Five free, family-friendly finds in central Ohio

The first time I stepped inside Watch House in Dublin’s Coffman Park, I ran out terrified.It was evening, and I could have sworn I just saw a dead cat hanging from inside the structure’s copper-domed roof. I later reasoned that the black blob I saw on the ceiling was probably a colony of bats, finding the small house set atop a circular earth mound the perfect home. Whatever it was, I didn’t quite understand this thing called public art.Recently, while taking the Dublin Arts Council’s Art in Public Places tour, I finally understood.The self-guided, driving tour consists of six stops and features eight installations commissioned by the city of Dublin and the Dublin Arts Council. A pamphlet containing a map and descriptions of each sculpture on the tour is available at the Dublin Arts Center, 7125 Riverside Dr.As part of the tour, I re-entered Watch House at 5600 Post Rd. To my surprise, I discovered that there really is a cat mounted on the planetarium-like ceiling. There’s also a curled-up dog. Both figures are cast in bronze and located alongside dozens of other familiar shapes, such as eating utensils and pieces of fruit all cut out of the roof.The tour helped me see Dublin’s public artwork as less spooky and more unique. The city's arts council developed its Art in Public Places program to enhance the quality of life for Dublin residents as well as to establish a public art tour throughout the city. The tour reinforces the importance that art plays in the community and also demystifies some of Dublin’s more unusual public art installations such as Watch House.Other installations include Field of Corn, 109 human-sized ears of concrete corn at the corner of Frantz and Rings roads; Leatherlips, a 12-foot-high limestone portrait of an Ohio Indian chief in Scioto Park; and Going, Going...Gone! a bronze sculpture that marks the passage of time through the imagery of baseball at Darree Fields.The Dublin Arts Council recently developed two more Art in Public Places projects including Titration, a temporary sculpture exhibition in Coffman Park, and Riverboxes, which incorporates the popular outdoor treasure-hunting game geocaching.For more information, visit www.dublinarts.org.As a child growing up in northeastern Ohio, I'd often watch my mother slaughter chickens. She'd select a rooster from the flock, swing it around to get it dizzy and chop of its head with an ax. After she soaked the body in warm water to loosen the feathers, she'd pluck them out one by one. She'd then cut up the chicken before cooking it.That somewhat shocking routine (although familiar to me) is a way of life to the farmers at Slate Run Living Historical Farm in the Columbus suburb of Canal Winchester. Slate Run's farm presents the realities of farm life in a family-friendly yet authentic way. Slate Run is part working farm and part tourist attraction that offers visitors a chance to see farm animals up close.Many tourist destinations dress people up in period clothing in an attempt to create a simulated atmosphere. That's not the case at Slate Run. Yes, the employees wear old farm clothing, but they're working.Poultry keeps the farm family supplied with eggs and mea. Feathers are used for stuffing pillows and mattresses. Hots are important, too. They provide meat and lard for cooking.If you want to see a farmer plowing a field with the help of a draft horse, this is the place. If you want to see a sheep being sheared, or a big butchered, this also is the place.Visitors can visit a big red barn to see working draft horses and watch ladies caning tomatoes inside a Gothic Revival farmhouse that dates to 1856, and tour a garden, root cellar and smokehouse.Slate Run is one of 17 Columbus-area Metro Parks that offer free educational programs. In this case, it's what life was like on an Ohio farm in the 1880s – rustic, rugged and highly entertaining.Slate Run Living Historical Farm is located at 1375 St. Rt. 674 N. in Canal Winchester. For more information, including seasonal hours, visit www.metroparks.net/ParksSlateRunFarm.aspx.When I visit capital cities while traveling about the country I often make it a point to tour their statehouses. Doing so makes it feel as though I’ve stepped inside a state’s living room.Residing in a capital city myself, I sometimes forget what’s in my own backyard – the beautiful Ohio Statehouse, which represents one of the nation’s finest examples of Greek Revival architecture. It’s also one of the oldest working statehouses in the U.S., containing the meeting rooms of the Ohio Legislature.I visited the Ohio Statehouse with my family on a recent Saturday afternoon, partly because it was free and partly because we had nothing else to do. I came away, though, with a sense of awe of its elegant and functional architecture and a bit more knowledge about our state’s law-making process. My two young children exited tired and satisfied that they'd romped around a playground of a building.The Statehouse is located in the center of downtown Columbus at the corner of High and Broad streets. Parking is available for a reduced rate on weekends in the Statehouse underground parking garage.The ground level contains the Capitol Café and the Statehouse Museum Shop that’s full of unique, Ohio-themed gift items. The level also contains a floor map of Ohio that depicts the state’s 88 counties in various types and colors of marble, and the Education Center, which features interactive displays and a lovely stained-glass version of the Ohio seal.The first-floor space features a colorful domed ceiling with a circular center illuminated by the sky. At the ceiling’s epicenter is Ohio’s seal, 120 feet above the floor. The circular room also contains enormous paintings representing conflict, courage and growth throughout Ohio’s history. The Statehouse was built in 1861 at the beginning of the Civil War. It underwent a restoration from 1989-1996. The structure is full of symbolism, which you don’t need to understand in order to appreciate its beauty.Other areas open for touring include the Atrium, made of 300-million-year-old limestone quarried in Columbus, and the Senate and House chambers on the second floor. Outdoor features include monuments, memorials and four cannons.The Ohio Statehouse is open 7 a.m.-6 p.m., Monday through Friday; and 11 a.m.-5 p.m., Saturday and Sunday. Free, guided tours are offered daily. Visitors also may wander on their own using a self-guided tour brochure or borrow an audio tour wand. Cell phone audio tours also are available.For more information, visit www.ohiostatehouse.org.View the list »
A great day to bring little ones to the Columbus Museum of Art is during Family Sundays, when activities are geared toward children ages 6 and up and admission is free. Coupled with free parking, located behind the museum, it's a good deal.My two young children liked the museum's Wonder Room best. And it's no wonder. The swankily decorated family space is filled with interactive displays that are intermingled with museum pieces, meant to serve as inspiration for guests to create their own works of art.One station has kids assembling out-of-this-world animals out of wooden body parts with magnetic connectors. Another contains a wall full of common metal gadgets, such as silverware and door hinges, that can be affixed to a giant metal head to give it a face.And yet another display honors American artist Alexander Calder, who created colorful mobiles inspired by the movement of the sun and the moon. Visitors are encouraged to construct mobiles by balancing bright shapes on metal bases.The space provides plenty to do and makes a family visit to the museum worthwhile anytime.The Columbus Museum of Art is located at 480 E. Broad St., Columbus. Sunday hours are 10 a.m.-5:30 p.m.For more information, visit www.columbusmuseum.org.

