The Interpretive Center ( i.e. Nature Center) at Skidaway Island State Park  in Savannah is a kid-friendly educational spot that’s often overlooked.

It’s surrounded by easy hiking trails including the 1-mile Avian Loop Trail, 1-mile Sandpiper Trail Loop, and the 3-mile Big Ferry Trail Loop. The Big Ferry Loop is also open to bicycles for those kids who don’t mind bumping over tree roots.

Cool off after your hike in the air-conditioned Interpretive Center which includes a display of the Giant Ground Sloth replica (pictured here); wildlife exhibits; live reptiles including a terrapin turtle; and birding station where right now you have a good chance of seeing Painted Buntings, which are currently nesting there.

Free kid-friendly structured activities are regularly held at the park. We’ve heard great things about the evening hikes and really want to check those out.  For a complete listing of August 2011 Free Skidaway Island State Park Kid-Friendly Events, visit our new Skidaway State Park children’s activities page by clicking here.  

Interpretive Center hours: Wednesday-Sunday 10 AM-5 PM at Skidaway Island State Park. Cost: $5 for parking.
52 Diamond Causeway, Savannah, 31411, 912-598-2300, http://www.gastateparks.org/SkidawayIsland

Join Coastal Heritage Society for a night of excitement as Savannah History Museum exhibits come to life! Have a private showing of Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian then stay the night with your family after touring the history museum after dark!

Savannah Night at the Museum II
Saturday, July 23 6pm – Sunday, July 24 8:30am
For ages 4 and up. Parents must accompany children. Bring sleeping gear.

Event Price Per Person (kids & adults)
CHS members: $22
non-members: $25
Price includes dinner, movie, museum tour, activities, and breakfast.

Advanced ticket purchase required by Wednesday, July 20 at 5pm.

For more info or to make your reservation, call 912.651.6823 x3 or email info@chsgeorgia.org .

Join Coastal Heritage Society for a night of excitement as Savannah History Museum exhibits come to life! Have a private showing of Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian then stay the night with your family after touring the history museum after dark!

Savannah Night at the Museum II
Saturday, July 23 6pm – Sunday, July 24 8:30am
For ages 4 and up. Parents must accompany children. Bring sleeping gear.

Event Price Per Person (kids & adults)
CHS members: $22
non-members: $25
Price includes dinner, movie, museum tour, activities, and breakfast.

Advanced ticket purchase required by Wednesday, July 20 at 5pm.

For more info or to make your reservation, call 912.651.6823 x3 or email info@chsgeorgia.org .

Deerskins, Rice, and Cotton: Life in Early Savannah History Camp for Rising 1st-5th Graders @ Georgia State Railroad Museum
July 25-29, 9am-1pm
$150 per child for the week
lunch can be purchased for $20

Based at Georgia State Railroad Museum, but with mini-trips to Savannah History Museum, Battlefield Park, and Old Fort Jackson- this camp is a step back in time to the days of old Savannah.

Made just for 1st-5th graders, historic games will be played, children will get a chance to wear clothing and uniforms of the period and will explore on-site buildings that were constructed during the 1800s. On Friday, July 29, a special field trip will be taken to Old Fort Jackson to learn about life as a soldier!

Campers will learn what it’s like to be an Indian trader and will create their own Native American stories. They will learn about Colonial jobs and will pretend to be merchants, making goods, and purchasing from a “marketplace.” Each day will be fun-filled and hands-on as campers step back into the history of Savannah!

For more info, call 912.651.6823 x3 or email info@chsgeorgia.org . Registration form can be found by clicking here:

Spend the night at the museum and sleep amongst the creatures of Savage Ancient Seas: Dinosaurs of the Deep, MOSH’s summer exhibit in Jacksonville, Fla. More info here.

Includes:
Sea Monsters Planetarium Show
Pizza Snack
Museum Exhibit Time
Science Show
Rooftop Telescopic Stargazing (weather permitting)
Morning Donuts

REGISTER NOW The last day to register is August 1, 2011; the last day to cancel and receive a refund is July 25, 2011.Cost is $30 per child (must be 4 years or older to attend) and $20 for required parent or adult chaperone. Members receive a $5 discount per person.

