School's Out, Head to Southern Indiana!
Looking for a way to keep the kids learning and exploring during break? Whether you need a week of activities for summer break, spring break or fall break, Southern Indiana has plenty of affordable family-friendly attractions to create a fun-filled and educational itinerary! Keep reading for your guide to 5 days of family fun in SoIN!
Follow our schedule or mix, match and add more activities that best work for you and your crew.
Day 1 – Farm Fun in Borden
Morning: Head to one of Southern Indiana’s most beloved attractions, Huber’s Orchard & Winery, for fun on the farm! From spring through fall, you can take a tractor ride to pick your own seasonal fruits and veggies. (Call 812-923-9463 for picking conditions and pricing.) At the Farm Market, pick up extra goodies for home, or to snack on throughout the day. The kids can let loose at the Family Farm Park, featuring mazes, race karts, the signature grain train and plenty of farm-themed playground equipment. View admission for the Family Farm Park and hours at VisitHubers.com.
Lunch: Shop the Farm Market to create your own lunch or split a pizza at the Starlight Café. Treat the kids to ice cream, including flavors made with fruits grown right on the farm.
Afternoon: Enjoy a mini beach vacation in Southern Indiana! If the kids are up for it, take an easy-level scenic hike on Trail 2 at Deam Lake State Recreation Area. Admission is free with an Indiana State Parks annual pass. View daily entrance fees.
Evening Option: Take the night off from cooking and instead stop by Joe Huber’s Family Farm & Restaurant. The restaurant is known for made-from-scratch favorites like fried chicken, green beans and fried biscuits with apple butter. If home is calling, have the kids help make dinner using the goodies you picked at Huber’s Orchard & Winery!
Day 2 – History & Hiking
Morning: Learn about the region’s history at the Clark County Museum, home to exhibits with artifacts from the area’s indigenous groups and first European settlers through both World Wars and more. View admission and hours at ClarkCountyINMuseum.org.
Just a block over, pop into the Vintage Fire Museum where a volunteer docent can walk you through the history of firefighting in America. Sit atop a fire engine and practice putting out a kitchen fire with their interactive equipment! View admission and hours at VintageFireMuseum.org.
Lunch: Pack a picnic lunch to enjoy at Ashland Park overlooking the Ohio River and Louisville skyline. The kids can play on the park’s new, accessible playground, and you can pose for a family photo with Rosie the Riveter.
Afternoon: Continue exploring the region’s history with a stop at The Falls of the Ohio State Park, home to 390-million-year-old fossils! Learn more about the region’s cultural and natural history inside the Interpretive Center. Pick up a fossil brochure inside and head outside to see what you can find on the fossil beds. You’re not allowed to take fossils from the beds, but visitors can dig through the collecting piles located in the parking lot. View admission and hours at FallsOfTheOhio.org.
Snack: During warmer months – and unseasonably warm days – cool off from your hike with a special treat from Widow’s Walk Ice Creamery.
Evening Option: Enjoy open bowling at Clarksville Strike & Spare. Just over $10 covers a game and shoe rental per person. Bumper lanes and lightweight bowling balls make this a great outing for all ages. The site is also home to a Fun Zone featuring bumper cars, laser tag, roller skating and an arcade. Pay for each activity individually or purchase a wristband and save!
Day 3 – New Albany’s Mansions & Museums
Morning: Have a hearty breakfast or brunch at Wild Eggs in downtown New Albany before heading over to New Albany’s Historic Mansion Row. Take a stroll along this corridor to read stories of these grand homes. Want a closer look? Plan to attend a guided tour at the Culbertson Mansion State Historic Site, the centerpiece of Mansion Row.
Lunch: New Albany offers plenty of lunch options, but Recbar 812 serves yummy kid-friendly eats AND more than 100 arcade games and 70+ pinball machines. Introduce the kids to your old favorites and challenge them to a game of pop-a-shot, Dance Dance Revolution or Skee Ball. Kids eat free on Tuesday with the purchase of an adult entrée.
Afternoon: Learn about New Albany’s connection to the Underground Railroad and take in work from local artists at The Floyd County Carnegie Library Cultural Arts Center. Construction of this former library was funded by Scottish American industrialist Andrew Carnegie. Admission to view permanent and temporary exhibits is free! Check out the center’s events calendar for occasional programs, including the monthly Artistry Unleashed, which gives participants in K-5 grades a chance to try their hand at different types of art.
Snack: Refuel with a milk boba tea at Mochi Wren Boba & Bakery or a signature latte from Coffee Crossing.
