Since the school-aged kids are still wrapping up their academic years, now is the perfect time to visit with your younger kids. (Not that any time of year is a bad idea.)
This is a tricky list because the difference between a 3 month old and a 3 year old is a million miles. But I think these are great options for parents and grandparents of toddlers to make sure you have a lovely time in our Revolutionary City. Now, here are my top five favorite activities in CW for this age group.
EXPLORE THE PALACE MAZE
The Governor’s Palace is an impressive site in every way and the building isn’t even the best part. The acres of grounds surrounding the site are perfect for exploring. There is so much color and life to see—and even a maze to explore! Previously, I would often skip the actual building tour to just play in the gardens, but I was so excited to find out they will be kicking off a new tour developed specifically for kids! It starts June 20th. My fabulous friend and Historic Area neighbor, Whitney Thornberry Austin, is working on a more detailed blog post about it. Stay tuned for that one!
The bigger building tours (Palace, Capitol, etc.) are fantastic, but they can be a bit long for these guys and aren’t particularly stroller-friendly which can get daunting with the more mobile of this age group. That being said, when they were infants, I tucked my kids in a carrier and just wore them through probably all of the buildings on tours and they did great!
LEARN ABOUT 18TH-CENTURY JOBS
Obviously, a vacation to CW is for parents too, so it is nice to find some common ground. The trade shops and sites are great because you can park a stroller out front and come and go as you please which is perfect for parents and any tag-alongs with short attention spans. Plus, our tradespeople are amazing and regularly interpret to all age groups. This means there’s an opportunity for everyone to learn. Depending on the size of the crowd, you may even get some one-on-one attention like we did when we stopped by the Coopers.
HELP TO WATER THE GARDENS
I highly recommend exploring the many acres of gardens around town. Unless there is a sign that says you can’t go in, all of the gardens in the Historic Area are open to you with your admission ticket. And if you stop by the Colonial Nursery and Garden, Jen and Emily may even enlist a little help in watering the plants and flowers. Beyond all the fun your kids will have exploring all of our gardens, they also offer the best backgrounds for pictures, so do yourself a favor and have your camera ready.
MAKE SOUVENIRS AT THE ART MUSEUM
I did a whole separate blog post about how awesome the Art Museums are, which you can read here. But the quick version as it relates to this age group is that it is a nice, stroller-friendly space to explore at your own pace. The Down on the Farm exhibit and coloring room is a ton of fun. Plus, it is all indoors which is perfect for the time of day when it might be a bit too hot out or if one of those summer storms pops up!
GET TO KNOW THE ANIMALS!
Our Coach & Livestock staff is amazing. Your baby or toddler will not care about that at all, but it is worth noting the level of awesome that goes into one of the best programs here. I can walk out the door and within five minutes will have seen horses, oxen, sheep, dogs, cats, and maybe a chicken or two. Nothing makes Flynn (2) happier than running into his four-legged friends around town. It’s really important that neither you nor the kids feed the animals (for their safety and yours). Don’t worry. There are usually opportunities to pet and take pictures with them. It is the simplest thing, but it will create some happy memories for you and give the kiddos an introduction to the lovely creatures with whom we share the planet.
That’s just the quick list (look for more detailed guides from the Making History team every day next week). Just know that the opportunities for a wonderful visit are endless. If you have any questions, post them in the comments and I will be happy to answer them!
Laura Hannon says
Thanks for this! I’m definitely going to be using my good neighbor pass to check out the farm exhibit with my toddler!
Thank you so much! I never would have thought to ask the carriage drivers!
Amy Sudduth says
If the carriage drivers are unable to answer where the animals are located (sometimes I know they can get busy) Any of us in the stores or ticket locations have access to the daily flash, which tells us where each of the animals are grazing that day.
