[jwoodbri]

<p>Help! Hanging out at a hotel for the next few days with my 5, 3, & 1 year olds while my husband works. I was hoping that the hotel would have brochures or something but no... Any ideas??</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Thank you!</p>

 

[ygg]

<p>Well, there are a few things to do, but you don't mention any specific interests or wishes - or whether or not you have a car?  There's the Roaring Brook Nature Center in Canton, the CT Science Museum in Hartford (which currently has a traveling exhibit on robots), a number of libraries which also have free story hours (Farmington, Canton, New Hartford all do.)  There are plenty of playgrounds but not many play gyms that I know of.  There's also a stellar consignment shop on Route 44 called "Just Kids" (possibly "Just 4 Kids") and a GREAT toy store also on 44 called "The Perfect Toy."  The Children's Science Center in West Hartford is also great.  And in Bristol there is a kid's museum called Imagine Nation that is supposed to be fantastic (though I have not myself been.)</p>
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<p>Does that help at all??</p>
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<p>katie</p>

 

[jwoodbri]

<p>Thank you! That does help. We do have a car and interests include well, just, keeping the kids busy! I'll google some of the things you mentioned. My dad found The Childrens Museum in West Hartford which turned out to be much closer than I thought and I got to go to Whole Foods afterwards so that worked out well. Trying to decide between naptime now and possibly a playground if the weather holds. The boys are pretty wild at the moment!</p>
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<p>Thanks again!</p>
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<p>P.S. Have you ever been to Dinosaur State Park. The name sounds like my boys would love it but I'm wondering how much there is for that age group/ this time of year.</p>

 

[ygg]

<p>Welll, the last time I was at Dinosaur State Park (you mean the one in Rocky Hill, I believe?), *I* was the little kid, but I remember it being pretty...dull, I'm afraid.  It's mostly just big dinosaur footprints and not a lot else.  There's something called "Dinosaur Place" but I've never been there and it might be very commercial.</p>
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<p>And if you're up for the drive (which actually isn't too terrible from Farmington, iirc), the Peabody Museum is AWESOME for dinosaurs: <a href="http://www.peabody.yale.edu/" target="_blank">http://www.peabody.yale.edu/</a></p>
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<p>Flamig Farm in Simsbury is great - it's a working farm but you can feed most of the animals - we love that place.  Only if it's not raining, though.  Definitely give Imagine Nation a shot if you're into museums, I've been meaning to get down there with my three-year-old.</p>
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<p>There's also the Beardsley Zoo in Bridgeport, which is small but nice - small was perfect for us, with a 3-year-old. - <a href="http://www.beardsleyzoo.org/" target="_blank">http://www.beardsleyzoo.org/</a> -  And there are aquariums in both South Norwalk and Mystic - I've heard great things about the one in South Norwalk and it should be closer to you. - <a href="http://www.maritimeaquarium.org/" target="_blank">http://www.maritimeaquarium.org/</a></p>

 

[lizfu]

<p>If you're up for a half-hour drive, Kid City in Middletown is FANTASTIC for kids the age of yours.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.kidcitymuseum.com" target="_blank">www.kidcitymuseum.com</a></p>
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<p>Also, the West Hartford Library has a great children's room- it's in Blue Back Square down the road from Whole Foods.</p>

 

[jwoodbri]

<p>Thanks ladies! I've survived the last two days and just one more to go. We went to the Childrens Museum in West Hartford on Tuesday and today we went to Kid City in Middletown. We spent four hours there and the kids easily could have spent all day there I think. They had a lot of fun and really liked the fishery room.</p>
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<p>So now to decide for tomorrow. Thanks again for all the great choices. I really appreciate it!!</p>

 

[jwoodbri]

<p>Checked out Imagine Nation yesterday too. The boys liked that as well but my 5 yr old liked Kid City better. I did too actually. I thought there was more to do at Kid City especially independently. It seemed like if the staff had been circulating more there were actually some good learning opportunities but they usually weren't around. And there were things there that my 1 yr old couldn't do. For instance they had a climbing structure that she really wanted to follow her brothers on so I had to go away from them to find something to distract her. It just seemed like she could do everything she wanted to at Kid City but at Imagine Nation I had to really follow her to make sure she wasn't getting into things she shouldn't. But like I said, they did have fun there so I'm glad we went.</p>
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<p>Thanks again for all the suggestions. There is a slight chance we may end up back down here in a few weeks so I might use the rest of the suggestions then!</p>

 

[earthmama369]

<p>If you find yourself out this way again, there's also the Lutz Museum in Manchester, which has a good space for babies and older kids to both play in at the same time. It's like a much smaller Kid City, but it also has an animal room with rescued animals, and sometimes they bring them out for an introduction and a "one finger" pet.</p>

 

[lizfu]

<p>I'm glad you loved Kid City! It's my favorite place to go with the kiddos. </p>