Things to do with kids in The Woodlands

The Woodlands was built inside a pine forest, so its kid parks are shaded, free and clean; a stroller walk along the Waterway and dinner at Market Street make the most relaxed weekend in north Houston.

Rob Fleming Park in Creekside covers playground, splash pad and fishing pond in one stop, and the Children's Museum at Panther Creek is for kids under 7. The South Regional library on Town Green Park is the rainy-day shelter, and the park out front becomes an outdoor ice rink in winter. For the woods, head north to the sandy trails and woodpeckers of W.G. Jones State Forest; Mercer Botanic Gardens is 20 minutes south and 7 Acre Wood in Conroe 20 minutes north.