From the bears at the zoo to the Bruins at "The Dunk," Providence offers a wide variety of family entertainment options.
The Providence Children's Museum is an active place where kids and grown ups play and learn together. Located in Providence's Jewelry District, the Museum presents hands-on exhibit areas and lively programs designed for children ages 1 to 11 that explore the arts, culture, history and science. The museum offers exhibits and programs that are based on the developmental needs of children and embrace a wide range of learning styles and forms of expression.
The RISD Museum of Art houses more than 80,000 works of art, ranging from ancient Greek and Roman sculpture to French Impressionist paintings, from Chinese stone and terracotta sculpture to contemporary art in every medium, including textiles, ceramics, glass and furniture. Part of the Rhode Island School of Design, the museum offers a full schedule of special exhibitions, lectures, tours, concerts and other programs. Collections are displayed in 45 galleries on three floors, tracing the history of art from antiquity to the 21st century.
The Roger Williams Park Zoo is the third oldest zoo in the country (since 1872) and has been cited as "one of the outstanding reasons to visit New England" by the Yankee Magazine Travel Guide to New England. Visitors to the 40-acre zoo see the world's tallest, heaviest, fastest and rarest land animals - the Masaii giraffe, the African elephant, and the cheetah – all roaming through natural settings. The zoo's population numbers nearly 1,000 animals, with some 165 species on display at any given time, including mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians, fish and insects.
The Bank of America Skating Center lets families takes to the ice in the heart of the city. The Center boasts 14,000 square feet of ice, more than double the size of Rockefeller Center's rink in New York. It features a full-service pavilion with ticket area, concessions offering light refreshments and non-alcoholic hot and cold drinks, party rooms for special events, and skate rentals for children and adults. Skating lessons are also available.
WaterFire Providence is a multi-sensory experience that will engage and intrigue every member of the family. This series of bonfiresinstalled on the three rivers of downtown Providence encourages visitors to stroll the city and take in the aromatic wood smoke, flickering firelight and enchanting music. The event occurs several times a month from May to October and has become a "must see" for visitors to the city.
The Providence Bruins are the American Hockey League (AHL) affiliate for the Boston Bruins. A team filled with the hockey stars of tomorrow, the P-Bruins' home ice is at Providence's Dunkin Donuts Center, affectionately known as "The Dunk" to locals.
The Pawtucket Red Sox, in the neighboring city of Pawtucket, is a great place to see baseball the way it should be played – by eager young talents in a small gem of a ballpark. As the Boston Red Sox farm team, Sox greats like Wade Boggs, Roger Clemens and Jason Varitek all started out on the lush, green fields of the PawSox' McCoy Stadium.