Open year-round, the 47-acre campus features state-of-the-art raptor enclosures, exhibit spaces, classrooms, and interpretive nature trails. VINS places a priority on bringing high-quality, compelling, and engaging education programs to people at the Nature Center, in the community, and in schools throughout the region.
VINS offers a fully accessible Forest Canapy Walk which is over 100 feet above the forest floor.
Located in Williston, Vermont, Catamount Outdoor Family Center offers
20 miles of year round recreational trails for hiking, mountain biking, trail running, cross-country skiing, sledding and more. One trail that stands out is our “Carriage Path,” a 3-mile, heavily wooded trail with beautiful trees and loads of nature.
The Carriage Path is a wonderful trail appropriate for enjoyment by disabled persons. What sets it apart from traditional trails is its’ generous width, gradual ups and downs, and the surface is smooth allowing safe access for wheelchairs and 3 wheeled bikes. This same trail can be enjoyed by sit-skiers during the winter months.
Catamount also has a sit-sled which allows children and/or adults to sit while someone pushes them through trails and/or go sledding down a hill.
The Echo is a great place to be a member! The membership is affordable and makes a great Christmas or birthday gift! It is nice to have a place to go downtown with kids that you can stop in for an hour or so and then continue with errands or head to lunch or a park after! The bottom exhibit is always changing. There was an exhibit on feelings and emotions that was awesome. You could talk and see your speech light up, warm words like love were in red and cooler words were in blue.
They just added champ lane which is a small kids area but is well laid out and packs a lot into a small space! There is only once entrance so it is easy to stand right by it and let your kids safely explore. There is a really cool tunnel tree slide, a water table, a boat, a stage, a grocery store, kitchen, and lastly an animal hospital. There is also a small space for nursing and a somewhat quiet area with Legos and blocks.
I really like being a member as we can go their frequently enough that we both know the space and how to navigate it. I also like that if he is struggling we can leave without feeling like we didn’t get our monies worth! Visit the Echo Center for more information.
Edaville Family Amusement park has gone above and beyond to accommodate children with autism and/or sensory concerns. They have installed a quiet room for children to access, trinkets to help kids wait in line, and have put in a sensory friendly bathroom.
The Fun Zone offers children a bounce house, obstacle course, inflatable slide, ping-pong, small arcade and toys to play with. It is bright, clean, and wide open which makes it easy to spot your child. It also provides great sensory input on the inflatable objects. Visit The Fun Zone.
Santa’s Village is a small amusement park located in Jefferson, NH. Yes, amusement parks can be overwhelming for children and hard to navigate if you have a child with special needs. However, this park is small and the employees are wonderful and very accommodating. They also offer a special pass for children with various disabilities. This pass allows children to gain quicker access to a ride without having to wait in line.
Shelburne Farms is a wonderful place to bring your child. At the Farm Yard you can visit with animals, play with toys, or see how they make their amazing cheese. There are also plenty of walking trails to experience. It is generally a quiet place and very spacious.
With the support of the Schip Foundation from Shelburne and Kayla’s Directory there is an adaptive all-terrain stroller that is located at the educational center.
Shelburne Farms is not only a great place to visit for a day, they offer some great camps throughout the year! They do a remarkable job working with ALL kids, regardless of their differences. From the animals, hands on activities, and their delicious bakery; it is definitely a place you want to visit.
Shelburne Farms also has an adaptive stroller to access their grounds!
Shelburne Museum is a wonderful place for the entire family. They have wonderful buildings to explore, beautiful paths to walk, and a wonderful marry-go-round. Every week Shelburne Museum offers a creative art activity for children of all ages. Shelburne Museum does a great job at including ALL children in their activities and facilities. The staff at Shelburne Museum are wonderful and remember they have an adaptive stroller you can access!
Story Land has teamed up with Autism Speaks to offer a “Sensory Friendly” weekend in September. Many of the staff members at Story Land are getting trained on how to recognize, understand, and act compassionately when assisting families dealing with Autism in the Park. Check out Story Land & Autism Speaks
We recently went to Stowe and had a wonderful experience. From the lodging, activities, skiing, to the incredible staff; this is definitely a place that accommodates children with special needs.
The skiing at Stowe goes above and beyond to accommodate individuals with special needs. Stowe Adaptive is an incredible program that offers lessons and equipment to make sure that every individual can get out on the mountain. And Stowe also offers a “Buddy Pass”! Here is some great information that Donna Barton (Operation Manager) at Stowe offered:
The idea of the Buddy Pass is that if you are unable to meet the minimum Essential Eligibility Criteria, you qualify for our adaptive lesson program or the Buddy program. Check out the EEC requirements on their website.
In addition, here at Stowe…if you do not meet the minimum requirements of the EECs and you apply for a scholarship through Friends of Stowe Adaptive Sports, you may be granted a scholarship to use toward lessons or access. For more information click here
Stowe Rocks is an indoor rock climbing facility that has both auto-belay courses for kids to climb as well as 8 manual belay sections. The staff that is on site to help is incredible. They are patient, friendly, and great at encouraging kids to climb and take chances!
$26.00 for kids 12 and under to climb for 2 hours.
If your child is not up to climbing they can always take the gondola up to the top of Mt. Mansfield.
Definitely a fun place to visit!
Inside The Wild Center explore 54,000-square-feet of exhibit halls, meet one of our many animals at an animal encounter, join us for a live show, or watch one of many amazing films. The Wild Center was made for visiting with children. Hands-on exhibits let you hang out in a spiders web, make clouds, blow snow, and get up close with live animals.
After visiting the center make sure to take the Wild Walk which takes visitors up a trail of bridges to the treetops of the Adirondack forest. It’s designed to transform the way we see into the natural world by offering up the perspective of the rest of nature.
Wild Walk is accessible to people of all generations and abilities. There are side paths and options to take, suspension bridges, and stairs down, but the entire main structure, from the trail leading to Feeder Alley all the way to the viewing pod on the final tower platform was built specifically so that it would afford everyone the chance to experience the Walk.