Day trip for kids entertainment in NJ or PA or NY archived

Crayola factory closer and good, also M&M factory in Hacketstown

Field station dinosaurs in secaucus

Sesame Place in Langhorne PA, is very good for small kids. across the river from NJ off of 95. We went with 2 yr old last year and are going again. Rides are sized for younger kids and the characters are fun to be around.

Here's a list of day trips I came across from a recent Macaroni Kid newsletter - maybe one of these will work for you (the miles are from the Short Hills area):
Amusement Parks & Water Parks
1. Bowcraft Scotch Plains, NJ 11 mi.
2. Tomahawk Lake Sparta, NJ 34 mi.
3. Coney Island Brooklyn, NY 34 mi.
4. Keansburg Amusement Park Keansburg, NJ 35 mi.
5. Mountain Creek Waterpark Vernon, NJ 48 mi.
6. Rye Playland Rye, NY 54 mi
7. Land of Make Believe Hope, PA 56 mi.
8. Six Flags Great Adventure Jackson, NJ 68 mi.
9. Hurricane Harbor Jackson, NJ 68 mi.
10. Camelbeach Tannersville, PA 69 mi.
11. Sesame Place Langhorne, PA 69 mi.
12. Dorney Park Allentown, PA 76 mi.
13. Fantasy Island Amusement Park Beach Haven, NJ 98 mi.
14. Storybook Land Egg Harbor Township, NJ 115 mi.
15. Hershey Park Hershey, PA 145 mi.
16. Dutch Wonderland Lancaster, PA 157 mi.

Aquariums
1. Staten Island Zoo & Aquarium Staten Island, NJ 26.3 mi
2. New York Aquarium Brooklyn, NY 36 mi.
3. Adventure Aquarium Camden, NJ 90 mi.

Beaches
1. Phillips Beach Deal, NJ 49 mi.
2. Sandy Hook Sandy Hook, NJ 57 mi.
3. Seven Presidents Beach Long Branch, NJ 57 mi.
4. Ocean Grove Ocean Grove, NJ 60 mi.
5. Spring Lake Spring Lake, NJ 63 mi.
6. Point Pleasant Point Pleasant, NJ 67 mi.
7. Avon Avon-by-the-Sea, NJ 68 mi.
8. Beach Haven Beach Haven, NJ 97.8 mi.
9. Long Branch Long Beach, NJ 104 mi.

Children's Museums & Other Unique Museums
1. Museum of Early Trades & Crafts Madison, NJ 7 mi.
2. Montclair Art Museum Montclair, NJ 10 mi.
3. Morris Museum Morristown, NJ 10 mi.
4. Newark Museum Newark, NJ 10 mi.
5. Children's Museum of the Arts NY, NY 20 mi.
6. New York City Fire Museum NY, NY 20 mi.
7. Liberty Science Center Jersey City, NY 20 mi.
8. New York City Police Museum NY, NY 24 mi.
9. Staten Island Children's Museum Staten Island, NY 25 mi.
10. Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum NY, NY 27 mi.
11. The Paley Center for Media NY, NY 27 mi.
12. Children's Museum of Manhattan NY, NY 28 mi.
13. The New Jersey Children's Museum Paramus, NJ 30 mi.
14. New York Hall of Science Queens, NY 34 mi.
15. Grounds for Sculpture Hamilton, NJ 62 mi.
16. Please Touch Museum Philadelphia, PA 90 mi.
17. Franklin Institute Philadelphia, PA 90 mi.

Farms: click here - this will be updated for 2012 next week.

Historical
1. Historic Speedwell Morristown, NJ 13 mi.
2. Liberty Hall Museum Union, NJ 7 mi.
3. Macculloch Hall Historical Museum Morristown, NJ 12 mi.
4. Statue of Liberty NY/NJ 21 mi.
5. Ellis Island NY, NY 24 mi.
6. Cooper Gristmill Cheter, NJ 25 mi.

Indoor Fun
Crayola Factory Easton, PA 61 mi.

Tubing Along the Delaware River
Tubing along the Delaware River Frenchtown, PA 361 mi.

Outdoor Fun
1. Wild West City Netcong, PA 32 mi.
2. Latoka Wolf Preserve Knowlton Township, NJ 52 mi.
3. Lost River Caverns Hellertown, PA 70 mi.
4. Crystal Cave Park Lancaster, PA 157 mi.

Zoos
1. Turtle Back Zoo West Orange, NJ 4 mi.
2. Central Park Zoo NY, NY 28 mi.
3. Bergen County Zoological Park Paramus, NJ 30 mi.
4. Bronx Zoo Bronx, NY 37 mi.
5. Space Farms Zoo & Museum Sussex, NJ 50 mi.

