Kid Baltimore | Family Activities with Children in Baltimore, Maryland

Exploring Caverns at the Crystal Grottoes

The area surrounding our campsite offers lots to do for families. My very favorite place we stopped was the Crystal Grottoes, a cavern that has been owned by the same family for 3 generations and offers daily tours. We pulled up to a picturesque old storefront. Cows were grazing across a stream. While we waited for our tour to begin, the kids were completely entertained by the small trickle of water that flowed from the building into the nearby stream.

When it was time for the tour, we filed down a narrow staircase into what would normally be a basement. Instead, we found ourselves standing in a cave. Our tour guide was amazing. He switched effortlessly between scientific discussions about geology, to telling us which rock formations looked like a king, or an alligator, or an elephant...

He explained how the caverns were discovered in 1920, and how they have been digging it out ever since, bucket at a time, sometimes with shovels, but just as often by hand. Yesterday alone they removed 25 buckets full of dirt and clay, to expose still more formations.

We learned about the critters that live down here too, but they were hiding. There are a few bats, frogs, and lizards. But the thing that astounded me the most is a honeysuckle root that our guide points out. It has burrowed 70 feet underground.

My cave explorers look happy, don't they? We wandered from room to room, down windy hallways that were fortunately quite well lit. On this particular day (after an amazingly hard rain) it was a little wet down there. One room is under water, but the rest we can get too quite easily. We traveled to a final depth of about 80 feet underground. It was cool, and quiet, and peaceful. After a while, I had no idea where we were. Our tour guide pointed us to different paths, where he tells us it's about a 6 hour trek back. No thanks. We'll stick with the tour.

 

240-217-7623

Crystal Grottoes Caverns
19821 Shepherdstown Pike
Boonsboro, MD 21713

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Baltimore Symphony Orchestra

We stopped by the Meyerhoff recently to try out one of the BSO's many kid-friendly programs. I was a little surprised to see a real live penguin hanging out in the lobby of the Meyerhoff, but hey, he was dressed nicely for the occasion, so why not. Actually, he was part of the pre-show festivities, and along with a 20 lb. bunny, was representing the Maryland Zoo.

 

We moved on to the face-painting line. I gotta say, this woman raised face-painting to an art. She turned my little one into an incredibly happy butterfly.

My butterfly enjoys lunch after the show.

We found our seats, way high up, but center, and still with a good view. The show was The Polar Express, based on the book by Chris Van Allsburg, and it featured Mei-Ann Chen as conductor, Andre McRae as baritone, the Peabody Children's Chorus, and the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra — quite an impressive line-up for a kids' concert. Upcoming kids' shows are listed here. Tickets are prices reasonably for these events ($12-20) and the performances tend to be short. That's good news for me, because some of us are just too wiggly to make it past the one hour mark. As the show began, our kids slowly nestled into their seats, and for almost a whole hour all were calm...

 

I like to think that somehow this great experience will be permanently seared into their brains and classical music will forever be a part of their lives, growing those little neuron paths with every passing moment.

Maybe it worked. My budding violinist certainly enjoyed the show, my very busy son listened intently as soon as the story started, and Little Miss Butterfly does keep asking if we can go back...for another round of face painting.

410-783-8000

Baltimore Symphony Orchestra
Joseph Myerhoff Symphony Hall
1212 Cathedral Street
Baltimore, MD 21201

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Mums and Sundials

A recent trip to the Conservatory revealed two new surprises. First, the chrysanthemums, still in full bloom and crazy beautiful. I'm only showing one here, because I don't want to ruin the fun.

And second, this bizarre sundial. It shows multiple timezones, one on each plane. I think it's brilliant, despite the tree stump base. Surely the base was an afterthought.

Baltimore's time was dead on.

