Maryland Zoo in Baltimore

We took a trip to the Maryland Zoo in Baltimore last summer. A small zoo covered in shade and a free tram to take you from the entrance/parking to the main area with the animals (why can't the National Zoo have one?). Though small, it offered a lot in the way of different types of exhibits and experiences. You can feed a giraffe, ride a camel ride (offered last summer - not sure about 2010), see cheetahs and monkeys through a wall of Plexiglass, experience a wonderful exhibit of life on the Chesapeake Bay, exploring the woods and caves, and more. They had lots of picnic tables and the bathrooms had a/c and were clean! As of June 30, 2010, they will also have a train running at the zoo.

Extra costs beyond the cost of admission tickets - tickets for the Jones Falls Zephyr train will be $2 for members and $3 for non-members. I didn't see on the website anything about the camel rides, but they were $5 per person last year. You did have to pay to feed the giraffes - I believe it was $2.50 per stem of leaves. Zoo is open 10 a.m. - 4 p.m. Parking is free! (Don't worry, parking lot is small and right next to the zoo, very easy walk, and no hills). http://www.marylandzoo.org/
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Leesburg Animal Park in Leesburg, Virginia

After going to Clarks Elioak Farm in Ellicott City and having such a good time interacting with the animals, we thought we would try Leesburg Animal Park. The website was incredibly well maintained and made it seem like quite a nice place. There were several nice things about this park and several things that we were unhappy with.

The park had a wider variety of animals to see (tortoise, camel, monkeys, etc.) and feed than in other places we went to which was nice. Also, there was a lot of land to roam around, a big pond, a playground area, and a moon bounce on the premises. Additionally, they also had a big sand box with some digging tools, a shaded area to rest, pony rides, and wagon rides. Of all of the things that we saw, we actually enjoyed seeing the monkeys swinging in their cage and feeding the different animals the most.

However, we found the price to be very expensive compared to other places with similar programs. At 10 dollars per adult and 8 dollars per child, we expected to see a wider variety of animals, get more feed for the money, and have a bit more interaction with the animals. Also, the pens that the animals were in were very small and crowded and for a little kid, it was hard to see much more than a mouth between wooden beams in many cases. We also did not enjoy the fact that for a normal sized cup of feed for the animals, they charged an additional 10 dollars. In addition to the already steep entry fee and the additional charge for the large bucket of feed, they also charged for the hay rides and pony rides.

In terms of the staff, they were very young, and other than in the box office and by the ponies, I did not see a single staff person on the premises. If you are planning a trip out to Leesburg in the near future and you have the extra money to spend, it is not a terrible place to go. However, there is definitely room for growth at this place. On the positive side, it is located 5 minutes from the Leesburg Premium Outlets which provides great shopping and a second activity in the area. If you go in the summer bring lots of water as it gets very hot. Also, they have a festival in the fall time called Pumpkinville which has hay mazes, hill slides, zip lines, and several other activities.

Website: http://www.leesburganimalpark.com/
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Hadley's Park and Potomac, Maryland

Hadley's Park is a wonderful playground that is great for children of all ages. There are numerous different climbing apparatuses to play on and the park was designed so that children with varying abilities can enjoy the equipment. One of the most wonderful features of the park is that almost every climbing structure has at least one ramp for wheel chair accessibility and that the entire playground is built on rubber mats for child safety.

Additionally, the playground has features such as a shaded gazebo, miniature climbing wall, and a large baseball field. The equipment is also well spaced out and many children bring bikes to ride on the rubber matting. We spent about 2 hours at the park playing on the equipment and watching a little league game that was taking place.

Book Recommendations before going to a playground

Please Play Safe! Penguin’s Guide to Playground Safety (Margery Cuyler)

Manners on the playground (Carrie Finn)

King of the Playground (Phyllis Reynolds Naylor)

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Port Discovery in Maryland

Port Discovery is ranked as one of the top children's museums in the country with good reason. The exhibits are quite wonderful. We went on a Sunday afternoon and were pleasantly surprised that the museum was not packed. There was plenty of room to roam around, and all of the floors were stroller accessible (elevator).

The three story climbing apparatus is centrally located at the middle of the museum and has climbing tunnels that let you out on each floor. This part of the museum was doable with our three year old as long as I followed behind. However children a few years older were able to make their way through the climbing maze quite well. The slides and tunnels were easy to navigate.

Our children also enjoyed cooking in the diner, shopping in the super market, and crossing the Nile in the Egypt room. One of the rooms that we spent the most time at was the water works room. The museum provides rain coats for children as they go in and there are many different water activities to experiment with. Some of the activities included shooting water guns at musical instruments to make a water band, a huge river with flowing water and all sorts of machines squirting water around and funneling it through to the bottom, and even an area with water pipes that you can move and connect to each other before the water pours out.