Questions? Call 904.396.6674 ext. 226.

We here at SouthernMamas.com have long contended that Hilton Head Is. is one of the most kid-friendly vacation spots around.

The island is teeming with children’s activities such as those being offered this summer at The Sandbox, An Interactive Children’s Museum. The Sandbox celebrates summer with a Summer Fun Series of special programs and activities held each day at the Sandbox. The program calendar is as follows: Mondays, Pottery Program at 9:30 a.m. and Cupcake Decorating at 1:30 p.m.; Terrific Tuesdays: special art activity at 10:30 a.m. and 1:30 p.m., Wednesdays: Morning Music Program at 10:30 a.m.; Thursdays: Imagination Hour at 10:30 a.m.; and Fridays: Coastal Critters hosted by the Coastal Discovery Museum 10:30 a.m.

For Terrific Tuesdays, this Tuesday, June 28th is Yosti’s Puppet Show, and the Coastal Critters Program on Friday July 1st is All About Sea Turtles.

The Sandbox is an interactive children’s museum with region related exhibits, activities, and programs for children’s ages toddler through 8 years. Museum hours are Monday through Saturday, 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.

The Sandbox, 18-A Pope Avenue, next to St. Andrew’s by the Sea United Methodist Church, 843.842.7645 or afinn@thesandbox.org, www.thesandbox.org

Join Georgia State Railroad Museum (Roundhouse Railroad Museum) for Summer Toddler Art!

Is your child 3 years old or younger and enjoys being creative? What toddler doesn’t? Enjoy this eight-week-long adventure for your young artist! Led by Miss Rebecca, Coastal Heritage Society’s Director of Young Children’s Programming, toddler art class at the Georgia State Railroad Museum is a fun time for socialization between parents and their little ones. It’s incredible to see the creative juices flowing as toddlers work on early writing skills.

The next toddler art 8-week session begins July 15, and is held in the Georgia State Railroad Museum kids’ car on Friday mornings at 10am (with the exception of July 29, which will be held at 2pm).

Join Georgia State Railroad with your wee one in this creative discovery time.
Call or email to register now for summer classes—space is limited!
$100 for all eight classes or $12.50 per class.

Advanced registration required:
Call 912-651-6823 x3 or email info@chsgeorgia.org

Free admission for up to two children when accompanied by one paying adult. (912) 232-1511 www.shipsofthesea.org .

ArtZeum at Telfair Museum’s Jepson Center for the Arts –  the two-level, hands-on children’s section – has some new and interesting additions to the small collection of children’s books on art in the back corner of the second level.

The books are certain to spark children’s excitement about creating their own artwork as well as learning about the styles of the great masters. Here are a few that we checked out from our local library and liked. Thanks, Jepson, for the suggestions!

“A Child’s Book of Play in Art” by Lucy Micklethwait – This book encourages children to look at paintings, explore them and find in them familiar and unfamiliar things. The collection of pictures aims to inspire a range of activities.

“Children’s Book of Art: An introduction to the world’s most amazing paintings and sculptures”

“Discovering Great Artists” by MaryAnn F. Kohl and Kim Solga – This book offers fun hands-on art projects to teach children about the styles of the great masters. Example: to teach kids how Michelangelo painted the Sistine Chapel, a lie-down painting project involves taping paper to the underside of a table and having your child lie on their back and paint the “ceiling.”

“I Spy Shapes in Art,” by Lucy Micklethwait
“I Spy A Lion, Animals in Art,” by Lucy Micklethwait
“I Spy Colors in Art,” by Lucy Micklethwait

“Me and Uncle Romie” by Claire Hartfield (inspired by the art of Romare Bearden)
“Emily’s Art” by Peter Catalanotto
“Lily Brown’s Paintings” by Angela Johnson
“Willow” by Denise Brennan-Nelson and Rosemarie Brennan

Other art books (that aren’t in the ArtZeum collection that we know of) which teach even toddlers to recognize the masterpieces are those in the Touch the Art series by Julie Appel and Amy Guglielmo including:
Brush Mona Lisa’s Hair
Make Van Gogh’s Bed
Feed Matisse’s Fish
Catch Picasso’s Rooster
Pop Warhol’s Top
Tickle Tut’s Toes
Count Monet’s Lilies

ArtZeum at Telfair Museum’s Jepson Center for the Arts, 207 W. York St. Savannah, 912.790.8800, www.telfair.org

Enjoy the modern-day classic movie, “Night at the Museum” and come discover what happens with the Savannah History Museum exhibits after-hours! Dinner and breakfast will be served.

