Special challenges for special kids in Crested Butte CO
Tony suffers from dwarfism and is autistic. But here at Crested Butte’s Adaptive Sports Center, he literally is king of the hill.
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Teen Ambassadors offer unique perspective on 9/11 Memorial Museum
David Rothblatt and Fia Hargil are among the six members of the inaugural class of teen ambassadors trained to work with children who visit the National September 11 Memorial Museum, which opened at the new World Trade Center this past May.
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Winter is a great time for a family visit to a zoo or aquarium
The human kiddos laugh and giggle at the antics of the animals all day at the St. Louis Zoo. It’s one of three major free zoos left in the country along with the National Zoo in Washington, D.C., and the Lincoln Park Zoo in Chicago.
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At the 9/11 Memorial Museum with unique teen guides
David Rothblatt has been a New Yorker all his life but his sole memory of 9/11 was being with his mom as she searched for a store to buy milk. Fia adds that next year’s high school freshmen will have been born after 9/11. “Kids need to know even if it is hard,” she and David agreed.
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The New York Met and Madame Tussauds with teens
If only the Metropolitan Museum of Art had life-sized wax figures of Degas, Monet and Picasso. I’m joking, of course, but I was thinking that watching how much fun our group of high schoolers was having at MME Tussauds NYC.
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Teaching the kids about civil rights at our national monuments
If you want to expand on what the kids are learning in school, then head to a national park. That’s right. There are many national historic sites that figured into the fight against slavery and the civil rights movement and are ideal for out-of-the-classroom learning opportunities, especially when so many are offering special activities this month.
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Aboard the USS Iowa searching for a charming mutt named Vicky
The USS Iowa, now a museum in Los Angeles Harbor, has a storied history but the story of its mascot, a little mutt named Vicky, charms visitors of all ages.
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Kids rule at London’s newly expanded Imperial War Museum
Follow the local kids. That’s a good plan when you are exploring a new city with your gang. That’s what we did recently at the newly expanded Imperial War Museum in London, which was teeming with enthusiastic British families.
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Kids conquering fears and having fun on a canopy tour in Pennsylvania
We were at Spring Mountain, a modest ski area just outside Philadelphia but a mighty fine adventure place for a canopy tour with four expert guides — and six high-school scholars
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Learning Revolutionary War history in Valley Forge PA
On a beautiful fall day, the contrast could not have been more different than what George Washington and his Continental Army found here in Valley Forge during the winter of 1777-78
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Cheesesteak and history for all – fun in Philadelphia with teenaged boys
Cheesesteak and ice cream. The Declaration of Independence, the US Constitution and a galaxy of top-flight colleges… that’s what we found on a whirlwind day in Philadelphia with a group of teenaged boys.
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Families love the greatly expanded National World War II Museum in New Orleans
There are dented helmets, letters home, photographs, flight jackets and K rations, complete with chocolate bars and gum.
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After the wedding, time to explore the Charlottesville VA area
Correspondent Melissa Miller had time to spend touring the Charlottesville VA area after a spectacular wedding this month. Here is her report.
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Monticello is super kid-friendly, just like Thomas Jefferson was
It is only fitting that the home of our third President and the man who wrote the Declaration of Independence is so kid friendly. Jefferson was very fond of his 12 grandchildren, many of whom lived here with him after his retirement
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A high schooler leaves his comfort zone in Costa Rica
Luis Cruz had never traveled far from home. This summer he got the opportunity to travel to Costa Rica with a group that sponsors community service trips. This is his diary of the trip.
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What the kids say about 18th Century Williamsburg VA
What’s it like to see 18th Century history unfold in the street of Colonial Williamsburg, VA? We asked some of the “junior interpreters” what they thought.
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21st Century meets 18th in Colonial Williamsburg – huzzah!
21st Century meets 18th Century—that’s the idea of Colonial Williamsburg. The audience was enthralled by the street theater Revolutionary City where costumed interpreters play out different aspects of the politics surrounding the American Revolution.
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Jamestown Settlement: the place to start your Historic Triangle history tour
Jamestown Settlement is the place to start a visit to the Historic Triangle—and to teach a lesson in tolerance in the process as you learn the trials and tribulations of the settlers and the Powahatans learning to coexist.
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History and fun for families in Virginia’s Historic Triangle
Williamsburg has plenty to offer families—from Busch Gardens, famous for its coasters and Water Country USA, to plenty of American history. This is the heart of the Historic Triangle, of course, home to Colonial Williamsburg
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Kids discovering “Horrible Histories” of spies at the Imperial War Museum in London
Real spies know there are a lot better ways to disguise your looks—like putting cheek pads in your mouth to change the shape of your appearance. At the Imperial War Museum in London, kids gave a thumbs up to the Horrible Histories Spies exhibit.
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A Kid Facing Fears and Pushing Limits at Mount Snow Family Camp
Sheri McDonald writes that her children have all gone to summer camp, but it was really special to be with them together at Mount Snow Family Camp while they gained confidence and took on new challenges
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Small museums everywhere provide great value for families
I realized when I stopped at the Children’s Creativity Museum in San Francisco, how much fun a visit to a smaller museum can be for visiting families.
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New Orleans, swamps, plantations and other family haunts in Louisiana
Want a marshmallow? The 6-foot-long alligator, dubbed Otis by the locals, who’s minus one foot and swimming alongside our boat certainly does.
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A Two-Nation Vacation to Roosevelt’s Campobello and Downeast Maine
Campobello is an island off the Maine coast, located in New Brunswick, Canada. Unless you’re a U.S. history buff, you might not know that our longest serving President, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, spent countless summers vacationing on this Canadian island.
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Learning about oceanography in Woods Hole, MA
WOODS HOLE, MA – Do you recognize the name of this small port on Cape Cod? It has something to do with the Titanic, right?
