by Whalehead King

Created on: January 30, 2009

Children, like adults, love Boston but not for the same reasons. Adults are captivated by the historical associations. Children are entranced by all the eye candy. Even if a child isn't used to being an urban pedestrian, Boston offers toddler-freindly walking tours that will delight young charges and thier chaperones.

Commonwealth Avenue is an example. This wide boulevard has a linear park running down its middle chock-a-block with obscure and stately statues and commemorative benches that will keep everyone in your party looking for the next destination to spark discussion and admiration. The Public Garden, adjacent to Boston Common, is likewise full of statuary as well as as a wrought-iron bridge, a commanding equestrian depiction of Gen. George Washington in the round, flower beds bursting with color, and a pond full of ducks that also hosts Boston's famous pedal-powered "swan boat" tours.

Away from downtown, other locales offer similar educational and aesthetic delights. A visit to Castle Island at the far end of South Boston offers a stroll along picturesque waterfront property that is occupied by an old fort, a memorial to steamship travel, a fishing pier, beaches, and the most inexpensive hot dog stand in the city. The John F. Kennedy Library may be too wordy for youngsters, but after their adult companions have taken in thier fill of that presidency's historical significance, the group can again travel this leg of Boston's Harbor Walk and take in views of the islands and penninsulas that make up the horizon of Dorchester Bay. It is very pretty.

Franklin Park, where the Dorchester and Roxbury neighborhoods meet, is home to a world-class zoo. The Arnold Arboretum, in Jamaica Plain, is a kind of zoo for trees. Constitution Beach in East Boston is a place where people watch airplanes take off and land right across the inlet while basking in the sun on the sand. Malibu Beach just off the Savin Hill stop on the Red Line is a place where everyone enjoys plucking periwinkles off the sand at low tide.

It doesn't take much to make kids happy and Boston is full of things that work on all levels. Kids get bored in museums. They would rather run about and experience their surroundings directly. Luckily, Boston is a many-layered place that appeals to all sensibilities at the same time. If you want to treat the tykes to an old-time experience, I recommend taking the Mattapan High-Speed Trolley from Ashmont Station to the Milton stop. This is a 1940s-era refubished trolley line that rocks along its rails through some of the leafiest environs of Dorchester. It even passes through a cemetery, the only mass transit line in America to do so. When you disembark at the Milton stop everyone in your party will be able to marvel at the buildings of a Victorian-era chocolate factory that dominates the landsacepe. There are antique stores for the elders and a walking trail along the tracks for the youngsters. There are plenty of restaurants and an ice cream parlor too.

You don't need to look far for things to make Boston kid-freindly. You just need to get out and about. Children live in Boston, after all. They're happy they are born in this wonderland of stimulating sights and history.

Learn more about this author, Whalehead King.
Click here to send this author comments or questions.