Family-Friendly, Fun Sporting Events in Houston, Texas

No family-friendly sporting event list would be complete for Houston, Texas without mentioning the Houston Astros and their home at the Minute Maid Stadium (The Juice Box) in downtown Houston. For the schedule of those events you can visit the Astros and Minute Maid Stadium's website. There are family night events and discounts, so check frequently for changes and other fun things besides baseball.

But if you're looking for other places to take the family out for a sporting event the kids might love, you might have to look further to find those kid-friendly sporting events. While some parents enjoy taking kids to hockey, wrestling and boxing events, for the purposes of our family-friendly roundups, we're going to avoid the more aggressive sporting (including a Texas favorite: The Houston Rodeo) events and stick with events that will be fun for the whole family, regardless of age.

Reliant Park & Stadium, Next to the Former Houston Astrodome

Reliant Stadium is host to many of the NCAA basketball games, including the NCAA Final Four. Also at Reliant Stadium this upcoming spring and summer: Metro Dash (running, track event), Gold Cup Soccer, and the National Summer Senior Games. Reliant Park and Stadium's website can be found here, where visitors can browse the events to find the right one for the family.

Houston Dynamo and Houston Cougars at Robertson Stadium

Okay, so there's more to Robertson Stadium than just being the home of the Houston Dynamo and Cougars, but that's a great place to start. These football events are great family fun. In addition to football, there are also college and high school track and field events and soccer, among other things. Robertson Stadium officially belongs to the University of Houston, but others use the stadium for events. For more information about the events at Robertson Stadium, you can visit the official Robertson Stadium website and also visit the Houston Dynamo website for event listings.

Toyota Center - NBA, Concerts, Events and More

Sure, the Toyota Center is home to many wonderful concerts and events. In fact, Bon Jovi performs there this year, and the Trans-Siberian Orchestra comes annually. But one of the things the Toyota Center is best known for is the NBA games hosted there with the Houston Rockets. This event is great for families, because there's a little something for most age groups. Alcohol is served at most events, and there are family tickets sold at discounts. In particular, in August, there are special four-pack family ticket packages that include seats and meals/snacks and drinks. With this package, kids even get to go on the court after the game for free three-throws with some of the team members of the Comets.

Rice University Stadium - College Ball

If you like college football, Rice Stadium is a good stop for less expensive family sports spectator fun. Their summer schedule is slim, but during the long college semesters, there are plenty of home games to keep the family busy. Spectators can also attend other sporting events, including soccer matches, at Rice Stadium during the summer and fall seasons.

With so many college and professional teams playing and visiting through Houston, these venues should keep any sports-loving family busy attending games, events and special awards for their favorite sports teams this summer. One last piece of advice: Contact the local district high schools for their game schedules. There are some fantastic high school football, basketball, baseball and soccer games during the first and last part of summer, and many of them are free or very inexpensive to attend, and they can be a lot of fun.