Kid Baltimore | Family Activities with Children in Baltimore, Maryland

Cylburn Arboretum

207 acres, right in the middle of Baltimore, and I missed it all this time. Cylburn Arboretum was originally the private estate of Jesse Tyson, president of Baltimore Chrome Works. 

The mansion, designed by George Aloysius Frederick, was completed in 1888 and is open to the public. It is surrounded by gardens and trails that are all maintained by a dedicated staff of volunteers.

If you arrive after 10:00 a.m., stop by the shiny, new visitor center and pick up a map. We were on the early side, so we wandered through the gardens, not really knowing where we were going, but happy anyway.

We took a trail through the woods, past lots of lovely ferns.

Since I wasn't sure where we were going, I was rather happy to find this sign. Circle trail. In my head, that means there is virtually no chance of getting lost. I have faith in the circle trail.

We found a few trees with names from long ago carved in them. I'm hoping they haven't damaged the trees too much.

The circle path sent us back to where we started (hurrah for the circle path!) and we walked through the formal gardens.

Some renovations are going on at the mansion, but it is an impressive home. We spent some time inside reading about the history, and most importantly, cooling off.

While the gardens are worth a visit just on their own, I think the real benefit of visiting Cylburn may be all of the events they have here — yoga in the formal garden, concerts, summer camps. Many events are free, although donations and volunteers are welcome. With all of the activities, we will have plenty of excuses to come back here in the future.

Cylburn Arboretum
4915 Greenspring Avenue
Baltimore, MD 21209 

(410) 367-2217

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Owl Pellet Study

I was slightly disgusted, but mostly intrigued today. The kids were clustered around little packets of aluminum foil. I politely suggested that they take this activity outside. It was an attempt to move them off of the kitchen table, because they were dissecting owl pellets.

Owls swallow their prey whole, more or less. The gizzard compresses all of the parts that are not digestible into pellets, that they then spit out. Lovely, right? My daughter received these owl pellets as a birthday gift, from my parents. Admittedly, not every 7-year-old girl receives owl pellets for her birthday, but my parents were right on target with this one. She loves anything creepy crawly and I can't believe it has taken this long to unwrap these little gems. Fortunately, they came as a pack of three, so she could share with her brother and sister.

Inside, is compressed bone and fur. As they explored, the kids were able to identify quite a few different bones.

Notice the teeth? That is a tiny little jawbone.

And a nice little row of pelvic bones. For more information, check out the Carolina Biological Supply Company.