Useful Websites - For the Family
Good sources of information
-
The Metropolitan District
Commission (MDC) website lists family activities around the Boston
area. Many of these places can be reached by public transportation.
- The
Boston Parents' Paper is a free monthly publication that you will
find stacked inside the door at the children's branch of Wordsworth,
inside some supermarkets and day care centers. It has great articles
and listings of children's events in the greater Boston area for every
day of the month.
- Another good source of activities is the Calendar section of the Thursday
edition of the
Boston Globe.
Children's Favorites
- The New England Aquarium: Near South
Station, the aquarium has a four-story fish tank, penguins, special
exhibits, a sea lion show, otters, and launches whale watch tours in
good weather from its dock (always bring a jacket).
- The Children's Museum: Educational
and fun "hands-on" exhibits for kids of all ages. A favorite
is the two-story climbing maze.
- The Science Museum and Omni Theater:
Lines can be very long for both the museum and the Omni. You can order
your tickets ahead of time via their website. Also, membership is $
which allows you to bypass lines and stop by as often as you'd like.
- The
Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology and The
Harvard Museum of Natural History: These museums are back-to-back
in the same building on Divinity Ave. They are perfect for children
with their creaky wooden floors, anthropological exhibits, permanent
life-size stuffed animal exhibit (some of which are extinct now); famous
glass flowers and dazzling mineral collection. There are also special
kids' programs. The gift shops are great to browse in as well.
- Sackler Saturdays at the Sackler Museum at Harvard are offered during
the fall and spring. Programs are free and are geared to children ages
six to eleven; children must be accompanied by an adult. For more information,
call (617) 495-4402.
- Boston Tea Party Ship
and Museum: Kids can climb aboard a working replica of one of three
ships, the Beaver II, involved in the Boston Tea Party (Closed Dec.
1 - March 1)
- Charlestown
Navy Yard: USS Constitution is the oldest commissioned naval vessel
afloat in the world and there is a good museum next to it made for kids.
The USS Cassin Young, refitted and modernized in the yard's dry-dock,
represents the type of ship built in the yard during World War II.
- Franklin Park Zoo: A 72-acre
zoo accessible by public transportation.
- Puppet Showplace Theater:
Brookline Village T-stop on the green line, is a nonprofit performing
arts organization committed to excellence in puppetry for all audiences.
Activities for different seasons
- Apple-Picking: September and October are apple-picking months in New
England. There are orchards everywhere in the towns of Harvard and Stow,
off of Route 2 West. Pumpkins, squash and real apple cider are for sale
at stands along the way. For a listing of orchards and other pick-your-own
farms, visit the website farmstands.
A particular favorite because of its wide assortment of apples and its
cut-down-your-own Christmas trees, is Shelburne
Farm in Stow.
Outings if you have a car
- In Lincoln, the DeCordova Museum,
Drumlin Farms and Walden Pond are close to each other. The DeCordova
has a great sculpture garden and trails around a huge pond; Drumlin
Farms is operated by the Massachusetts Audubon Sociey and has exhibits,
animals, hay rides, special workshops for kids and is a great place
for small children to run around.
- Old Sturbridge Village, out west on
the Mass. Turnpike in Sturbridge, and Plymouth
Plantation south on Route 3 in Plymouth, are both recreations of
life in earlier times. Old Sturbridge Village consists of forty historical
buildings with interpreters recalling work, family and social life of
a rural 1830 New England community. Plymouth Plantation is a living
history museum of 17th-century Plymouth. Pilgrims, old houses, customs
and their own special Thanksgiving take you back in time to the earliest
days of New England.
- Cross-country
Skiing at the Weston Ski Trails. They have two sleds available for
rental for children; one is covered and one holds two children.
