Massachusetts - Kids Trails

Massachusetts is brimming with fun and educational activities for kids on vacation

Kids, parents, and vacations in New England can be a slice of heaven on Earth. But a successful vacation with youngsters usually requires planning. So, how do families find great outdoor and indoor activities for a New England vacation with children? This new Kids Trails page introduces lots of hands-on attractions designed to charm, entertain, and – dare we add – educate the kids. You might be amazed at how much diversity awaits you as you tour New England. Also, be sure to check the Children & Families page for more information on entertainment and lodgings that welcome children.

Berkshire Botanical Gardens
Stockbridge, MA  01262
Phone: 413-298-3926

A peaceful outdoor refuge of natural beauty, stunning display gardens, and classes for all ages and skill levels. The Children’s Discovery Garden, for children age 5 and older and their parents, focuses on plants and their ability to adapt to their surroundings. Other children’s activities and topics include building a Faerie House, the Color-Change Artist, Meet My Friend Herb!, and Creepers and Climbers. Check for seasonal changes in hours and programming.

Crab Apple Whitewater
3 Lake Moxie Road
The Forks, ME  04985
Toll-Free: 800-553-7238

For a memorable vacation...

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Three different trips on the Deerfield River in the Berkshire Mountains of Massachusetts offer varied degrees of excitement and experience. The Deerfield River Fife Brook Section, with fun, easy rapids, is a good introduction to whitewater rafting. The Deerfield River Monroe Bridge Section offers bigger whitewater. Lower sections of the Deerfield River are right for float trips for families with young children. Trips offered April 1 through October 15.

Historic Deerfield
88 Old Main Street
Deerfield, MA  01342
Phone: 413-775-7214

Open: Daily, 9:30 a.m. - 4:30 p.m.; call for seasonal changes.

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Situated on a mile-long street, Historic Deerfield preserves the architecture, artifacts and lifestyle of a New England town of the 18th and 19th centuries. Offerings include 13 period houses, exhibition galleries, and hands-on history activities for children covers topics like bees and honey, open-hearth cooking, and schoolhouse life in the 19th century. Check for seasonal changes in hours and programming.

Look Memorial Park
300 North Main Street
Florence, MA  01062
Phone: 413-584-5457

It’s a walk in the Park!

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A Private Non-Profit park located on the Berkshire Trail (Rt. 9) in Northampton, Look Memorial Park consists of 157 Acres of Park land. The Park features a 1.2 mile walking path, attractions such as a steamer train, bumper boats, Mini-Golf and Pedal Boats. Work up an appetite? Stop at the Picnic Store and pick up a delicious Hot Dog or Cheeseburger. The center of the Park features a large grassy field where guests often fly kites, throw Frisbees, play softball, or just sit and relax. Look Park is the Pioneer Valley’s best place for outdoor family fun, year round!

Magic Wings Butterfly Conservatory & Gardens
South Deerfield, MA  01373
Phone: 413-665-2805

For indoor and outdoor fun, visitors to this butterfly habitat can roam an 8,000-square-foot glass conservatory filled with butterflies, birds, insects, frogs, and tropical vegetation situated around a small waterfall and a pond of Japanese carp. Arts and crafts activities and educational talks for children are offered on Sunday afternoons. Check for seasonal changes in operating hours.

Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame
Springfield, MA  01105
Phone: 413-781-6500

Basketball fans will find exhibits, interactive kiosks, memorabilia, and hands-on activities. Children and adults can spend the day in the 80,000-square-foot facility shooting baskets on a regulation court, measuring their skills against sports legends in an interactive game. Kids are invited to coaches’ clinics on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Check for seasonal changes in operating hours.

Springfield Museums & Dr Seuss Nat’l Memorial Sculpture Garden
21 Edwards Street
Springfield, MA  01103
Phone: 413-263-6800

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Move kids’ indoor fun to the outdoors with a visit to this loving memorial in the hometown of Theodor Seuss Geisel, known to all children as Dr. Seuss. The garden’s five giant bronze sculptures include Dr. Seuss with the Cat in the Hat, Horton the Elephant, Yertle the Turtle, the Grinch, the Lorax, Gertrude McFuzz, Things One and Two, and Thidwick the Moose.

