Between the super hot New York City Summers and with cold, snowy Winters, I feel like I’m often looking for somewhere indoors to take my kids. The awesome Children’s Museum of Art is one of our favorite spots to spend a few hours either away from the cold or the hot.

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Trip to Children’s Museum of Art

The Children’s Museum of Art is a space built to encourage and inspire creativity in our youngest children.

It is tucked into the South Village District of Manhattan and bursting with color and ideas.

Before the Field Trip

Before you go, map out your route. Whether you’re trying to find parking or taking the subway, one of the only downsides of this museum for us was getting there. Check their directions page and double check their somewhat odd schedule before you head to the museum.

During the Field Trip

There is a lot to do at the Museum of Art, but it is still doable in a morning or afternoon. When you first arrive, I recommend signing up for a spot at the Clay Bar immediately. Those are timed reservations and working there is a fun, unique art experience. It is a slightly odd system, feel free to ask the staff if you need help, but it is worth the little wait in line and oddity.

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It is also helpful to know that there are no strollers allowed. If you’re bringing a baby, pack a carrier to hold them while you move around the museum. If you’re with a toddler – no worries. The space is not huge. They will manage fine without the stroller. Note: you can park your stroller in coat room.

This is the under 5 space – super crowded during weekends and days off, but also a perfect space for little creatives. My advice is to get there early. When they get to capacity they turn people away – this is actually true for whole museum.

My kids LOVED the stop motion film making area. This was something they had never tried and they loved playing around with the combination of creative loose parts and technology.

These big blocks are found in the creative building space. I love that large muscle art is included in the museum. The space is a little small but my kids both this too.

Our absolute favorite part of the museum was the main over 5 art studio. For our observation they do not turn away younger kids, but it is geared towards older artists.

We spent the most time here. There were painting easels for tempera paint and watercolors. There were also two large tables with projects and lots of supplies for creating.

Good things to know about Children’s Museum of Art

• Your kids will probably come home with a little paint or art supplies on them – so dress accordingly.
• The museum is small, so I would recommend avoiding it on weekends and public school vacation days if you can. Regardless – get their early.
• Pret A Manger is down the block for an easy and healthy lunch or snack option. They have dairy free options and allergens are well labeled but you need to hunt a bit. My son had the chicken noodle soup.

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Afterwards

I think it is impossible to walk away from this museum without feeling the need to create more. I would recommend having some collage and/or painting supplies on hand for further explorations over the next few days.

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What is there to do in Mississippi with kids?

I remember wondering this same thing before we moved. We were pretty content in the Midwest, so when my dear hubby announced that he had gotten a position in Mississippi I was a little stunned. He cheerfully told me that at least they didn’t have cold weather and started bringing home empty boxes. Two weeks later we found ourselves in Madison, Mississippi where we have been for the past almost two years.

Despite my initial concerns, Mississippi in many ways has amazed us.

The weather is indeed wonderful. Their idea of Winter – if you’re used to northern seasons – is hilarious. This isn’t tropical island weather, but you can certainly get outside year round in Mississippi. This is one of the things I will miss the most when we move again in a couple short months back to the cold up north. 

The best thing about Mississippi however isn’t the weather. The best thing is the people.

We have made fantastic friends that we will miss dearly, but it goes further than that. My favorite thing about Mississippians is how much they adore children. Almost everywhere is child friendly and there are so many, many things that are specifically for kids. The Fall church festival season alone is quite astounding.

So, what is there to do with kids in Mississippi? A ton!

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20+ Best Things to do with Kids in the Jackson MS Area

I went with Jackson and the surrounding area when making this list. Jackson is the major city and where a lot of the bigger attractions are, however it is not a huge metropolis and it is pretty easy to move between the city and the suburbs that surround the city. The list below is divided into indoor and outdoor activities for kids and focuses on places you can go with kids any time of the year.

Outdoor Activities for Kids

Visit a Playground, our favorites include;

• Winner’s Circle Park – Flowood MS
• Liberty Park – Madison MS
• Strawberry Patch Park – Madison MS
• Freedom Ridge Park – Ridgeland MS
• LeFleur’s Bluff State Park – Jackson MS
• Old Trace Park – Ridgeland MS

Ride Bikes along the Reservoir at Old Trace Park

The Barnett Reservoir is one of our favorite spots. About once a week we take our bikes to Old Trace Park. My kids ride and I walk or run and we make frequent stops to explore. The Reservoir is beautiful and the path is smooth and wide. In the summer there are also festivals and various events at the park. Now there is also a playground here which is beyond awesome.  View Website.

