6 Fun Things to Do with Kids in Boston

During a recent road trip to the Northeast, my husband learned that one of his favorite bands, BOSTON, would soon be playing in Boston. Talk about a fun thing to do with kids in Boston! So we shuffled our travel itinerary so we could be in town for the big event.

If you look closely, you can see an ad for Boston’s 40-year Reunion Concert on the marquee in the background of this photo:

Attending the concert meant an extra day in Boston, which naturally resulted in more sightseeing. Here’s what we packed into our two days in Beantown:

6 Fun Things to Do with Kids in Boston

1. USS Constitution and Museum

   

   No visit to Boston is complete without a tour of Old Ironsides. The ship is currently in dry dock being refurbished, but visitors can still go aboard.

   Be sure to check out the USS Constitution Museum while you are there. Not only is it one of the most fun things to do with kids in Boston, but it is also one of the most frugal. Admission is free (suggested donation: $5 per individual/ $20 per family) It is full of wonderfully interactive exhibits children love. What a great way to learn history!

2. Bunker Hill Monument

   

   Ready for a little exercise? The Bunker Hill Monument is within easy walking distance from the USS Constitution. For a more strenuous workout, you can climb the 294 steps it takes to reach the top.

3. Paul Revere’s House

   

   Did you know Paul Revere had 16 children? That was one of many interesting things we learned about the midnight rider when we visited his home in Boston. Doubtless he knew all sorts of fun things to do with kids in Boston back in the day.

   Many of Revere’s original furnishings and pieces of silver he smithed himself still remain in this house which dates back to 1680.

4. Metropolitan Waterworks Museum

   

   To gain a better understanding of where running water comes from, visit Boston’s Waterworks Museum. Admission is free (but donations are appreciated).

   It’s a great place for budding engineers — especially if you visit on one of their regularly scheduled family days, like we did. They bring in extra hands-on activities and additional volunteers to answer questions on those days.

5. Children’s Museum

   

   The Children’s Museum of Boston has three full floors of fun activities and interactive exhibits that appeal to children of all ages. Our older teens enjoyed our visit as much as our little guys.

   Admission to this museum is normally $16 a person, but if you visit after 5pm on Fridays (like we did), you can get in for $1 each. (Our membership to a science museum back home also grants reciprocal benefits to this one, but they only let four of us in for free.)

   The Children’s Musuem is just down the street from the Boston Tea Party Museum, but that one was closed by the time we got there, so we had to content ourselves with just taking a few pictures out in front of it.

   

   Our little Abby would have loved a spot of tea in the adjoining Abigail’s Tea Room, but that was closed, too. 🙁 We’ll add it to our list of fun things to try with kids on our next trip to Boston.

6. Classic Harbor Line Cruise

   

   Just around the corner from the Tea Party Museum you’ll find Rowe’s Wharf, home to Classic Harbor Line

. We booked passage aboard the Northern Lights for an inner harbor day cruise.

Our Family’s Experience aboard the Northern Lights

The anticipation with which my husband looked forward to that BOSTON concert? That was the same way I felt about the inner harbor cruise we’d planned to take on our last day in Boston.

Unfortunately, the wind picked up and it started raining just before time for us to board, so our original cruise time was postponed for a couple of hours.

We appreciate the captain’s putting safety first in this way. Before we knew it, the storm had blown over, and he was welcoming us aboard.

Captain Mark and his crew, Mike and Amber, took excellent care of us during our time together.

And made sure our onboard experience was delightful in every way. (It was!)

Amber kept our kids well-stocked with Arnold Palmers (that’s half tea, half lemonade, for those of you who have never tried one).

And Mike gave us a detailed history of all the landmarks we passed along the way.

For instance, he not only told us the Boston courthouse (pictured below) was the most-expensive courthouse in America, but he also detailed several of the most famous cases that were tried there.

Thanks to the delay in departure times, our day cruise turned into a sunset cruise.

But that just made it all the more memorable.

The fact that we stayed in the inside harbor (rather than going to the choppy Atlantic side) meant we had smooth sailing all the way. Translation: Mom never felt the least bit seasick.

We sailed all the way up to where the USS Constitution is docked and got there in time to hear (and see!) its cannon fired to signal sunset.

Then it was back to home port, admiring the city’s night lights all the way.

When our original sailing time was postponed, I considered skipping the cruise altogether, since we still had a couple of hours’ driving to do to get to Maine, where we’d spend the night.

I am so glad we stayed and sailed. The harbor cruise was definitely a fun thing to do with kids in Boston, and one we’d highly recommend.

By the time we disembarked, rush hour traffic had completely cleared, so the drive to Maine was quick and easy. But more importantly, our entire family agrees that our time aboard the Northern Lights ended up being the highlight of our trip to Boston, and one we’d highly recommend to other families!

More Travel Ideas for Families

If your family loves to go as much as mine does, you can check out my other travel posts here: Flanders Family Travels. Or better yet, get yourself a copy of my book Pack Up & Leave. It’s chockful of smart tips that will make your next family road trip or vacation more economical, educational, and memorable.

PLEASE NOTE: Classic Harbor Line provided our party with five free tickets in exchange for this review (we paid full price for the other four), but all opinions expressed are our own. Also, this post contains affiliate links. If you make a purchase through any of those links, we may receive a small referral fee, at no extra cost to you. Such fees help defray the cost of running this website. This, in turn, allows us to continue offering our readers a wealth of FREE printable resources. So thank you for your support!