NH Family Activities

[ignitor4]

Hi all,
I'm from Wisconsin but my husband and I will be traveling with our 2 year old daughter to NH 4th of July weekend (3rd-7th) for a wedding. We'll be in the Manchester/Bedford area and we're looking for kid friendly things to do while we're out there (wedding is on the 6th). We will have a rental car, so anything an hour or so away is fine.

A good place to see fireworks on the 4th would be great, too!

Thanks in advance!

[LdyBluNH@aol]

some places to try are


www.wzid.com -- its The big radio station around and they have a calendar

www.parentingnh.com

i'm thinking an hour from manchester may put you in the winnipesakee area. its a HUGE lake and has stuff around to do. although i think it will be crowded on a holiday weekend


can you give some thoughts as to what sort of things you may want? museums, or outside walking stuff, etc.

an hour from manchester can put you in portsmouth, nh -- on the coast and right next to maine. there is a children's museum in portsmouth that i've heard wonderful things about.

its more than an hour but there's storyland up north

[ignitor4]

Thanks for the links and ideas! I think something along the coast would be nice; we don't get near the ocean often. Just a nice place to hang out at the beach and/or do a little shopping (like a boardwalk?)

We're looking for both outdoor and indoor things (in case weather is bad). Avery loves animals, so zoos and/or aquariums would be great. Nice parks or outdoor places she can play and run are good, too.

Thanks!

[LdyBluNH@aol]

i LOVE ogunquit beach in maine

its an hour from manchester -- huge beach, public restrooms and you can walk or trolley into town. its comfortable to walk and look in windows and maybe get an icecream

NH has hampton beach, but i've never been. i think they have some sort of arcade or boardwalk

weir's beach in NH has a boardwalk and arcades etc. they have some sort of waterpark up there

norwich, vt (which is like an hour and twenty approx) has the montshire museum for kids. i know they have a website of course. it has trails outside for walking and it has a building with bunches of stuff inside (hands on)


norwich also has king arthur flour has some sort of store or something that i've not been too. try their web site for more info

norwich is right next to hanover, nh which is kinda nice to walk. there are some things that are part of dartmouth college that are open to the public (like an art museum or the such) prob. not a lot of fun for a two year old


http://nh.com/ this may be of help too

the big paper in manchester is the union leader

http://www.theunionleader.com/

[LdyBluNH@aol]

the parentingnh link has a family calendar section and you can select the date you want


portsmouth nh is where the childrens museum is - its a nice place to walk as i recall and i know they have great food there. theres some sort of prescott park there and i know i found a great toy store there (not a chain)

they also have somethign called strawberry banke which is like a re-creation of olden days with folks in costume etc.

http://www.strawberybanke.org/


my dd and i enjoy going to concord, nh where they have imagination village. its a toy store that i love and the staff is the best i have EVER dealt with! in concord is the capitol center for the arts http://ccanh.com/ poke around the site, they do have kids stuff but i dont know about during the holiday weekend

my dd and i have parked in concord, gone to a show and then walked to the toy store. there's some sort of white park in concord - but i havent found it yet


there is a mall in manchester - the mall of new hampshire. i know you didnt come all this way to go to a mall but it is an option that is airconditioned and dry if the weather is too hot or too wet.



http://www.storylandnh.com/

here's the link for storyland. its been around long enough that we took my sister there when she was two and she's now 27. they really do have fun stuff for two year olds! i'm guessing two hours from manchester area, but i'm not certain. it's a very fun place!! you're outside and its kid friendly


http://visitthefarm.com/

this is in manchester area itself!


there's a science center up in holderness, nh that i enjoy. its seeing animals but they are in the woods so you're not completely exposed baking in the sun - there's a path so you can do a stroller but its not paved

http://www.visitnh.gov/todo.html?action=showcategory&cat=17



http://www.nhaudubon.org/sanctuaries/massabesic.htm

this is an audubon center which has a nice building and has fields and trails out back (and a frog pond) for walking, picknicking etc. they do programs for kids at the center - again not certain w/the holiday what the schedule is like



http://www.amoskeagfishways.org/index.htm

this is a fish ladder in manchester which has a nice building and displays even when the fish aren't running last time we went they had some puppets or the such for younger kids



http://www.visitnh.gov/

the "official" tourism site you can select by geographical areas too



there's an apple stand in londonderry -- mack's apples you can feed the ducks and in the summer they have icecream for sale

hollis, nh has two farm stands - lull brook and something else

parlee farms in tyngsboro, ma is down near nashua nh (about a half hour from manch.) they have some animals to see, ice cream, pick your own fruits and a farm stand. i find the strawberry prices to be a bit high, but they have animals! LOL

how else can i help?? :D

[ignitor4]

Wow, thanks so much for all the ideas. Now we just have to decide which ones we'll be able to do in the short time we're there!

[LdyBluNH@aol]

i had forgotten one of my favorite places when my dd was younger

its in londonderry which is only about 20 mins from manchester


the children's metamorphasis museum

it used to be a in renovated house and each room was different thing

i do know thye just moved so i cant say what the new facilities are like

dunno about a web site but give them a call - they used to be very reasonably priced and at the old place had a toddler room where you could relax with a younger child

[singermom]

Chiming in late, here, but Portsmouth is lovely, and Strawbery Banke (sp?) is quite fun (although 2 is a little young to get a lot of the history, your daughter should enjoy the horses and other stuff to look at there). Haven't been to the children's museum there. We toured some of the historic homes in Portsmouth. There is a great kids book called The Oxcart Man, which is set in that part of NH, and has nice, bright pictures.

We vacation in Andover, which is near New London, every summer. We usually do a trip to the White Mountains while there, but that may be too far for you.

Good luck, and enjoy your trip!

Mia

[angela&avery]

HI!!! I live in Portsmouth and think its a great area to visit. The fireworks in Portsmouth are Thursday night and are usually phenomenal!!! The childrens museum is also here and a great place to visit, and right near there is prescott park where they have flowers and its a great place to picnic. Also there are plays on thurs, fri, sat and sun nights in prescott park.. this year they are doing Peter Pan, if you need any info or directions let me know!!!

P.S. my sons name is Avery!!!

[ignitor4]

Thanks so much. We are hoping to go to Portsmouth. The wedding is for my brother-in-law and they actually live in Dover. We're hoping to go to dinner or something with them on Thursday, so maybe we can all go see the fireworks that night!

If you could pm me details about where the fireworks are held and the plays at Prescott Park, that would be fabulous.

(And isn't Avery a great name? We didn't know what we were having, so we thought about using it whether we had a boy or a girl!)

[LdyBluNH@aol]

prescott (http://www.artfest.org/index_calendar.htm)





portsmouth calendar (http://www.portsmouthnh.com/calendar/index.htm)