Bike Ride or Walk on Natchez Trace Parkway

The Trace is part of the National Park Service and stretches all the way across the state of Mississippi. It is primarily a scenic highway with various historical stops, but there are also some trails and parks integrated along the way. In the Jackson area, primarily near Ridgeland there is a nice spot to park your car and hop on the trail. You can bike ride all the way until you over look the Reservoir and further. This is a lovely shaded spot to run, walk or push a stroller as well. View Website

Clinton Nature Center

This is about a half an hour drive from Jackson, but in my opinion entirely worth it for so many reasons. Once a month they have a preschool program called Nature Nuts which is incredibly well planned and executed by lovely staff and volunteers. The Nature Center also has nice nature trails and an outdoor natural playground which is tons of fun, especially in the warmer months when the water section is turned on. A membership is reasonable and gives you free access to their preschool program and special events. View Website

Jackson Zoo

My kids love the Jackson Zoo, but it is likely more because of the train ride than the animals. It is a smaller zoo so it is easy for little legs to explore. In the summer there is also a fantastic splash pad you can use with admission to the zoo. The zoo also has some fun events throughout the year so make sure to check their event calendar. View Website

Mississippi Agriculture and Forestry Museum

Honestly when we showed up at this one I wasn’t sure what to expect, but my kids loved this museum. The majority of it is outside, but there are some indoor parts as well. It is not the newest museum in town, which is somewhat noticeable if you also visit the children’s museum across the street, but there is a lot to do. There is a small historical town, farm animals, a large indoor model train display, and more. Many special events, including Jazz Fest and Irish Fest are also held on the ground throughout the year. View Website

Mississippi Petrified Forest

If you’re looking for a nice easy hike for young kids, this is a winner. For adults there is also some added history that is kind of fun. View Website

Highland Village 

This is a darling old outdoor mall that my twins love to explore. It is filled with little nooks and funky wall art. I can’t honestly explain how we manage to kill hours walking around but we get lunch and then wander and they love it. In warmer months there is also a monthly storytime in the courtyard near Beagel Bagel – look on Facebook for details. View Website

Play Ball at the Park

Fun often comes in the cheapest of packages. Bring baseball gear or a soccer ball to Liberty Park in Madison and you can have a blast running and chasing and developing gross motor skills on a nice day.

Mississippi Museum of Natural Science, MS Children’s Museum, and Art Museum all have outdoor sections.

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Indoor Activities for Kids

Mississippi Children’s Museum – Jackson MS

We adore the children’s museum and highly recommend a membership if you live in the area. Make sure to check out their calendar for awesome weekly activities and special events. I have been blown away by their special events – their annual New Years Eve party for kids and Book Festival are two of our favorites. There is also an outdoor space for all those lovely weather days. View Website

Mississippi Museum of Natural Science

The Natural Science museum has been another of our favorite spots for BOTH indoor and outdoor fun. The indoor part isn’t huge but for kids 0-5 it is perfect. They always have a visiting exhibit and then you can check out the fish tanks and turtle area and other displays. There is also a small preschool play area for children 0-5 that my kids love. Outside there are trails of varying difficulty and length to explore. And DO NOT miss their special events. We have loved them all from NatureFest to Cajun Christmas. View Website

Library Storytime

Throughout the city there are preschool story times at the various libraries. Our favorite is the Flowood Library. They have the best children’s book area in the city, kind librarians, and several storytime options. They are also down the street from Winner’s Circle Park and it’s awesome playground.

Deep South Pops

If you just need to get out of the house for a little bit or what a delightful treat, stop by Deep South Pops in downtown Jackson. The popsicles are amazing (and there are a lot of dairy free options), the staff is friendly, and the shop itself fun. View Website

Barnes and Noble and the Renaissance Mall 

This isn’t unique Mississippi, but it is still a fun way to pass a few hours. This Barnes and Noble has a huge kids area and a little train section for play. Our kids love playing and browsing for books. Check the website for brief storytimes as well. Across the street there are fountains to splash in on hot days and there is plenty of space to wander and run in this outdoor mall. Five Guys and Panera are also conveniently located in the mall. View Website

Mississippi Museum of Art

Truthfully the art museum is on the small side, but if you have preschoolers or early elementary schoolers they have a fabulous FREE event on the third Friday of every month called Look and Learn with Hoot. Someone from the staff reads a story and then the kids get to create something in the art studio. The art museum also has water fountains outside to splash in on hot summer days and a small, but lovely garden to wander through. View Website.