6 PM Sat. Jan. 22 to 8:30 AM Sun. Jan. 23 at Savannah History Museum, 303 MLK, Jr. Blvd.

Ages 4 and older. A parent must be present. Reservations Required. Call or email for details.
(912) 651-6823 ext. 3 or email childrensevents@chsgeorgia.org

Cost: $25 per person; $22 per Coastal Heritage Society member

MOSH (Museum of Science and History) in Jacksonville opens a dinosaur exhibit Sat. Sept. 25.

Prehistoric Predators – Sept. 25-Jan. 9 – will feature life-sized animatronic dinosaur models sure to inspire visitors of all ages.

On Oct. 23, the museum’s new Bryan Gooding Planetarium opens.

The new Bryan Gooding Planetarium will offer visitors an experience like no other in our region. Come experience total-immersion entertainment in a 360-degree theater at super-resolution four times better than the best HDTV.

MOSH offers $5 admission every Friday, Saturday and Sunday now through Oct. 17 . Click here for more info.

Looking for a way to introduce your preschooler to Savannah’s downtown historic architecture?

Check out  “Savannah Safari,”  a $6 booklet that takes kids on a quick and easy walking adventure through Historic Savannah. Today, I took my 20-month-old daughter and 3-year-old son on the tour. Although my daughter may be a little young to “get it”, my 3-year-old son really enjoyed the search for architectural animals in gardens and squares (horse hitching posts, lion statues, frog fountain, dolphin downspouts, gargoyles)  

You can order a copy on the Savannah Safari Web site. The illustrated booklet complete with a map is also available at  Girl Scout First Headquarters, 330 Drayton Street, or the Juliette Gordon Low Birthplace (10 E. Oglethorpe Ave).

For more info on another kid-friendly self-guided downtown Savannah walking tour/scavenger hunt, click here

The Museum Mile Weekend in Charleston looks interesting and includes The Children’s Museum of the Lowcountry.

The 2nd Annual Museum Mile Weekend is Sept. 25-26, 2010. Here’s the deal: you buy a Museum Mile weekend pass ($20 for adults, $10 for kids 12 and under). Put on your walking shoes and hit the streets. Your pass allows you to visit 13 sites in the Meeting Street area in historic downtown Charleston during this special weekend.

The one-mile section of Meeting Street includes six museums, five historic houses, four scenic parks and a Revolutionary War powder magazine, as well as numerous historic houses of worship and public buildings including the Market and City Hall. For more information call 843-722-2996. Fore more info or to buy tickets, click here. Tickets also available at all Charleston Visitor Center locations including the downtown location at 375 Meeting St. Online purchasers will receive their passes in the mail.

Participating Sites include The Children’s Museum of the Lowcountry, located at 25 Ann St., which offers eight hands-on interactive learning environments for children 3 months to 10 years.

Other kid-friendly highlights of The Museum Mile weekend include:
Aiken-Rhett House – 48 Elizabeth St.
Built in 1820 and greatly expanded by Gov. and Mrs. William Aiken, Jr. in the 1830s, this house and its outbuildings have survived as a time capsule virtually unaltered since 1858. Children are invited to enjoy a scavenger hunt throughout the weekend as they explore the house, grounds and outbuildings and learn more about the people who lived and worked on the property.

The Charleston Museum – 360 Meeting S.
America’s first museum showcases the cultural and natural history of South Carolina’s Lowcountry. On Saturday, The Charleston Museum will feature children’s crafts from 10 AM-noon.

Powder Magazine – 79 Cumberland St.
South Carolina’s oldest public building, The Powder Magazine (circa 1713) served as an arsenal within the old walled city of Charleston. Living history programs will be offered all weekend. A special performance of the original production The Gentleman Pirate will be offered on Saturday at 3:30pm. Call ahead for ticket information (843-722-9350) or visit www.PowderMag.org

Attention teachers and home-schooling parents: archaeology workshops are available to come to elementary schools or homeschool groups to teach Georgia Performance Standards in a variety of subjects, using archaeology as the hook.

