We’re giving a vacation to our kids for Christmas this year and we can’t decide what to do. Please seed us with ideas. What are your favorite kid-friendly vacation activities? Kids all below 10yo
Consider reaching out to public services or companies in the area you're visiting. Some thoughts include large fire departments, water purification plants, power plants, etc. These places will often allow and welcome folks to come and stop by to visit (or even tour).
The kids loves seeing the huge industrial machinery and the construction vehicles. The workers love having someone worship them for 20-30 minutes. It can be a great time
Indoctrinate your children with a love of trains and publicly-owned utilities :back-to-me-shining:
This is legit? You can just request tours of municipal utilities?
There's probably no official way to request a tour, no. So it's not "legit".
It's more about taking initiative and trying to connect with someone who works in that space, has some available time (this is the biggest obstacle but plenty of folks have some time), and appreciates it when other people express a passion or appreciation for their work or craft (which applies to most folks).
An easy example is that fire departments will often let kids come and check out the ladder trucks. They'll even bring them out to public places like a grocery store and let the kids get super close.
I doubt it, honestly. All of those places are have walls. They are critical infrastructure and "just looking around" sounds like a reconnaissance trip for a domestic terrorist in the making.
I had a great time camping with my younger siblings a couple months ago. We went to a national forest and grabbed a site, I brought my dog and we brought her with us while walking around looking for mushrooms. Fun times.
National monuments are also a good visit. I still remember visiting the Hoover Dam and stuff like that when I was a teenager. Just avoid war memorials and all the propaganda that goes along with them and you're gucci.
It depends on where you live. Museums can be fun, local events like corn mazes can be a lot of fun too. Sometimes nearby farms will host things like that , but it's like I said. It all depends on where you live.
We’d like to stay on the east coast of the US, I think. Within a day’s drive or maybe a train ride.
Canada is nice! Come visit, we have uhhhh... Snow! And maple syrup!
Why go there when you can visit Wisconsin for shittier maple syrup, less snow, and uhhhh CHEESE!
Seriously it's known for cheese because it's the only state in the US that takes cheesemaking seriously and can expertly & faithfully replicate most famous cheeses throughout the world.
I'm not who you were talking to but Toronto Island and Scarborough Bluffs are both neat places though I've only been in the summer. The immersive Van Gogh exhibit was pretty cool and I'd think kids would like it. Think it was like 45 minutes or so (social distancing and limited occupants were enforced when I went). I haven't been but there are community skating rinks here and there and sometimes there's free gear for people to use if they don't have their own.
Highly recommend checking out Quebec City around the holidays in December. It's magical. Toronto has a ton of weird little museums that are worth checking out.
I hate to say it but if you're near to DC it can be a good trip for kids. Lots of museums, some of them free, and a ton of public parks and memorials. Of course a lot of them are going to be jerking off the founding fathers and whitewashing history, but it might be a good chance to teach your kids about the other side of our nation's history. But there is enough stuff to do that you could probably completely avoid that kind of stuff all together. I can give a few more specific suggestions if you end up wanting to go there, lmk
I always rode trains wherever I went as a kid. Of course I have always loved trains, but most kids under 10 like trains anyhow.
What's the point of saying this?
Also, acting like children are the worst things in existence is cringe.
What’s the point of saying this?
OP should be smarter than my sister, who took a family trip and caught covid.
Then just say that instead of "social bonus of your kids..."
God everyone on here talks like a redditor
this site exists because of r/chapotraphouse, the citations needed podcast fan sub.
the way western society is about kids is because of capitalism and christianity. if you think it's unreasonable to not privilege children and parenthood all the time you should examine why you feel that way. Judaism might be like that but rightwing christianity definitely is and I don't need to tell you about the hegemonic culture's bullshit pervading everything.
I dunno maybe you just hate kids. Kids don't belong in every space. Family trips are a space they belong. No one is privileging them right now. You were unprompted and started hating on this person asking about some good ideas to spend time with their kid. You may even be right about the kids thing in general. Doesn't change that in this case you're still being an ass.
about some good ideas to spend time with their kid.
