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Daycare Center and Family Home Forum>Ohio Providers! I Need Help!
Thriftylady 07:42 AM 02-22-2016
I am looking for some ideas for inexpensive field trips for this spring and summer. Preferably in the Dayton, Cincy, or Columbus area. Do you have any great ideas that your kids love? I am considering the Columbus Zoo but not sure yet.
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momofboys 09:02 AM 02-22-2016
Originally Posted by Thriftylady:
I am looking for some ideas for inexpensive field trips for this spring and summer. Preferably in the Dayton, Cincy, or Columbus area. Do you have any great ideas that your kids love? I am considering the Columbus Zoo but not sure yet.
Cols Zoo us awesome but gets really busy in the summer months. I strongly advise spring /fall visits. In Dublin off Woerner Temple rd there is a cool sprinkler park near the Dublin Pool. We also liked Boonshoft(spelling) Children's Museum in Dayton. Lots of hands-on activities. I liked it better than COSI. If you are really adventurous you can do the Wright-Patt Air Force Museum near Dayton. It's free & cool to see the old planes suspended in the air.
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Thriftylady 11:57 AM 02-22-2016
Originally Posted by momofboys:
Cols Zoo us awesome but gets really busy in the summer months. I strongly advise spring /fall visits. In Dublin off Woerner Temple rd there is a cool sprinkler park near the Dublin Pool. We also liked Boonshoft(spelling) Children's Museum in Dayton. Lots of hands-on activities. I liked it better than COSI. If you are really adventurous you can do the Wright-Patt Air Force Museum near Dayton. It's free & cool to see the old planes suspended in the air.
Oh FREE is my favorite word!
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momofboys 03:50 PM 02-22-2016
I'm pretty sure that sprinkler park is free too. We always called it the "Bunny Park" because there is a large hill with these HUGE bunny monuments made out of recycled materials. It's really cool. Got to love free! Columbus Zoo is VERY expensive although the 2 and under crowd is free as far as I know. Adults if you don't live in Franklin County are @ $17. If you live in Franklin Co it's $14.99 I believe. Great zoo. I am not always a fan of indoor malls but I do like the indoor play area at the Polaris Fashion Mall. Really cute & free. Homestead Park in Hilliard off Cosgray Road has several play areas geared toward different ages & also water spray areas are activated in the summer months.
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wonderfullisa 08:21 AM 02-23-2016
I've considered getting a Columbus Zoo Family Plus membership, but the drive and my current enrollment ages persuade me to wait.
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Thriftylady 10:46 AM 02-23-2016
Originally Posted by Lisa's Little Lambs:
I've considered getting a Columbus Zoo Family Plus membership, but the drive and my current enrollment ages persuade me to wait.
See I looked into that, but you have to list the names. So if my enrollment changed, it would burn me.
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momofboys 11:11 AM 02-23-2016
We used to have a family zoo membership. Not the plus. I'd just write in that we had 5 kids thus allowing you to take that many to the zoo. You don't have to prove they are your children. My own kids are all in school now so when I did go w/daycare children.it was normally just 2-3 kids but they would get in on my pass.
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Thriftylady 11:16 AM 02-23-2016
Originally Posted by momofboys:
We used to have a family zoo membership. Not the plus. I'd just write in that we had 5 kids thus allowing you to take that many to the zoo. You don't have to prove they are your children. My own kids are all in school now so when I did go w/daycare children.it was normally just 2-3 kids but they would get in on my pass.
Good grief maybe I read it wrong let me go look again.
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Thriftylady 11:50 AM 02-23-2016
Originally Posted by momofboys:
We used to have a family zoo membership. Not the plus. I'd just write in that we had 5 kids thus allowing you to take that many to the zoo. You don't have to prove they are your children. My own kids are all in school now so when I did go w/daycare children.it was normally just 2-3 kids but they would get in on my pass.
Okay so I could do this! The question is should I charge parents part of the fee for the membership?
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momofboys 11:54 AM 02-23-2016
Originally Posted by Thriftylady:
Good grief maybe I read it wrong let me go look again.
For the Plus you do have to name individuals. However, if they are children I don't think you'd have an ID card for them. Foe a normal family membership I just always inflated the number of children I personally have to allow them to invite a friend. Even.if you have to "name" them it shouldn't matter. Children don't have ids
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momofboys 11:57 AM 02-23-2016
Originally Posted by Thriftylady:
Okay so I could do this! The question is should I charge parents part of the fee for the membership?
Yes! I would even if it is minimal to cover gas.
