Ana's Suggestions for kid friendly places to go: 

I grew up in Charlotte, NC and quite a few of my family members still live in the area, so I visit a few times a year and we usually keep our schedules full with fun activities. Here are a few of my suggestions for places to visit with kids:
Discovery Place (Science, Nature, and Kids)- The perfect places to go with young children to give them a variety of fun, educational experiences. For my children, at their current age, the Huntersville kids museum is the perfect entertainment for the whole day. They have loads of dress up and play pretend activities, along with craft and building areas, and even a baby play section for tiny ones. I grew up going to the science museum and IMAX theatre, so once your kids are older, I highly suggest the science museum for fun, hands-on learning.


Imaginon- Absolutely recommend visiting Imaginon with your kids if you are ever in the Charlotte area! They shift learning exhibits every few months, but they are always fun! We first went to the Clifford exhibit, which Aria loved because of her love of dogs. Our second visit, they had a mix of ocean, Mr. Potato Head, and space activities that both my 2 year old and my 5 month old could enjoy. They also have weekly library story times for a variety of ages that are worth checking out if you are looking for learning activities in the area. 


Sciele Museum- Went to the Schiele Museum on a trip to Charlotte last year and discovered we were visiting on the perfect day! Activities, animal petting, and relay games were just a few of the fun events we were able to enjoy, though on a normal day you may not get to experience some of the fun games Aria got to try out. On a normal day, there are great dinosaur, space, pirate, and nature exhibits to check out, which could go along with a multitude of units! They also have a great outdoor village to learn about Native American living.


Charlotte Nature Museum and Freedom Park- Freedom Park always has the best festivals, so I highly recommend keeping an eye on park happenings if you are visiting the Charlotte area. There is a small lake you can walk around and loads of fun playground activities. But the big draw to the park is its easy access to the Charlotte Nature Museum. While I am not a huge fan of the museum because I have a snake phobia, the girls absolutely love it. Really well done and catered to kids.


South Park American Girl Doll Store and Cafe- Huge American girl doll store in the mall with a cafe where you can reserve a table for lunch or high tea for your child and their doll of choice. Super fun experience for girls.


Romare Bearden Park- Has fun festivals from time to time, but the big draw is the water play area, where kids can wear their suits and play in a unique splash pad. Great kids park.


Symphony in the Park at Southpark- A fun summer outdoor music series held outside the mall at Southpark. The girls love to picnic and dance along for hours while the Charlotte Symphony serenades us with great music.


Children’s Theatre of Charlotte- A great place to watch performances for children (perfect if you like theatre but don’t want your kids bothering other people). I grew up going here for camps and performances, and they are super well done and very professional.


The Matthews Library- Has a large selection of books and a great kids play area in the children’s section. Just a really great atmosphere overall.


Charlotte Renaissance Festival- The perfect place to get to play pretend for a whole day. Super fun way for kids and adults alike to get away from modern distractions and live like someone from the medieval times.


Blakeney- Has a great kids play section for while parents eat (right behind Brixx) and we love Pigtails and Ponytails for an awesome, kid friendly haircutting experience.


See a performance at Blumenthal Theatre


The Mint Museum kids area (Uptown)- has an awesome area for kids crafts and activities where parents can trade off watching kids and wandering the beautiful exhibits


At the holidays…


The Thanksgiving Day Parade (Uptown)- A yearly tradition for my family, the girls absolutely love the fun floats and enthusiastic people in the parade.


NC Transportation Museum- Has a fun Polar Express train that you can ride. Recommend paying for nicer seats, as our cheaper seats didn’t have a great view, but the activities before the train ride are worth arriving a few hours early for some thematic fun.


The Train to Christmas Town (Gastonia)- This train ride doesn’t have the best view, but the train workers are super enthusiastic about the holidays and the girls had a blast getting to greet a ton of characters from the book the train is based on.


The Billy Graham Library- At the holidays, the library puts on a really well done live nativity scene. They also put on carriage rides around the property, which is fun for small children. Great for getting in some Christian focus at the holidays.


Afternoon Tea at Ballantyne Hotel- They have special holiday tea time perfect for young girls to enjoy with mothers or grandmothers




Some other great things to do with kids (just not my favorites) include:


Going to a Panther’s, Checkers or Hornets game
Go to NASCAR speedway
Take the Lynx Rail uptown and wander around Uptown
Levine Museum of the New South (for older kids)


To be continued...Feel free to offer some suggestions below of places I may have overlooked!

Ana’s Field Trip/Activity Suggestions:


The Coca-Cola Space Science Center (free under 3)- Though this center is geared more towards slightly older children who are on field trips, as a space loving family, we love this center. There is a small area where little children can play and learn about space (perfect for Skylar), an IMAX theatre that plays a great Sesame Street video for kids about space once or twice a day, and loads of equipment to feel like you are in space or actual equipment from spaceships. The best part of the center is the gift shop, where we have found great deals on interesting finds for space and dinosaur units.


Callaway Gardens (particularly the Butterfly Center)- In preparation for a bug unit that I planned to do a few weeks later, we took the girls to Callaway Gardens, where they have a beautiful indoor butterfly garden. We were able to talk about different butterflies and different stages of butterfly development. While Aria enjoyed seeing the different butterflies, I enjoyed the gift store, where we were able to buy a butterfly hatchery (caterpillars ship to you in the mail) and a boatload of bug stickers and books! Callaway Gardens is a melange of learning opportunities, including swimming, walking the trails, and a nature Discovery Center, but the Butterfly Center is most definitely a gem for the homeschooling mom and family!
The Columbus Museum (FREE)- The museum itself is great and an excellent hands-on learning experience, but the truly best part of the museum is the children’s area, which has some incredible and free activities. The video creation area is amazing, as is the theatre area with dress up options and puppets. Children can even go into the backroom and practice being architects, drawing and modeling floor plans, which is cool for even adults to take part in.  During the summer, they put on weekly performances for children that usually feature learning songs or puppet shows. Perfect place to enjoy with a budding artist!


