Extreme sports to scavenger hunts: Unusual ways to enjoy the land with kids
Top five alternative teen and kid-friendly activities — some cheap, some pricey
Jessica Steinberg, The Times of Israel's culture and lifestyles editor, covers the Sabra scene from south to north and back to the center
It’s the season for visitors, and with friends here from Canada — two parents, one grandmother and three kids ages 12, 10 and 7 — we’ve been playing tour guide, or rather, tour adviser, recommending the best tourist sites that fit the needs of five people, as well as the demands of budget and weather.
I’m generally up to the task, and it’s a fun challenge. I have learned from my own experience that it’s often best to find activities that suit the teens and tweens, as the rest of the crowd usually falls in line. That’s also the advice of Joanna Shebson, the founder of the Fun In Jerusalem website, a kids and teens activities guide for the greater Jerusalem area, which includes a reservations option for certain non-English-speaking vendors.
It also helps to know about the newer activities and options out there, and in this tourist-friendly land, there’s always something different. I’ve picked five good ones, when looking for creative ideas countrywide (although heavily weighted on Jerusalem).
1) Fun In Jerusalem’s Shebson is a fan of the scavenger hunt, which is offered at several museums, and with great success. “It’s the kind of activity that brings history alive,” she said. There’s the Discover Jerusalem Scavenger Hunt, which costs NIS 900 for a group of up to 15 people and is suitable for ages 6 and up. (They do have days in the summer with a pay-per-person option, at NIS 80 per adult and NIS 60 per child.) The Museum of Underground Prisoners near the Jerusalem municipality, telling the history of imprisoned Jewish fighters during the pre-state years, also has a scavenger hunt, as well as art workshops that are suitable for younger kids. Over in Tel Aviv, the Diaspora Museum offers a scavenger hunt, while the Dr. Clue company has scavenger hunts for adults in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem.
2) Another favorite option for teens is extreme sports, said Shebson, and every city is cashing in on that opportunity. In Jerusalem, two good options are the Jerusalem ropes course at Park Gilo (NIS 1,500 for a two-hour workshop, suitable for groups), and rappelling or snappling, as it’s known here, at the Jerusalem Tayelet, a promenade overlooking the Old City, where groups of 15 are charged NIS 800 for an hour-long course. There’s also Jerusalem ATV and ‘jeeping’ in the Jerusalem hills, with an option for pita or pizza baking during the jeep tour.
You can find extreme sports activities in most cities; two reputable options are X-Park in Haifa, where kids and adults, ages 5 and up, can spend entire mornings or afternoons climbing, skateboarding and playing paintball. In Tel Aviv, there’s Sporteque, a skateboarder’s paradise with all the ramps, banks and rails that a skater could need, as well as Golda Park, where the ‘boarding’s free.
3) Speaking of parks, many cities now have fabulously imaginative playgrounds that are as suitable for kids as they are for teens. Jerusalem finally has one in Gan Haatzmaut, Independence Park, with inventive see-saws, slides and swings that attract many a teenager, and, luckily, are built to withstand heavier weights. If you’re in Zichron Yaakov for a wine or historical tour, consider stopping at their new playground just outside City Hall, where every item spins in some way. And there’s Ra’anana, where the giant Park Ra’anana includes the Friendship Park, a playground for disabled and non-disabled children, with paths, swings and merry-go-rounds that can accommodate wheelchairs.
4) Almost every city can boast of its own shuk, the open-air market where most folks buy their cucumbers and tomatoes, as well as dishtowels and underwear. Jerusalem’s Mahane Yehuda and Tel Aviv’s Carmel Market have long been stops on the tourist trail. But besides the specialty foodie tours now being offered by chefs, there are a few options for making the markets more, well, appetizing, for kids who may just see them as an extended supermarket shopping experience. The Mahane Yehuda website offers Shuk Bites, a map and punchcard tour of the market that allows tastes of the best the market has to offer. Shebson also commented that some parents have created their own shuk scavenger hunts, which could be a lot of work but offer a great method for getting to know the winding streets of the labyrinthian market.
5) Finally, it’s important to work in some sort of nature in any visit. Beaches can count as nature appreciation, but if you’re in the land-locked city of Jerusalem, wade through the man-made creeks that run through Independence Park and are filled with icy, refreshing water. If you seek real nature, head to the Biblical Zoo, walk to the end of the parking lot and continue on the dirt road that will bring you to Ein Lavan, the cool spring pool that sits under flowering fig trees. Downtown, complete your tour of the Knesset and/or Supreme Court with a stop in at the Jerusalem Bird Observatory, a shady, quiet spot behind the Knesset that offers free birding lessons and a place to sit quietly and appreciate the surroundings.
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