New England "To Do"

There are so many wonderful things to do in New England.  As a family, we try to do them all!  Summer is almost upon us, which seems to get us itching to do more and more of our favorite things.  Every Wednesday I will tell you about one of our favorite things to do.

This week's "To Do" is MUSEUMS! We love museums.  There are so many museums within an hour drive of the Lakes Region, sometimes it's hard to choose which one to go to.  On a rainy day in the beginning of June, my friend Lindsay and I took Little Cam and Olivia to Kaleidoscope Children's Museum in Manchester, NH.

One of my favorite things about this museum is that you only pay for the child.  As long as you have a child with you (wink) you can get in for free!

The museum is designed to inspire creativity.  There are different areas set up around one large room.  There is a stage and a puppet theater right next to a "book nook" and a rocking chair.  There is a pirate ship, a space center, a kitchen, a doctor's office, a tree house and a big giant gymnasium mat with giant soft blocks.  Boy, did Cam and Olivia have fun!  Lindsay and I had a blast too :)

Everyone loved the pirate ship!  There were so many little spaces to explore.  Olivia even found a little corner that she called "the bathroom".

I think we could have spent the whole day just rolling around on the mat.

There is a play farm where you can "grow" and harvest vegetables.  Olivia loved this!

A pizza restaurant.  Lindsay and Olivia spent a long time in here!

Like other museums we have been to, there is a mailbox at every play area so the kids can deliver mail.  

Baby Cameron had so much fun!

The doctor's office where Olivia told Lindsay all about her broken leg.

This was our first time to Kaleidoscope, but we will definitely return on another rainy summer day.  Here are a few more of our favorite museums:

• Children's Museum of NH  My parents have a membership here (which is also reciprocal to other museums) so we go at least 4 times a year.  Olivia the Pig made an appearance once, which was fantastic.  They often have special guests, so check out their website!
• Boston Children's Museum  A longer distance away, but once or twice a year we love to get into the city and spend the day shopping, eating and visiting one of the children's attractions.  The museum is great for all ages.  Our favorite is the giant climbing tree, but be careful, the kids never want to get out!
• SEE Science Center  We made our first trip here this year to see the dinosaur exhibit.  The rest of the museum is also fantastic, but I think it is geared toward about Kindergarten age and up.  The exhibits are fun, but some of the learning stuff gets lost on the younger crowd.
• Meredith Children's Museum  Close by, inexpensive and a big bang for the buck.  Designed like Kaleidoscope, but set in an old school.  Each room is a different imagination station.  There is a castle with slides, a fire truck, a grocery store and a room where you can raise pool balls by turning a crank and then watch them roll around the whole room on tracks.  

There are more, but I'll save them for some future posts!