Your guide to activities and fun things to do with your preschoolers, toddlers and kids in Charleston, SC

Considering we live on a peninsula (or thereabouts) surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean and countless smaller waterways, there is no shortage of fish in Charleston. Here are my top five recommendations for places to go to view the watery world -- and all of the life teeming within it!

1. I like the South Carolina Aquarium. A lot. And while I've talked about it before, they keep adding children's programming that makes me want to recommend it some more! The newest is Ollie's Trading Post, where kids can trade in their special seaside artifacts for points to trade up to even cooler finds. And don't forget that adults pay the child admission until the end of August (SC residents only)!

2. Want all the wonder of the aquarium on a smaller scale? Check out the Age of Aquariums store on Sam Rittenberg Boulevard in West Ashley. My daughter's best friend lovingly calls it the "fish store" and she's *this close* to having her dad talked into a salt water tank.

3. It's fun to fish. It's also fun to see people catching fish without having to do the work yourself. The best display we've ever seen of successful surf fishing was on Folly Beach overlooking Morris Island Lighthouse. The locals were pulling whitings out of the water one after another, sometimes after impressive, rod-bending fights.

4. Take a trip to Crosby's Seafood (at Folly Beach or downtown) to see lots of sea life, on ice. Ok, so a tour of dead fish might not be what you had in mind, but bear with me: the benefit of dead fish is that they don't dart away or hide, so you can actually get a good look at them.

5. Speaking of dead fish, one of the best place to see one is on my plate! Our go-to restaurant for kid-friendly seafood is Charleston Crab House. Not only can you get a good meal of fish, but you can entertain the short crowd by chatting about all of the large fish models that make up the restaurant's decor!


[photo credit: SXC]