Hi Everyone,

My parents are taking my two nephews (10 and 12) to Santa Fe for a couple of days. The kids are pretty much totally focused on their computers and online games when they are home. (Too many years of that being a built-in babysitter IMHO.) Have informed my parents that museums are "boring". :(

Anybody have any ideas of something they can take them to do / see in Santa Fe? I'm really at a loss here. And I know my Mom will be really hurt if they hear a lot of complaints about how "boring" it was to visit Grandma and Grandpa.

Help?

Thanks!!

Kathy

Your nephews would probably enjoy going to Bandelier National Monument to see the cave dwellings, some of which they can climb up into on ladders. The main trail through the archaeological site is a little over a mile long - they can also take an additional trail (about 1/2 mile each way) to the Alcove House which is reached by climbing a series of ladders 140' above the valley floor. Bandelier is about an hour from Santa Fe.
http://www.nps.gov/band/

About a half hour further than Bandelier is the Valles Caldera National Preserve, http://www.vallescaldera.gov/

If the kids are interested in science they could combine a trip to Bandelier with a visit to Los Alamos - the Bradbury Science Museum is very interesting. http://www.lanl.gov/museum/

Another fun day trip for kids is to go up to the Taos Pueblo. http://www.taospueblo.com/

There are also multiple places where they could go horseback riding and/or whitewater rafting.

Hi Kathy,

We started taking our 2 boys to Santa Fe when they were 4 and 7. We enjoyed at least 10 family trips there, maybe more. The following are things my boys really enjoyed:

Bandelier National Monument (been there 5 or more times, kids always loved it)

Santa Fe Ski Basin - if they have a lift running and it's a nice day

Half day raft trip out of Pilar (between Santa Fe and Taos) - lots of fun - everyone gets to paddle - not difficult

New Mexico Museum of Natural History in Albuquerque - extremely kid friendly - life size dinosaurs and good intro to the natural history of New Mexico - a great thing to do on the front end of the trip

Ghost walk tour of Santa Fe - did this one evening and the boys loved it - our guide made it really fun for the 4 or 5 kids in the group

I used to teach grades 4 -6 and found that my kids always got more out of field trips if we talked about what they were going to see before we went. If I was enthusiastic, they would be too. Have your parents "set the stage" by discussing all the things that make Santa Fe so special and unique - the mix of cultures, architecture, food, etc. Keep them busy and they'll have a great time!

Thanks, Leslie and Seagal -

I've copied everything into a word doc and am sending it right off to Mom.