ArchaeoFest is an educational program sponsored by the Coastal Heritage Society in Savannah that uses hands on-activities and the excitement of archaeology to teach a range of Georgia Performance Standards in 4th and 5th grade Language Arts, Science, Math, and Social Studies.

Participants practice critical thinking, observations and inferences, identification, classification, matching, measuring, logic, and inductive & deductive reasoning.

Choose (Each program accommodates 25-30 students):
•2 hour program, given three times in a day at same location ($500 Flat Rate for all three programs) [averages $5.50-$6.70 per student depending on number of students]
•3 hour program, given twice in a day at same location ($450 flat rate for both programs) [averages $7.50-$9.00 depending on number of students]

Programs available for Chatham County area Sept. 13-Oct. 8, 2010.

Reservations required and can be made beginning Aug. 12. For more info, contact: Rita Elliott, relliott@chsgeorgia.org; 912.651.6850.

Brought to you by Coastal Heritage Society, Savannah. www.chsgeorgia.org

Kids and their parents are invited to a Family Sleepover Educational Program this month @ UGA’s Marine Education Center and Aquarium, 30 Ocean Science Circle, Skidaway Island.

Time 6 PM – 8 AM Sat-Sun. Jan. 23-24. Cost: $25/person all children must be accompanied by an adult.

The sleepover’s activities will focus on coastal development. All activities will be hands-on and exciting. There will also be a mini fishing clinic. Program includes snack and continental breakfast.

Please bring the following items: sleeping bag, pillow, hand towel, pajamas, bug spray, toothbrush and paste, flashlight, fishing pole, camera, and change of clothes.

Maximum of 25 participants. Advanced registration required. 912-598-2496 or email fish@uga.edu

Kids can spend a night in a real museum.

The Coastal Heritage Society is proud to present a “Night at the Museum” sleepover at Savannah History Museum. Kids can enjoy games and activities as well as a screening of “Night at the Museum” in the museum theater. Dinner and breakfast are also included

Night at the Museum is 6:30 PM Sat. Jan. 23, 8:30 AM Sun. Jan. 24 at Savannah History Museum – 303 MLK Blvd, Savannah. Cost: $22.95 per person

Tickets MUST be purchased in advance. Children must be 3 years or older to participate. Just to clarify, this is a family event, rather than a drop-off-your-kids event.

For more information or to purchase tickets, please call 912.651.6823 x203 or email childrensevents@chsgeorgia.org.

Don’t forget your sleeping bag!!

Happy New Year!

SouthernMamas is back after a brief holiday hiatus. During break, we checked out some nearby kid-friendly spots including the Jacksonville Zoo & Gardens where feeding the giraffes was one highlight;
the South Carolina Aquarium on Charleston Harbor (PENGUINS!); the Children’s Museum of the Lowcountry in Charleston; Charleston’s Holiday Festival of Lights.

All of which we highly recommend as being well worth the road trip.

As part of Community Appreciation Days at The Mighty Eighth Air Force Museum, Chatham, Jasper, Beaufort and Bryan County residents will receive half off of their admission rate this week (Nov. 22-29 2009)

The Mighty Eighth Air Force Museum in Pooler is launching a new initiative to encourage local citizens to take advantage of what’s right here at home. The museum has dedicated November as Community Appreciation Month to the Coastal Empire and Lowcountry, and has reduced its regular admission rate of $10 for adults and $6 for kids to only $5 for adults and $3 for kids.

In addition to the reduced rate, guests will also receive a 10 percent discount in the Gift Store. Now is the perfect time to visit the museum and see the new B-17.

The Mighty Eighth Air Force Museum is just minutes from downtown Savannah in Pooler at 175 Bourne Ave. off I-95, exit 102. For more info, click here or call 912.748.8888.

Next time you’re in Atlanta, make plans to check out the new Curious George: Let’s Get Curious! exhibit at Imagine It! The Children’s Museum of Atlanta.