While it is a bit pricey ($12.95 per person ages 2-102), the museum is surely worth visiting every once in a while. Also, if you live near Baltimore and plan on going frequently, the family membership is quite affordable. The one complaint is that some of the things in the museum were broken. However, most of the museum was in great shape and the staff was friendly and knowledgeable about where programs were located. Additionally, the administration that runs the museum is quite caring and helpful too. The museum is constantly changing programs, so definitely call or check the website before going to see which exhibits are currently running. The museum is great for kids ages 3-10, with 5-8 being the most optimum ages.

Website: http://portdiscovery.org/#home
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Meadowside Nature Center, Rockville, MD

Located in Rockville, Maryland, this quaint little nature center provided us with a fun day in a small nature setting. They frequently have nature related events (including a reptile festival the day we went) that are geared toward young children. There are several small rooms in the nature center such as "The Legacy of the Land" room which shows examples of Maryland's natural environment, "Life in a Log Cabin", an entire indoor forest and cave, as well as a "Curiosity Corner" room with plush animals, fish tanks, frogs, and nature books. There were plenty of places to sit down and read stories about animals indigenous to Maryland.

Outside, there were large bird cages, and bee and butterfly gardens which my 3 year old enjoyed immensely. There are also a variety of different nature paths that are open for hiking. The paths were well shaded and we were able to enjoy a scenic walk through the forest. You can call in advance or check the website in advance to find out when the nature center runs their special events. This place is best for children ages 3-7 years of age and will probably provide 1-3 hours of entertainment.

Hours: Sun-Mon Closed; Tue-Sat 9am–5pm

5100 Meadowside Lane
Rockville, MD 20855-1812
(301) 924-4141

Website: www.meadowsidenature.org
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Clemyjontri Park, McLean, VA

WOW!!! At the first sign of 60 degrees outside, we broke out of our indoor activity slumber and burst onto the scenes at Clemyjontri Park in McLean, Virginia. Only 25 minutes from Silver Spring, MD., this park is an amazing way to spend time outside. The park is completely handicap accessible, and the entire park is on rubber mats which makes it safe and fun for kids of all ages. Not only was it safe, but the park was also huge and provided tons of options for our kids to play on.

The park had racetracks flowing through all of the different climbing apparatuses and kids were running around everywhere with many choices of places to jump and play. Our oldest son enjoyed climbing on the fire truck, running on the race track, and climbing on the rock wall. Additionally, there were monkey bars, swings, and tons of ramps that made it easy to get from one part of the climbing to another.

Another amazing part of this park was that they had a huge maze for kids to run through that was around 4 feet tall. It provided the kids with a lot of fun, but parents could stand on the outside of the maze and watch their children running through the different obstacles. There were also stations with information to learn from so that the children could also take something educational away from their day at the park. The only negatives to Clemyjontri were that there were so many people running around everywhere which made it a bit tough to keep an eye on your children, it is not well shaded which makes it hot in the summer, and the parking lot on the premises was small for the facilities. However, if you drive one block past the park, there is a large overflow lot with plenty of parking. We absolutely look forward to going back to this park in the future.

Website: http://www.fairfaxcounty.gov/parks/clemyjontri/playground.htm
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Book Recommendations before going to a playground

Please Play Safe! Penguin’s Guide to Playground Safety (Margery Cuyler)

Manners on the playground (Carrie Finn)

King of the Playground (Phyllis Reynolds Naylor)

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The Garden State Discovery Museum in New Jersey

During the winter break, we spent a couple of days in South Jersey visiting my in-laws. One of the highlights of the trip was a visit to the Garden State Discovery Museum which is located in Cherry Hill, NJ. This makes it a good stop on the way up to Philly and New York.

The museum is divided into different zones, such as a construction zone and a medical zone. Kids have the chance to perform different tasks related to the zone. For example in the grocery store zone, there is the chance to weigh different fruits and vegetables and to serve customers. The theater zone allows children to dress up in costumes and perform on stage, while there is the weather forecast zone where kids can actually stand in front of the camera and give the day's forecast. There is also an area set up as a diner with a kids size counter for serving all kinds of fake burgers etc.

The main zones are suitable for kids of all ages, but there is also a special zone for the youngest visitors which is kind of like a miniature version of the whole museum. Our two year old lurrved the whole place, including the zone for the younger kids. For families with multiple kids this is also a great place as there is something for kids of all ages to do here. In addition there is something for every kind of kid, whether your child is the active sort who wants to run around and climb on everything or if your child prefers to work on one activity for a long time.