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At the Farm Institute on Martha’s Vineyard with the kids
Kids learning about food at the Farm Institute on Martha’s Vineyard, MA. These 180 acres at the edge of Edgartown has been farmed since the first Europeans arrived in the 17th Century and before that by the local Wampanoag.
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More than beaches – Maine’s museums and zoos
Taking the Kids Correspondent Andrea Timpano chronicles three days in the beach towns of Maine. Day 3- Ogunquit and York
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Speed museum-seeing in Oslo with the OsloPASS
We were in Oslo at the end of an Adventures by Disney trip to Norway, and thanks to the Oslo Pass that provides admission to more than 30 museums and free public transport (including the ferry to the Viking Museum), we were able to hit four museums in about six available hours.
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Six new places for families to experience a special July 4th
Maybe you will march in a local parade or watch the kids march, host a barbecue or gather the gang to see the fireworks. Here are six unique ways to celebrate July 4.
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Families learn about wild animal care at Busch Gardens in Tampa FL
We’re at Busch Gardens state of the art Animal Care Center where guests can watch the park’s vets do surgeries (like repairing a Bald Eagle’s broken wing), wellness exams and more as the park’s vet team works to keep 1200 animals healthy.
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Dreams come true for 12 year-olds at Cooperstown Dreams Park
This is the Cooperstown Dreams Park, where every week more than 100 Little League teams comprised of 12 year olds convene for a week of baseball.
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Generations love the game — at the Baseball Hall of Fame
There is a lot to read at every exhibit at the National Baseball Hall of Fame, celebrating its 75th anniversary this month. This iconic place inspires conversation with parents and grandparents
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Immigrant history on Manhattan’s Lower East Side
The Tenement Museum is the place to learn about the history not only of this neighborhood, but of the pivotal role it has played in New York City’s immigrant history—and continues to play
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World War II history comes alive for families visiting Normandy
June 6 marks the 70th anniversary of D-Day, and many families, even if they can’t visit, will be thinking about grandfathers and great-grandfathers, sons, uncles and cousins who fought and died here.
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Families learn about Pandas and environment at the San Diego Zoo
Zoos — besides being fun places to visit and see amazing creatures like pandas — are also ideal places to teach kids what they can do to help the environment
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A place where a private tour makes sense: The Louvre in Paris
The Louvre can be overwhelming for an adult, much less a child. That’s why I figure if you are going to splurge on a private tour, this is a good place to do it.
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Tinker til you drop at San Francisco’s Exploratorium
Step right into the Tinkering Studio at San Francisco’s Exploratorium where you can tinker until you make lights go on and buzzers sound, make music on a musical bench or create a toothpick sculpture, inspired by the giant toothpick sculpture “Rolling Through the Bay.”
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Boston’s Freedom Trail: Where families travel back in time
Welcome to Boston’s Freedom Trail, the 2.5-mile-long route over cobble-stoned streets that lets you travel back in time to when Boston was still a colony and people argued about what to do about the increasingly difficult demands from the king of England.
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Children’s Creativity Museum: A San Francisco family treat
The Children’s Creativity Museum in downtown San Francisco right at Yerba Buena Gardens, is unlike any children’s museum I’ve ever seen. For one thing, it appeals to all ages.
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A new way with kids menus at San Francisco’s Exploratorium
At the SEAGLASS restaurant in San Francisco’s Exploratorium, families and kids step out of their comfort zone to eat healthier and what is in season.
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Five places for your kids to get up close and personal with dinosaurs
You don’t have to be in New York or at The Smithsonian Museum of Natural History in Washington, D.C., to get your dino fix, as wonderful as those museums’ exhibits are. Here are four others museums I’ve visited that are guaranteed to please.
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Back to Bolton Valley with the ABC boys — many lessons learned
Why would three sane adult males drive five hours for a day-and-a-half of skiing and snowboarding with a group of five high school boys when there are bigger and fancier ski areas much closer to home? A guys weekend of course.
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Take your family to an art museum and explore it in new ways
At the Denver Art Museum you can borrow a backpack. These days you’ll find plenty of activities to engage kids and the adults who accompany them to art museums across the country
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Futbol is life — at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art
Fútbol: The Beautiful Game is an art exhibition to examine soccer through issues such as nationalism and identity as well as share the human experience through different cultures, according to LACMA.
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The museums in Los Angeles have something for every family
Here are five Los Angeles museum bets that are guaranteed to please even the I-hate-museum crowd
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Preschoolers exploring the surface of Mars at Denver science museum
On a recent Tuesday, a group of pre schoolers were busy carving out what looked like pieces of water from the surface of Mars — at the Denver Museum of Nature and Science.
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Families love the time machines at History Colorado
Everyone visiting Denver—and Colorado should stop at this downtown museum that makes Colorado history relevant and gives those families visiting a way to connect with Coloradoans past and present.
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Families love the Denver Art Museum and its backpacks
It turns out that some 20 years ago, the Denver Art Museum was the first in the country to not only embrace families but to introduce backpacks-to-borrow as a way to engage kids.
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Following the kid — to Nicaragua, the new destination for eco-tourism
After years of Taking the Kids, on this trip we’ve followed our 22-year-old daughter Melanie here to Nicaragua, which many say is fast becoming the next eco tourist’s must-see destination, offering volcanoes, cloud forests, rain forests, pristine beaches and a growing number of eco resorts.
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A family vacation includes volunteering at a nearby children’s center
In our family, an afternoon away from the resort is fundamental. A 20-minute taxi ride from the luxurious Iberostar Playa Mita brings you to the sleepy fishing village of San Francisco, known locally as San Pancho. In this tiny seaside town, you will find Entre Amigos.
