Boston is a
city of historic significance,
four-star restaurants and glamorous
and trendy nightspots. However, when
you’re traveling with your children,
they’re not likely to want an
opulent dinner at L’Espalier or
green apple martinis at some chic
Back Bay watering hole. To borrow a
sentiment from Cyndi Lauper, kids
just want to have fun, and, luckily,
Boston is positively brimming with
places where children of all ages
can find entertainment and good
times—be they educational or purely
recreational. What follows are some
of Panorama’s suggestions for the
best places to take the young’uns as
you explore the Hub together.
Learning Can Be Fun
Though kids don’t always muster up
enthusiasm for school, Boston’s
Museum of Science (refer to
museums
listing) provides a
learning experience that will surely
impress your junior Einstein.
Highlights include interactive
exhibits about everything from the
natural world to electricity to
outer space, as well as unbelievable
3-D IMAX and planetarium shows.
Aspiring
marine biologists will have a whale
of a time at the New England
Aquarium (refer to
wildlife
listing). Kids can view
the enormous penguin exhibit, watch
trained seals perform, touch sea
stars, hermit crabs and sea urchins
in the Tide Pool and see 675 species
of marine life up close in the
central giant ocean tank.
Landlubbers, on the other hand, can
safari with the family to the
Franklin Park Zoo. Have a
roaring good time with the tigers
and the African lion, explore the
Savannah with ostriches and zebras,
and go Down Under with kangaroos and
kookaburras. The zoo also includes a
tropical rainforest—boasting a
brand-new gorilla enclosure—an
extensive bird exhibit and a petting
farm. Or head to the Stone Zoo
in Stoneham. There, youngsters can
meet snow leopards, jaguars,
flamingos, river otters and many
other furry, feathered and scaly
friends. Refer to
wildlife
listings.
—Katie
Veillette
Touring That’s Not Boring
Historical
walking tours can be interesting for
grown-ups—but for little ones,
“history” means last month, and
little legs get tired. An exception
to the rule is Boston by Little
Feet (refer to
tours listing),
an hour-long trek designed
specifically for kids. The tour
looks at Boston’s architecture and
history from a child’s perspective,
holding your kids’ interest without
leaving them exhausted.
A tour bus
plunging into water is not something
you see everyday (ideally), but in
Boston, Duck Boats—amphibious
vehicles designed to travel on both
land and water—are as common a sight
as a bowl of clam chowder. Newcomers
to the scene, Super Duck Tours
(877-343-8257, daily 10 a.m.–2:30
p.m., Sat & Sun ’til 4:30 p.m.,
tickets: $23, children $15) take
your sightseeing tour off shore,
beginning at Charlestown Navy Yard
and alternating between land and in
Boston Harbor, checking out sights
like the USS Constitution and
the historic North End.
If you like
your tours short and relaxing, pile
the kids on another unique boat—the
Swan Boats, popular swan-shaped,
peddle- powered boats that have
taken families around the Public
Garden pond since 1877.
—Katie
Veillette
Mommy! Buy Me Something
When it comes
to shopping, you dream of chi-chi
stores on Newbury Street—but trying
on haute couture with the tykes in
tow? Pass. Our suggestion is to mix
up your shopping trip with a couple
of spots that will have the kids
excited, too. Fortunately, Boston
retailers realize little people need
stuff of their own.
When
heading down Newbury in search of
your next fashion statement, be sure
to take your kids into Petit
Bateau (171 Newbury St.,
617-425-0042), a popular French
boutique specializing in classic
clothing for babies and children.
Or, for a more eclectic collection,
check out Mulberry Road (46
Gloucester St., 617-859-5861). This
funky children's store carries hip
fashions for city babies, like Urban
Smalls “Nobody puts baby in a
corner” onesies.
If it’s
just toys your kids crave, stop by
Stellabella Toys (1360
Cambridge St., 617-491-6290) for a
plethora of no-batteries-required
games, puzzles and arts and crafts,
or the popular Build-A-Bear
Workshop (refer to
toys listing)
where your child can design and
build his or her own unique,
individual stuffed animal friend.
—Erica
Coray
Curtain Call
Boston’s got
great theaters, but Shakespeare in
the park or an experimental dance
version of Oedipus isn’t an ideal
outing for the kiddies. Luckily
there are plenty of theaters in town
that cater to families.
The first
of its kind in New England, the
Puppet Showplace Theatre (refer
to
kids corner
listing) uses this
timeless artform to present two
shows a week that will knock your
sock (puppet)s off. Using
marionettes, hand and shadow
puppets, the PST’s dynamic
productions range from classic
fairy-tales to more cutting edge
stories, including upcoming
performances of Sir George and
the Dragon (April 28 & 29
at 1 and 3 p.m.) and The
Hungry Caterpillar & Other Tales
(May 2 & 3 at 10:30 a.m.)
