Curious Parents Places to Go

Summer Fun

FUN FACTORIES FOR THE WHOLE FAMILY
Want to Combine Family Fun & Education? On your next Vacation, make a Stop at one of these Kid-Friendly Factories
By Leah Ingram

Ever wonder where crayons come from? Well, sure wax and colored dye, but have you ever actually seen a crayon being made? What about a baseball bat or a chocolate bar? Chances are, your kids would love to know where their favorite things come from too, and there’s no better way to satisfy your child’s curiosity than by taking them on a factory tour.

CHOCOLATE KISSES

Hershey’s Chocolate World Visitors Center • Hershey, Pennsylvania

As you approach the tour ride at Hershey’s Chocolate World, you feel like you’re in a jungle. Tall, arching green plants and the sounds of monkeys and birds surround you. Turn the corner and suddenly you’re on a ship “dock” with sacks of cacao beans on either side of you. You’ll soon learn that these beans are about to cross the ocean to Hershey’s. Next, head down a set of stairs into what looks like a roller-coaster car, and you’re off on the Hershey’s simulated chocolate-making tour. This eight-minute excursion explains how cacao beans grown in a jungle eventually become chocolate. Children love the part of the ride that takes them underneath a giant mooing cow. What most kids (and their parents) love even more are the free mini chocolate bars you get at the tour’s end. (It’s OK to take the tour twice to get the free goodies.)

Another bonus at Chocolate World: the costumed Hershey’s characters that walk around and greet you. We had breakfast with them at the Kit Kat “Gimme a Break” Cafe. My toddler was taken with the Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup character and even invited her over for a playdate. However, because the characters are sworn to silence and must pantomime their expressions, we’re not quite sure if she accepted our invitation. For more information, call 717.534.4900 or visit www.hersheys.com

WHAT COLOR IS YOUR CRAYON?

The Crayola Factory Crayon & Marker Manufacturer • Easton, Pennsylvania

The mock Crayola crayon tour occurs in a converted loft that is more playspace and art studio than manufacturing plant—actual crayons are made elsewhere in Easton. Nonetheless, kids can see exactly how crayons are made, albeit in small batches. And when the real-life crayon maker starts cranking out robust red or blueberry blue crayons, no one needs to stand on her tippy toes. That’s because the glass-enclosed manufacturing area is low to the ground and designed for the youngest visitors.

First, the man stirs huge pots of melted wax. Then he pours them into sunken molds that, from the top, look like polka-dotted sheets of metal. Once the crayons cool, he tips the molds over, and out pour the crayons, which are then covered in the familiar Crayola wrappers. At the end of the 10-minute demo—just long enough to learn something but short enough to keep everyone’s attention—each kid gets a hot-off-the-assembly-line crayon to take home.

After the demo, we moved into the hands-on area of The Crayola Factory, where kids can roll up their sleeves and dive into art projects—using Crayola products, of course. The last time we visited, the theme was “the mail.” We stopped at a table where my daughters used assorted markers to turn ordinary mailing labels into colorful pretend postage stamps. Next we visited a large room where kids tried their hand at printmaking. (It smelled just like my elementary-school art classroom.) Here, the girls used circle, square, and star-shaped sponges—dipped in purple, yellow, red, and orange paint—to decorate stationery and envelopes. When each completed her colorful stationery set—perfect for writing to Grandma—she ran to us clutching her work, her face beaming. For more information, call 610.515.8000 or visit www.crayola.com/factory.

I SCREAM, YOU SCREAM

Ben & Jerry’s Ice-Cream Factory

• Waterbury, Vermont

Mmmmmmmm: Cherry Garcia. Chunky Monkey. Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough. What kid—or adult—wouldn’t love to see how Ben & Jerry’s take their wickedly wonderful flavors from creamy start to frosty finish? This yummy tour comes complete with assorted delectable aromas and a cool spoonful of the flavor of the day.

One mom on our tour said her son loved watching the machines running, and that he couldn’t get over the fact that the mixing bowls were the size of a compact car. Another boy on the tour squealed on cue each time ice cream squirted out into an empty container. My kids? They couldn’t wait for their free scoop of ice cream.

After the tour, instead of waiting in a long line to buy a cup of ice cream at the concession stands outside, we raided the freezer in the gift shop and quickly bought four pops that we enjoyed at a picnic table overlooking the nearby Vermont mountains. For more information, call 802.244.TOUR or visit www.benjerry.com 

BATTER UP!

Louisville Slugger Museum & Factory Baseball Bat Manufacturer • Louisville, Kentucky

“Awesome!” “Cool!” More than likely, those will be the first words out of your child’s mouth as you arrive at the Louisville Slugger Museum and Factory. That’s because the first thing you’ll see is a 120-foot-tall 68,000-pound Louisville Slugger baseball bat leaning against the building. Once inside, sight gives way to smell as you inhale the sweet odor of the wood—northern white ash—that is used to make the Louisville Slugger, the official bat of Major League Baseball. Before you hit the factory floor, though, go to the museum and take your family out to the ball game.

 The museum includes a room designed as a scaled-down version of Oriole Park at Camden Yards, one of the prettiest baseball parks in America. Your kids can run the bases and imagine playing ball with the likes of Joe DiMaggio and Babe Ruth, as recordings of announcers recount great moments of these great stars. The sounds of chanting fans and organ music make you feel as if you’re part of a real game.

Adjacent to the museum is the actual Louisville Slugger factory. Here you can watch as bats are made the old-fashioned way: individually and by hand. Kids will marvel at how craftsmen at a lathe can turn a shapeless block of wood into a perfectly formed bat. Every person who goes on the tour gets his own miniature bat. Call at least four weeks in advance of your visit and the factory will order a full-size bat (prices start at $57) with your child’s name branded into the side; it will be ready when you arrive. For more information, call 877.SLUGGER or visit www.sluggermuseum.org

When not traveling with her husband and two daughters, Leah Ingram writes about gifts and etiquette from her New Hope, Pennsylvania home. Learn more about her work at www.leahingram.com