If you’re doing a staycation with kids, it’s going to be hell without activities: So, get planning. The following are some places to be and things to do with children that are also parent-friendly.
The beach
You don’t have to drive to Cape Cod, New Hampshire or Connecticut to hit sandy beaches, we’ve got some right here in the Valley. Beaches were made for family fun: there’s nothing out there the kids can break, they can be as loud as they want, and when they get dirty you can just rinse them off in the lake. Here are some chill Valley beaches (entrance fees charged at state parks):
Robinson State Park, Agawam (fee); Burbank Park on Onata Lake, Valentine Road, Pittsfield; Green River Swimming and Recreation Area, Nash’s Mill Road, Greenfield; Windsor Lake, intersection of Bradley Street and Kemp Avenue, North Adams; Chicopee Memorial State Park, Chicopee; Brimfield State Forest and Dean Pond, Brimfield; Lake Mattawa, Lake Mattawa Road, Orange; DAR State Forest, Cape Street, Route 112, Goshen; Puffers Pond, State Street, Amherst; and Musante Beach, Reservoir Road, Leeds.
Music Festivals
A music festival might be the last place you’d think to bring your family — they’re basically weekend bacchanals. While mega festies can include long slogs to the stage, high ticket prices, and tiny camp sites, local music festivals are more low-key. And many of them now have kids activities, camping, and music. I recently brought my five-year-old to Strange Creek, a long-running jam fest in Greenfield, and she says it was the best weekend of her life. It’s not hard to see why: We camped among hundreds of families with kids her age and right next to a jungle gym. Volunteers organized a scavenger hunt, games, and free face painting. Those were all things for the kids, but she also enjoyed what I came for: pigging out on junk food, staying up late dancing to music, and playing around.
Some signs that a festival is family-friendly include: Designated family camping, a schedule of kids activities, features chill music (folk, jam, reggae, genres that attract an older, more mellow crowd), has volunteers working the family area, and a child registration program (usually, involves giving children bracelets with their parent’s contact info on it).
One of the best famil-friendly fests coming up is The Green River Fest: July 14-16, Greenfield Community College, Greenfield.
Performers will include Lake Street Dive, Joe Russo’s Almost Dead, The Mavericks, Houndmouth, Funky Meters, and John Brown’s Body.
This year will feature the Next Wave Stage where on Friday night the best local bands with age-18-and-under members will perform. For Friday night only, anyone 18 or under gets in for free. For kids activities there’s the garden arcade, carnival games, a swim shuttle down to the Green River, and hot air balloon rides.
Tickets: Kids 10 and under are free. Single day passes are $34.99-$64.99 each. Camping is $29.99 per day. A weekend pass to all three days of the festival, plus camping, is $169.99.
Playgrounds and Splash Pads
It’ll be hot and if you’re not into swimming, but your kids are, splash pads next to playgrounds are a good compromise and a low-laid back way to spend an afternoon or two. Here’s a list of some of the best splash pads around with a note if there is an entry fee: Unity Park , Turners Falls; Hillside Park, Greenfield; Look Park, Northampton (fee); Nonotuck Park, Easthampton (fee); Buttery Brook Park, South Hadley; Beechgrounds Park, South Hadley; Pulaski Park, Holyoke; Springdale Park, Holyoke; Szot Park, Chicopee; Forest Park, Springfield (fee); School Street Park, Agawam; Municipal Park, Westfield; Chapman Playground, Westfield; Hampden Memorial Park, Hampden; and The Common, Pittsfield.
Pick-Your-Own & Farmers Markets
Show kids where their food comes from, and pick up some tasty produce for home, at local pick-your-own farms and farmers markets. Farmers markets have expanded. Many of them now include live music, entertainment, crafts, and goodies, as well as produce, locally made products, and veggie starts. You can find options for both at buylocalfood.org.
Pick now: Strawberries at Atlas Farm, River Road, Deerfield; as well as Brown’s Provin Mountain Farm, North West Street, Feeding Hills; Dickinson Farm, South Street, Granby; and Kosinksi Farms, Shaker Road, Westfield.
Mid-July: Blueberries at Jameson’s High Meadow Farm, Skyline Trail, Chester; as well as Art’s Berry Farm, Parker Street, East Longmeadow; and Kosinksi Farms, Shaker Road, Westfield.
Children’s Museums
I don’t always understand the “museum” part of children’s museums — nothing of significance is stored, per se, in the ones I’ve visited. They’re mostly a warehouse of themed play rooms with costumes, and pulleys, and levers, and balls, and blocks, and water toys, and slides, and — they’re just mega awesome, okay? The Valley is home to two exceptional children’s museums.
The Childrens’ Museum at Holyoke, on Dwight Street, is beloved in the area. The long-running, two-story kid fantasy features a floor-to-ceiling “curvy climber,” a bubble table, ambulance and vet clinic, grocery store and kitchen/diner, a TV studio with working cameras, a water table, and more blue foam blocks than you could count. It’s open every day, except Monday and holidays. Admission is $7.50, children age 1 and younger are free. Members go for free; a one year pass for one adult and one kid is $60.
Amelia Park Children’s Museum, on South Broad Street in Westfield, features a toddler zone, construction area, doc’s office, cafe, bank, a giant slide and the best part: An area decked out to look like outer space where kids can grab orange foam balls, stuff them into air-powered cannons and launch them around the room. The museum is closed on Tuesdays and Wednesdays. Admission for babies under age one and members is free; for everyone else it’s $7. An adult-child membership costs $60.
