Things To Do In Freehold

If a subject is art-related, chances are you can learn about it at Around the Corner Art Center. With a slate of teachers who specialize in working with specific age groups and art mediums, students can learn how to sketch or sew, hone their brush strokes, and construct mixed-media pieces. With all these disciplines under one roof, there is a class for everyone from children to college art students to adults. The staff's love of art even extends to the birthday parties they host, with artistic themes that may include recreating a famous painting or learning how to draw cartoons, anime, and manga.

Racing go-karts and glowing laser battles simultaneously challenge and entertain visitors inside iPlay America's 115,000-square-foot amusement facility. Like its outdoor cousins, the indoor fun park houses more than 200 motorized attractions and carnival-style games for the whole family. Interactive amusements, such as the iPA Speedway, place patrons in the driver's seat of a real vehicle, and simulated sessions, including the Kite Flyer, tantalize visual senses with video images and sound effects. Scents of fresh pizza, lobster mac 'n' cheese, and hotdogs waft from five nourishment purveyors.

Designed by 10-time PGA Tour winner Mark McCumber, Knob Hill Golf Club’s 18-hole course bobs and weaves through 145 acres of scenic, dense woodland terrain. The first McCumber course to grace the American Northeast, the 6,408-yard layout seamlessly incorporates imposing tree lines and 15 manmade, natural, and caddy-tear ponds into an elegant, golf-clap-worthy fairway chain. The course’s most difficult hole—the 464-yard, par 4 fourth hole—showcases characteristic challenges with a tee shot that must carry a pond and bisect a tree-ensconced fairway on its path to a green fronted by a sandtrap. After rounds, duffers can replenish with a sudsy drink and a nosh from a menu of casual, gourmet fare at The Sycamore Grill, named for the 185-year-old sycamore that casts its shadows on the clubhouse and sheds celebratory leaves for players who score under par.

Course at a Glance:

• Designed by Mark McCumber
• 18-hole, par 70 course
• Length of 6,408 yards from the farthest tees
• Course rating of 71.3 from the farthest tees
• Slope rating of 131 from the farthest tees
• Three tee options
• View scorecard here

My Gym, which currently has more than 200 international locations, began more than 20 years ago as a structured place for children to safely play, acquire new skills, and romp off a sugar buzz. All classes are organized according to age level—starting as young as 6 months—and designed to incorporate the latest physiological and psychological research. Tiny Tykes gets babies moving with help from their parents, Mighty Mites teaches toddlers self-reliance and beginning sports skills, and Champions, a class for kids aged 6 to 9, emphasizes the importance of using teamwork to master more complex sports skills and achieve group goals such as building a human pyramid to reach the cookie jar. My Gym's energetic instructors are experts at using music, dance, and gymnastics to build youngsters' strength and self-esteem while stimulating their giggle-plexes. The noncompetitive environment fosters creativity, and hands-on activities boost children's learning retention and fun quotient.

At Action Gymnastics Academy, the entertainment potential of an obstacle course becomes a tool for fitness development. Inside the kid-focused facility, more than 15 classes incorporating gym equipment challenge kids ranging from 18 months to 13 years and older. Coaches guide their young students through instruction in beginner to high-school-level gymnastics, various levels of tumbling, and trampoline technique. At the Millstone location, a kid-sized zipline is used for adrenaline-pumping rides at birthday parties and ceremonies for crowning the next Indiana Jones.

Monster Mini Golf welcomes guests of all ages with 18 holes of spooky, glow-in-the-dark fun. Fog machines, colorful lasers, and special effects lighting surround the custom-designed indoor course. Meanwhile, an energetic soundtrack of 70s, 80s, and 90s party music keeps spirits high as the visitors conquer each hole’s monster-themed obstacles and hazards. In between songs, the course DJ pumps up the crowds with interactive games and trivia questions, rewarding lucky winners with take-home prizes. Groups of family and friends can return to one of the private party rooms once they finish the course or they can visit Monster Mini Golf’s arcade and play on the glowing air hockey tables, skee ball machines, and other games.