Springfield Science Museum
Springfield, MA  01103
Phone: 800-625-7738

The Science Museum is home to a live animal center with fish, insects, reptiles and amphibians in realistic natural habitats of an Amazon rainforest, coral reef, and New England harbor. In Dinosaur Hall, children can peer directly into the jaws of a full-sized replica of Tyrannosaurus rex. In the African Hall, a mock safari takes kids up to a bird’s eye view of the savannah. Check for seasonal changes in operating hours.

Tanglewood
Lenox, MA  01240
Phone: 413-637-1600

This is the legendary summer home of the Boston Symphony Orchestra and the Boston Pops. Seating indoors and on the lawn. Watch & Play! is a Sunday afternoon program for children who will be attending the Sunday concert at Tanglewood. Volunteers gather young music lovers for a discussion about an instrument, a musical concept, or the performance later that day. Call for schedule.

The Zoo in Forest Park & Education Center
Sumner Avenue (Route 83)
Springfield, MA  01138
Phone: 413-733-2251

Celebrating Nature's Diversity

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The zoo is the home to exotic animals of many species throughout the world. Among its other offerings, the zoo’s Family Program Series for kids and parents brings animal experts to the zoo for informal programs and activities. Animal Stories in July introduces the excitement of nature through literature. Check for seasonal changes in hours and programming.

Whip City Speedway
Westfield, MA  01085
Phone: 413-562-8092

This track is a quarter-mile clay oval with a one-eighth-mile inner oval. Events include Open Wheel Sprints on the quarter-mile track with classes by the engine size; Modified Lites on the quarter-mile track, with heats and features the same length as sprintcars; and Microstocks, Competition Karts, and 250cc Youth Sprints. Outdoor fun for kids and families. Call for schedule.

Zoar Outdoor
Route 2 (Mohawk Trail)
Charlemont, MA  01339
Toll-Free: 800-532-7483

The Northeast's leader in outdoor adventure

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Zoar Outdoor is New England's Leader in Outdoor Adventure, offering whitewater rafting, canoeing, kayaking, biking and rock climbing at our adventure resort on the Deerfield River in western Massachusetts. Our friendly professional staff, comfortable base camp and top-notch equipment ensure that your adventure will be memorable. From half-day family raft trips to week-long whitewater kayak clinics we can match your schedule and your desire for adventure. The Outfitters Shop is the Northeast's premier whitewater outlet featuring over 100 of the hottest designs in stock. Our expert staff can help you select a boat, but the greatest part of shopping at The Outfitters Shop is that you can try any boat before you buy it on the Deerfield River right in front of our shop.

Cape Cod Bay Marine Life Cruise
Wellfleet, MA  02667
Phone: 508-349-2615

This sanctuary comprises 1,100 acres of salt marsh, sandy beach, pine woodland, and freshwater pond, and is home to a wide array of wildlife. For fun and healthful activities, families can begin at the new Nature Center, visit the butterfly and hummingbird garden, and then wander along the five miles of trails. Indoor and outdoor educational activities for kids and adults, including walks, lectures, and cruises.

Cape Cod Potato Chips
Hyannis, MA  02601
Phone: 508-775-3358

Anybody hungry? Swing into the Cape Cod Potato Chips Factory weekdays from 9 to 5 for a free, self-guided tour of the making of potato chips. Who could resist?

Wellfleet Bay Wildlife Sanctuary
Route 6 and West Road
South Wellfleet, MA  02663
Phone: 508-349-2615

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This sanctuary comprises 1,100 acres of salt marsh, sandy beach, pine woodland, and freshwater pond, and is home to a wide array of wildlife. For fun and healthful activities, families can begin at the new Nature Center, visit the butterfly and hummingbird garden, and then wander along the five miles of trails. Indoor and outdoor educational activities for kids and adults, including walks, lectures, and cruises.

Zooquarium
West Yarmouth, MA  02673
Phone: 508-775-8883

As its name implies, Zooquarium has tanks of finny fish, shellfish, frogs, and turtles, and a seal and sea lion show full of playful antics. Close-up activities by children are encouraged at the Touch-Me Tide Pool, where visitors can hold living marine animals. Other native critters that can be viewed close-up and petted include foxes, bobcats, vultures, and farm animals.

Carlson Orchards
Harvard, MA  01451
Phone: 800-286-3916

This working farm welcomes kids and families out to the country throughout the year to pick fruit crops: blueberries, raspberries, pumpkins, peaches, nectarines, apples. Parents and children are welcome to take a tour of the apple orchard watch cider production in action – from selecting apples, to making the mash, to pasteurizing, to bottling and labeling.