Bouncy Houses

Our favorite is Bounce Palace – mostly because of its convenient location. There is also a Pump It Up in Brandon MS and High Heaven in Flowood MS. These are just fun places to let loose and move wiggly bodies on super hot or rainy days.

Northpark Mall Indoor Playspace

This isn’t huge, but as far as mall play spaces go this is a nice one. It is enclosed on three sides, clean, and quiet on most weekdays. View Website

Lemuria Bookstore

This is a cozy little bookstore in Jackson. There is a section in the back for kids with a great selection of books. It is also housed in the same building as a cute little lunch spot. If you follow them on Facebook you will occassional spot some child friendly events as well. View Website

Panera in Flowood

There are now two Panera restaurants in the Jackson area which I am inexplicably giddy about – but our favorite is the one in Flowood. It has a huge chalkboard and small place space off to one end of the restaurant. Grab lunch or a snack or even just a coffee for you and the kids can play for a bit on a rainy day.

Little Giants Center 

This sweet little playspace in Madison is perfect for the 3 and under crowd. They do have some classes for older kids, but the space is ideal for the youngest set. You can get a membership or pop in for some sessions at low cost. View Website

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The blue bridge stretches above me as I get my first glimpses of Chattanooga and the surrounding hills. My kids have of course sprinted ahead, but I’m still taking in the lovely green, the flowing river, and the steam boats.

Chattanooga was the one place of the few places we didn’t make it to when we were living in Mississippi.

It might seem a bit random to hop on a plane from NYC to Chattanooga, TN but it was a random idea I would happily do again.

A Weekend in Chattanooga TN

Chattanooga is a small charming city in southeastern Tennessee. It sits on the banks of the Tennessee River in the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains. I imagine Fall here is truly spectacular.

Below are our top picks for family fun. We visited with friends from Nashville so we had a 3 year old, twin 6 year olds, and a 7 year old and 4 adults to keep happy.

STAY.

Hilton Double Tree Inn

We stayed in a suite at the Hilton Double Tree in downtown Chattanooga and loved it.

The room provided us with a living room area with a fold out couch for our kiddos, a king sized bed in a separated room for us, a mini-fridge, and a nice bathroom.

The hotel also has a yummy (for purchase unless you’re an honors member) breakfast buffet and a decent outdoor pool.

The best part however was the location. It was half a block from the Children’s Museum and walking distance to everything else in downtown including some great food options.

EAT.

I was SO impressed with how food allergy friendly the restaurants in Chattanooga were. Our son has a severe dairy allergy and our friends have a gluten and egg allergy so we definitely put the restaurants to the food allergy test, but we found some delicious options.

Due to our son’s severe daily allergy we tend to stick to places we know (boring I know – but huge on ridding anxiety for all of us). There was a Five Guys, Panera, and Subway all within walking distance. We did go to Five Guys, but there were also many other non-chain restaurants that were allergy friendly. YAY!

Milk & Honey
This is my favorite. We went for breakfast after a walk across the bridge. It had so many delicious options I’m not really sure to start except to say that all 8 of us had something different and we all loved our meals.

Mellow Mushroom.
Okay this is technically a chain in the South, but it was new to us. It has pizza and a variety of other options. Great for families. Good kids menu. Awesome with allergies.

Taco Mamacita.
This restaurant was also located on the far side of the bridge from downtown in the same strip as Milk & Honey. It was your typical Mexican food but good and allergy friendly. Visit their website for more details!

Ice Cream Show.
There are a lot of ice cream spots in the area so you are never far from a sweet treat, but I liked this one for our allergy kiddo. They had a soy option for both vanilla and chocolate, as well as regular ice cream. Everyone picks either chocolate or vanilla and toppings of your choice. They then mix up your chosen flavor for you on the spot. Our kids like the fun space, I liked the patio, and after our first walk across and back on the bridge it was the perfect treat.

TO DO.

There is a ton of stuff to do with kids in Chattanooga. I was amazed. We ran out of time long before we ran out of things to do. Guess that means we’ll have to go back!

Walk Across Walnut Street Bridge

This is a short bridge across the Tennessee River for foot and bike traffic only. It offers pretty views of the area. It is a very doable walk for little legs. On either side there is ice cream for a little extra motivation.

Coolidge Park

If you walk across the bridge away from downtown, you land next to this fun space. The park has a green space, a carousel, and a splash pad fountain that’s the perfect place to cool off. There are also cute shops and yummy restaurant and treat options nearby.

