Take the children to an indoor ice skating rink when it's freezing cold outside. There are several indoor rinks throughout the state, including Ice House (icehousenj.com) in Hackensack, which is the home rink of several figure skating stars. This rink offers public skating on the weekends and a weekly Friday Night Skate Jam for teenagers featuring a DJ and the latest music.
There are also other indoor centers that offer a variety of different recreational activities, such as the Funplex (funplexeasthanover.com) in East Hanover, a 100,000-square foot entertainment complex. Funplex offers indoor rides such as Free Fall, which drops you 30 feet in a matter of seconds; a 4-D interactive theater experience; and MagiQuest, which puts kids into an 8,000-square-foot high-tech adventure game. Funplex also has indoor go-karts, laser tag and bumper cars.
Aside from the usual outdoor winter activities such as sledding and playing in the snow, there are plenty of adventurous outdoor recreation opportunities for kids in New Jersey during winter. The ski resort Campgaw Mountain (skicampgaw.com) in Mahwah offers skiing, snowboarding and six snow tubing runs that each stretch about 800 feet. Campgaw Mountain also offers ski and snowboarding lessons for children as young as four years old.
Another ski resort, Mountain Creek (mountaincreek.com) in Vernon, offers Kids Kamp during the winter snow season that offer full day skiing and snowboarding lessons for kids. Mountain Creek also has a snow tubing park and giant terrain park for snow boarding which includes one of the only superpipes in the Eastern region.
Take the kids to one of New Jersey's educational museums when it's too cold to be outside. The Liberty Science Center (lsc.org) in Jersey City offers state-of-the-art interactive science exhibits for kids of all ages. Highlights of the museum include Energy Quest, which teaches children about energy sources and future energy options; Infection Connection, which teaches children about infectious diseases; and Wonder Why, which offers a variety of entertaining and educational activities such as observing fluorescent rocks, figuring out brain teasers, and rock climbing.
Imagine That! (imaginethatmuseum.com), located in Florham Park, is a children's museum that features themed exhibits that teach through play. The TV News Room Exhibit allows children to become pretend newscasters, and the Doctor's Office lets children take turns being doctor and patient. The museum also has five party rooms and several birthday party packages to choose from.
Take the kids to one of New Jersey's winter festivals and fairs. The Lambertville-New Hope Winter Festival (winterfestival.net), held in January each year, celebrates winter with a parade, a winter-themed art exhibition created by local artists, ice carving and live concerts. There are also many children's activities throughout the festival such as puppet theater and arts and crafts. The Fire & Ice Festival (fireandicefestival.com), held at the end of January in Mount Holly, offers a variety of kid-friendly activities, including nature centers, a petting zoo and fire engine rides. The one-day festival also includes an ice sculpture contest and a chili cook-off.
