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Explore Pawtucket’s History By Foot
Join local historian Joshua Choiniere for the popular one-mile guided walk that explores the founding of Pawtucket, Rhode Island and the establishment of an ironworks community in the town. The tour explores the sites of the first forge that became a thriving artisan community, the homesteads of the founding Jenks family members, and other related structures.
Admission: $5 per person. Suitable for all ages, but most appropriate for ages 12 and up. Requires some up-hill walking through downtown Pawtucket. Comfortable footwear recommended. 75 minutes. Light rain or shine.
Evening Lantern Tours
Feel transported through time on a lantern-lit tour of the exquisitely preserved neighborhoods of Newport’s Historic Hill. Hear the history of early American holiday traditions on this evening-time stroll and learn how colonial Newporters celebrated the holidays. These family-friendly tours work for those with little ones in strollers as well as older kids.
Admission: $15 per person. A $25 ticket includes a historic-style hurricane lantern with a flameless candle to use during the tour. Space is limited; call 401-841-8770 for reservations.
Marshmellows & Bonfires at Blithewold
Sparkle! is a marshmallow-roasting, Christmas-carol-singing, cocoa-sipping, strolling-through-the-twinkling-garden-paths, fun-for-the-whole-family event held at Blithewold during the Christmas season. Each Friday night a different group will present two performances of carol singing, from 6:15 p.m. to 6:45 p.m. & 7:15 p.m. to 7:45 p.m. around the bonfire. Free Hot Cocoa! S’mores kits are one for $2, and three for $5 (part of the proceeds benefit the Girl Scouts). Last tickets sold at 7:30 pm. Click on the dates to register: December 9, December 16, December 23.
Member adult $2; Member Child (3 yrs and older) $1; Member family (2 adults + 2 children) $5; Non-member adult $14; Non-member child $3; Non-member family (2 adults + 2 children) $28.
Farmer’s Market Family Fun
The Mount Hope Farmers Market is a year-round community market, happening every weekend in every season. This December, there are some great reasons to bring your whole family to the market. On December 17th, take advantage of free disposal of e-waste, courtesy of Indie Cycle, and teach your kids about why we want to properly dispose of our digital waste and how to do it! Bring your old computers, laptops, servers, routers, TV monitors, motherboards, printers, cables, CD/DVD players, and even household appliances. Check the list for what to bring, and get rid of it before you peruse the bounty offered by local growers and artisans who provide their goods and wares each week! You can see a list of vendors and where they are located on the map below. And make sure to catch the special Holiday Farmer’s Market on Friday, December 23rd too!
Holiday Farmer’s Market
The Mount Hope Farmers Market is a year-round community event, happening every weekend. And while the local growers will need to take time off for the holiday, they want to make sure YOU get your greens for Christmas! All the fine produce and goodness of the regular market will be available and last minute gifts and treasures by local artisans too! Wear your holiday hat and celebrate farming and family!
Casey Farm Easter Egg Hunt
Bring the family to Casey Farm and let the children enjoy collecting plastic eggs for prizes. Explore the farm, visit the chickens, play farm games, have some light refreshments, and make an Easter craft. Each family receives a coupon for half off a dozen Casey Farm eggs redeemable at the Coastal Growers’ Market. Rain or shine. Please select appropriate number of tickets per age group. Free to Historic New England member children;
$10 nonmember children. Registration required for all participating children. Please call 401-295-1030 ext. 5 for more information or register online.
April Vacation Week!
Making plans for the upcoming April school vacation week? Blithewold Mansion, Gardens & Arboretum is offering a fun-filled week of camp during April Vacation. Enroll your child for the full week or one day, or even a few half days! A new theme each day will combine indoor and outdoor activities (weather permitting), as well as feature a new and exciting creature! Admission: Full Week: $160 Blithewold members; $217 non-members (automatically enrolled to a 12-month Blithewold Household Membership); April Camp offers a daily drop-in: $55; half-day $30. Register more than one child or for more than one week of camp and save with a Sibling Discount code: SIBL
Plants and animals, oh my!
More than 5,000 tulips are in bloom at Green Animals Topiary Garden, which will open for the season two weeks ahead of schedule! See the early spring garden with its explosion of color, discover all kinds of animals, and see the gardeners at work crafting huge sculptures from trees! Think: elephants, bears, and giraffes. Garden open daily 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Brayton Estate opens May 20. Admission: Purchase tickets via Newport Mansions website (link below).
Spend the day at the farms!
Re-discover the joy of Rhode Island farmer’s markets and get ready to look forward to a summer chock-full of them! Nestled in Sounderstown, R.I., Casey Farm is a picturesque spot and local farmers are ready to banish our winter blues with their delightful goods and wares. Items for sale include Vermont maple syrup, coffee, and fresh baked goods. Also, for serious gardeners and hobbyists alike (and kids!), start your culinary garden this spring with Rhode Island Certified Organic vegetable, fruit, and herb seedlings at Casey Farm’s Spring Seedling Sale, happening at the same time. While there, tour the historic farmhouse and grounds and bring the kids for special children’s activities. Admission: Free! Rain or shine. (Watson Farm is just 8 minutes away, and they are hosting a sheep sheering event and you can also visit their baby lambs!)
Plant sale at Green Animals Topiary Garden
This annual plant sale is the perfect place to see a garden explode with color and the imaginative gardeners of Green Animals Topiary at work crafting huge creatures from trees! Admission to the garden will be free on the day of the plant sale and there’s no better place to get flowers and vegetables for your home garden (or a Mother’s Day seedling bouquet!)