Out of School, Into JXN: A Fall Break Plan for Every Age
Five days without school can feel like a long week, unless you're spending Fall Break in Jackson, MS.
From the State Fair and Pumpkin Adventure to hands-on museums and pizza with a side of wax sculpting, here's how to fill Oct. 12-16 for kids of every age.
Fall Break in Jackson runs Oct. 12-16 this year, and it lines up with two of the season's biggest family traditions: the Mississippi State Fair and Pumpkin Adventure at the Mississippi Agriculture & Forestry Museum. Pair them with hands-on museums, a giant playground and a few kid-approved restaurants, and you can fill the whole week without repeating a day.
Big Events Happening During Fall Break
Mississippi State Fair
Oct. 8-18, 2026
Mississippi Fairgrounds
The fair runs the entire break. This year's theme, "Let Freedom Ring!," ties into America250. Expect rides and fair food alongside pig races, a petting zoo, livestock shows and the Taste of the Dixie National Rodeo. New this year: the Flying Fools High Dive Show, the Royal Legacy Circus, the Fetch & Fish Show and chainsaw carving demonstrations. Don't skip the Biscuit Booth, where free syrup-filled biscuits are handed out daily. Flo Rida headlines Thursday, Oct. 15, at 7 p.m. in the Mississippi Coliseum.
Good for: all ages
Pumpkin Adventure at the MS Ag Museum
Wednesday-Friday, Oct. 14-16, 9 a.m.-noon (also Saturday, Oct. 17, 9 a.m.-3 p.m.)
1150 Lakeland Drive
A hayride loops the museum grounds and drops you off for a snack. Tour the Heritage Center Gallery, take photos around Small Town Mississippi, then pick a pumpkin from the patch to take home. The General Store stocks seasonal treats on the way out. While you're there, the train and carousel run for $1 extra, and the National Agricultural Aviation Museum shows off planes that actually flew over Southern farms.
Good for: pre-K through elementary
Hands-On Museums in the LeFleur Museum District
Mississippi Children's Museum
2145 Museum Drive
Fifty thousand square feet of climbing, steering and pretending. Kids can scale a giant map of Mississippi, crawl through the Gastro Climber (the slide is the exit), captain a shrimp boat, milk a cow, and drive cars and operate cranes in the World at Work gallery. Outside, the Literacy Garden and Pollinator's Playground keep the fun going. Closed Mondays.
Good for: pre-K through elementary
Mississippi Museum of Natural Science
2148 Riverside Drive
More than 200 living species fill a 100,000-gallon aquarium network. Alligators lounge in The Swamp, a 1,700-square-foot greenhouse, and the fossil wall includes a Mosasaurus and a giant sloth. Two and a half miles of nature trails wind through LeFleur's Bluff State Park outside. Open Mondays at 8 a.m.
Good for: all ages
Mississippi Sports Hall of Fame and Museum
1152 Lakeland Drive
Kids can throw pitches in the Hall of Fame Stadium, play on the MotionMagix floor and call a game from the Broadcast Booth. Teens who follow sports can dig into touch-screen kiosks with more than 500 interviews from Mississippi athletes, from Jerry Rice and Walter Payton to the Mannings. Open Mondays at 10 a.m.
Good for: elementary through high school
Outdoor Play
LeFleur's Bluff Playground
Museum Drive, at the Children's and Natural Science museums entrance
The state's largest playground covers 30,000 square feet for kids up to 12, most of it ADA accessible. Little ones get the Weedra, the first of its kind in the world. Older kids get the Hedra, one of only five in the world. It sits right between two museums, so it makes an easy break between visits.
Good for: pre-K through age 12
History, Art and Music for Middle and High Schoolers
Two Mississippi Museums
222 North Street
The Museum of Mississippi History and the Mississippi Civil Rights Museum share one building and one ticket. The history museum covers 15,000 years of the state's story. The Civil Rights Museum introduces visitors to Medgar Evers, Fannie Lou Hamer and the Movement that changed the nation. Its central gallery, "This Little Light of Mine," holds a sculpture that glows brighter as more people gather around it. Youth tickets cover ages 4-22. Closed Mondays.
