Now that it’s spring, and the weather would be nice were it not for the wind, I’m looking for fun stuff to do with Aaron. Naturally, we’re on a pretty tight budget right now, so we can’t afford to go whole-hog and spend a ton of money for entertainment.
We’ve been to the National Zoo in Washington, which Aaron seemed to enjoy, and we went to the Smithsonian American History museum to visit Oscar the Grouch, with which Aaron seemed unimpressed. (If it’d been Elmo, Ernie, or Cookie Monster, he’d have been all over it.)
Basically, Aaron likes to look at stuff that moves, shines, or makes noise. He’s 20 months old, so his understanding of things is pretty limited.
The National Aquarium in Baltimore is $5 per person after 5 PM on Fridays, $17.50 per person otherwise. Kids under three are free. Fish are fairly shiny, and they tend to move! (And the way the place is structured, you can spend as much or as little time as you like in each area, so it’s easy to move on immediately if he gets bored.) I’m not very familiar with the mental capacity of 20-month-olds, but if he’s seen and comprehended Finding Nemo, they have stuff on that, telling you where all the Finding Nemo characters are in the aquarium. I think the dolphin shows are happening again, too, but I don’t know what the deal is with times and prices.
The Maryland Science Museum in Baltimore is terrific, although there is an admission price (looks like just $4 for adults though, and kids under 3 are free). They have plenty of great hands-on stuff and a kids’ room that is fantastic—lots of activities, toys to play with, space to run around.
The Inner Harbor itself has lots of seagulls, which provide plenty of chasing fun for a toddler.
In DC, I would recommend the Smithsonian Natural History museum, particularly the Insect Zoo. The insects are live and visitors can, I think, hold them if they want to do so. Like all Smithsonian stuff, this is free. They’ve also redone their Mammal Hall, which has tons of taxidermied animals and interactive exhibits.
Kids seem to adore the Air & Space Museum as well–if you’re looking for shiny, that’s the place to go.
Later in the summer, the Smithsonian Folklife Festival will happen, which can be crowded but provides plenty of free entertainment—dancing, singing, craft demonstrations.
If you’re willing to go outside the city at all, you may want to explore Brookside Gardens, which is in Montgomery County. The gardens are beautiful and there’s lots of wildlife. Brookside Nature Center has plenty of free programs for kids and animals on display. Here’s their site: http://www.mc-mncppc.org/parks/facilities/brookside_nature.shtm
Feel free to ignore these suggestions if you only want city things.
Over near Lancaster - Strasburg Railroad . There’s a fee - but the little guy would be free. It’s great to pack a picnic lunch, ride the train down to a picnic grove, get off and run around / eat, ride the train back.
Strawberry picking. I know of places near York but I’m assuming there are local Berry farms throughout the area. Places should start doing Pick-Your-Own around the end of May. Some will have cherry picking after that if the cherry crop survived the winter (it always seemed to be hit or miss).
Maize Mazes. There are usually several in the area. The Strasburg page links to one but there should be others in York/Adams county.
Pennsylvania has wondeful state parks that don’t have entrance fees. York County has good county parks, as well - I’m not sure about surrounding counties.
Do you bike at all? There’s a rail trail that goes from downtown York to north of Baltimore. It goes along Gunpowder Falls creek in northern Maryland and you can often spot beavers. It also passes an Emu farm. There are always tons of kids in bike trailers / seats.
I’ll second the National Aquarium. If you can swing the after 5 on Fridays, it’s a great price. We always took the light rail into Baltimore from Timonium (right off 83) and it’s about a mile from the train station to Inner Harbor.
We took the kids to Philly’s Please Touch Museum a few weeks ago. It was quite the rip-off, in my opinion. It was definitely not worth the almost fifty dollars we paid for my brood to get in.
Not this time of year, no. I was thinking more Summer Acitivies. During wet summers, they can open by the end of July. I guess the current nice weather (where I am, anyway) has me anticipating the seasons a bit.