Ruby Falls

This was the only time we jumped in the car our whole weekend but it was incredibly worth it. About 15 minutes from downtown and up into the mountains is the entrance to an incredible cave.

About a mile walk round trip. I recommend it for ages 5 and up. There were younger kids in our group but they weren’t that excited and many of them were afraid of the caves even though they are pretty well lit.

Our 6 year olds twins loved it though. Our tour guide had the humor of 5-9 year olds nailed. They laughed at all of his jokes and were fascinated by all the silly shaped rocks along the way. (ie. Huge piece of bacon, a chicken surfing, etc.)

At the end of the walk through the caves is the incredible Ruby Falls that is highlighted with a light show. 

There are no bathrooms or sitting spaces inside the cave so make sure you use the bathrooms in the visitor center before the tour. One mom did nurse while we walked which I found super impressive but obviously isn’t ideal as a baby nursing situation.

Food is available in the visitor center along with lots of gift and souvenir buying options.

Upon returning, your guide will give you the option of heading up a flight of stairs to the top of the castle. Do it! You are rewarded with a pretty view of Chattanooga and the Tennessee River. 

Creative Discovery Museum

We almost skipped this and I’m so glad we didn’t. The title is so well suited to the space. It is full of opportunities for creativity and discovery. Our kids loved it. 

They saw this climbing course from the outside and they were dying to try it. It apparently doesn’t disappoint because they were up there for a half hour before I encouraged them to try another area and they still wanted one last go before we left. 

On the first floor there are spaces to explore building, dinosaurs, music, art, creating, and more.

There is also a 4 and under space with pretend play, building and more. It has cute stroller parking outside the area. My kids being 6 we didn’t try it out, but I peeked in and it looked like lots of fun for toddlers and preschoolers.

My son was fascinated by the Electricity station. He tried out all of the experiments and the computer simulation. In this area were also some fun building and tinkering opportunities for younger and older kids. 

The Art Studio was an incredible space. The walls were covered with ideas and color and inspiration.

In another corner was this doctor pretend play area. Our kids played in this doctor area for a long time.

Compared to other children’s museums this one had substantially less opportunity for pretend play. To me this was not a negative. It was a well balanced museum that was truly inspiration for creative thinking and discovery.

This pretend play spot was full of details and our kids loved it. There were also some other pretend play opportunities tucked into other areas. 

Up the stairs there was a special exhibit – Eric Carle in this case, an exhibit about bees, and an outdoor section.

Our kids love Eric Carle books so it was fun to see the books come to life a bit. Their favorite part was imagining to be crickets in the tall grass in the picture above. (PS. Most genius use for pool noodles I have ever seen)

I loved this cozy little nook for reading and creative bug construction. There was also a spot to crawl through a web and peek through a kid sized version of the Very Hungry Caterpillar’s story. 

Throughout the museum I was impressed by the quality of the open ended activities and the thoughtful use of technology integrated in the different exhibits. 

Outside there are some basic physics challenges that were a lot of fun. As if it needed more going for it, the museum also has a Nursing room with nice space, comfy chair and changing table and offers discounts for active military, AAA, teachers, and reciprocal discounts for other children’s museum memberships.

Truly an awesome Children’s Museum from top to bottom. It felt unique, which is rare in the world of children’s museum. One of the best I have seen to date.

Tennessee Aquarium

I adore aquariums so I was super excited to visit the TN Aquarium. It did not disappoint.

There are two buildings for the aquarium – an ocean journey and a river journey – and you buy your tickets at another unconnected building (or online).

We started with the Ocean Journey.

You are immediately sent up a long escalator to the top floor. There you will find monkeys, sting rays, and butterflies. I’m honestly not sure what most of that has to do with the ocean but our kids loved it all the same.

The touch tanks was a particular hit. There was one in each building and our kids spent more time there than anywhere else. 

Both buildings or journeys had a variety of animals from sharks and jellyfish to penguins and turtles. There were also loads upon loads of fish.

I think what I was most impressed with was the layout. The two buildings thing is a little odd, but once inside a building they have laid out a path for you to follow that is natural and greatly reduces the feeling of crowding or the annoyance of backtracking through spaces you’ve already been.

We all loved the aquarium. It is a beautiful, clean, well lit, and fascinating place to visit with kids.

So, what did we miss? Anything you think we absolutely must do on our next visit to Chattanooga? Share it below!

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