 

 

410-396-0180

Howard Peters Rawlings Conservatory & Botanic Gardens
3100 Swan Drive in Druid Hill Park
Baltimore, MD 21217

[Directions from their website]

Leonardo Da Vinci — The Genius

I stopped by the Maryland Science Center for a sneak peek at their new show Da Vinci — The Genius, which opens Saturday October 3, 2009 and runs through January 31, 2010. While this is a very grown-up show, they also have kid-friendly activities. My favorite parts are the working models that are marked with a "please touch gently" symbol. The intricately built models show Leonardo's sketches for mechanical studies in real life, with cranks that turn and pulleys that lift. There is even an example of one of his military inventions, an emergency bridge, where kids will be able to experiment with building their own small scale version with wooden logs.

I love the replicas of his journals, all written backwards to reduce smearing (he was left handed). Me? I just put up with the smearing. Leonardo? Writes backwards. Genius.

His paintings are also explored; from the Mona Lisa, to the Last Supper, to a new work just discovered in 2008. All replicas, of course, since the originals are fragile and priceless, but seeing his artwork side by side with his other work really gives you a sense of the broad scope of Leonardo's accomplishments: artist, city planner, inventor, military strategist, scientist.

Now about the title, Da Vinci — The Genius. I have no doubt that he was a genius. But the da Vinci part? Even though I nodded off more than a few times in my art history class, I still retained enough to know that his name was not da Vinci anymore than my name is da Baltimore. His name was Leonardo, and he was from the town of Vinci. I asked the reason for the name. "That's what most people would recognize." But I think we deserve a little more credit than that, even if we are not geniuses.

That said, this is the most comprehensive exhibit ever produced of possibly the most brilliant person that ever lived. And you've gotta love that.

410-685-5225

The Maryland Science Center
601 Light Street
Baltimore, MD 21230

The Little Gym of Hunt Valley

  

The Little Gym of Hunt Valley constantly impresses me. I think part of it is that everyone who works there is just so darn happy. Or maybe it's that owner Lia Arnold, actually address me (and all the other parents) by name as opposed to other places where I am just referred to as "Mom." I like that. Or, it could be the big gymnastics room with nice new equipment; I might add, it's spotless.

But mostly, it's that my kids just love the classes and I've seen them all make huge strides in their skill levels. The age range that Little Gym accommodates is wide, from 4 months to 12 years. They offer gymnastics, sports skills, Karate, dance and cheerleading, and you can try a class for free. In the summer, check out their summer camp sessions.

And one more thing, which I actually hesitate to mention. Parent Survival Nights. Once a month, on a Friday night, you can sign your kids up for a 3.5 hour play session. The Little Gym provides dinner for your kids, a craft activity, and plenty of supervised time in the gym to get them good and tired. Mom and Dad (insert your real grownup names here) get to head out for a quiet dinner or movie sans kids. Ahhh. Quiet.

There are a limited number of spaces each month so call ahead...and don't you dare take mine.

410-771-3000

The Little Gym of Hunt Valley
11121 York Road
Suite G
Hunt Valley, MD 21030

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Jellies Invasion at the National Aquarium

My sister and I recently headed to the Aquarium with kids in tow, five of them age 10 and under, plus a teenager. Let's just say we had our hands full. We spent most of our time counting heads and shouting directions, but we soon discovered it was as much fun to watch the kids' expressions as the exhibits.

We explored all the regular favorites: rays, sharks, dolphins, rain forest. By the time we got to the Jellies exhibit, I knew our crew was tired and hungry. We had to wait a few minutes to enter, but watching these underwater ballerinas was hypnotic. The first tank was a tangley mess of tentacles. The next, short, stout little squirts. I never knew there was so much variety and every one of them was beautiful.

The exhibit focuses on how jellies are "environmental indicators" that let us know when our world is getting out of balance. The population of these prehistoric blobs ebbs and flows as their environment changes. As predators decline or pollution increases, their numbers give us a marker of their habitat's health.

Now I feel kind of bad. I've been dodging these guys at the beach for years. Okay, I will still do that, but I now, I promise, I'll dodge them with a bit more respect.

410-576-3800

The National Aquarium in Baltimore
501 E. Pratt Street
Baltimore, MD 21202

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