance and food, as well as the outdoor wonders of the Atchafalaya Basin, Louisiana’s wildest landscape. lafayettetravel.com

Need a break from big-city life in Texas? Just minutes from Houston, the 1,112-hectare Armand Bayou Nature Center is the largest urban wilderness preserve in the USA. Its natural wetlands forest, prairie and marsh habitats are full of eco opportunities including boardwalk hiking trails, guided Preserve Watch Nature Tours, pontoon cruises, canoe tours and special hikes like the Night Hike, Owl Prowl or Bat Hike. abnc.org