Things to Do in Winter Garden

In 1976, busy California mother Joan Barnes wanted nothing more than to find a play place where she and her kids could enjoy age-appropriate, educational activities. Finding none, she developed her own innovative play environment within a developmental-based program structure now known as Gymboree Play & Music. Today, kids tumble and learn in more than 650 locations in 33 countries around the world, engaging in open play and classes designed to build cognitive and motor skills. As parents participate in their children's development, their kids learn to paint, play music, and interact socially outside of their preschool knitting circles.

The seven fields at Paintball World Sports Complex cater to playing styles ranging from quick assaults to studied campaigning. After outfitting combatants with equipment, the staff turns into referees and oversees play on fields such as Big Fort, a collection of plywood shelters connected by a wooden bridge and sheltered by overhanging trees. Elsewhere, field terrain includes inflatable cover, upturned tractor tires, and pieces of giant corrugated tubing. An FAQ page anticipates visitors' questions, such as "What should I bring?" and "How much to rent an invisibility cloak?"

Fashion and creative expression rule side by side at Bead Bar, where guests have completed fetching and artistic beading projects since the early 1990s. Inside the shop, a handpicked inventory of beads immediately grabs attention with its dizzying array of colors, shapes, and sizes displayed behind glass cases and hanging from floor-to-ceiling slat walls. The shop’s veteran beaders emerge from mounds of beads to share their expertise, be it during classes or in-store demonstrations of tried-and-true techniques. The bead emporium also lets visitors work on projects inside its free workspace, which is just as private, yet far more spacious than a neighbor's linen closet.

In 1963, lifelong friends Billy Long and Frank Scott Jr. uprooted themselves from their Virginia homes and plotted a 100-acre farm in central Florida. In the half-century since, as most independent farms have been sold to ruthless rabbits, Long & Scott Farms has stayed in the family, expanding to a prosperous 1,200 acres brimming with Zellwood sweet corn, pickled cucumbers, and cabbage. Each fall, the farm cultivates a new corn maze to complement a 60-foot slide, hayrides, and another maze made from more than 1,000 ligustrum trees. The farm's country cafe offers breakfast and lunch, and the nearby market and produce club feature locally grown produce as well as Long & Scott's own line of jellies, syrups, jams, and relishes.