Kid Baltimore | Family Activities with Children in Baltimore, Maryland

Carrie Murray Nature Center

Located inside Gwynns Falls/Leakin Park, the Carrie Murray Nature Center is home to hundreds of creatures, both exotic and indigenous. This facility houses and rehabilitates injured wildlife. Some of the more exotic residents are house pets that were too much to handle for the owners. Not the best start, but now they are well cared for and provide an educational experience for hundreds of kids.

We met the center's naturalist, Lloyd, who was kind enough to spend some time answering questions. He tells us there are three areas to visit.

The inside exhibit room houses owls, turtles, snakes, iguanas, a chipmunk, parrots, rabbits, you name it.

Next we visited the outside birds. From behind the fences, we could get a pretty good peek at some large birds of prey, including a bald eagle and a turkey vulture.

Then we headed back inside to see the Insect Zoo. Lloyd met up with us again and showed us around. In the spring and summer, the collection is larger, and they get regular shipments of bugs from the Smithsonian and other sources. But even this time of year they have some neat things to see. The kids and I all got to pet this millipede (above). I'm kind of glad I haven't run into these around my house. In September, the nature center holds a bug festival. They have cockroach races and (get this) a real bug tasting. Yum!

410-396-0808

Carrie Murray Nature Center
1901 Ridgetop Road
Baltimore, MD 21207

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College Park Aviation Museum

This week, we stopped by the College Park Aviation Museum because, well, airplanes are cool. This 27,000 facility is located on the grounds of the historic College Park Airport which is "the world's oldest continuously operating airport."

The museum itself, beautiful and thoughtfully designed, was opened in 1998 and offers a wonderful collection of aircrafts. But what I liked most about this museum was how they had managed to cater to all age groups. There is really something for everyone here.

For little ones, there is "The Imagination Plane" - a real 1939 Taylorcraft airplane that kids can climb in and explore. There are also mini flight jackets to put on. An outside play yard has hand built wooden airplanes to ride.

For older kids there are exhibits that explore air velocity and real propellers to turn although, truth be told, my 3 year olds enjoyed that too.

And for adults, there is plenty of rich history including a library for research.

301-864-6029

College Park Aviation Museum
1985 Corporal Frank Scott Drive
College Park, MD 20740

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Suggestions and Submissions

So where to next? I am always looking for new places to travel and I welcome your ideas. Please email me and tell me about them. Here is what I am looking for:

1. Close. I know any thing over 45 minutes in the car gets dicey, so this blog will focus on short day trips.

2. Easy. Life is complicated enough already.

3. Fun. Kind of a given.

Places that are quirky, off-beat or "really Baltimore" are given priority. Everyone already knows where the most popular attractions are, and I will cover those too, but I am mostly looking for what makes Charm City special.

All my best,

Joyce

Gunpowder Bison & Trading Company

Yes, we really still are in Maryland. I was surprised to hear there was a bison ranch so nearby. We jumped in the car to go take a look. Gunpowder Bison & Trading Company is located in Monkton, on 70 acres of gorgeous rolling hills. It was kind of strange driving up the street and seeing a herd of bison up ahead, but there they were.

I learned a few things I never knew from our brief visit. For one thing, they can run 35-40 mph and the bulls can stand over six feet tall. They can jump over five feet straight in the air which I have to admit, would be pretty neat to see. Today, however, nobody seems too jumpy and maybe that's for the best because the more I look at those bison, the less I want to see them on my side of the fence. These animals are huge, and downright intimidating.

The store sells all kinds of bison meat and a few other things. Bison meat is gaining in popularity in this country, largely because it is very low in fat. We took home some bison burgers to try and they were quite a hit!

410-343-2277

Gunpowder Bison & Trading Co.
1270 Monkton Rd.
Monkton, MD 21111

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American Visionary Art Museum

 

The American Visionary Art Museum is one of my favorite museums around Baltimore. We are really lucky to have such a great and unique museum so close. I had been here a few times before, but decided to revisit it with my 3 year old twins. I came away with a rather different, and very entertaining experience.

If it's a nice day, spend some time wandering the grounds. There is a giant whirligig sculpture that is enough to amaze anyone, and a sparkly tree just covered in dangling mirrors. Today was windy and the tree was loud! The Wildflower Garden has a "wooden meditation chapel" but don't let the name fool you. It's an awesome fort  as far as we were concerned. In warmer weather it is surrounded by vines and flowers.

The main building is wonderful, with lots to see. This is where I would normally spend most of my time, but I don't think it was the twin's favorite part. Still, they loved the giant cloth dolls by Zona Gordon and a dress made almost entirely out of buttons by Grace Bashara Greene. So maybe there is hope that I am raising future artists (or at least art critics). We bought some shiny pinwheels in the gift store and got ready to leave.

As we were heading out the door, the people at the front desk mentioned that we should check out the far building (Jim Rouse Visionary Center). "Lots of buttons to push." Those are magic words to my ears and so we hurried right over. One side of the building is dedicated to crazy mechanical sculptures. They are all safely behind glass, but they have buttons and cranks in easy reach for little people to play with. This is a fantastic collection of funny animals, boats, people, mermaids and had us all mesmerized.

410-244-1900

American Visionary Art Museum
800 Key Highway
Baltimore, MD 21230

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The Walters Art Museum

My first encounter with the Walters Art Museum was many, many, too many years ago as a design school grad. I was wandering around the streets of Baltimore trying to kill some time between job interviews. As I recall, I was wearing a less than subtle, interview dress with a huge wallpaper print all over it, and lugging a portfolio the size of my future minivan along with me. So as I wandered into a questionable area of town, a couple of undercover cops (or that's what I'm hoping they were) called me over and asked if I was lost. They politely redirected me towards the Walters and, now that I think about it, possibly saved my life in the process. So it goes without saying that I have a bit of a warm spot in my heart for this place.

The Walters is a huge building located at the edge of Mount Vernon. It's filled with a collection of world art from antiquity to the 20th century that was initially collected by William and Henry Walters. The collection now includes Asian, Medieval, Renaissance and Baroque art, to name a few.
Honestly, with young kids, I know I need to edit my trip.  The staff here is really friendly and they point me in the right direction. With toddlers and preschoolers here are the key spots:

1. Mummies - Head to Level 2 and check out the Egyptian art.
2. Suits of Armor - The 17th century Flemish Collection (also located on level 2).
3. Chamber of Wonders - In the room right next to the suits of armor. Butterflies, bugs, snakes, etc. set at a perfect height for kids to study with a magnifying glass.
4. Family Art Center - In the Lower Level, they have a good selection of toys, books and costumes. They also have Drop-In Art Activities for Kids every Saturday.

410-547-9000

The Walters Art Museum
600 N. Charles Street
Baltimore, MD 21201

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