Thanksgiving Day kids activities?
November 23, 2011 1:19 PM   Subscribe

Help us keep our sanity! What can we do with a hyperactive 2 year old in Boston on Thanksgiving?

It's just me, my S.O. and the precocious baby this year for Thanksgiving, and we have no idea how to keep him occupied the whole time. (The baby. Not the S.O.) Museums are closed, stores and libraries are closed, and we know from experience that he'll go nuts if we try and stay home all day. Suggestions for things to do or places to go in the Boston MA area? We have a car, and aren't afraid to use it if it will help.

Please note - we're quite creative about playtime at home, so this isn't a request for craft ideas or new games. Rather we've found that even an hour outing can make the difference between a fun day and a cabin-fever-frustrated tiny tyrant, but now don't know where to go.
posted by synapse to Sports, Hobbies, & Recreation (11 answers total)
 
Drive down to Plimoth Plantation (about 45 minutes away), they're open, and there's room to run around. There are activities in downtown Plymouth, too.
posted by Melismata at 1:21 PM on November 23, 2011


Best answer: It's not too cold yet - go visit the park around Arnold Arboretum. Nice paths for walking, lots of other families, safe to let the kid run around.
posted by benito.strauss at 2:03 PM on November 23, 2011


Best answer: When we were in Boston with a 2-year-old some years ago, we had a magical day at the DeCordova sculpture garden. Their website says the sculpture garden is open every day of the year.
posted by not that girl at 2:34 PM on November 23, 2011


Whenever I have my 2 year old nephew, we always take a few walks. We look for cats, squirrels, talk about the color of flowers and cars, count the number of things. He gets to touch different plants, smell flowers, show me how fast he can run, how high he can jump.
posted by shoesietart at 3:38 PM on November 23, 2011


A ride on the T with a few random changes of train might be fun or a ride on the Commuter Rail. The Boston Common would be excellent for a walk and you could visit the Make Way for Ducklings statue.
posted by goggie at 5:15 PM on November 23, 2011


Don't you have any friends with a kid the same age? Go to their house.
posted by joannemullen at 5:21 PM on November 23, 2011


Yeah, not a lot open on Thanksgiving day (Franklin Park Zoo is open Friday though), but you could go to South Station and watch the trains come in (my 2 year old loves that). The Common could be fun for a nice walk. Other than that, just find a nearby playground and go play?
posted by katers890 at 5:46 PM on November 23, 2011


A new playground just opened on the Esplanade, just over the Aurthur Fielder footbridge.
posted by sammyo at 5:58 PM on November 23, 2011


Best answer: SAHM mom to two Boston boys, here. Plimouth is too far, IMO, for this question. By all means the Arboretum (prob 15 min from most of Boston), DeCordova (maybe 30 min tops). But more than those I recommend Castle Island/Pleasure Bay: lots of room to run around (beach and fort), the airplanes come into Logan exhilaratingly low overhead, there are boats to watch, and it's accessible by Redline and a short bus ride, in themselves a bit of fun.
posted by cocoagirl at 3:55 AM on November 24, 2011


Oh, and the Arboretum is also T convenient. Go to the end of the Orange Line (Forrest Hills), head west and you're there.
posted by benito.strauss at 7:45 AM on November 24, 2011


Response by poster: DeCordova was absolutely gorgeous this morning, and with no one there it was the ideal place to let him run around while we enjoyed the art. Definitely a new favorite location! I've marked a few other best answers for places that we're going to try out over the rest of the weekend or hopefully soon - thanks so much to everyone for their suggestions!
posted by synapse at 10:58 AM on November 24, 2011


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