A suggestion from one of my friends at school: The Philly Mint. According to their website, I can arrange a visit through my Congresscritter with two weeks notice.
Longwood Gardens, in Chester County, PA is simply stunning. Junior will be admitted free, but Mom and Dad should try and go on reduced admission day, Tuesday IIRC. The greenhouses and grounds are impeccably maintained, featuring flowers of every type imaginable; they also feature lighted fountain shows set to orchestra music and fireworks throughout the summer. Dining opportunities abound in nearby West Chester, PA.
If junior is the nature hike type, I’d suggest Ricketts Glen, one of Eastern PA’s best state parks. A family with small children can sample the incredible waterfall filled trails within a day at a leisurely pace, so long as Dad is willing to offer shoulder rides.
Minor nit - there’s a fee to ride the train. If you just want to take a look around, it’s free.
Lots of other train related stuff in Strasburg. The Pennsylvania Railway Museum is probably too dull for a toddler, but consider for example the Choo-Choo Barn, a big model train layout with lots of moving bits. You can go around as many times as you like for five bucks a head, preschoolers free.
My vote is NO! for the Philly Mint. Kids and I visited that a few years back, and it was boring. The most cool thing was to see a huge tub of pennies, but that lasted about three seconds. And like most things, it was swarmed with tourists–busloads of tourists. (Yeah, we were tourists as well, but so what?) I cannot imagine taking a baby to the Philly Mint. My (at the time) high school and preschooler were bored out of their minds. We had much more fun with the huge Monopoly playing pieces at the Brotherly Love square park thing (which have since moved on, if I’m correct).
Maybe 15 minutes from the DC line is Wheaton Regional Park. It has a fairly large playground and picnic area, free. Nominal fee (like under $10, maybe under $5) gets you on a Merry-go-round, and a small kid’s train (that parents ride too). There is a little mark-up at snack bar but it isn’t a $6.00 Hotdog type of place.
Brookside Gardens is part of the Park as well. It has a Butterfly Garden and a children’s garden. Statues of Fairies, toadstools and just right little foot bridges abound. It too is free. My relative’s 3-4 year old daycare classes made field trips there – not positive if your guy is *quite * old enough, but in a year or so I highly recommend it and it si free so what the heck
Great Falls is a pleasant Spring trip. I believe it costs $5.00 p/car but it could captivate a little guy – lots of rushing water and noise that a little fella can safely drop sticks into. Again, >15 minutes from DC.
Keep looking at the Smithsonian. Especially in the summer there is a new thing for kids almost every weekend. For instance, this weekend at the Museum of African American History there will be a tap dance exhibition.
Attached are the Calendar of events on the Mall. Some of the Band stuff (like the Twilight Tattoo) are great for little ones.
What we liked to do as kids was go to the Allegheny Railroad park to see performers doing folk music, or a brass band, or dancers, or something similar. All outdoors events, very informal-you bring a blanket and sit on the grass and the kids aren’t expected to sit still (quite the opposite, actually). I surfed around the national parks website a bit, but didn’t find many listings for events interesting for a 20 month old near the areas you asked for. Usually it’s easier to find such listings in the newspaper, but you might try checking the websites when it’s closer to summer. The events are usually free or really close to it.
He’s probably not up for it yet, but for other folks in our region with kids, please remember that The Baltimore Museum of Art is FREE the first Thursday of every month (e.g. May 6th). There’s always some type of live performance (music group, a play, dancers, etc.), a few tours, a make-and-take workshop for families and other events…plus all the cool art and stuff we have every day. Also, the museum is open from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Free First Thursday. If anyone would like more information about this event or the BMA, feel free to send me an e-mail.
While I’m plugging museums, I’d love to hear more about your experience at Please Touch, Juanita. I visited once (as a museum studies student, sans kids), so I am interested in the opinions of someone who actually used the museum.