Evening Option: New Albany’s local shop scene is great for clothes shopping, goods shopping, or good old window shopping! Most shops are open until 6 p.m. Stop at The Odd Shop to pet the shop cats and reminisce about all of your favorite childhood memories - and share them with your kids! You might even find an old board game to take home and play as a family.
Downtown New Albany is also home to several murals. Sign up for the FREE Inspired SoIN passport to make sure you catch all of New Albany’s public art pieces. After checking in at 10 locations, you earn a free poster featuring work by a local artist!
Day 4 – Explore the Outdoors in Charlestown
Morning: Take an early morning hike at Charlestown State Park. Stop at the park office to talk with staff and watch educational videos about the history of the site, which includes a former Army ammunition plant and Rose Island, a resort and theme park washed away by the 1937 flood.Learn more about the flora and fauna of Indiana on a guided hike with an interpretive naturalist. Check the park’s website for entry fees and a full list of upcoming events.
Lunch: The kids will appreciate the food and the menu names at Charlestown Pizza Company. Those with adventurous taste can try the Meg-A-Tron, topped with chicken, pineapple, pepperoni and cheese. Those with more particular taste can build their own pie or even build their own Mac N Cheese. Gluten-Free crust is available for most pizzas! Open for lunch Thursday – Saturday.
Afternoon: After fueling up with lunch, head for more outdoor adventures at Nine Penny Branch Nature Preserve. This first 1/3 of this moderate trail is ADA accessible, wheelchair and stroller friendly. Those who venture further, on the crushed stone and dirt portions of the trail, will see small waterfalls and limestone creek beds.
Evening Option: Stop at Chapel Lake Park in Jeffersonville for disc golf, fishing (catch and release) or just to stroll the trails. Local birders have spotted rare species in this park, so bring your binoculars! Park also features a playground.
Day 5 – Steamboats & Sweet Treats
Morning: Local steamboat production put SoIN on the map in the 19th Century. Visit Jeffersonville’s Howard Steamboat Museum to learn more about steamboat history in Southern Indiana and the Howard family’s shipyard. Tour the family’s mansion featuring 90% of the home’s original furnishings. View admission and hours at HowardSteamboatMuseum.org.
After learning about steamboat history in SoIN, consider booking a weekend Kids Cruise on The Belle of Louisville.
Lunch: Cluck your way downtown for lunch along the river at Cluckers. As you might have guessed, their specialty is chicken served up as wings, sandwiches, tacos and more. Their kids’ menu includes a variety of offerings like mini corn dogs, fried PB & J and mac & cheese wedges. Kids’ meals are $5.99 and include fresh chips or applesauce and a drink.
Afternoon: No visit to Jeffersonville, recently voted the Best Candy Store in the country by USA Today readers. is complete without a stop at Schimpff’s Confectionery. Here, the Schimpff family has been making candy for more than 130 years, and they still use some of the same equipment that they used when they first opened! Candy-making demonstrations are offered to visitors throughout the day. Take time to shop their sweets and tour their candy museum. Candy-making demonstrations and museum tours are FREE!
Evening Option: Creativity can be found throughout the city of Jeffersonville. Start at the NoCo Arts and Cultural District to view their brightly colored murals, then use the Jeff Public Arts “Art Guide” to find more public art locations throughout the city.
Passports to Fun
SoIN Tourism’s three year-round passports provide families with more great recommendations for some of the best views, public art and unique locations in Southern Indiana. All are free to sign up for and can be accessed from the convenience of your smart phone.
More Kid-Friendly Activities & Events
Take a bike ride along the Ohio River Greenway! More Parks and Trails in SoIN
Catch a performance at Derby Dinner Playhouse! Upcoming shows from the Children’s Musical Theatre include Spookley the Square Pumpkin and A Velveteen Rabbit Christmas.
Enroll the kids in a single day baking class or a week-long course at Mesa Kids Cooking School.
Get nostalgic at the Georgetown Drive-In. Season ends in October.
Explore human and natural history at the Falls of the Ohio State Park with programs like the Lewis & Clark Junior Ranger Program, Family Nature Club, Fossil Bed Discovery Hikes and more.
Sign up for one of many kids' programs and events at SoIN Libraries - Floyd County Library and Jeffersonville Township Public Library.
Take the kids to a "Little Brushes" painting class at Pinot's Palette in Jeffersonville. View class calendar.
Check out our events page for more upcoming activities from attractions, parks and businesses in Southern Indiana!
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