Hi Ladies,
Just looking for ideas to do with the family on Easter weekend. We are new to this area, and we'd love to stay in town and see what Erie has to offer. Any recommendations? We have a son - 6 and a girl - 3. Something kid friendly, either Easter related or just fun for the family.
Thanks,
A. C.
I have two ideas - the Erie zoo has an Easter Egg hunt on Saturday - not sure on the time. Also, if the weather is bad and you don't mind a bit of a drive, the IX center in Cleveland is having a great indoor kids amusement park this weekend. Under 3 - kids are free. Good luck!
Funny, I was just going to suggest the zoo egg hunt too! There's also a great children's museum downtown, but I'm not sure what their hours are this weekend. On Thursday, check the Showcase insert in the paper. They usually have some good ideas in there.
The zoo has an easter egg hunt on Sat. we've never been able to go to it but it sounds nice. You can look on the zoo homepage eriezoo.org maybe??
I thought i saw that Toys R us was having something but i'm not sure of the date.
Also sometimes the grocery stores have events like Breakfast with the easter bunny. That one was at Giant Eagle in the Summit towne center, but there might be others.
You probably already know that the kids can have their pictures taken with the easter bunny at the mall.
I hope you find something fun to do! Welcome to Erie.
Our family likes going to the Erie Maritime Museum. We've done this as a family since the kids were 4 and 2, and they are now 14 and 12. There are videos, buttons to push, movies, and there's a "mate's cabin" inside the museum, that the kids can go into and play house in. (It's pretty small, but it's exactly what they look like on the ship.) You can also take tours of the ship, but it's not rigged for sailing during the winter. It's still a good visit, and the kids can hit the buttons to turn on the movies.
We are members of the league, so we go free now, and I crew on the Niagara. Let me know if you go, and if it was fun. (____@____.com -- that means I'm from Maine, it's still my first love, but we live in the North East area now)
Another option is the zoo, and you can get a membership there so it's free the rest of the summer months. I think it's open on weekends now -- but you might want to call and check. It's small, so the kids won't get tired, there's a trainride (in the summer anyway) that kids will love, and it goes through an exhibit and thru a tunnel that everyone screams as they go through -- prepare your kids, cuz it's noisy -- there's an old fashioned merrygoround, and a children's zoo. The train and the merry-go-round cost extra, but with a membership, the zoo is free. The membership also gets you in free to zoos in Pittsburgh and Cleveland, and a whole bunch of others in the network.
And then there's the Tom Ridge Center, which is free. It's a whole lot of exhibits, which I found kind of boring, but the kids went with the school and thought it was cool. Maybe I just wasn't in the mood the day we were there ?? My children loved the giftshop best. and that says something about the exhibits -- it's a "green" building, and it highlights the environment.
In the summer, Blasco Memorial Library has a children's reading program, and they used to give a gift a month, one every time you read a book,returned it and got another. I don't know what McCord Library does in North East, but my guess is that they have a children's time, too, when kids can come and join a reading circle, where an adult reads to them.
Our church has an Easter party going on this weekend on Saturday morning, from 10 until noon, for ages 2 thru' 4th grade. You get there by taking Buffalo Road and turning onto Williams Road, just west of the Ford Dealership. 5 miles up hill from there, the church is on the right. It's the only big thing in Greenfield, so it's easy to locate.
Sunrise Service is at 7:00 on Sunday, and then we have an eggs and ham (and toast and muffins, I believe) breakfast in the gym. That's about as "eastery" I guess as it gets. If you go to it, catch me on the way out of church -- I'll be the first greeter on your way out the main door.
We also do a cool Vacation Bible School program in the summer That's usually the week after school ends, and it's ages 2 thru high school. 7 to 9, which is kind of late for little ones, but we had to run it after our workers got home from work. :-)
