20 Massachusetts Attractions for Family Fun
We are so lucky to live next to Massachusetts and take advantage of all the wonderful family friendly attractions that are offered. There are so many attractions and activities to take advantage of that there is easily something for everyone.
Here are 20 of our favorite family attractions:
1. Boston Science Museum-- With IMAX shows, a planetarium, live presentations and drop in activities there is so much to see and do.
2. Ecotarium-- This smallish museum in Worcester is part nature center and part science center. Their exhibits are always changing too so there's always something new to see and do.
3. 6 Flags New England-- This oldest amusement park in the 6 Flags chain of parks used to be known as Riverside park and is home to the famous Superman roller coaster.
4. Battleship Cove-- A wonderful maritime history museum with several different boats moored up in one area for people to tour.
5. Southwick's Zoo-- We just LOVE Southwick's zoo and each year more shows, attractions, and animals are added. A fun zoo for the whole family.
6. Magic Wings Butterfly Conservatory and Gardens-- This indoor butterfly garden is home to an amazing number of butterflies, reptiles, and insects.
7. Plymouth plantation-- Step back in time to see what life was like for the settlers of the Plymouth colony in the 17th century. We also enjoyed the re-creation of a Wampanoag home site.
8. Capron park and Zoo-- We always enjoy a trip to the Capron park and can not visit without walking through the zoo. My boys love watching all the lemur's on lemur island and can not get enough of the meerkats
9-13. Springfield Museums (there are 5 of them included with just one admission price!)-- Two art museums, a science museum, a history museum, and the Seuss museum. We toured them all in one day and there was just so much to see and do.
14. Old Sturbridge Village -- New England's largest living history museum, Old Sturbridge Village, takes us back to the 19th century rural life.
15. Worcester Art Museum -- This little art museum has a bit of everything; paintings, sculptures, hands on activities, ceramics, and even weaponry.
16. Davis' Farmland-- When my boys were younger we visited Davis' Farmland each and every summer. Part working farm, part interactive play exhibits, part water park we always had lots of fun.
17. Water Wizz-- Cape Cod's only water park was actually used in the filming of Grown Ups. It's lots of fun for cooling off on a hot day.
18. Breezy Picnic and Waterslide park-- This park has beautiful picnic grounds and is set on a lake so visitors can enjoy swimming in the lake or going down the waterslides.
19. Visiting Salem-- This town is famous for the Salem witch trials. It is fun to visit and there are many museums to explore.
20. Yankee Candle Village-- This Yankee Candle store is like no other! My boys had a wonderful time exploring the village, smelling the various candles, learning how candles were made, and their eyes lit up when it began snowing inside one of the village rooms. It is definitely worth the stop!
Some other Massachusetts attractions you might want to check out include:
Here are 20 of our favorite family attractions:
1. Boston Science Museum-- With IMAX shows, a planetarium, live presentations and drop in activities there is so much to see and do.
2. Ecotarium-- This smallish museum in Worcester is part nature center and part science center. Their exhibits are always changing too so there's always something new to see and do.
3. 6 Flags New England-- This oldest amusement park in the 6 Flags chain of parks used to be known as Riverside park and is home to the famous Superman roller coaster.
4. Battleship Cove-- A wonderful maritime history museum with several different boats moored up in one area for people to tour.
5. Southwick's Zoo-- We just LOVE Southwick's zoo and each year more shows, attractions, and animals are added. A fun zoo for the whole family.
6. Magic Wings Butterfly Conservatory and Gardens-- This indoor butterfly garden is home to an amazing number of butterflies, reptiles, and insects.
7. Plymouth plantation-- Step back in time to see what life was like for the settlers of the Plymouth colony in the 17th century. We also enjoyed the re-creation of a Wampanoag home site.
