The New England states of Massachusetts and New Hampshire are replete with attractions and activities for children. Kids can spend a day at the zoo or local aquarium, ride on daring roller coasters, play at an indoor water park or learn at a science center. Many child-friendly venues offer birthday party packages, organized programs and even camps for added fun throughout the year.
The Kahuna Laguna in North Conway, New Hampshire, is a 40,000-square-foot indoor water park for children and families that is kept heated to 82 degrees all year round. The park is equipped with four tube and body slides, a 67,000-gallon wave pool and an interactive children's play center with a 150-gallon tipping bucket.
For younger children, the park has a nine-inch-deep play area with slides and water toys. When visitors are finished in the water, the park also features an arcade with more than 24 traditional, virtual reality and multi-player games. Food venues are also located on site in the food court. The park offers birthday party packages that include two hours of play, a private party room, pizza lunch and arcade tokens for each guest.
The Children's Museum of New Hampshire in Dover offers a multitude of exhibits, party packages and programming for children of all ages. For kids three years of age and younger, the museum has a special area with such things as wall murals, learning activities and a miniature train table. Exhibits for older children include the Dino Detective exhibit with microscopes and fossils, the Play it Cool exhibit, where kids play games using brainwaves and the Build It Fly It exhibit, where children can build flying contraptions.
The museum also offers birthday parties, summer camps and overnight programs for groups. The overnight programs include an evening snack, private access to the museum and a breakfast buffet.
Animal Adventures, in Bolton, Massachusetts, provides a variety of interactive programs and activities for children and families. Visitors can arrange for a general tour throughout the facility or opt for a two-hour Extreme Adventure tour that includes approximately half an hour's time in a private room with some of the venue's animals.
Animals at the center include snapping turtles, American alligator, Canadian lynx, green tree python, Nile crocodiles, kinkajou, sloths and Luigi the monkey. Animal Adventures provides birthday party packages on site as well as mobile programs for a party or other event at home. Day camps offer children in pre-kindergarten through the eighth grade behind-the-scenes opportunities to become acquainted and learn about the animals.
The Look Park in Florence, Massachusetts, boasts a variety of outdoor attractions and activities. Attractions available to visitors all year include the playground and picnic areas with two separate play structures to accommodate young children and older kids alike, a walking path that is more than a mile long and the Picnic Store.
Seasonal attractions open during the warm months include train rides, pedal boats, a miniature golf course, bumper boats, tennis courts, a water spray park and the Christenson Zoo, featuring white-tailed deer, sheep, pygmy goats and bald eagles.