My six year old’s current favorite thing to do when visiting is to have one of us make a scavenger hunt, a list of random things through out the city (a silver spoon, a lady in a fancy hat, a teapot, two squirrels etc) I have never seen him so excited to do a building tour (Finding Mr. Dunmore’s cardinal) the only downside was keeping him from yelling out loud when he found the item in the room. Another common game that keeps my two year old occupied during building tours is seeking out their favorite thing, or even naming the colours they see in each room. Though I will grant this works better in free flow situations which both the capital and palace currently are from four to five.
Amy is the smartest and most fun ever… <3
Ally says
All great suggestions! Our kids especially loved one of the livestock presentations and we have more photos of Colonial sheep than we do the Governor’s Palace!
Our kids (ages 3 and 5) have been enjoying Williamsburg since infancy and some other things they love/have enjoyed are taking a carriage ride, the blacksmith shop, watching the fife and drum, eating at a tavern (Kings Arms is our favorite), hanging out in the stocks, and, in winter/holiday time, Grand Illumination, the decorations walking tour (we love the one family on DoG street that has done Harry Potter and Avengers wreaths :-), and ice skating at the new rink and then enjoying time by the fires.
While our kiddos have their own costumes (thanks to Grandma and a lot of fabric and button help from Robin at the Mary Dickinson shop), a lot of kids seem to love renting costumes!
Can you tell we LOVE Williamsburg? 🙂
We are the Harry Potter and Avengers family! We did Star Wars last year too! I can’t tell you how happy it makes me to hear you liked them.
And some of your other suggestions will be part of our next blog post so I am so glad to hear you love them all too!
Ally says
Oh my gosh! You’re our personal Williamsburg celebrities! I read your blog article awhile back about how you all work together to create the decoration themes and it was great! I now I remember the Star Wars one-we loved Yoda the best .
We can’t wait to visit this summer and again for our annual holiday trip 🙂
Awe! That’s so sweet! We love doing it, so it means so much to hear that from you!! I hope we can deliver another great theme this year!
Perfect timing! Planning our 1st visit with an 8 year old and a 1 year old in October What hotels would you recommend? Any with indoor pools?
Ally says
We always stay at the Woodlands (a CW property) because it has a great pool, breakfast is included, you can get a suite for a reasonable cost so grown-ups can have their own bedroom with a door for privacy or so you can at least watch television or chat after the little ones go down. The sitting area includes a sofa that pulls out and there’s still room for a pack and play or portable crib. It’s also nice because there’s a refrigerator in the room. Since it’s a CW property and walking distance (a stone’s throw) from the visitors center, you can ride the shuttle for free. We go twice a year and our kids are 3 and 5 and have been going since infancy.
Have fun!!
I second the Woodlands recommendation! The pool is outdoors, but they just but in a splash pad for the kids as well and it is awesome. If you have your heart set on an indoor pool though, I suggest the Lodge. It is lovely!
As an art educator, I find the “Down on the Farm” exhibit pretty great for adults, as well! It’s SO well done, interactive, and ties the folk art back in to Prince’s story to capture kids’ interests. Thanks for including it in your activities!
I completely agree!
Ptaliaferro says
Kids who like music also like to watch the Fifes and Drums!
Definitely! I’m including that one on my next post because my 6 year absolutely adores them!
Where are the pens located to just observe the different animals?
The best way is to ask carriage drivers when you are out and about, but there always chickens behind Wetherburns and the Wythe house. Sheep and cattle rotate a bit more…
It does say on the tour bus not to pet the animals, but when we see animals accompanied by a person, we ask at that time if it was ok to pet them. (It’s just polite, and plus it’s important for our young kids safety to not go running up to any animal they see, especially the larger varieties). We have our two year old with us on our visit, and her highlight was definitely the animals. 🙂 Excellent program.
Stomping in the clay pit at the Brickmakers’ site is fun for all ages!
Absolutely! I’m going to include that one on the next post!
You are so right and I can’t tell you how much the Coach and Livestock team appreciates you being that considerate! Thank you!!