5 things to do this summer in Greenville!

If you're looking for fun things to do with the kids this summer in Greenville, look no further; here are five things to put on your summer to-do list for kids (and budgets) of all sizes:

   

1.    Complete the 2015 Summer Reading All-Stars Program with the Greenville Library System. This free program has different requirements based on age (adults are welcome to sign up, too!), and although I feel the Taco Bell coupon isn’t the best prize for young children, the medal and Greenville Drive ticket are a nice reward for something we already do. Register at the branch you visit most, and don’t to forget to finish your reading by August 1^st, the last day to collect prizes!

  

2.    Visit a dozen new parks with LiveWell Greenville’s Park Hop. Now in its third year, the family-oriented scavenger hunt is an exploration and discovery of the multitude of parks in Greenville County. We checked off 18 out of the 19 different parks this year, revisiting some old favorites and discovering a few new spots. The nicest surprise was Georgia Street Park in Fountain Inn with its ¼ mile cycling “track,” allowing bicycle newbies and tricycles the chance to drive around a small town complete with fire station and general store. Park Hoppers are entered to win prizes in addition to earning TCMU passes, Greenville Drive vouchers, t-shirts and swag bags.

3.    Check out the newest exhibit at the Upcountry History Museum, Magic Tree House. Based on the children’s chapter books of the same name by Mary Pope Osborne, the exhibit allows visitors to join siblings Jack and Annie in their journey through American history via a magical, time-traveling tree house. With a visit to Plymouth Bay for the first Thanksgiving, a trip to a field hospital to help Clara Barton during the Civil War and a visit to a one-room school house as pioneers, this might have been our favorite Upcountry History Museum visit yet!

4.    Get your fortune read at Hello from Japan! at the Children’s Museum of the Upstate. The newest exhibit takes you on a journey across the Pacific, and in addition to karaoke, a photo booth, a Japanese meal station, building a bridge and crawling through a bamboo forest, the kids can have their fortunes told. The exhibit runs through September.

5.    Explore a creek ecosystem on a ranger-led program in Paris Mountain State Park. On the Creek Ranger Hike on Friday morning families are led on a nature hike to look for animals and learn about their habitats. The kids really get involved when they’re handed nets and allowed to catch aquatic insects and other creek inhabitants for an up close look under the park microscope. For more information and to register visit the Paris Mountain State Park website.

What are your favorite summer spots this year?