The museum kept us busy for a whole morning and we could have spent much more time there had lunch time and nap time not come around so quickly. The museum is quite pricey but all in all represents a great day out for the whole family.

http://www.discoverymuseum.com/
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College Park Aviation Museum in Maryland

Today we met up with friends and took a trip to the College Park Aviation Museum, the oldest continuously running airport in the world. The staff was friendly and gave us a map of the museum that showed all of the “kid friendly” areas in the museum, of which there were many. When we first walked into the exhibit, my son loved looking at the different planes and seeing some planes on the ground while others were suspended in mid-air. There were many electronic displays that explained a breakdown of different parts of the history of flight and a breakdown of the importance of each part of the airplanes. An animatronic Wilbur Wright gave an explanation of a Hangar.

Activities included, a flight simulator, exhibits showing air flow, flight stamps, model plane creating, flying a plane in a wind tunnel and much, much more. There were also several different types of propellers that children could move and interact with as well. Additionally, the museum frequently hosts different aviation events such as building Lego planes which will take place next week. My son particularly enjoyed getting to sit inside one of the planes and pretending to fly all over the museum.

We also got a chance to go outside to a fenced in area that had about 15 wooden planes that children could sit in and drive around in. The fenced in area is right through a glass door in the gift shop and is easy to miss, so keep an eye out for it. There were manual planes that either had foot pedals to ride like a bike or kids could sit in them and be pushed around. As you look through the fence, the runway is right outside with all of the planes lined up. This museum kept us entertained for 2 hours and cost us less than five dollars per person. We had a blast and time “flew” by. This museum is best geared toward children 2-8 but would be enjoyable by anyone that enjoys airplanes and/or history in Maryland.

Website: http://www.collegeparkaviationmuseum.com

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Chesapeake Children's Museum in Annapolis, MD

We ventured out to the Chesapeake Children's Museum today with a bunch of friends, not knowing what to expect. We ended up having a great time. Upon arrival, we were worried based on the appearance of the dilapidated house, but we were pleasantly surprised when we walked in. There were several different rooms that had various important elements that were linked to the Chesapeake bay.
The main room had a 10 foot boat for children to board and "sail" which was parked right near a small wooden dock. There were also many fish tanks that had various animals that can be found in or near the Chesapeake bay. The staff was friendly and we were given permission to take a corn snake out of the cage and hold him, pick up turtles from a small indoor "pond", and look at different types of frogs and geckos. The room also had a train table and tons of different blocks for kids to build various types of structures.
Some of the other rooms included a doctors office with a real (but old) dental chair, a bunch of X-rays, and some microscopes. Literally "stuffed" in the closet was "Stuffee", a 7 foot man who unzips to spill out his various cotton organs. There was also a small kitchen and shopping area, and two different arts and crafts areas that used recycled materials to provide the children a fun way to do projects while saving the environment.
The basement also offered another area to do arts and crafts as well as several bunnies that could be taken out of their cage, and a music area with a piano, bongos, and some other types of drums. While our visit unfortunately was hampered by rain, there are also outdoors nature walks as well as an underground railroad walk that we were told is very educational. Along the nature walk, several different types of wildlife are frequently seen in the surrounding areas. Despite not being the newest or fanciest of attractions, at 3 dollars per person, and after spending several hours having fun with our friends, we are definitely planning a trip back when the weather warms up.

Website: http://www.theccm.org
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Playseum in Bethesda, Maryland

The Playseum is a wonderful new place that just opened up in Bethesda, Maryland. In only a short amount of time, the word has gotten out about this place and every room had tons of children engaged in wonderful activities. The Playseum is a great place to take children ranging from 1-8 years old. The owner was friendly and accommodating in making sure that all of the customers were happy and in the hour and a half that we were there, I did not hear a single child crying. Additionally, there were so many different rooms, toys, and crafts to interact with that children never seemed to be fighting over one particular toy.

The list of rooms included a small radio studio set up by WTOP so that children can be weathermen, a science room (with different activities led by staff), a construction/building room, a creation room with all sorts of art supplies, a kitchen for cooking, a Safeway sponsored grocery store, an animal room, and much, much, more. My 3 year old son enjoyed getting to hold a bunny rabbit, make his own bouncy ball in the science room with staff members teaching a class, and using the pulley system to lift blocks to the ceiling in the bucket that he had filled up.

Another area where he had fun included the music area where a group of children were playing different instruments. One girl was on the piano, my son picked up the guitar, and another girl was playing with the cymbals to form an incredibly cute little band. He also had fun in the puppet show booth, the costume area, and at the train table as well.

This place was affordable at only five dollars per person, and while we had to get home after playing for an hour and a half, we could have spent 3-4 hours there. Also, one of the most important aspects of making any place successful is having a friendly and knowledgeable staff. All of the staff members were smiling, patient, friendly, and outgoing with both the children and the adults. My only complaint is that the place is very small and narrow. The hallways were very crowded and it would be helpful if there were chairs in each room for parents to sit. However, due to the size of the place, there wouldn't have been a place to put them. Additionally, it was slightly aggravating that there was only metered parking one block away. With that said though, we are definitely planning to come back soon.

http://www.playseum.com/
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