Davis’ Farmland & Mega Maze
Sterling, MA  01564
Phone: 978-422-MOOO (6666)

Founded as a petting zoo and sanctuary for endangered breeds of farm livestock, this Children’s Discovery Farm offers a window for kids and families into traditional New England farming life. Visitors may observe and pet the animals, cool off during the summer in the Adventure Play & Spray water park, and roam (from August through October) in a three-dimensional corn maze.

Keown Orchards
Sutton, MA  01590
Phone: 508-865-6706

Farmstand and farm gift shop where kids and families are welcome to pick apples, pumpkins, fresh vegetables, strawberries and more. Special events during the season include Herb Weekend, Corn and Tomato Festival, Peach Party, Heritage Homecoming and Farm Day, Pumpkin Fest, and Apple Tasting. Gift packs, fruit baskets, and honey available. Open April 1 to December 24.

Old Sturbridge Village
1 Old Sturbridge Village Road, Off Rte 20
Sturbridge, MA  01566
Phone: 508-347-3362
Toll-Free: 800-SEE-1830

Old Sturbridge Village: The Story of a New Nation

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Step out of your world and into ours. Explore early New England in the company of farmers, craftsmen, and fascinating characters. Celebrate yesterday's proud traditions on your remarkable journey into America's past. Old Sturbridge Village offers a variety of ways to experience the artifacts, activities, and seasonal celebrations of rural New England during the first 50 years following the American Revolution (1790-1840). The centerpiece of the museum is a recreated rural New England town of the 1830s encompassing a center village, mills area, and countryside. Period handcrafts, heirloom gardens, and heritage breeds of farm animals are part of every village visit. Hands-on opportunities abound. The Visitor Center is home to our new History Gateway, including Kidstory an early learning gallery and Icons of New England exhibit, focusing on the history of what makes New England unique. Open year-round, daily except Mondays. Call ahead for holiday schedules.

The Butterfly Place
Westford, MA  01886
Phone: 978-392-0955

Massive glass atrium building contains up to 500 butterflies of 50 species from around the world. Display cases in the observation area contain butterflies at various stages of development. This area also includes a 15-minute video describing the life cycle of a butterfly. At the Show & Tell Bench, staff members discuss these fascinating creatures. Gift shop features Papillon Hatching Kits.

Boston Children's Museum
Boston, MA  02210
Phone: 617-426-8855

The museum’s interactive exhibits focus on early childhood development and have three themes: arts, culture, and science. Exhibits that encourage children to have fun while they learn are extensive, including the New Balance Climb, a climbing maze made up of brightly painted towers and tubes; Science Playground, a series of sensational physical science exhibits; Hall of Toys, filled with intricate dollhouses, and much more.

Boston Duck Tours
Boston, MA  02116
Phone: 617-267-DUCK

The Boston Duck Tours “duck” is a renovated World War II amphibious landing vehicle. Tours are led by ConDUCKtors who describe Boston landmarks as the duck motors past places like State House, Bunker Hill, Boston Common, Copley Square, and Quincy Market. Next comes the Splashdown, when your duck hops into the Charles River for a river-level tour of the city.

Franklin Park Zoo
One Franklin Park Road
Boston, MA  02121
Phone: 617-541-LION (5466)
Fax: 617-989-2025

Get Close.

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This zoo, a 72-acre site in Boston’s Franklin Park that is considered the jewel of Emerald Necklace Park System, is the place to relax with the animals (yours and the zoo’s). Habitats include Serengeti Crossing, an African savannah; the Franklin Farm’s petting zoo; the Kalahari Kingdom, with its eyeball-to-eyeball visits with lions; the Giraffe Savannah; the gorillas of the Tropical Forest; and Outback Trail.

United States Naval Shipbuilding Museum
Quincy, MA  02169
Phone: 617-479-7900

This museum is home to the USS Salem, the world’s only preserved heavy cruiser and place for children and families to explore this unique fighting vessel. In addition to day trips, kids can camp overnight on the USS Salem and take part in hands-on activities like radar tracking, damage control, simulated fire fighting, scavenger hunts, cold water survival, and first aid lessons.

