courtesy of the Cape Cod Children’s Museum
Enjoy a large Cape Cod map puzzle and playing in a mock submarine at the Cape Cod Children’s Museum in Mashpee.
boat builders in action using both traditional and modern methods in Cook’s Boat Shop or take a Historic Harbor Tour on the Hyline M/V Patience from the museum. Kids will love the 28-foot boat built especially for them in their activity area. Exhibits cover five centuries, with interesting artifacts including a Cape-featured colonial-era mariner’s chart, visions of 19th century fishing and whaling, traditional Wampanoag fish harvesting implements, model ships and natural history relics. You can also see the only surviving remains of a 17th century trans-Atlantic vessel, the SparrowHawk, which wrecked on the outer beach of Cape Cod in 1626. There are also classes and workshops for kids, so check with the museum. The website is www.capecodmaritimemuseum.org. Cape Cod Children’s Museum at 577 Great Neck Road South in Mashpee is open year-round Monday-Friday, 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.; Saturday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.; and Sunday, noon to 5 p.m. Every child will delight at the number of things to do here. There’s a planetarium, crafts, pretend post office, diner, castle area, puzzle tables, a stationary train where kids can take turns being conductor, a reading wagon, a huge geo-board with rubber bands and pegs, a gravity wall, raceways, a submarine, a pirate ship, a music room and even a tree house! Explore all this museum has to offer by visiting the website at www.capecodchildrensmuseum.org. The Cape Cod Potato Chip Factory at 100 Breed’s Hill Road in Hyannis is open Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. and is closed on weekends. The factory is one of the Cape’s top
tourist destinations with over 250,000 visitors annually. Their free self-guided tour allows visitors to see how the chips are made from farm field to bag. Kids will especially love seeing the process. Check out the website for further information at www. capecodchips.com/about-us/factory-tour.html. Woods Hole Science Aquarium at 166 Water St. is open Tuesday through Saturday from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. and is free to all visitors. Most days there are seal feedings at 11 a.m. and 4 p.m. Families can explore exhibit cases with bones, skulls, and teeth along with 140 species of marine animals found in Northeast and Middle Atlantic waters. There are also touch tanks where you’ll find lobsters, tautogs, quahogs, horseshoe crabs, spider crabs, sea stars and hermit crabs. Check out the website at www.aquarium.nefsc.noaa.gov. Families can also visit www.ChristmasonCapeCod.com to view many holiday accommodations packages. Holiday and school vacation packages are posted on the Cape Cod Chamber of Commerce’s website at www.CapeCodChamber.org. Many accommodation packages include dinner gift certificates at nearby restaurants, passes to holiday events, and seasonal amenities like champagne, cider and cookies. Laura Richards is a freelance writer, professional organizer, wife and mother of four boys ranging in age from one to 11-year-old identical twins. She blogs from her website www.ModernMothering. com and her organizing company called OrganizaIt’siswinter in New England, tion Works (www.OrganizationWorks.biz). let us help you learn to
Our specially-trained instructors will make sure your children not only learn, but have fUN, too! At any age and at any level, we’ve been teaching kids how to have
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Under the leadership of new Director Thom Norton, the Wachusett Mountain Ski & Snowboard School instructors are among New England’s finest. ScHOOl bREAkS
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