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I've been writing these posts about fun things for families to do in central Ohio for four years now. So, I figured it was a fine time to present my top five, family-friendly finds in and around the Columbus area. Enjoy!

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  • A great day to bring little ones to the Columbus Museum of Art is during Family Sundays, when activities are geared toward children ages 6 and up and admission is free. Coupled with free parking, located behind the museum, it's a good deal.My two young children liked the museum's Wonder Room best. And it's no wonder. The swankily decorated family space is filled with interactive displays that are intermingled with museum pieces, meant to serve as inspiration for guests to create their own works of art.One station has kids assembling out-of-this-world animals out of wooden body parts with magnetic connectors. Another contains a wall full of common metal gadgets, such as silverware and door hinges, that can be affixed to a giant metal head to give it a face.And yet another display honors American artist Alexander Calder, who created colorful mobiles inspired by the movement of the sun and the moon. Visitors are encouraged to construct mobiles by balancing bright shapes on metal bases.The space provides plenty to do and makes a family visit to the museum worthwhile anytime.The Columbus Museum of Art is located at 480 E. Broad St., Columbus. Sunday hours are 10 a.m.-5:30 p.m.For more information, visit www.columbusmuseum.org.
  • When I visit capital cities while traveling about the country I often make it a point to tour their statehouses. Doing so makes it feel as though I’ve stepped inside a state’s living room.Residing in a capital city myself, I sometimes forget what’s in my own backyard – the beautiful Ohio Statehouse, which represents one of the nation’s finest examples of Greek Revival architecture. It’s also one of the oldest working statehouses in the U.S., containing the meeting rooms of the Ohio Legislature.I visited the Ohio Statehouse with my family on a recent Saturday afternoon, partly because it was free and partly because we had nothing else to do. I came away, though, with a sense of awe of its elegant and functional architecture and a bit more knowledge about our state’s law-making process. My two young children exited tired and satisfied that they'd romped around a playground of a building.The Statehouse is located in the center of downtown Columbus at the corner of High and Broad streets. Parking is available for a reduced rate on weekends in the Statehouse underground parking garage.The ground level contains the Capitol Café and the Statehouse Museum Shop that’s full of unique, Ohio-themed gift items. The level also contains a floor map of Ohio that depicts the state’s 88 counties in various types and colors of marble, and the Education Center, which features interactive displays and a lovely stained-glass version of the Ohio seal.The first-floor space features a colorful domed ceiling with a circular center illuminated by the sky. At the ceiling’s epicenter is Ohio’s seal, 120 feet above the floor. The circular room also contains enormous paintings representing conflict, courage and growth throughout Ohio’s history. The Statehouse was built in 1861 at the beginning of the Civil War. It underwent a restoration from 1989-1996. The structure is full of symbolism, which you don’t need to understand in order to appreciate its beauty.Other areas open for touring include the Atrium, made of 300-million-year-old limestone quarried in Columbus, and the Senate and House chambers on the second floor. Outdoor features include monuments, memorials and four cannons.The Ohio Statehouse is open 7 a.m.-6 p.m., Monday through Friday; and 11 a.m.-5 p.m., Saturday and Sunday. Free, guided tours are offered daily. Visitors also may wander on their own using a self-guided tour brochure or borrow an audio tour wand. Cell phone audio tours also are available.For more information, visit www.ohiostatehouse.org.