USS Constitution Museum
Boston, MA  02129
Phone: 617-426-1812

In addition to touring the USS Constitution, kids and families can explore exhibits that chronicle the ship’s first 200 years and explain why the US Navy still preserves Old Ironsides as a commissioned warship. In “Sailors Speak: A Sailor’s Life for Me?” children can learn about sailors’ experiences at sea by taking part in traditional seafaring work. Also, the museum is home to the USS Constitution Model Shipwright Guild, whose members discuss their work with visitors

Aquinnah (Gay Head) Cliffs
Aquinnah (Gay Head)
Aquinnah (on the island of Martha's Vineyard), MA  02535
Phone: 508-627-4441

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One vacation memory the kids are sure to take home is the blazing orange and golden colors of the majestic Aquinnah Cliffs above Aquinnah Beach (Gay Head Public Beach). This national landmark is free of commercialism, so prepare to haul your food supplies along the 10-minute walk from the parking lot to the beach. Gay Head Lighthouse is open for sunset tours.

Nantucket Historical Association Whaling Museum
Nantucket, MA  02554
Phone: 508-228-1894

For generations, Nantucket was the New World capital of whaling. At the Whaling Museum, kids and parents will gasp at the size of a sperm whale skeleton and the collection of scrimshaw art. Children’s activities at museum allow lots of hands-on exploration and artistic fun. Concerts of traditional music take place all summer. Check for seasonal changes in operating hours.

The Flying Horses Carousel
Oak Bluffs
Martha’s Vineyard, MA  02557
Phone: 508-693-9481

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This carousel was built in Coney Island in 1876 and is said to be the nation’s oldest platform carousel in constant operation. Visitors can relax and enjoy the ride or they can reach for the traditional brass ring to win a free ride. Waiting area has fun arcade games, popcorn, and cotton candy. The carousel is open from Easter Saturday to Columbus Day. Check for seasonal changes in hours.

Discovery Museums
Acton, MA  01720
Phone: 978-264-4200

This pair of museums is a two-for-one bargain for families with younger and older children. Children’s Discovery Museum is a Victorian house transformed into hands-on exhibits and activities for pre-school children. The Science Discovery Museum, a contemporary structure, invites school-aged children to experiment with science and math. Check for seasonal changes in programs and hours.

Drumlin Farm Wildlife Sanctuary
Route 117, South Great Road
Lincoln, MA
Phone: 617-259-9807

This sanctuary, run by the Massachusetts Audubon Society, is a place to explore a working farm and a wildlife sanctuary in one. Livestock operations happen in the Animal Barns, where the farmers do chores and answer questions. At the Bird Hill and Drumlin Underground exhibits, kids can get close-up views of skunks, rabbits, owls, hawks, deer, and foxes.

Hammond Castle Museum
Gloucester, MA  01930
Phone: 978-283-7673

John Hays Hammond, Jr., a prolific inventor and art lover, built this medieval-style castle in the 1920s for his collection of Roman, medieval, and Renaissance artifacts. Visitors may explore the great hall, with its legendary pipe organ, indoor courtyard, Renaissance dining room, guest bedrooms, inventions exhibit room, and the tower dungeon. Tours are customized for children or adults.

Liberty Ride
Lexington, MA  02420
Phone: 781-862-1450

Ride along the historic Battle Road by air-conditioned bus while your costumed guide recounts the events of April 19, 1775, the first day of the American Revolution. Visit the Lexington Battle Green, and the Old North Bridge, the Minuteman National Historical Park, and Lexington and Concord. Open Memorial Day weekend through October 15.

Minute Man National Historical Park
174 Liberty Street
Concord, MA
Phone: 508-369-6993

Located in the towns of Lexington, Lincoln, and Concord, this park commemorates the opening battles of the American Revolution. At Concord’s North Bridge, families can see the where Colonial militia men fired the shot heard ‘round the world. The Battle Road Trail is a trip through a restored Colonial landscape that the British traveled in their retreat to Boston. The Hartwell Tavern on Battle Road is now a living history center.

New England Pirate Museum
Salem, MA  01970
Phone: 978-741-2800

Move over, Captain Jack Sparrow. This museum is the place to see and meet some serious pirates, argggh. A guided tour begins in the museum’s artifacts room of authentic pirate treasures and continues through a Colonial seaport, aboard a pirate ship, and in a cave, where kids – ready or not -- are sure to encounter some of those 17th-century robbers of the high seas.

