SALEM IS MOPO FAMILY family-friendly attractions EXPLORE Salem and its surrounding community are a great place to be a kid, rain or shine. While the summer months see families flocking to Salem’s Riverfront Park for the colorful spray fountains and splash pads, this 23acre expanse on the Willamette River is filled with fun things for families to do throughout the year. Along with meandering pathways, a playground and plenty of green space for picnicking, you’ll find the year-round Riverfront Carousel, where kids and adults can take a whimsical ride. The park is also home to the Gilbert House Children’s Museum, an oasis for kids to discover, learn and play. Inside you’ll find 20plus interactive exhibits from a veterinary clinic to an engineering studio. The Outdoor Discovery Area spans 20,000 square feet of fun with creative climbing structures and towering slides, plus a paleontology deck for fossil exploration. There are plenty of other worthwhile attractions just outside of town. The most famous is the Enchanted Forest, an amusement park and a classic Oregon institution. This seasonal spot merges classic carnival rides, storybook characters and elements of medieval England in one delightful theme park. CREATE Spark your imagination at one of Salem’s drop-in arts-and-crafts studios. For a fun and artsy activity for the whole family, head to Create A Memory, Salem’s first paintyour-own-pottery studio. Choose from a wide variety of projects in the downtown studio, including glass fusing, clay-pottery painting and glass art. Each piece is one of a kind, and the studio has the largest selection of bisque, glazes and glass in the area. Salem’s Riverfront Carousel At CreativiTEE, the mantra is: “Imagine It. Create It. Wear It.” You can walk in without an appointment at this innovative studio and follow a design process to craft your own very cool T-shirt with fun prints, logos and slogans. You can even book a T-shirt party for baby showers, birthdays and more. The studio also offers special events throughout the year like gratitude yoga, watercolor painting and needle felting. Set in the middle of towering oak trees on the Oregon State Fairgrounds, the Willamette Art Center is an oasis of creativity. At Salem’s only nonprofit community art center, you’ll find a variety of art classes and workshops with a focus on ceramics. Look for special events like Family Clay Sundays, featuring hand-built projects, or workshops on stained glass and garden art. Ron Cooper TravelSalem.com 22
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