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Thriftylady 01:35 PM 02-23-2016
Originally Posted by momofboys:
Yes! I would even if it is minimal to cover gas.
Yeah it is an hours drive for us! I am thinking I have four kiddos, so if I charge the parents $15 each that would cover half of the membership. I would go a little more, but both of them are sibling sets, so I am trying to keep it reasonable. I put it on my sheet of spring break options I have come up with. This one is the best deal money wise for the parents so far, because we can use it all summer.
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Unregistered 12:56 PM 02-24-2016
Originally Posted by momofboys:
For the Plus you do have to name individuals. However, if they are children I don't think you'd have an ID card for them. Foe a normal family membership I just always inflated the number of children I personally have to allow them to invite a friend. Even.if you have to "name" them it shouldn't matter. Children don't have ids
I will caution you that the zoo is becoming more strict on this policy. I'm guessing they were seeing a lot of abuse. If you read the fine print on the flyer they mail you with your membership card, it does state that they have the power to revoke your membership without a refund if you abuse your pass. If you need to bring additional children I would recommend getting the family plus membership. That allows you to bring up to two additional guests on each visit. You can also ask the parents of the children you watch if they have a membership. If they do, their children are already covered and you can check the children in under their parent's pass.
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Thriftylady 01:07 PM 02-24-2016
Originally Posted by Unregistered:
I will caution you that the zoo is becoming more strict on this policy. I'm guessing they were seeing a lot of abuse. If you read the fine print on the flyer they mail you with your membership card, it does state that they have the power to revoke your membership without a refund if you abuse your pass. If you need to bring additional children I would recommend getting the family plus membership. That allows you to bring up to two additional guests on each visit. You can also ask the parents of the children you watch if they have a membership. If they do, their children are already covered and you can check the children in under their parent's pass.
Most people don't have one here since we live an hour away. The two extra passes wouldn't cover all my kids. What to do what to do.
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momofboys 05:19 PM 02-24-2016
Originally Posted by Unregistered:
I will caution you that the zoo is becoming more strict on this policy. I'm guessing they were seeing a lot of abuse. If you read the fine print on the flyer they mail you with your membership card, it does state that they have the power to revoke your membership without a refund if you abuse your pass. If you need to bring additional children I would recommend getting the family plus membership. That allows you to bring up to two additional guests on each visit. You can also ask the parents of the children you watch if they have a membership. If they do, their children are already covered and you can check the children in under their parent's pass.
We had a pass for many years & didn't renew it this year (our own kids are 14,12 & 8 & just kind of outgrowing it). You do have to show a driver's license as the parent/s on the membership. Any adult needs to show ID. When my husband & I went we both had to show ID. I question the ability to be able to get a child in on another parent's pass because anyone could say they were bringing Susie Smith's child, whose to say whose child she is unless the child has their own membership card. They are EXTREMELY strict. However, when I was using my own family pass I would normally only have 2-3 kids with me total (my own kids were in school) so it was never questioned that they were my kids. It might be different if you were trying to bring in 5-6 kids.
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momofboys 05:21 PM 02-24-2016
Originally Posted by Unregistered:
I will caution you that the zoo is becoming more strict on this policy. I'm guessing they were seeing a lot of abuse. If you read the fine print on the flyer they mail you with your membership card, it does state that they have the power to revoke your membership without a refund if you abuse your pass. If you need to bring additional children I would recommend getting the family plus membership. That allows you to bring up to two additional guests on each visit. You can also ask the parents of the children you watch if they have a membership. If they do, their children are already covered and you can check the children in under their parent's pass.
With the PLUS you have to name the extra people on your pass - I don't think it can be used for just anyone unless they have recently changed their policy.
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Thriftylady 05:35 PM 02-24-2016
Originally Posted by momofboys:
With the PLUS you have to name the extra people on your pass - I don't think it can be used for just anyone unless they have recently changed their policy.
It says they can be named or unnamed. But when I was clicking through membership it didn't ask names of children. If they ones on plus are unnamed you just get a generic pass and they have to come with someone named. If you get them named, they can go by themselves or take others on your membership or someone with a generic pass and get the free parking.
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Unregistered 08:35 AM 02-25-2016
Hi I work in the Zoo’s membership office and this conversation was brought to our attention through our social media monitoring site. The membership ONLY covers the children of the 2 primary adults in the household that are listed on the membership cards. Abuse of this policy can result in your membership being revoked without refund. I would recommend the Family Plus membership and leave your guests unnamed so you can bring 2 additional people with you every time you come. Thank you !
