Going a little stir crazy trying to keep your kids entertained right now? I am right there with you! It’s such a hard mix of wanting to get out of the house and not being able to do much with so many activities cancelled due to covid. Read on to discover some hopefully new things to do with kids in Maryland.
The Farm Yard
My #1 things to do with kids in Maryland is the Farm Yard. The Farm Yard is in Parkton almost to the PA line. Make sure to follow them on Facebook as they are always posting new events almost weekly. Some past events just in the past month have included Mommy and Me workout on the farm, Tractor day, Pony grooming, Paint night, Stories and snowballs, Monarch butterfly class, Jam making with peaches… I could keep going. They have the coolest little events and are always coming up with fun, new ones.
Whether you go for an event or just go to grab a snowball, you can browse the gardens and see the livestock. Currently (September) they have a sunflower field and a Zinnia garden. There are goats, horses, cows, pigs (with babies), a turkey, birds and other animals for you to see.
Definitely a cool place that is worth checking out! Learn more here.
Go tubing down the Gunpowder
My #2 things to do with kids in Maryland is tubing. Spend an hour or three floating down the gunpowder river in Monkton, MD. There are a few access points to get into the river, with the most popular being at the NCR trail off Monkton Road. Here you can either bring your own tube or rent one at Monkton Bike Rental ($15 small tubes, $25 large tubes). Visit the Monkton Bike Rental site here.
From the tube rental walk about 15 minutes up the trail. From there you will see an access point on the left to get into the river. It is a semi steep slope to get down. When you start tubing here, you will make it back down to the bridge where you started in about an hour. It is a great way to test it out and makes it easy to end where your car is.
I will say that during the weekends at this entrance parking is pretty limited and fills up extremely fast so I would recommend going out early to ensure finding a spot to park.
Inverness Brewing
My #3 things to do with kids in Maryland is checking out Inverness. This outdoor farm brewery is located on a farm in Monkton and offers spacious room for kids to be able to run around. They have live music every weekend and food trucks. A great way to spend an evening! View Inverness website here.
Rockfield Park water area and play ground
OK so the playground at Rockfield Park is amazing and they just added a sensory water play area in the spring of 2020. It is a 5,000 square foot area that includes interactive and educational panels about the Chesapeake Bay. Find out more here.
Weber’s Farm
Weber’s Farm is located in Parkville and depending on the time of year allows you to pick your own produce. They also offer different events throughout the year. Soon they will be holding their Johnny Appleseed event where they will have a hill slide, pumpkins, duck races, a maze and more. While you are there make sure to stop in the bakery and grab a sweet treat! View the calendar of events here.
Attend an event at your local Nature center
Many local parks have nature centers that host events for kids of all ages. They are usually very affordable or free and are always coming up with new and fun classes! A few of the events I have seen in different parks including arts and crafts, story times, nature walks and up close animal lessons. Below are various nature centers with links to their events pages.
Baltimore county:
Harford County:
Anita C. Leight Estuary Center
Carroll County:
Rent a boat at Loch Raven
Loch raven boat rentals make it easy to rent a boat for a few hours and throw a line in. They offer 14ft Jon boats ($30-$57 per day), rowboats ($19 per day), and kayak ($19 per day) rentals. There are also plenty of spots to walk down to the water and fish off shore. View boat rental information here.
Check out my blog post about Baltimore County parks to visit.
