You don’t need a big budget for a good family day. Here are free and low-cost places near Lynn, Salem, Peabody and Revere, plus two tricks most parents don’t know about: library museum passes and Card to Culture discounts.

By our editors · Facts checked October 19, 2026 · Sources: each library’s, museum’s and agency’s own website. Rules and prices change, so check the link before you go.

Disclosure: Treehouse Learning Center, which runs childcare and therapy programs in Massachusetts, publishes KidBrief. When we point you to child care, we send you to the state’s official list of every licensed program, and we always label ours. How we make money.

Trick 1: Borrow a museum pass from your library

Many libraries lend passes that give you free or cheaper admission to museums, zoos and parks. You need a NOBLE library card, and you reserve the pass ahead of time.

  • Lynn Public Library: for Lynn residents 18 and older. Reserve up to 10 passes in 30 days (2 a day at most), up to 60 days ahead. Cancel if you can’t go, or you can be blocked for 30 days. Lynn museum passes
  • Salem Public Library: age 16 and up. Passes include the North Shore Children’s Museum, Zoo New England, Mass Audubon, the House of the Seven Gables, Massachusetts State Parks and the Lynn Museum. Reserve up to a month ahead, or call (978) 744-0860. Salem museum passes
  • Peabody Institute Library: up to 10 passes a month, one pass per family per day. Questions: [email protected]. Peabody museum passes

Trick 2: EBT, WIC or ConnectorCare? Use Card to Culture

If your family has an EBT card, a WIC card or ConnectorCare health insurance, many museums and arts places in Massachusetts give you free or deeply discounted admission. It’s a state program called Card to Culture. Show your card at the door, and check the list of participating places first.

Free and cheap places near you

  • North Shore Children’s Museum, Peabody: $12 a person (babies under 12 months free). With EBT, WIC or ConnectorCare it’s $3 a person; call 978-538-5765 to reserve. With a library pass it’s $6. Tickets
  • Lynn Museum & Arts Center: free on Wednesdays 3–7 pm, and kids under 12 are always free. Lynn residents pay $5, and it’s $2 with an EBT or WIC card. Lynn Museum
  • Peabody Essex Museum, Salem: kids under 16 are always free, and so are Salem residents and people who work in Salem. Closed Tuesdays and Wednesdays. Visit PEM
  • Lynn Woods Reservation: 2,200 acres and more than 30 miles of trails, plus Dungeon Rock and the Rose Garden. Visit Lynn Woods
  • Nahant Thicket (Mass Audubon, Furbush Rd., Nahant): free for all ages, dawn to dusk, with a short quarter-mile trail. Great for bird watching. No dogs. Nahant Thicket
  • Massachusetts state parks: free to enter. Some charge for parking during posted hours. State park parking
  • Brooksby Farm, Peabody: the play yard is free during business hours, and there’s a free story hour on Sundays in November. Brooksby Farm

This fall

For pumpkin patches, corn mazes and fall farm events, see our fall guide for the North Shore.

Know a free family activity we missed? Email [email protected] with the link, and we’ll check it and add it.