Are you making your family vacation a priority?
According to an article on parents.com, Family Vacations Have Long-Lasting Impact on Kids’ Happiness, 49 percent of those surveyed said that childhood family vacations were the happiest memory they had. And a quarter of them said they used such memories to help them through tough times.
It’s essential to spend time planning your family vacation and evaluating what’s best for your family based on your kids’ interests and ages. Not all destinations are created equal. If you’re looking for suggestions, here are five kid-friendly places to visit this summer.
Fans of Sesame Street pre-school television series may enjoy Sesame Place, the only theme park based on one award-winning television show, Sesame Street. The park features 10 water attractions, 11 mechanical rides, and the iconic Sesame Street Neighborhood. Kids can hug, dance and sing-along with Elmo, Cookie Monster, Big Bird, Zoe and many more of the friends in the park.
Parents and kids can enjoy the water slides and splash pools on hot summer days.
The park opens from spring through the holiday season. Sesame Place is located in Langhorne about 164 miles from Washington DC and 25 miles from Philadelphia.
18th-century American history comes alive in Colonial Williamsburg. Kids will meet tradesmen, plantation owners, slaves, politicians, farmers, the militia, colonial children and more - all dressed in 18th-century attire and ready to bring all the old stories in history to life.
It’s a living museum where kids will learn the history of Williamsburg, the capital of Virginia and one of the most important political, cultural and educational center of the American colonies. Check out the old homes, shops and the palace of Virginia’s last royal governor. Also, take a ride on the horse-drawn carriage, dine in historic taverns and enjoy the pageantry of Fife and Drums of Colonial Williamsburg.
Williamsburg is 300 miles from Philadelphia and 153 miles from Washington DC.
Bandera TX offers a unique family vacation for those who enjoy rodeos, horseback riding, dude ranches and the great outdoors. This “cowboy capital of the world” is the place to experience cowboy culture and lifestyle. The town has kid-friendly rodeos year-round, horseback riding through the hill country and dud ranches that provide horseback riding lessons, nightly bonfires, and cowboy breakfasts cooked outdoors.
The 72 miles of beaches, Kennedy Space Center, and state parks are some of the fun spots that make Florida’s Space Coast a multi-purpose summer playground for the whole family. Check out Space Shuttle Atlantis Exhibit, go for the Shuttle Launch experience, meet a veteran astronaut, and spend a day touring the Space Center. Go fishing, snorkeling, boating and surfing on the Space Coast or join a kayaking adventure at Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge for a close encounter with dolphins, manatees and a variety of birds.
Orlando, the Theme Park Capital of the World, is only 45 minutes from here. Families who love theme parks can combine a vacation to Florida’s Space Coast and one of the theme parks.
You don’t have to travel to Africa or South America for sandboarding. Just fly into Alamosa and take a short drive (a 38-mile drive) to Great Sand Dunes National Park. Sandboarding and sand sledding are suitable activities for kids who like to try new activities. The best time to sand board and sand sled is in the early morning or evening. You’ll avoid the sand surface of up to 150 degrees Fahrenheit and afternoon thunderstorm. There are gentle slopes for young children while older kids and adults can try higher and longer ones.
Besides sand boarding, families can go hiking, horseback riding, join the Free Ranger Programs and swim in Medano Creek (only in late May and June).