A few great towns to walk around (not including the amazing towns in my territories)
1. Westfield 9 mi.
2. Montclair 11 mi.
3. Morristown 11 mi.
4. Chester 25 mi.
5. Ridgewood 31 mi.
6. Princeton 43 mi.
7. Red Bank 50 mi.
8. New Hope - PA 55 mi.
9. Lambertville 55 mi.
10. Cape May 155 mi.

Manhattan Neighborhoods (in alphabetical order)
1. Broadway Show & Times Square
2. Chelsea
3. Chinatown
4. Greenwich Village
5. Harlem
6. Soho
7. Lower East Side/The Bowery
8. South Street Seaport
9. Upper East Side
10. Upper West Side

What do your kids like to do?

You could go to Ringing Rocks State Park in Pa. just across the Delaware River from Milford. Give the kids hammers and tell them to find the rocks that ring like bells - some have pretty good tone.

Also, the Staten Island Zoo has the best rattlesnake collection around and you can follow up with ice cream at Eggers on Forest Ave.

For the record, there are no tours at the M&M factory in Hackettstown. Sadly, I know. You can drive by and check out the huge M&M's at the front of the building but that's all you can do

NYtoNJ

thank you! so nice of you to post that, very comprehensive

lurknomore said:

Has anyone tried the Land of Make Believe in NJ off Rt 80?

Land of Make Believe is a gem for the younger set (and you will find a variety of threads discussing it....try searching on LOMB). I'd choose it over Hershey for little kids, unless you want real roller coasters

Kiddie rides (up through baby coaster and tilt a whirl), and a waterpark, with reasonable prices, and even the ability to bring your own lunch to eat at the park (just don't expect to pay by credit card, and know that they fry everything in peanut oil). Kids love dressing up and being part of the pirate show, and I love that it is surrounded by trees and green hills.

Heck, maybe if the weather holds we'll get there this weekend...it has been too long.

Good list. When I drove by on Saturday, water level in the Delaware was still too low for tubing, canoeing or rafting. Also Stat. of liberty was reported as being under repair.

The rest of the list is great. Especially Staten island zoo and Coney Island. Coney Island , especially for the original Nathans.

http://www.franklinmineralmuseum.com/

This is nice when it's hot outside too.

thank you so much - great choices here! ill let you know what we end up doing

johnlockedema said:

http://www.franklinmineralmuseum.com/

This is nice when it's hot outside too.

Maybe it was just me and my kid, but we were really disappointed in this when we went on a school field trip there some years back.

Take 'em on a lighthouse tour. First to Sandy Hook. At Sandy Hook, after the light house, go to the northern parking lot at the hook, follow the northern trail and go to the observation platform. From there, you can see the New York Harbor, Verazzano Bridge, Coney Island and so forth. Bring a picnic lunch.

Tell the admissions booth attendant you are going bird watching and there is no charge to enter the park.


Then to the Atlantic Highlands twin lights. Last is Sea Girt lighthouse.

We liked the Sterling mine museum - great on a hot day but maybe for kids a little older. My vote is Land of Make Believe.

I just took my 3 yrd old and 6 year old to Sesame Place on Monday. You get a two day ticket when you purchase (they don't have to be 2 consecutive days, so you can go back on a weekend day after school starts).
We had a lot of fun and spent 7 hours! Wear a swimsuit witha coverup, have kid in swimwear and bring a dry set of clothes and towels. We got there at opening (highly rec) and do the dry rides before it gets too hot and line gets too long. Then it's all water rides. There's a kids' wave pool and sprinkler park, so if lines get long, kids get cranky, you can go there and cool down and take a break.Food is crappy and pricey but I think that's most places. We brought water bottles and snacks, which helped.

NYtoNJ, great list. Thanks! I am always forgetting where I "heard was fun for the kids" until we have done another schlep to somewhere familiar. This is perfect!

For beaches I would add Asbury park. Spray ground on the boardwalk is fun for the little ones and there's mini golf in addition to the beach.

There is a small aquarium at point pleasant and lots of kiddie rides on the boardwalk.

Tomahawk lake is fun, but depending on your seven year old's height it could be a challenge. S/he could be too tall for papoose land and yet that's the part that will be best for your three year old

For very laid back easy on mom and dad trip I enjoyed Sunrise Lake in Morris county. I took my 3 boys there myself and had a great day. Depending on how well the 7 year old swims, they have an inflatable obstacle course that my older boys enjoyed. Sand beach, paddle or row boats, walking trail around lake, lots of fish and close to Fosterfield's farm. No food sold there, so make sure to pack your own.

Foster Fields Living History Farm in Morristown is fun, too. Trailside Nature Center in Watchung is free and worth at least an hour or two. Also it's next to a playground and large, grassy park where you can fly kites or have lunch. There are lots of places like Jockey Hollow (trails, living history farm, Morristown) and Pyramid Mountain (Boonton) where you can go hiking and have a picnic. Also Willowwood and Freylinghousen ARboretums are fun for a day hike.