8. Capron park and Zoo-- We always enjoy a trip to the Capron park and can not visit without walking through the zoo. My boys love watching all the lemur's on lemur island and can not get enough of the meerkats
9-13. Springfield Museums (there are 5 of them included with just one admission price!)-- Two art museums, a science museum, a history museum, and the Seuss museum. We toured them all in one day and there was just so much to see and do.
14. Old Sturbridge Village -- New England's largest living history museum, Old Sturbridge Village, takes us back to the 19th century rural life.
15. Worcester Art Museum -- This little art museum has a bit of everything; paintings, sculptures, hands on activities, ceramics, and even weaponry.
16. Davis' Farmland-- When my boys were younger we visited Davis' Farmland each and every summer. Part working farm, part interactive play exhibits, part water park we always had lots of fun.
17. Water Wizz-- Cape Cod's only water park was actually used in the filming of Grown Ups. It's lots of fun for cooling off on a hot day.
18. Breezy Picnic and Waterslide park-- This park has beautiful picnic grounds and is set on a lake so visitors can enjoy swimming in the lake or going down the waterslides.
19. Visiting Salem-- This town is famous for the Salem witch trials. It is fun to visit and there are many museums to explore.
20. Yankee Candle Village-- This Yankee Candle store is like no other! My boys had a wonderful time exploring the village, smelling the various candles, learning how candles were made, and their eyes lit up when it began snowing inside one of the village rooms. It is definitely worth the stop!
Some other Massachusetts attractions you might want to check out include:
- Stone zoo
- the Basketball hall of fame
- New England Aquarium
- Boston Children's museum
- The Boston freedom trail
- a Duck tour of Boston
- USS Constitution
- Legoland Discovery Center
- Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
Linking Up With:
I am so keeping this list. Thanks so much. We hope to get up there in the next year.
ReplyDeleteBlessings, Dawn
I hope you do! It really is a fun area and I feel like I barely touched the tip of the iceberg with this post.
DeleteIf you like history I'd add Minuteman National Park and the Collings Foundation
ReplyDeleteThanks! I'll have to look into those; I have never heard of them before.
DeleteWhat a great place to live close to! I was in Boston as a kid and really liked it. I wish I lived close enough to take my kids - maybe someday!
ReplyDeleteIt is great but I often think we don't get over there enough. I have a few things on my list to tackle this year... we'll see if we get there or not.
DeleteYou have gone to some wonderful places. Although I wouldn't want that snake around me.
ReplyDeleteI'm not much of a fan of snakes either but I've learned to tolerate them (as long as they aren't too close to me) for the sake of my boys.. :)
DeleteI'm in Connecticut and will be pinning this for the couple of things that I didn't know about. The Ecoterrium is really great. I remember going there years ago with the oldest and not being impressed but tried it again last summer with the 6 year old and we really enjoyed it. #familyfun
ReplyDeleteI found that they've really put a lot into the Ecotarium in the last few years and made it much more hands on and fun. Thanks for the pin!
DeleteLots of fun things to do - but I'd probably be living at the butterfly conservatory.
ReplyDeleteIt was amazing and I can not wait to go back.
DeleteOh wow it's always interesting to read about places and what exists to do! There is so so much to do in your town! Puts my little town in the NW of England to shame. Thank you for linking up to the #familyfunlinky
ReplyDeleteMost of this is at least a 30 minute drive for us; IN our town there is a post office, library, bank, and a few stores... and that's about it.
DeleteWow. This sounds like my dream trip. Visiting as much of New England as I can is definitely on my bucket list. As Karen said above, it puts my little town in England to shame. #FamilyFunLinky
ReplyDeleteLiving there even I think we need to get out and visit more. I often forget that I can cross three state lines in just a few short hours and I don't think we take advantage nearly enough. I'm trying to be more adventurous. There is so many fun and wonderful things to see and do in this tiny area of the US
DeleteSounds like there's lots to do in Massachusetts - have never been but would like to visit one day! #FamilyFunLinky
ReplyDeleteThere really is; I didn't even mention them all!
Delete