Fall in Boston, New England’s most historic city, is a perfect blend of education and entertainment. Cobblestone streets, museums, and parks are all opportunity for discovery in Boston and fall is beautiful time to explore! Here’s what we’ve loved when exploring Boston with our kids.

One of the things I really love about homeschooling is the flexibility to travel and learn on the road. I have been traveling a lot with my kids this year and think that travel is such a great way for them to learn new things and also learn to appreciate history.

I’m always amazed when I hear how many people hate history. I have always loved history, but when I was a child I was lucky enough to travel a lot and learn about history in an authentic and hands-on way – instead of only by fact memorization. I really think one of the reasons I love history so much is because of all the awesome travel experiences I had as a child.

 In preparation for our trip to Boston, we read books, learned about the history of the period, and read about influential revolutionary Americans. To really bring it all home and make the learning experience more authentic and memorial, we also headed to Boston for experiential learning. Here’s what we loved doing on our trip to Boston.

Walking Boston’s Freedom Trail

The Boston Freedom Trail is a 2.5-mile red-brick path that leads you through 16 historically significant sites, perfect for families to experience America’s rich revolutionary history together. Kids will love following the red line through the city streets like a treasure map, discovering important landmarks from the American Revolution along the way.

The trail is easily walkable for most ages and can be completed in a few hours, though families may want to spread it out over a day to fully enjoy the interactive exhibits, fun stories, and colonial-era atmosphere.

Main Attractions along the Freedom Trial

• Boston Common – America’s oldest public park
• Paul Revere House – Home of the famous midnight rider
• USS Constitution (“Old Ironsides”) – Historic warship with hands-on activities
• Bunker Hill Monument – Climb 294 steps for an amazing view
• Faneuil Hall – Historic meeting place with modern shops and street performers
• Old North Church – “One if by land, two if by sea” landmark
• Granary Burying Ground – Final resting place of Paul Revere and John Hancock
• Massachusetts State House – Impressive gold-domed capitol building

Pro Tip: Break up the walk with strategic stops. Grab apple cider donuts at Boston Public Market near Faneuil Hall, or warm up with hot chocolate at Thinking Cup near the Paul Revere House. Also make sure to grab a cannoli in Boston’s North End. The sugar boost will fuel young historians for more exploring!

Start at the Beginning – Boston Commons Park

You can jump in to in the trail wherever you want, but we started our tour at the beginning, at Boston Commons Park.

Download the Freedom Trail Foundation app and turn your walk into an interactive scavenger hunt. Kids can earn digital badges while crunching through fallen leaves at Boston Common and spotting historic landmarks.

Along the way, we used the app, brochures, and books we bought to learn more about the people and the Revolutionary War events. At Granary Burying Ground, for instance, we saw the graves of Benjamin Franklin’s parents, Samuel Adams, Mary “Mother” Goose, and more.

Earn a Junior Ranger Badge at Faneuil Hall

At Faneuil Hall, the kids earned a Junior Ranger Badge by filling out the Downtown Boston Junior Ranger Activity Book. This booklet asked questions about the sites we had seen on our walk and reinforced what life was like during the time period. It was a little hard for some of the younger kids, but the oldest, my 10 year old, had no problem reading and answering the questions.

Visit Paul Revere’s House

The highlight of the walk was seeing Paul Revere’s House in Boston’s Historic North End. His house is the oldest standing house in the North End and was really interesting. I had no idea Paul Revere fathered 16 children {five died in childhood} by 2 different wives.

We were also fascinated to learn about the difference in life experiences his first set of children had (when Revere was less prosperous) than his second set of children had. And I must admit, my uterus just hurt thinking about bearing eight children – both of his wives had 8 each! Holy moly.

All in all, the walk was definitely more interesting for the three grown-ups than for the seven children. You can imagine there was a bit of whining, but we stopped at enough parks and found enough interesting things for the kids to do to make it a great day for everyone! And I know my kids will remember quite a lot about the Revolutionary War and the people who lived during that time period. And that makes me a happy homeschool mom!