City: Atlanta, GA
Category: Tours & Attractions
Address: 250 North Cobb Pkwy.
City: Atlanta, GA
Category: Tours & Attractions
Address: 275 Riverside Pkwy.
City: Atlanta, GA
Category: Tours & Attractions
City: Atlanta, GA
Category: Tours & Attractions
Address: 2300 Highway 138 SE
50. Centennial Olympic Park
City: Atlanta, GA
Category: Tours & Attractions
Telephone: (404) 223-7275
Description: This park is described more fully in our Attractions chapter, but there are special places and things to do with children. To start with, the Rings the Thing. The Olympic Rings fountain squirts water all year long, but the street-level water attraction becomes a water park when the weather is warm. Children of all ages can run among the pulsating and varying water rhythms. There also is a children’s garden and playground.One weekend a month and on holidays in spring and summer, the park comes alive with themed activities for the whole family, including displays, an artists market, performances, and children’s art activities. Best of all, the activities and performances are free.
51. Lake Lanier Islands
City: Atlanta, GA
Category: Tours & Attractions
Telephone: (770) 932-7200
Address: 7000 Holiday Rd.
Description: Kids will love Lake Lanier Islands’ beach and water park, with Wild Waves, Georgia’s largest wave pool, and waterslides including the Intimidator, the Triple Threat, and the Twister. They must be more than 42 inches tall to ride most slides and be 48 inches to ride the Surf Wave and FunDunker. Smaller kids will enjoy Wiggle Waves and Kiddie Lagoon. For a family excursion, rent a paddle-boat, sailboat, or canoe; take a swim off the 1.5-mile sandy beach; or play 18 holes of miniature golf. Lake Lanier Islands Stables offer trail rides, pony rides, and lessons. Lake Lanier Islands’ birthday club will host your child’s birthday party, offering a complete package including lunch, ice cream and cake, tickets, and admission to the beach and water park.
City: Atlanta, GA
Category: Tours & Attractions
Address: 250 North Cobb Pkwy.
53. Sun Valley Beach
City: Atlanta, GA
Category: Tours & Attractions
Telephone: (770) 943-5900
Address: 5350 Holloman Rd.
Description: Fourteen miles west of Atlanta, Sun Valley has one of the Southeast’s largest swimming pools, 1.5 acres, surrounded by a white sandy beach. The pool has 12 waterslides, a Tarzan swing, a cascading umbrella, and a log roll. Play volleyball on the beach, or enjoy softball, basketball, and tennis on the fields and courts provided. Try your hand at minigolf, pitch some horseshoes, or play on the playgrounds and in the game room. Racers will enjoy the fast-paced go-kart track. Picnic spots and concession stands dot the 40-acre site, which is open weekends in May and daily from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Memorial Day through Labor Day. Admission is $17.95 for adults, $14.95 for children. Seasonal memberships and summer day camp with extended care are also available.
54. Abernathy Arts Center
City: Atlanta, GA
Category: Tours & Attractions
Telephone: (404) 303-6172
Address: 254 Johnson Ferry Rd.
Description: This arts center, a program of the Fulton County Arts Council, offers year-round classes for kids as well as adults. Youth classes, which are taught in 6- to 12-week sessions, cover such topics as oil painting, drawing, wheel pottery, and multimedia. Similar programs are offered at Arts Council centers in College Park, 4645 Butner Rd., (770) 306-3087, and Duluth, 9800 Medlock Bridge Rd., (770) 623-8448. Children’s classes run about $66 for an eight-week session. (Adult sessions range from $80 to $126; seniors receive a 15 percent discount.)
55. ART Station
City: Atlanta, GA
Category: Tours & Attractions
Telephone: (770) 469-1105
Address: 5384 Manor Dr.
Description: ART Station, a contemporary arts center in the heart of Stone Mountain Village, is a place where art is an activity rather than a spectator sport. The facility includes classrooms, a dance studio, two private music rehearsal rooms, and a pottery studio. The Station introduces children to the creative process through classes taught by professional artists. Art camps for youngsters ages 5 to 13 are available all year long, meeting on Saturdays in fall, winter, and spring. Fees are $160 (there are discounts for members and multiple weeks). In addition, the station holds drama and pottery events and a children’s theater series, with age groups from 5 to over 13. Open Tuesday through Friday 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., Saturday 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.
56. High Museum of Art
City: Atlanta, GA
Category: Tours & Attractions
Telephone: (404) 733-4400
Address: 1280 Peachtree St. NE
Description: The High Museum sponsors family weekend workshops in which kids 6 to 12 and their parents can learn more about art and the creative process. On two Saturdays a month, workshops are held from 10 a.m. to noon and 1 to 3 p.m. and include a gallery tour. Reservations are required for these two sessions. The Sunday Studio is a drop-in program that welcomes kids 6 though 12 between 1 and 4 p.m. for a variety of hands-on art activities. Art camp is also scheduled over the summer; call for prices for this program. All family programs are free with museum admission: $10 for adults, $8 for students with ID, and $6 for kids 6 to 17. Youngsters 5 and younger are free.
57. Robert C. Williams American Museum of Papermaking
City: Atlanta, GA
Category: Tours & Attractions
Telephone: (404) 894-6663
Description: In addition to its national touring exhibition on papermaking, the American Museum of Papermaking in Midtown also has hands-on workshops for kids and grown-ups, who can have all kinds of wet and wild fun actually making paper and artistic creations. Besides, the museum exhibits the art and industry of papermaking, as well as recycling. Prices are $12 to $35 for the half- or full-day workshops, but members get a discount, and so do children (sometimes). Special workshops are held three times a year—Valentine’s Day, summer, and the winter holiday season. Others are held in connection with visiting artists and often use off-the-wall materials like old blue jeans or shredded money to make paper. Open Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
58. Spruill Center for the Arts
City: Atlanta, GA
Category: Tours & Attractions
Telephone: (770) 394-3447
Address: 5339 Chamblee Dunwoody Rd.
Description: The Spruill Center sponsors a host of art classes as well as a summer camp focusing on the performing and visual arts, which is held on the center grounds each week from 9:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Call for fees.
City: Atlanta, GA
Category: Tours & Attractions
Address: 1404 Spring St. NW
City: Atlanta, GA
Category: Tours & Attractions
Address: 2060 Lower Roswell Rd.