Where can I leave my kids to visit Las Vegas casinos?

There plenty of activities for families with children as young as yours are, and lots at no cost such as Circus Circus or the Children’s Park and Playground at Town Square Shopping Mall. You also want to visit a casino with your wife, and that means child care, which can be done through most hotels. Those that don't offer in-house childcare services can arrange for an independent, licensed babysitter to come to your hotel. Before you arrive, try exploring the Las Vegas Kids web site which is loaded with information and ideas.

(Really a comment to Johns-305's post, but it won't fit.) I must disagree with Johns-305. While there was a period where Las Vegas tried to market itself as a family destination it was a flop and they went back to the adult playground model.

The basic problem is there is very little for kids to do here. Gambling is age-restricted and the gaming commission makes them be pretty strict about this, while it's permissible for children to pass through because the layout of the casinos generally makes it impossible to not go through gaming areas and get anywhere they're expected to keep on going, not stop and look.

There are a few shows which would be interesting to kids but most are not--nudity is common, as is some pretty raunchy humor. Also, shows that don't fall into either of these categories often have a lot of content that's aimed at those of middle age or above--there will be too many references that will fly right past the younger crowd leaving them puzzled.

There are a few things like magic acts that don't fall into any of these traps but that doesn't add up to much for kids to do. There are a few kid-friendly attractions but again it's limited.

That being said, showing your family Las Vegas would not be a problem. Just expect to shell out a fair amount for child care if you plan to stay very long.

From our personal experience, which I've written down the following blog posts, there are surprisingly lots of fun things to do in Las Vegas with kids. If you are going to be there during the summer, you should choose a family-friendly hotel with a nice pool, like Mirage, MGM Grand, or Mandalay Bay. Many of the resorts along the strip also have kid-friendly Vegas shows, like Terry Fator at Mirage, Blue Man Group at Luxor, and Tournament of Kings at Excalibur. There are even some places to grab a meal and listen to live music with kids like House of Blues at Mandalay or Nine Fine Irishmen at NYNY (kids allowed from 9-11pm while seated for dinner), which is one of our favorite family hangouts in Vegas. There are various attractions all along the strip that kids will like, for example the shark aquarium at Mandalay Bay, Dolphin and Lion Habitat at Mirage, and Bodies/Titanic Exhibits at Luxor. I am a family travel blogger and we cover Vegas a lot on the blog (see hyperlinks above), mostly because it is one of our favorite places to visit each year with kids!!