If your
youngsters prefer human actors, the
Boston’s Children Theatre
(Grand Lodge of Masons, 186 Tremont
St., 617-424-6634) might be the
place for them. For more than 50
years, BCT has staged shows starring
casts made up of youngsters aged
9–18, but you don’t have to be a kid
to enjoy their latest musical, A
Year with Frog & Toad (April
28 & 29 and May 5 & 6 at 2
p.m.). This theatrical version
of the stories of Arnold Lobel
follows the adventures of two
charming amphibians who know what it
means to be best friends.
It’s not a
conventional theater, but 5W!ts
(refer to
amusements
listing)—Boston’s first
interactive action-adventure
attraction—does engross its young
visitors in TOMB, the story of a
trip to a buried pharaoh’s final
resting place. Your children
(preferably ages 7 and up) are right
in the middle of the action, thanks
to state-of-the-art movie-like sets,
special effects and a clever script.
Finally,
the Wheelock Family Theatre
(refer to
theater
listing) presents
multicultural productions that cater
to audiences of all ages and
backgrounds, with their current
production transporting families to
that timelessly enchanting forest,
the 100 Acre Woods, in A.A. Milne’s
Winnie-the-Pooh.
—Arielle
Altman
Kid-Friendly Fare
Little tummies
rumbling? Visitors to the Children’s
Museum are in luck, with the
family-friendly Flour Bakery and
Cafe (12 Farnsworth St.,
617-338-4333) located just down the
street, serving up delicious sticky
buns and muffins as well as gourmet
sandwiches, hearty soups and pizzas.
Of course,
most children’s favorite part of the
meal is dessert, and nothing
satisfies quite like ice cream.
Boston has plenty of great spots for
the cold stuff—head to Ben &
Jerry’s (800 Boylston St.,
617-266-0767) for fabulous ice cream
and yogurt concoctions like Phish
Food or Half Baked, or grab a Red
Sox-inspired scoop of Green Monster
Tea or Cherry Ortiz at Beantown’s
award-winning J.P. Licks (352
Newbury St., 617-236-1666).
—Katie
Veillette
|
Children’s Museum Expands
 From
its humble beginnings in
Jamaica Plain in 1912, to
its current location in a
massive former warehouse on
the South Boston waterfront,
the Boston Children’s
Museum has long been the
city’s premiere destination
for kids and their parents.
On April 14, the museum
reopened to the public after
a 23,000-square-foot
expansion project. Now, more
than ever before, a visit to
the Children’s Museum offers
fun and enrichment behind
every corner for children
ages 10 and under.
Entering into a
brand-new, sun-filled lobby
that overlooks Fort Point
Channel and the future site
of the rebuilt Boston Tea
Party Museum, young
daredevils, acrobats and
wannabe monkeys alike will
delight in the ground
floor’s centerpiece
attraction—the New Balance
Climber. This three-story
tall sequence of curved
wooden platforms, totally
enclosed within a netting of
steel cabling, offers
youngsters who think
elevators are for old people
their own special way of
utilizing their climbing
skills to negotiate their
way all the way up to
attractions on upper levels.
Before heading up, check
out the Museum’s new
permanent exhibit, Kid
Power, which takes up
residence in the newly
created first-floor
exhibition space. “It’s an
expansion of our focus on
molding a healthy, active
generation of children,”
says Rick Stockwood, the
BCM’s director of public and
government relations.
Interactive exhibit pieces
such as the Power Launch
(which lets kids see how
high they can launch a
tennis ball by dropping a
weighted bowling ball), the
Lightspace Dance Floor, the
pulley seats (in which
children use ropes to see
how high they can lift
themselves), basketball
hoops, and—an old
favorite—the climbing wall
“[help] educate children
about how to use energy more
smartly,” says Stockwood.
On the upper levels, many
favorite exhibits remain
from the pre-expansion days,
including the Airplay
exhibit, featuring
instruments used by
legendary performance
artists Blue Man Group; an
expanded “Arthur” exhibit,
based on the beloved PBS
series; and the Art Studio,
in which children can
explore their artistic side.
However, all have been, as
Stockwood puts it,
“reoriented for more
specialized access, so that
visitors can more easily
pick and choose what they
see, rather than wander
through all the exhibits.”
The exterior of the
Children’s Museum has
changed as well, and will
continue its evolution
throughout the summer,
culminating this September
in a new Children’s Wharf
along the Fort Point
Channel. Stockwood says the
new wharf will feature
greenspace for little ones
to romp in, a Naturewalk
boasting a variety of
vegetation from all across
New England, and a mini-maze
of granite boulders suitable
for climbing. Until then,
however, the newly
constructed brick courtyard,
with its shady willow trees,
and the wooden Harborwalk
provide ample space for
fair-weather programming
such as musical concerts and
the BCM’s popular Movies at
the Milk Bottle film
screenings.
“With the expansion, the
intent was to carry out the
mandate we’ve always had: to
provide a fun, educational
place for kids and
families,” says Stockwood.
“And we really feel we’re
now doing that while
offering a completely
different experience.”
—Josh B. Wardrop |
|