Russell Orchards
Ipswich, MA  01938
Phone: 978-356-5366

In addition to picking fruits and selecting treats from the bakery (the house specialty is homemade cider donuts), children can take part in Farm Kids an activities program for children ages 3 to 8. Each month-long session will feature a farm theme with related activities, like painting farm murals; planting pots of herbs and annuals; baking from scratch; petting baby chicks, rabbits, and lambs; and making beeswax candles.

Salem Trolley
Salem, MA  01970
Phone: 978-744-5469

Trolley offers a one-hour tour of Salem’s highlights and its fascinating past. Stops include the Salem Wax Museum and the Salem Witch Village, Pickering Wharf, Salem Maritime Site, the House of the Seven Gables, Winter Island, Salem Willows, Salem Witch Museum, Peabody Essex Museum, Witch Dungeon Museum, Salem Witch House and Salem Inn, Phillips House and Chestnut Street.

Stone Zoo
149 Pond Street
Stoneham, MA  02180
Phone: 781-438-5100

Jaguar cub now on exhibit!

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Formerly known as the Middlesex Fells Zoo, Stone Zoo is located near Spot Pond reservoir. Highlights of the zoo’s collection include the snow leopards of Himalayan highlands, bald eagles of Yukon Creek, and jaguars and cougars of the Sierra Madre. Also back every day is the Lord of the Wings: Birds of Prey show. This interactive show aims to uncover the mysteries of eagles, vultures, and hawks.

Wolf Hollow
98 Essex Road
Ipswich, MA
Phone: 978-356-0216

Families for whom the dog is the favorite of the household will enjoy a visit to this conservation area for gray wolves. A one-hour lecture covers the animal’s role in nature and its relationship to humans. Visitors can observe wolves interacting with their pack mates. Here’s the fun kicker: visitors are invited to howl with the wolves at the end of each presentation.

Battleship Cove
Fall River, MA  02722
Phone: 508-678-1100

For a day trip or an overnight that kids will replay over and over to friends back home, families can visit and tour the USS Massachusetts, the submarine Lionfish, and other World War II-era fighting ships. Through the Nautical Nights program, kids and adults may camp overnight onboard the Battleship Massachusetts, with plenty of opportunity to explore the vessel.

Capron Park Zoo
Attleboro, MA  02703
Phone: 508-222-6202

The zoo has revitalized itself with new exhibits and animals from all over the world: African lion cubs, North American river otters, snow leopards, and creatures of the rain forests. Activities give children the chance to handle small animals, conduct daily rounds with zookeepers, and to clean exhibits and feed animals. If the day is hot, kids can take a break in the mist tent for a gentle, cooling shower.

Caratunk Wildlife Refuge
Seekonk, MA  02771
Phone: 508-761-8230

Caratunk Refuge, operated by the Audubon Society of Rhode Island, provides a protected habitat for native plants and animals as well as many educational programs. Camp is held here in the summer for children and public programs concerning the environment are held year-round for concerned citizens of all ages.

New Bedford Whaling Museum
New Bedford, MA  02740
Phone: 508-997-0046

Through exhibits and programs, the museum brings the whaling era to life. It houses an extensive collection of art, artifacts, and manuscripts pertaining to American whaling when sailing ships dominated merchant trade and whaling. Programs for children and families teach about life in a 19th-century whaling town, present stories and songs from artists, and invite kids to do arts and crafts.

Plimoth Plantation
137 Warren Avenue
Plymouth, MA  02360
Phone: 508-746-1622

Living History on Land and At Sea

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Visitors to Plimoth Plantation’s main campus are welcomed to the museum in the comfortable, spacious and modern Henry Hornblower Visitor’s Center where they can prepare for the quintessential, bi-cultural 17th Century experience. Start surrounded by soft furs, flickering firelight, and artfully woven bulrush mats, learning about traditional Wampanoag family life as well as the arrival of the English from an Indigenous point of view. Then find yourself immersed in the year 1627, just seven years after the voyage of the Mayflower. In the village you will be surrounded by the modest timber-framed houses, fragrant raised-bed gardens, well-tended livestock and fascinating townspeople of Plymouth Colony, the first permanent English settlement in New England.

Now come aboard and learn about the 1620 voyage of the Mayflower, the perils of maritime travel, and the tools of 17th-century navigation.