Kid Baltimore | Family Activities with Children in Baltimore, Maryland

Baltimore Museum of Art

Whenever I enter a museum with toddlers, I’m never quite sure how long we will be there. It’s probably going to be somewhere between 2 minutes and 2 hours. If I make it 2 hours, I got my money’s worth. I’m happy. But 2 minutes? I don’t think so.

But now, thanks to special funding, the Baltimore Museum of Art is free. FREE! I could finally use that threat I’ve been saving “If you don’t stop that, we are leaving” without fear. But I was hoping I wouldn’t need it just yet.

The museum doesn’t open until 11:00 so we had to be there when the doors opened to make it work with nap time, but I could handle that. It just meant that when we arrived, there was still plenty of parking available. A happy volunteer in the lobby told me that kids seem to like the Cheney miniatures because they “think they are like dollhouses.” He pointed me to the left. Let me say here that I agree with the  kids. They are dollhouses, or parts of dollhouses, all behind glass with step stools everywhere so the vertically challenged can stare. I’m not a big fan of this kind of thing, but the kids were mesmerized so it was all good with me.

We continued past the European Decorative arts where we learned about the word “echo.” I don’t think anyone was paying attention to the art, because the echo (echo…echo…) was so nice. The American Modernism section was not a hit with the kids. Too bad for me, but we kept going to one of my favorite sections, contemporary art. The toddler perspective on contemporary art was really kind of entertaining. I will admit it took a tiny bit of coercion to get them to walk past the Rauschenberg’s, but it was worth it. There are so many shapes and colors to talk about along the way.

The Cone collection is absolutely fantastic and arguably the best part of the museum, but I was sensing toddler turmoil, so I decided to save that for another day.

Baltimore Museum of Art
443-573-1700
10 Art Museum Drive
Baltimore, MD 21218

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Gertrude's Restaurant at the BMA

Gertrude's is a slightly upscale restaurant for my lunch dates. But I’m a firm believer in making occasional attempts to socialize them, even if it could potentially cause a scene. The waiter provided drinks in lidded cups and then came back with crayons, two sure signs of being kid-friendly. I ordered fruit bowls for them, and a small plate of fried oysters for me. Fruit bowls are small, but fresh and everything is quiet. It was a rare moment of calm and I thoroughly enjoyed every minute.

Gertrude’s Restaurant
410-889-3399
10 Art Museum Drive
Baltimore, MD 21218

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Sculpture Gardens at the BMA

After lunch at Gertrude's, we headed to the sculpture garden, another great place to talk about shapes as we climbed the steps “rectangle, rectangle, rectangle,” and walked around the path “square, square, square” to end up at another sculpture “quarter circle.” Did my child really just say that? A genius, now I am sure.

Baltimore Museum of Art
443-573-1700
10 Art Museum Drive
Baltimore, MD 21218

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Weber's Cider Mill Farm

 

Apples in the fall are a beautiful thing. My mom says she bought a bushel every two weeks when we were kids and we would devour them. In life, there should be no limit on the number of apples you get to eat, you know, that whole “apple a day thing”. Now, although I really appreciate the Granny Smith for staying crisp the whole season through, I really need more. Cortland, Winesap, Jonagold. Now we’re talking…

So, I called ahead, and Gala were in season. Great! Out we went.

Weber’s is located just outside the beltway. Very convenient. It was a gorgeous fall day. The kid manning the apple picking booth was really friendly (maybe more than a touch awkward) and expertly pointed us in the right direction. Now here’s my complaint. My only complaint. It just doesn’t take long enough to pick apples. We are done in like, five minutes.

The good news is, there is a lot more to see. The petting zoo is great: ducks, geese, peacocks, turkeys, sheep, goats, rabbits. There are corn “vending machines” throughout. Although, I will warn you that the geese will nibble and I saw a toddler with particularly delicious fingers get them nipped, so watch out.

Then you can check out the rusty old tractor parked in the middle of the lawn. I swear it is just like my Grandpa’s (with some extra rust). My son just had to climb on and I’m pretty sure he thought he was driving.

We headed to the farm store on our way out. They have lots of great stuff and I’m sure we will be back, but for now, some rock candy was all we needed.

410-668-4488

Weber's Cider Mill Farm
2526 Proctor Lane
Parkville, MD 21234

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Chick-fil-A

I know. I know. It’s a big huge chain, so why is it listed here? Because it seems like they actually want me to show up with a car full of kids. They like me. They really like me. And I need that. For starters, they let me swap out french fries for a fresh fruit salad in the kids’ meals. Then, I notice they’ve included a puzzle (see above)  for the surprise instead of some lousy chokeable toy that I will have to pry from their tiny, little fingers before it is ingested. And finally I stare in amazement as I see they have included a bendy straw. A bendy straw! If you’ve ever watched a toddler try and maneuver a regular straw while not breaking the “no standing on the chair” rule, you will appreciate this. And so will your toddler.

After lunch, we head to the  inside jungle gym – tunnels and slides to burn off all that energy. Thank you Chic-fil-A!

410-667-1994

Chick-fil-A
10142 York Rd
Cockeysville, MD 21030

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Valley View Farms

I love stopping by Valley View Farms. I've always had a small garden and so Valley View is on my list of errands for purely selfish reasons. But hear me out, this qualifies as a perfectly good day trip in my book and it can all be summed up in two words -- fish pond. We start off on the plant side, where there are lots of pretty flowers to look at and then move inside for where they have amazing Halloween and/or Christmas displays (but I'm really checking out the gardening gloves, seeds, etc.) And then, if all has gone well (and it usually does) we head across the parking lot to the water garden section. Tanks and tanks of koi, tadpoles, snails, and lilypads that end in a huge koi pond with the prettiest fish  you can imagine. There is even a bridge that goes over a tiny waterfall and lots of ceramic animals to say hello to.

410-527-0770

Valley View Farms
11035 York Road
Cockeysville/Hunt Valley, MD 21030

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