Places to Go With Children

The Grand Canyon is an amazing site for grown-ups as well as children, but letting your kids become a Junior Grand Canyon Park Ranger will be an experience that they will never forget. The Junior Park Ranger will complete an activity booklet and be given a certificate and badge. Kids will love hunting for Apache Tears, a semi-precious gemstone, around Superior, Arizona. Kids would also enjoy a tour of one of the many observatories around the state.

Besides all the popular tourist spots such as the Empire State Building, the American Museum of Natural History and Times Square, there are a myriad of places to entertain children when visiting New York City. The Central Park Zoo isn't so large that a visit will take up an entire day. While in Central Park, give kids the chance to ride the famous merry-go-round. Many museums in New York are suitable for children, but two that are especially designed for kids are the Children's Museum of the Arts and the Children's Museum of Manhattan. For children five years of age and older, the Sony Wonder Technology Lab will provide lots of interactive fun.

Besides the obvious visits to monuments and memorials, a trip with the kids to Washington should include the National Zoo, and the Smithsonian Institution --- with special time set aside for the National Aeronautical and Space museum. With a little preparation, a visit to the Arlington Cemetery and Changing of the Guard at the Tomb of the Unknowns will provide a memorable experience for older children and teenagers. Kids' spy classes are available at the Spy Museum. Include a stop at the National Archives for a look at the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution.

A trip to Maine with the kids will be both fun and educational when you visit Bar Harbor and Acadia National Park. Drive the loop on Cadillac Mountain in the park and see stunning views of the ocean, beaches, and mountains. Stop by the park's visitor center and pick up the Passamaquoddy kit to help kids learn about the Native Americans of Maine. No trip to Maine would be complete without feasting on lobster and stopping at a roadside lobster pond and letting the kids select their dinner. Reserve a trip on a working lobster boat and watch professional lobster fishermen explain their work and watch them haul in their lobster traps. Or consider a whale watching charter, where you will not only observe whales, but also frolicking sea lions that will swim alongside your boat.

"That wonderful town," as the song says, is really a wonderful place to visit with your kids. Take a trip to the Shed Aquarium --- where you'll have an opportunity to view many individual exhibits of marine life. And be sure to take in the show at the Oceanarium where you'll see live performances of Beluga Whales. Just across the road from the Aquarium is the Adler Planetarium and Astronomy Museum, which features space simulations. A couple of miles south of the Shedd and Adler is the Museum of Science and Industry where you'll not only be able to view over 800 interactive displays, but be able to catch a show at the Omnimax theater and visit a restored Burlington Zephyr train.