Explore life-sized buildings from the Curious George books and TV series, design buildings at the construction site, play mini-golf and more. The exhibit presents key concepts in science, math and engineering, which are woven and layered throughout the exhibit. Activities invite children to learn like George – through direct experience and problem solving.

The exhibit runs Oct. 10-Jan. 24, 2010. Mon.-Fri., 10 a.m.-4 p.m.; Sat.-Sun., 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Click here for more information. Adults and children older than 2, $12.50.

Summer’s end means the popular raptors flight show is back at  The Center for Wildlife Education and The Lamar Q Ball Jr. Raptor Center in Statesboro.

The raptors flight show – with falcons, owls, hawks and more – is at 3 PM Saturdays, following a 2 PM reptile show, that includes insects, tree frogs, snakes and more. The flight show was on hiatus during summer.  

Other features of the Wildlife Education Center include a Discovery Trail which includes a opossum and skunk; a Habitat Walk includes a live bald eagle in her nest; 10 displays housing several live birds; a wetland preserve with ducks and wading birds, a playground; and “Discovery Logs” where kids can crawl inside and see encased ladybugs, grasshoppers, frogs, beetles and more.

Large groups, including school field trips, moms-tot groups and homeschool groups, can request a weekday raptors show. Call 912.478.0831.

The center also offers several birthday party packages that include the reptile show or bird show. There’s also a Birthday Overnight Camping Adventure.

The center is open 1- 5 PM  Saturdays during the school year. For more info, click here or call 912.478.0831.

SouthernMamas readers are always telling us how much they’d love to have a Savannah Children’s Museum.

Here’s your chance to help make it happen. Work is under way to build a Savannah Children’s Museum, which will be in railroad buildings adjacent to Battlefield Park and the Roundhouse Railroad Museum downtown. Estimated completion date is late 2010.

The museum will be owned by the city of Savannah and will be operated by the Coastal Heritage Society.

The Coastal Heritage Society plans to hold monthly volunteer work days to complete the outdoor courtyard and carpentry shop play space. These spaces will provide unique and engaging outdoor gross motor activities for children of all ages as phase 1 of the museum.

Work on the monthly volunteer days will include building benches, planters, a maze, laying sod, and preparing the outdoor space. Become a member of the museum’s Workers of Wonders (WOW) team to bring the Savannah Children’s Museum to life. People of all skill levels are needed.

The first volunteer day will be 9 AM- 3 PM Sat. Sept 19

For more information, to volunteer or donate supplies contact Beth Parr, 663-7466 or bparr@chsgeorgia.org

If you would like to be on a mailing list for updates about the museum, click here.

All aboard.

The Roundhouse Railroad Museum has a summer special: pay one price for a full day of fun.

The museum’s offering 45-minute rides in the vintage steam locomotive at 11am, 2pm, and 4pm through July 31. Rides on the museum’s human-powered handcar are available throughout the day. There also are guided tours of restored office cars at 10:30am, 1:30pm, and 3:30pm.

Admission: $10 for adults and $4 for kids 6 and younger, and includes all of the activities listed. Admission to the Savannah History Museum next door may be added for an additional $3 for adults/no extra charge for kids 6 and under.

Call (912) 651-6823 for more information, or click here.

Don’t forget. Father’s Day is this Sun. June 21.

Dads can spend this Father’s Day at Charleston’s South Carolina Aquarium for FREE with a paying guest or child. Click here to download a special Father’s Day coupon for free admission to all dads on Sunday. The website coupon must be presented to take advantage of this offer. Fathers also will be recognized during daily programs.

The aquarium’s newest exhibit, Penguin Planet!, features four Magellanic Penguins in a brand new interactive exhibit. Watch as penguins dive underwater, learn about penguin colonies, discover what makes these unique birds march. The animals are on loan from SeaWorld.

On Saturday and Sunday, June 20 – 21, the Mighty Eighth Air Force Museum is offering all Fathers half off of admission rates. The Museum admission rates for fathers this weekend will be $5. On Father’s Day, a special brunch will be offered in Chef Matt Cohen’s New South Pub, open daily from 11 AM to 3 PM.

The Mighty Eighth Air Force Museum is @ 175 Bourne Avenue in Pooler, off of I-95 at Exit 102.