*travelling with their kids during a pandemic
Yeah that's not the point I had the issue with bud. Seems like your focusing on this relatively uncontroversial thing to avoid the unnecessary vitriolic comments. More so it seems to be a camping trip sooo yeah not sure how well that point stands. I'm just gonna say you should examine your disdain for kids. Nothing wrong with not liking them, but they're people too and they deserve just as much if not more accommodation as adults. Kids can't self regulate well. That's what kids do.
That's it, last response. Wish you well.
More so it seems to be a camping trip sooo
so... that is not included in the original post that i responded to. it is in fact still not in the OP text.
the social bonus of your kids not being annoying around other people trying to relax
Sorry, are we doing “Covid is still happening” discourse or “children are inherently inconvenient and deserve segregation from adults” discourse? Wasn’t quite clear.
porque no los dos?
you shouldn't expose yourselves, your kids, or anyone else to covid, and i shouldn't have to deal with kids triggering my auditory processing issues.
I’ve got auditory processing issues too. The lack of public spaces where it’s acceptable to be obnoxiously loud is a problem. Given that you have auditory processing issues, you’ve gotta know that adults are loud as fuck too. The solution is not segregation.
Also, if you think a rural camping trip is a severe Covid risk, I’ve got some bad news about what the schools are doing.
Also, if you think a rural camping trip is a severe Covid risk
We’re giving a vacation to our kids for Christmas this year and we can’t decide what to do.
honestly if you happen to be able to swing a couple years of homeschooling that's probably called for at this point.
The lack of public spaces where it’s acceptable to be obnoxiously loud is a problem.
The solution is not segregation.
this sounds precisely like a problem solved by separating explicitly "ok be loud" spaces from what should be the default "don't be obnoxious around other people" rule of existing in public.
Honestly school is going to be the most likely vector of infection for a family with kids that age unless they go somewhere crowded.
Only going out for work school and groceries while the rest of the world has given up and pretends covid doesn't exist anymore might be the best thing to do but I understand why people can't handle it.
If you don't want to hang out around kids i suggest a bar or something
Only going out for work school and groceries while the rest of the world has given up and pretends covid doesn’t exist anymore might be the best thing to do but I understand why people can’t handle it.
those people are why we can't have nice things.
Others have mentioned this, but taking the train is a great way to make travel part of the fun. The train is much more comfortable than driving or flying, and if they've never rode one it'll be a cool experience. I saw you're sticking to the east coast which is great for train trips. If you're in the Northeast then the Vermonter is a beautiful ride that goes from DC to St. Albans, Vermont, right on the border with Canada, also making stops in Vermont's major cities and a bushel of other states. You've also got the Downeaster between Boston, MA and Brunswick, ME which is very pretty in the winter if you like the cold. If you're closer to the south then the Palmetto (starting in NYC) has service between DC, Raleigh NC, Charleston SC, Savannah GA, and Jacksonville, Orlando, and Miami FL (last stop). Finally the Northeast Regional will get you between DC and Boston with any major city you could want, but it's a big commuter train and not as pretty for the kids. Something like the Vermonter would have a very "we're taking the train to a winter wonderland" aesthetic, but if your kids like trains/cities then the NE regional is cool because the whole ride is "Look at those trains! Look at that city! So much industry!"
Children's science museums are cool, not sure how common they are but I'm aware of at least two cities that have one in the Midwest-region so they can't be that rare.
I think we’re going with a camping trip, but Arizona’s too far of a trek unfortunately
Depending on where you are, I recommend a small mountain to tech them skiing/snowboarding and leave the possibility of one of them just going tubing all day. Personal preference of course :)
I've loved hiking since I was a kid. I wouldn't go for any long hikes lest they get tired and bored, but who doesn't like spending some time outside?
Aquariums and natural history museums can be a blast. If any of your kids have a specific interest in something (history, art, aviation, etc) then there may be other museums they'd like too
Unfamiliar transportation can be a freebie between activities - a boat, a train, a cable car, even a double-decker bus hit different than a car ride
Obvs, having some extra activities that you won't mind canceling can help leave time for gratifying any whims that strike the vacationers, without putting pressure on them to find something that strikes them
Landmarks can be cool, but crowded ones usually weren't worth it to me as a kid. But then, maybe your kids don't mind crowds
Swimming. Just swimming. If it's somewhere cool, then cool. If it's in a motel pool, then that can still be cool
