Best Family Places in Chili and Gates, NY
Spending time with your family
As the weather begins to cool down, you’ll likely find yourself thinking more and more of the beautiful weather and your kids’ upcoming Thanksgiving and winter breaks—especially if your children are old enough to keep their own countdown! This time off from school, as well as the break from the summer heat, don’t just provide the perfect time for you to take your kids to your local Rochester dentist (though they certainly do that, too!), they also provide the perfect chance for your family to get out and spend time together. There are plenty of activities in Chili, NY, and Gates, NY, that your entire family can enjoy, no matter your children’s ages. Here are a few of our favorite places to spend time as a family.
The Strong National Museum of Play
This museum has 100,000 square feet of interactive exhibits with the potential to fill countless days of fun for kids of all ages. The exhibits cover topics from the Berenstain Bears to superheroes and women in the gaming industry, incorporating activities like rock walls, a giant kaleidoscope, and video games. The museum has made several changes in response to COVID-19, such as touchless payments, limited capacity, hand sanitizing stations, and exhibits that are frequently cleaned to help ensure that your family can learn and have fun safely. Your kids will have a blast here—and you’ll love sharing your favorite childhood games with your kids.
Stokoe Farms
If you’re looking for an entertaining summer evening you can spend outdoors, Stokoe Farms is a great place to go. The farm opens at the beginning of August and has plenty of activities your kids will love, including a straw fort, corn maze and farm animals your little ones can pet. The farm throws their Pumpkin Patch & Harvest Fest through October 25, which is full of family-friendly activities. While a few activities are missing this year due to COVID-19, the festival is outdoors and will still include over 35 great activities like a corn maze, low ropes course, wagon rides, farm animals, mini pumpkin launchers, and more! Tickets for the festival are free for children aged 2 years old and under and $13 at the door for everyone else.
Clubhouse Fun Center
The Clubhouse Fun Center has enough activities to keep your family entertained for hours, including bumper cars, putt-putt, gemstone panning, go-karts, and even an indoor arcade if the weather gets stormy. This variety ensures all your kids will have a blast, whether they’re in elementary school or high school—and so will you! Prices vary depending on which activities you’d like to do, but you can find a breakdown of your options on their website. In light of COVID-19, the center is performing regular deep cleanings, requires customers to wear a face mask, and has added regulations for each activity, which you can find here.
Black Creek Park
This is a beautiful local park in Chili, NY, with a wide variety of activities. It’s perfect if your family is looking to get outside and be active on a beautiful spring or summer day, with trails for hiking, biking, and horseback riding as well as geo-caching, a playground, and areas where you can play soccer. You can also fish or get out on the water with a kayak or canoe. There’s certainly enough to do to encourage you and your kids to put down your phones and spend several hours of fun together. Plus, being outdoors makes it compatible with social distancing guidelines as well as a nice change of pace from being cooped up indoors.
Seneca Park Zoo
Going to the zoo is a classic family activity because it provides hours of fun for everyone—no matter your age! Whether your kids are very little or teenagers, they’ll love spending time at the zoo. In addition to being entertaining, the zoo keeps your kids’ minds busy during their break from school and sneaks in quite a lot of exercise as you walk from one exhibit to another. You can plan your visits around some of Seneca Park Zoo’s regular events, such as Book & Beast, where your children will get to meet an animal ambassador for a great story! This event is free with general admission and happens every Wednesday at 11am. During spring and summer, admission costs $12 for adults, $9 for ages three to 11, and is free for children 2 years old or less. Due to COVID-19, admission tickets are timed and the number of guests allowed in the zoo at one time is limited, so it’s best to reserve your tickets online in advance.
Susan B. Anthony Museum & House
This museum was Susan B. Anthony’s home and the headquarters of the National American Woman Suffrage Association during her years as the organization’s president; it’s also where this remarkable woman was arrested for voting illegally in the presidential election of 1872. While the museum doesn’t have much to entertain young children, it offers an essential and interesting learning experience for adults as well as slightly older children, and will help kickstart their brains during the summer. If your children are interested in history, feminism, or social justice, they’ll love learning about Susan B. Anthony’s dogged fight to achieve reforms, like abolition and women’s suffrage, that eventually transformed the lives of millions of Americans. Admission is $15 for adults and $5 for students. The museum has made changes to keep guests as safe as possible from COVID-19, including limiting the size of tour groups, introducing hand sanitizing stations, and requiring you to reserve tickets online. Additionally, certain areas of the house are too narrow to allow for social distancing, so they will be temporarily off-limits.
We know from experience that having your kids home for break is amazing—but sitting at home with bored, energetic kids for several days is enough to get on any parent’s last nerve! Thankfully, our local area around Rochester, NY, is full of interesting places and events you can take your children to, providing an outlet for your kids’ energy and entertaining the whole family. In the process, you’ll create great memories that your family can treasure for years to come.