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Thriftylady 08:54 AM 02-25-2016
Originally Posted by Unregistered:
Hi I work in the Zoo’s membership office and this conversation was brought to our attention through our social media monitoring site. The membership ONLY covers the children of the 2 primary adults in the household that are listed on the membership cards. Abuse of this policy can result in your membership being revoked without refund. I would recommend the Family Plus membership and leave your guests unnamed so you can bring 2 additional people with you every time you come. Thank you !
Well crud looks like there is no way we are going to be able to afford the Zoo. It would cost us $100 to go just once. Parents are not going to be willing to pay that.
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wonderfullisa 12:10 PM 02-25-2016
I dont think im brave enough to take 4 extras to the zoo (in addition to my own), so this would still work for me. Perhaps...
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Thriftylady 01:49 PM 02-25-2016
Originally Posted by Lisa's Little Lambs:
I dont think im brave enough to take 4 extras to the zoo (in addition to my own), so this would still work for me. Perhaps...
Yeah my youngest is 17, so I have four DCKS right now and DD would be going with me to help. But it doesn't look like I can make this affordable. The two unnamed passes wouldn't be enough for all my daycare kiddos. I think they should do some kind of daycare or business passes! You know maybe it costs a little more, but the rules would be different.
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Laurel 12:15 PM 02-26-2016
You could call the zoo and tell them your situation. They may have a deal for a home daycare or would create one. Big daycares bring busloads of kids to places in our area so they must be getting some kind of deal. I lived in Cincinnati when my kids were small and we bought a family pass to that zoo (LOVE that zoo). You could check both zoos.

I'm not sure how old your dc kids are but there is a nationwide thing called kidsbowlfree.com I have used it the last two years for me and my grandkids. They get two free games a day all summer and into October I think. I think you have to pay for shoes but you could charge the parent per visit. My grandson even 'bowled' when he was as young as 3 because they give you a ramp, upon request, that they just roll the ball down the alley with. You do have to put the kid's names down though but if it is just for the summer hopefully you won't have a big turnover. If the kids are around the same age as those names on the passes they probably won't even notice but it does list a name and age on each daily pass (which you get through your email weekly for the upcoming week). Come to think of it the parents could sign their own kids up and give you the week's worth of passes to use as needed. I know it sounds confusing so check out the website and see if it would work and if your bowling alley participates.
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Thriftylady 12:23 PM 02-26-2016
Originally Posted by Laurel:
You could call the zoo and tell them your situation. They may have a deal for a home daycare or would create one. Big daycares bring busloads of kids to places in our area so they must be getting some kind of deal. I lived in Cincinnati when my kids were small and we bought a family pass to that zoo (LOVE that zoo). You could check both zoos.

I'm not sure how old your dc kids are but there is a nationwide thing called kidsbowlfree.com I have used it the last two years for me and my grandkids. They get two free games a day all summer and into October I think. I think you have to pay for shoes but you could charge the parent per visit. My grandson even 'bowled' when he was as young as 3 because they give you a ramp, upon request, that they just roll the ball down the alley with. You do have to put the kid's names down though but if it is just for the summer hopefully you won't have a big turnover. If the kids are around the same age as those names on the passes they probably won't even notice but it does list a name and age on each daily pass (which you get through your email weekly for the upcoming week). Come to think of it the parents could sign their own kids up and give you the week's worth of passes to use as needed. I know it sounds confusing so check out the website and see if it would work and if your bowling alley participates.
I had forgotten about the bowling. We used to have that here, I will have to check into it. When DD used to go, I bought her a pair of cheap bowling shoes so it was totally free.
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Laurel 01:55 PM 02-29-2016
Originally Posted by Thriftylady:
I had forgotten about the bowling. We used to have that here, I will have to check into it. When DD used to go, I bought her a pair of cheap bowling shoes so it was totally free.
Oh cheap bowling shoes is a good idea. Where did you find them for kids?
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Thriftylady 02:56 PM 02-29-2016
Originally Posted by Laurel:
Oh cheap bowling shoes is a good idea. Where did you find them for kids?
When it was just DD, I ordered a cheap pair online. I may start looking at the thrift store for the DCK's though. I guess I need to check shoe sizes tomorrow!
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Growing like weeds 10:49 AM 03-01-2016
There is also a program called kids skate free. Boonshoft Museum is fantastic, and last time I checked they offered a group rate that was only around $5/person. Take a second pair of eyes though if you have really little ones or wanderers. They have an indoor playground that spans both levels of the museum. It is not closed off. So if you're upstairs you can go down the slide and be free to roam the lower part of the museum. Scary! There is also the Vandalia indoor waterpark. Small, usually uncrowded and about $7 I think.