  • As a child growing up in northeastern Ohio, I'd often watch my mother slaughter chickens. She'd select a rooster from the flock, swing it around to get it dizzy and chop of its head with an ax. After she soaked the body in warm water to loosen the feathers, she'd pluck them out one by one. She'd then cut up the chicken before cooking it.That somewhat shocking routine (although familiar to me) is a way of life to the farmers at Slate Run Living Historical Farm in the Columbus suburb of Canal Winchester. Slate Run's farm presents the realities of farm life in a family-friendly yet authentic way. Slate Run is part working farm and part tourist attraction that offers visitors a chance to see farm animals up close.Many tourist destinations dress people up in period clothing in an attempt to create a simulated atmosphere. That's not the case at Slate Run. Yes, the employees wear old farm clothing, but they're working.Poultry keeps the farm family supplied with eggs and mea. Feathers are used for stuffing pillows and mattresses. Hots are important, too. They provide meat and lard for cooking.If you want to see a farmer plowing a field with the help of a draft horse, this is the place. If you want to see a sheep being sheared, or a big butchered, this also is the place.Visitors can visit a big red barn to see working draft horses and watch ladies caning tomatoes inside a Gothic Revival farmhouse that dates to 1856, and tour a garden, root cellar and smokehouse.Slate Run is one of 17 Columbus-area Metro Parks that offer free educational programs. In this case, it's what life was like on an Ohio farm in the 1880s – rustic, rugged and highly entertaining.Slate Run Living Historical Farm is located at 1375 St. Rt. 674 N. in Canal Winchester. For more information, including seasonal hours, visit www.metroparks.net/ParksSlateRunFarm.aspx.
  • The first time I stepped inside Watch House in Dublin’s Coffman Park, I ran out terrified.It was evening, and I could have sworn I just saw a dead cat hanging from inside the structure’s copper-domed roof. I later reasoned that the black blob I saw on the ceiling was probably a colony of bats, finding the small house set atop a circular earth mound the perfect home. Whatever it was, I didn’t quite understand this thing called public art.Recently, while taking the Dublin Arts Council’s Art in Public Places tour, I finally understood.The self-guided, driving tour consists of six stops and features eight installations commissioned by the city of Dublin and the Dublin Arts Council. A pamphlet containing a map and descriptions of each sculpture on the tour is available at the Dublin Arts Center, 7125 Riverside Dr.As part of the tour, I re-entered Watch House at 5600 Post Rd. To my surprise, I discovered that there really is a cat mounted on the planetarium-like ceiling. There’s also a curled-up dog. Both figures are cast in bronze and located alongside dozens of other familiar shapes, such as eating utensils and pieces of fruit all cut out of the roof.The tour helped me see Dublin’s public artwork as less spooky and more unique. The city's arts council developed its Art in Public Places program to enhance the quality of life for Dublin residents as well as to establish a public art tour throughout the city. The tour reinforces the importance that art plays in the community and also demystifies some of Dublin’s more unusual public art installations such as Watch House.Other installations include Field of Corn, 109 human-sized ears of concrete corn at the corner of Frantz and Rings roads; Leatherlips, a 12-foot-high limestone portrait of an Ohio Indian chief in Scioto Park; and Going, Going...Gone! a bronze sculpture that marks the passage of time through the imagery of baseball at Darree Fields.The Dublin Arts Council recently developed two more Art in Public Places projects including Titration, a temporary sculpture exhibition in Coffman Park, and Riverboxes, which incorporates the popular outdoor treasure-hunting game geocaching.For more information, visit www.dublinarts.org.
  • The Columbus Metropolitan Library is a great place for families to visit year round, not only for a wide selection of books, but also for interactive spaces in the children's section. Look for a castle-shaped reading area, a large play space with a puppet theater and train table, and a story cove with sea-life mural.The Main Library is located at 96 S. Grant Ave., Columbus. Hours are 9 a.m.-9 p.m., Monday through Thursday; 9 a.m.-6 p.m., Friday and Saturday; and 1-5 p.m., Sunday.For more information, and to learn about upcoming events, visit www.columbuslibrary.org/locations/Main.
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, Columbus Family Travel Examiner

Wendy Pramik is a writer from Columbus, Ohio. Her favorite topic is travel, and she enjoys sharing stories about the many weekend adventures she takes with husband Mike and their two children, Rosie and Max. Readers may contact Wendy Pramik at wpramik@columbus.rr.com.

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