Cleveland, Ohio, situated along the shores of Lake Erie in the northern part of the state, has a whole host of things for kids to do, both indoors and out. Visitors and residents can explore the city parks and the zoo, and check out the museums and science center, among other things.
Cleveland has a variety of parks to visit. There are 17 parks within the city's metroparks system, including the well-known Cleveland Metroparks Zoo, where children of all ages can enjoy themselves. Although botanical gardens may not generally be thought of as places for kids to visit, the Hershey Children's Garden, which is part of the Cleveland Botanical Gardens, might be the exception. It is the state's first public children's garden and has a tree house, a cave, a scrounger garden, an herb garden designed to awaken your senses, worm bins, and dwarf forests.
Museums and historical places are not always geared toward children's interests, but these ones are. The Cleveland Children's Museum is so-named because its exhibits and programs are designed to help children discover the wonders of their world through play. The Cleveland Museum of Natural History has a planetarium and several gardens, complete with plants and animals that are native to Ohio, for children to enjoy. And, anchored on the shores of Lake Erie, kids can explore a real submarine, the USS Cod SS-224, which is a fleet submarine from World War II.
The Great Lakes Science Center is a place designed for kids to have fun and learn about science while doing so. They have more than 400 hands-on exhibits that introduce kids to the science of light, motion, mechanics, optics, electricity, resonance, magnetism, weather and sound, with an indoor tornado, a shadow room and the bridge of fire. Science topics and ideas can be further enforced and enhanced by viewing a movie on the giant OMNIMAX theater screen.
Several parks near Cleveland are kid-friendly places to visit. The Memphis Kiddie Park, in Brooklyn, just four and a half miles from Cleveland, is a kid-size amusement park with 11 rides, a miniature golf course, an arcade and a concession stand. Lake Metroparks Farmpark, in Kirkland, Ohio, is about 22 miles east of Cleveland. The park is a real farm where kids can learn firsthand about agriculture and farming while tending to the many animals on the farm, exploring the barns, watching sheep-herding demonstrations and riding tractors. For those willing to travel a bit farther, Cedar Point, about 52 miles from Cleveland, in Sandusky, Ohio, is an amusement park not only for kids, but for the whole family, with its huge assortment of amusement rides, playgrounds and live shows.