Good for: middle and high school
Mississippi Museum of Art
North Lamar Street, downtown
The permanent collection, "New Symphony in Time," is free and includes Georgia O'Keeffe, Jacob Lawrence and Mississippi artists like Walter Inglis Anderson and Eudora Welty. Let younger siblings burn energy in the 1.2-acre Art Garden. Closed Mondays.
Good for: all ages, especially teens with an art interest
Mississippi Music Experience at The Iron Horse Grill
Downtown Jackson
Upstairs from the restaurant, this free museum fills a room with lifelike wax figures of Mississippi musicians, handcrafted by Anne Robin Luckett, from Elvis Presley to B.B. King, plus vintage instruments and memorabilia. It's a partnership with the Mississippi Musicians Hall of Fame. Make it a lunch or dinner stop and you've covered dining and a museum in one trip. Open during restaurant hours.
Good for: middle and high school
Oz at Lemuria Books
Banner Hall, 4465 I-55 North
Lemuria's children's section, Oz, is staffed by booksellers who will match a kid with the right book, whether that's a graphic novel, a fairy tale or history. Let each kid pick one book to start the second half of the semester.
Good for: pre-K through high school
A Public Art Scavenger Hunt
Citywide
Pull up the Visit Jackson public art map at bit.ly/jxnpublicart and turn murals into a scavenger hunt. Start with Shon Perryman's "JXN Icons" across from the Two Mississippi Museums, then hunt for the painted traffic signal boxes downtown before heading to Midtown and Fondren. Teens will get plenty of photo ops.
Good for: all ages
Where to Eat With Kids During Fall Break
Sal & Mookie's New York Pizza & Ice Cream Joint
200 District Blvd. at The District at Eastover
Instead of crayons, kids get strands of wax to sculpt while they wait, and finished creations line the walls. Pizza comes first, then the scoop shop inside serves sundaes, splits, shakes, malts and floats. Eat on the patio or take dessert out to the District Green.
Brent's Drugs
655 Duling Avenue, Fondren
Serving Jackson for eighty years from inside Mississippi's first shopping center, Brent's keeps its soda fountain and counter stools. The kids menu covers burgers, grilled cheese, hot dogs and buttermilk pancakes. Order milkshakes in Nutella, Dreamsicle or PB&J, or split a Cookie Monster Sundae.
Belhaven Terrace at Belhaven Town Center
When it's time to eat, head to The Terrace at Belhaven Town Center, where MayDay ice Cream, Poppy Pies and Wingmouth are all close at hand. Each kid can pick a favorite, and the family can regroup and play outside on the terrace. All three restaurants are closed Mondays, so save this one for Tuesday through Friday.
Good for: all ages
Aplos
4500 I-55 North at Highland Village
Parents get Mediterranean favorites like the ribeye gyro, wood-fired pizzas, hummus and falafel. Kids get cheese pizza and burgers. Outdoor seating gives little ones room to move, and frozen Greek yogurt is a kid favorite for dessert.
Nandy's Candy
1220 E. Northside Drive
Handcrafting chocolates since 1980, Nandy's is the sweet stop to end a long day: truffles, fudge or a sno-ball.
Planning Around Monday, Oct. 12
Several Jackson museums close on Mondays, so plan the first day of Fall Break carefully. On Monday, Oct. 12, the Mississippi Children's Museum, Two Mississippi Museums and Mississippi Museum of Art are closed. The Mississippi Museum of Natural Science (opens 8 a.m.), Mississippi Agriculture & Forestry Museum (opens 9 a.m.) and Mississippi Sports Hall of Fame and Museum (opens 10 a.m.) are open, and the Mississippi State Fair runs all week. Hours and prices can change, so check each museum's website before you go.
