‘Kid-friendly Activities’ Articles at Sweetnicks

When I was planning our Spring Break adventures, I focused on fun. Some things were spontaneous, like the Cape May Zoo (free!), and some were planned (Ripley’s Believe It Or Not museum). Our visit to Jenkinson’s Aquarium was a no-brainer. With two kids that are crazy about animals, and Madeline especially loving anything in the water, I knew they would be tickled with whatever was inside those walls.

If you’re lucky enough to find on-street parking with a meter, grab it. If you get there early enough, there is a very inexpensive parking lot right behind the aquarium for $5. With it being summertime, and the aquarium being located right on the boardwalk, it’s definitely going to be busy though, so plan your visit accordingly.

Although the aquarium itself it a bit small, it is packed with two floors of animal life to discover. The downstairs features a pirate ship and sharks, alligators, penguins, and more. Upstairs, there are the seals, stingrays that you can touch, moon jelly fish (love those!), and more.

The aquarium does feedings of five different animals that were fun to watch, and we were there for all five. Mostly because there was no way the kids were going to let me leave without seeing them all. The seal feeding was our favorite, followed by the little itty bitty penguins. The alligator feeding? Scared me just a little. Because you are super close to where the alligators are, and when we saw how nastily they snapped at the food, well, the sharks were looking better and better every minute.

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A few weeks ago, we had a unexpectedly free afternoon. After a few quick text messages with a friend, a plan was quickly formed to visit Field Station: Dinosaurs. I had only just recently heard about it, and it sounded like the perfect way to kill a few hours with the kids, doing something unique and still relatively low-key and local. Located near the outlets in Secaucus and the Meadowlands, the exhibit occupies 20 acres of land. It was very easy to find, and the parking lot is right near the entrance, making it ideal for those trekking with little kids {$10 parking}.

After you park, you make your way over to this trailer to pay the admission and get your tickets. You can buy your tickets online, but you can’t buy them for the same day. Tickets have to be bought by 10 am the day prior (and will get you a slight discount). Otherwise you can buy same-day tickets right at the exhibit. Currently no AAA discounts. Credit and debit cards are accepted, and season passes are available (worthwhile if you plan on going three or more times).

When you start your journey, you get a field map and a little passport-style document that they stamp for you. Unless you plan on going often, I don’t see the point of the passport book. It would have been more fun if you collected different stamps as you went to different areas of the exhibit (kind of like Epcot does in the different countries). But with the one stamp we collected, it seemed rather lonely, and a waste of paper products.

There were a few of these camping vignettes set up throughout the area. A perfect ad for Coleman!

There are 31 life-size dinosaurs set up along a 3/4 mile trail, and they are all animatronic, moving their heads, arms, and even tails, and emitting all sorts of noises.

These little areas are set up in front of each dinosaur, giving you the name of the dinosaur and little extra details about it.

There are a few carts set up throughout, and you can buy water, juice, and soda. As it’s three dollars a bottle, it’s much more prudent to bring your own cooler with drinks and snacks (and it’s allowed). There are two picnic areas where you can sit….

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Visit: Jenkinson’s Aquarium, Point Pleasant {Things to Do in New Jersey}

Visit: Field Station: Dinosaurs, Secaucus, NJ {Things to Do in New Jersey}