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Thriftylady 11:37 AM 03-01-2016
Originally Posted by Growing like weeds:
There is also a program called kids skate free. Boonshoft Museum is fantastic, and last time I checked they offered a group rate that was only around $5/person. Take a second pair of eyes though if you have really little ones or wanderers. They have an indoor playground that spans both levels of the museum. It is not closed off. So if you're upstairs you can go down the slide and be free to roam the lower part of the museum. Scary! There is also the Vandalia indoor waterpark. Small, usually uncrowded and about $7 I think.
THANK YOU! I just called Boonshoft museum. I had not heard of it. They are happy to give me a membership and allow me to bring the DCK's on it!!!!
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Growing like weeds 02:01 PM 03-01-2016
Awesome!
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Thriftylady 04:44 PM 03-25-2016
Oh My Gosh. We went to Boonshoft Museum in Dayton today. What an amazing place! The kids had a blast and I had so much fun just watching them. They have a mini indoor zoo, different "buildings" inside from a courtroom, to a vet office where the kids can dress up and play the parts! The water table(s) are amazing! I could go on and on about this. It is all hands on type stuff. Science, and space, role playing, etc they have it all. If you are ever in the area and have a day to blow (we will be going back there was so much part of it felt rushed to me for time), you gotta go here!

I was just checking out the one in Springfield Ohio and they are closing it. They may reopen it, it is a location issue right now. I am hoping to cram in a trip there before they close it.
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momofboys 05:33 PM 03-25-2016
So glad you enjoyed Boonshoft. My boys LOVED it when they were younger. We checked out that Vandalia Rec Center with my kids yesterday & I was wrong about the # of slides BUT it was an awesome indoor pool with splash area/buckets & lots of area that is just 1 foot of water. There is a big twisty slide for older kids. My boys had a blast - plus there are gyms that can be played in for basketball, etc. Lots of fun for my boys!
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Growing like weeds 09:30 AM 03-26-2016
Glad you had a good time! I spent our whole spring break sick so we did nothing out of the ordinary.
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newgina2014 05:30 AM 07-13-2016
Originally Posted by Unregistered:
Hi I work in the Zoo’s membership office and this conversation was brought to our attention through our social media monitoring site. The membership ONLY covers the children of the 2 primary adults in the household that are listed on the membership cards. Abuse of this policy can result in your membership being revoked without refund. I would recommend the Family Plus membership and leave your guests unnamed so you can bring 2 additional people with you every time you come. Thank you !
we purchased the family plus membership last year and they gave us grief at the gate for bring 2 extra kids....
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Thriftylady 05:40 AM 07-13-2016
Originally Posted by newgina2014:
we purchased the family plus membership last year and they gave us grief at the gate for bring 2 extra kids....
Well I didn't do this anyway. I mean 2 extra guests? I am a daycare with 5-6 kids. We aren't going to the Zoo this summer due to expense to the parents. We can get half price with our Boonshoft museum pricing but with parking and prices I just am not going to ask my parents to pay that much!
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wonderfullisa 06:46 AM 07-13-2016
I don't have the car space to go with more than 2 extras, anyhow, so I went ahead and bought the Family+ membership. We were able to use it last week, when one family was away for the week. We had a great time and even were able to see Nora, this time!

Sidenote, I was able to buy the membership for $5 off, and it lasts 14 months. This, essentially, turns it into a 2yr membership for me, because we mostly go in the summer. I was VERY excited!
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Thriftylady 12:32 PM 07-13-2016
Originally Posted by wonderfullisa:
I don't have the car space to go with more than 2 extras, anyhow, so I went ahead and bought the Family+ membership. We were able to use it last week, when one family was away for the week. We had a great time and even were able to see Nora, this time!

Sidenote, I was able to buy the membership for $5 off, and it lasts 14 months. This, essentially, turns it into a 2yr membership for me, because we mostly go in the summer. I was VERY excited!
If my family would use it outside of daycare, I might see it differently. But it is over an hours drive one way for us, and my youngest child is 18 and her and DH are never home. So the cost just doesn't work out math wise. My use of it would only be with daycare.
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wonderfullisa 03:40 AM 07-14-2016
Ah, yes. That makes a huge difference. My own are 9, 5, and 1, so a zoo membership was already on my radar.
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Tags:field trip issues, ohio member, summer - field trips
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