South of Boston/Plymouth has plenty of indoor and outdoor fun on its Kids Trails
Battleship Cove
Fall River, MA 02722
Phone: 508-678-1100
For a day trip or an overnight that kids will replay over and over to friends back home, families can visit and tour the USS Massachusetts, the submarine Lionfish, and other World War II-era fighting ships. Through the Nautical Nights program, kids and adults may camp overnight onboard the Battleship Massachusetts, with plenty of opportunity to explore the vessel.
Capron Park Zoo
Attleboro, MA 02703
Phone: 508-222-6202
The zoo has revitalized itself with new exhibits and animals from all over the world: African lion cubs, North American river otters, snow leopards, and creatures of the rain forests. Activities give children the chance to handle small animals, conduct daily rounds with zookeepers, and to clean exhibits and feed animals. If the day is hot, kids can take a break in the mist tent for a gentle, cooling shower.
Caratunk Wildlife Refuge
Seekonk, MA 02771
Phone: 508-761-8230
Caratunk Refuge, operated by the Audubon Society of Rhode Island, provides a protected habitat for native plants and animals as well as many educational programs. Camp is held here in the summer for children and public programs concerning the environment are held year-round for concerned citizens of all ages.
New Bedford Whaling Museum
New Bedford, MA 02740
Phone: 508-997-0046
Through exhibits and programs, the museum brings the whaling era to life. It houses an extensive collection of art, artifacts, and manuscripts pertaining to American whaling when sailing ships dominated merchant trade and whaling. Programs for children and families teach about life in a 19th-century whaling town, present stories and songs from artists, and invite kids to do arts and crafts.
137 Warren Avenue
Plymouth, MA 02360
Phone: 508-746-1622
Living History on Land and At Sea
Visitors to Plimoth Plantation’s main campus are welcomed to the museum in the comfortable, spacious and modern Henry Hornblower Visitor’s Center where they can prepare for the quintessential, bi-cultural 17th Century experience. Start surrounded by soft furs, flickering firelight, and artfully woven bulrush mats, learning about traditional Wampanoag family life as well as the arrival of the English from an Indigenous point of view. Then find yourself immersed in the year 1627, just seven years after the voyage of the Mayflower. In the village you will be surrounded by the modest timber-framed houses, fragrant raised-bed gardens, well-tended livestock and fascinating townspeople of Plymouth Colony, the first permanent English settlement in New England.
Now come aboard and learn about the 1620 voyage of the Mayflower, the perils of maritime travel, and the tools of 17th-century navigation.