The Columbus Library (FREE)- Not only is this a stunning museum, but it is the perfect playground for children. There is a large dinosaur playground that you can drive to behind the library, which is super well done and perfect to play at during a dinosaur unit. But inside the library is an awesome kids section, with an outdoor, interactive children’s garden and a great activity room. They have loads of kids books and hands on activities, along with great children’s programs, such as STEM Mini Makers (our current favorite). Highly recommend spending as much time here as possible!


The Columbus Botanical Gardens (FREE)- though these are small, they are beautiful gardens perfect for any outdoor units or family pictures


National Infantry Museum (FREE but ask for $5 donation per person)- An awesome museum for learning about our country’s history and the wars that have been fought around the world. Geared a little bit older than preschool, but there are areas of the museum that still caught the girls’ interest. Has a great IMAX theatre that hosts several great children’s movies during the summer and at Christmas time.


Oxbow Meadows (FREE but ask for $5 donation; certain events require an additional fee)- A really great, small children’s nature museum. Hosts some awesome nature learning opportunities throughout the year and fun festivals (like a fairy, honey themed, and frogwarts festival during the year). Perfect for any nature or animal themed units during the year. Close to a great walking trail and dog park.


The Riverwalk- we love the riverwalk for how easy it is to walk with a stroller and how beautiful it is. During the summer, we love the part of the walk that starts in Flat Rock Park because of the tree coverage (a necessity in a very hot Columbus)


Lakebottom Park- this is such a great park for kids with a great walking trail that surrounds the park and an excellent (mostly covered by trees) playground. Check out the festivities in the park, from Art in the Park to concerts.


Riverfront Splash Pad and Freenotes Harmony Park- good way to cool down during the summer, especially if you don’t have a pool, though you have to be careful of some larger kids pushing the smaller kids down in their haste to play (Aria and Skylar have both gotten boo-boos at times). The Freenotes park is new and super fun for all age levels. The music section is really fun for both kids and adults!


My Gym Columbus- we are huge fans of My Gym, having gone to classes here since Aria turned 8 months old. Such a well priced, perfect for kids gym. My girls love getting out of the house to go to the gym and everyone who works there is great with kids.


To be continued... (am I missing anything? Please give suggestions below on great places to go with kids!)

Ana's Advice:

The girls and I are headed on a long drive next week (anything 6+ hours is long for us, though I know many people drive much longer distances), so I thought I would pull together some of my personal advice for surviving a long drive alone with kids. Now, obviously this varies drastically by age, so right now my advice is applicable for children in the 2-5 range. In a few years, I'll have to update this with advice based on their ages then. And under 2 is always about just hoping they sleep a lot or are entertained by the views outside the window or siblings next to them.

So, this is what I plan to do to try and survive the trip with as little frustration as possible (fingers crossed for no traffic):

1. Media is the automatic choice when thinking about how to entertain kids in a car, but I hate to have them mindlessly staring at a screen the whole time. So, we have been watching a lot of Preschool Prep DVDs in our car. They are great because they help with sight words, phonics, numbers and letters but are also interactive because the kids like to shout the sounds and words out loud as the DVDs play. Honestly, my girls love it so much and don't seem to realize they are learning. I highly suggest trying them out! Books on tape are also an awesome way to pass the time. 

HOWEVER...

2. I personally enjoy some quiet time in the car too, where I can listen to music and focus on the drive with no loud noises in the back, so it is useful to pack a few things to take a number of media breaks (other than the nap(s) that every parent hopes for):

• Make a snack box or pack a few bags of different snacks that you can pass back from time to time. This is super helpful in case of traffic or if one child wants to stop and get lunch but the other child is sleeping. We use a craft box with lots of different sections and Aria passes snacks to her sister. Also, my girls are hungry all of the time, so car snacks are a must for them.
• Pack coloring books and crayons/markers (Color Wonder might work best), etch-a-sketches, car travel bingo games (there are some cheap ones at the Dollar Store where kids look for different transportation vehicles or road signs), easy workbooks, mini felt boards and characters, or magnet boxes (use an old metal lunchbox and play with fridge alphabet magnets)- I like to keep all of these items in a bag next to me and pass them back when the girls seem to get antsy to spread out how quickly they go through the toys, though you could easily place bags on the back of seats in front of them.
• We also have started playing I-Spy or In My Father's Grocery Store, will sing songs, or will tell knock knock jokes, all of which are wonderful because you don't have to pack anything at all yet it entertains the kids. 

​​3. Be smart about planned stops. Hate driving through a large city on your route? Plan to stop for lunch or dinner as a reward for making it through that area. Know that one state or area of the highway has cheaper gas? Make that a planned bathroom stop while the gas tank fills up. However, my best advice is that even with all of the best planning, the best thing to do is be adaptable. If there is traffic and the kids need a break, find an area to run around for 5 minutes. If the kids are being awesome and don't care about getting out of the car, power through on the snacks you brought rather than stopping for lunch so that you get where you are going sooner. Just like with flying, expecting the unexpected is truly the best way to survive! 

Hope this helps you on your next long drive! I would love to hear your best suggestions for making car travel easier so that perhaps I can have some new, awesome ideas for my next car trip with the girls!