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The kids are revved up
and want to know what’s planned for the 14 long weeks before they
have to be back in the classroom. Even with gas at the $3 mark and showing
no sign of coming down, you can still have a great summer on a tiny budget.
Sangamon County and the surrounding area offer a boatload of indoor and
outdoor activities that cost less than $10 per day per kid. Start planning
now to play tourist in your own back yard. Before heading out on your adventures, get a
scrapbook and an inexpensive camera. Tell the kids to think of their
favorite memory of each day, then record it in the scrapbook and leave a
place for a picture. When school starts the kids will be ready for the
“What I did on my summer vacation” report, plus they can flip
through the scrapbook during the dreary winter months and recall all the
fun in the sun.
• Have a history buff in your family? The
Lincoln Home National Historic Site offers a free Junior Ranger Program.
Stop at the visitor center for a guidebook. Searching the neighborhood,
finding artifacts, and writing a letter to Mr. Lincoln are just a few
of the activities for visitors ages 6 through 12. Once all activities
have been completed, your child will receive an official Junior Ranger
badge, patch, or certificate. It costs nothing to visit the home, but you must have
tickets, which are issued and distributed on a first-come, first-served
basis. Call 217-492-4150, visit www.nps.gov/liho/, or write to the Lincoln
Home National Historic Site, attn: Superintendent, 413 S. Eighth St.,
Springfield, IL 62703.
• Interested in climate and the jungle? Check
out the Illinois State Museum exhibit Changes:
Dynamic Illinois. Enjoy the hands-on interactive displays on 500
million years of climate change and learn how Illinois was once covered by
a tropical sea. The museum is located at 502 S. Spring Street in
Springfield. Admission is free. • Does your child want to be governor of
Illinois? Give your little politician a glimpse of the Executive Mansion.
Tours are offered 1-3 p.m. Tuesdays and Thursdays. Kids will learn about
the residents of the mansion, Illinois history, and the home’s
beautiful architecture and furnishings. This is a free tour. The mansion is
located at Fifth and Jackson. For information, call 217-782-6450. • Is your child a gearhead? Are you a Route 66
fan? If so, visit Shea’s Gas Station Museum (2075 Peoria Rd.,
217-522-0475) for
a view of 50 years of life on the road, studded with road signs, gas pumps,
and Route 66 memorabilia. Show the kids what it was like when Grandpa and
Grandma were revving their engines and burning rubber! Open 9 a.m.- 4 p.m.
Tuesdays-Fridays and 9 a.m.-noon Saturdays. After the free tour, drive on
down to the Cozy Dog (2935 S. Sixth St.) for some original Route 66 cuisine:
a hot dog on a stick.
• Looking to show your kids culture? Introduce
it over a brown-bag lunch hour. Join the Artist on the Plaza Entertainment
Series, which runs noon-1 p.m. Tuesdays and Thursdays all summer long. A
variety of artists will share their talents on the South Old State Capitol
Plaza, in downtown Springfield. Call the Springfield Area Art Council
(217-753-3519) to get the lowdown on scheduled events. After lunch, take a
tour of the Old State Capitol. • Fido is welcome to come along on a stroll
around Washington Park. Home to the Thomas Rees Memorial Carillon and the
annual Carillon Festival (June 3-9), the park also boasts a rose garden and
a botanical garden where you can get a look at tropical plants without
driving all the way to St. Louis or Chicago. Bring a picnic, feed the ducks
and geese on the lake, and spend the rest of the afternoon on a blanket or
the swings. • Are the kids interested in the pioneer days?
Lincoln’s New Salem State Historic Site can’t be beat. Meander
through the cabins, visit the museum, watch the 15-minute video and enjoy a
little young-Abe history. This internationally recognized attraction is a
great place to walk off steam, enjoy the day, and see what pioneer life was
like. Admission is free, but a donation is suggested. Located on Route 2 in
Petersburg. For information, call 217-632-4000.
• Who doesn’t like animals? The Henson
Robinson Zoo, in Springfield’s Nelson Park, is a draw for kids of all
ages. Watch the monkeys’ antics, feed the barnyard animals, and
admire the peacocks as they strut their stuff. This little zoo, with its
small admission fee, is a great day activity. Pack a lunch and let the kids
play in the park for the rest of the afternoon before calling it a day.
Located at 1100 East Lake Drive. For info, call 217-544-8462 or go to
www.hensonrobinsonzoo.org. • Splurge one day and visit the Abraham Lincoln
Presidential Museum. With its ever-changing exhibits and interactive
displays, you’ll find plenty of interest, even if you’ve been
to the museum before. A short walk around downtown or an extra dollar for
ice cream will make this trip a winner! The museum is located at 212 S.
Sixth St. Call 217-558-8872 or visit www.alplm.org for information.
• Learn about faraway places and read about
children around the world at Lincoln Library or your neighborhood library.
The wide selections of books, movies, and summer reading programs can make
your kids feel as if they’ve traveled a million miles from home.
Choose a country to research, then come home and dine on that
country’s fare. Have the kids decorate placemats to set the mood.
• Surf’s up! OK, so the waves are not
monumental at Lake Springfield, but there’s nothing like sand between
your toes. Kids can swim, build sand castles, and, for next to nothing,
play in the sun all day. Take along a book, and you, too, can enjoy a day
of leisure. Don’t forget to bring a couple of dollars for a snack,
and make sure to bring shoes — that sand gets hot! Call the Lake Springfield Beach
House, 217– 786-4032,
for details. • Also on the lakeside is the historic Lincoln
Memorial Garden, designed by famous landscape architect Jens Jensen and
planted with native Midwestern species. Take your little ecologist on a
nature walk and enjoy the wide trails and wooden benches. Read the Abe
quotes on the benches and end the day with a visit to the visitor center.
The garden is open from sunup to sundown, and admission is free — but
leave Fido at home; no pets allowed. Located at 2301 East Lake Shore Dr.;
call 217-529-1111 or visit www.lmgnc.org.
• Does your child aspire to be a firefighter?
Take the budding smoke-eater to the Illinois Fire Museum, located on the
Illinois State Fairgrounds, which offers a glimpse into firefighting
history. • Rub Lincoln’s nose for luck. Take a day
to visit the Lincoln Tomb. The historic site, in Oak Ridge Cemetery, is
open 9 a.m.-5 p.m. daily, and on Tuesdays you can stay late and watch a
flag-lowering ceremony enacted by volunteers in the uniform of the Grand
Army of the Republic. For information, call
217-782-2717. This list is just the tip of the iceberg. Springfield
boasts a variety of other Lincoln haunts, parks, festivals, and events.
Museums abound, and there are activities just waiting for you to join in.
There’s no excuse for boredom.
Cindy Ladage, a freelance writer based in Virden, is
a regular contributor to Illinois Times.
This article appears in May 24-30, 2007.
