February 2011 vacation ideas. Family fun on the seacoast!

Vacation week is approaching. The kids are home from school. They are going to want a plan. And a good one. Unless you’re lucky enough to be somewhere in the sunny South Pacific or skiing in the French Alps, check out our picks for activities happening on the seacoast. Go get your fun on! (PS: Please visit our calendar for tons of other area events!)

NOTE: This article was published in 2011. Please call ahead to make sure times and activities are still valid.

Museums

The Currier Museum of Art
150 Ash Street, Manchester NH (603) 669-6144
The Currier offers lots of fun weekday activities including “Family Drawing in the Galleries” on Thursday (drop by anytime between 1:00 and 3:00pm). Families are invited to draw using the galleries and stunning collections as inspiration. Art educators will circulate and offer advice and encouragement on creating your very own masterpiece. All that art making you hungry? Visit the museum’s beautiful Winter Garden Café for a light snack or beverage. Beauty is abound!

Other options similar to this: See Science Center in Manchester, NH

Children’s Museum and Theatre of Maine
142 Free Street, Portland ME (207) 828-1234
Located in the Arts District of downtown Portland, the Children’s Museum & Theatre of Maine features three floors of interactive exhibits and activities including pretend play (post office, shipyard and market), learning environments (space shuttle, animal hospital and forestry) and hands-on fun with a tide pool touch tank and more! Be sure to check out a special performance, show or activity during your visit. So much fun!

Other options similar to this: The Children’s Museum of New Hampshire in Dover, NH

Joppa Flats Education Center
1 Plum Island Turnpike, Newburyport MA (978) 462-9998
Joppa FlatsFebruary vacation program offers a wide variety of indoor and outdoor activities while we keep minds active and hands busy during school break. Each session offers a different theme, with art activities, experiments, group games, and more. It’s free-flow learning for the whole family. Come once or make it a three-day adventure; fly by for an hour or stay all day for a vacation activity that suits your family schedule.

Other options similar to this: The Seacoast Science Center in Rye, NH or the Seabrook Science & Nature Center in Seabrook, NH

Outdoor Fun

Powderhouse Hill
Agamenticus Road, South Berwick ME (207) 384-5858
Does the thought of spending $500 a day for family skiing up north make your wallet send you a sad face emoticon? Go local! Powderhouse Hill in South Berwick, Maine offers a small (but fun!) skiing and snowboarding hill that’s perfect for a few hours of winter activity. The best part? Admission costs only FIVE DOLLARS. Not kidding. There’s also an adjacent sledding hill that’s free and open to the public. Powderhouse is open during select times so be sure to check their website for hours and conditions.

Other options similar to this: Amesbury Sports Park in Amesbury, MA

Urban Forestry Center
45 Elwyn Road, Portsmouth, NH (603) 431-6774
Investigate the great outdoors by walking (or snowshoeing, or skiing) the trails at the Urban Forestry Center including the Goodwin Trail, a two-mile (round-trip) path which takes visitors through a scenic woodland setting where native foliage, birds and animals can be seen. If available, grab a Tree Identification Pamphlet from the mailbox in the parking lot and complete the self-guided tour that leads visitors through mixed deciduous forest, northern hardwood forest, salt marsh wetland, red pine plantation, and blue spruce plantation. Or do your own thing by checking out the animal tracks or by creating a family scavenger hunt! Trails are open from sunrise to sunset—ahh, fresh air!

Other options similar to this: Great Bay Wildlife Reserve or the Parker River Wildlife Refuge

Sledding!
Create some memories this winter! Throw on some winter wear and head to your closest sledding spot for some wintertime fun. Don’t know where to go? Check out our picks for the best sledding locations.

Movies

Memorial Union Building (MUB)
83 Main Street, Durham NH (603) 862-2600
On the University of New Hampshire campus, visit the Memorial Union Building for inexpensive family movies outing over vacation week! Tickets are only $4 per person (or $2 for students) and concessions are equally affordable ($1 popcorn and $1.50 drinks!). Leave your credit cards at home…the MUB is cash only!

Chunky’s Cinema
371 Lowell Avenue, Haverhill MA (978) 374-2255 (Pelham & Nashua locations, as well!)
Family movies. Big leather seats. Full service dining during the show. Sign us up! Here’s how Chunky’s Cinemas work: Your leather chair is the driver or passenger seat from a limousine and will have one armrest, recline, and is on wheels (SWEET). Hungry? Your waiter or waitress will be around to take your order so you don’t have to miss any of the good parts! Menu selections include a variety of pub-style food selections and, of course, the usual popcorn and candy fare. Super-sized movie fun!

Other options similar to this: Your local library! Many libraries are showing FREE kids’ movies throughout school vacation week. Contact one near you for showtimes.

What will you be doing during school vacation week? Share your ideas and inspire other families for some February fun!

 

3 Responses

  1. Gina Nash

    Any suggestions for fun, inexpensive/free things to do during the following week? Our school has vacation the following week, 2/28-3/4.

  2. Gina and others might like to bring their children to our program “March Museum Merriment” on Friday, March 4 at Folsom Tavern at 164 Water Street. We’re making all kinds of crafts and it’s stop in between 10 and 2. Price is $3 per child and parent must accompany child. It’s listed on our calendar http://www.independencemuseum.org and on the fabulous Seacoast Kids Calendar!

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