50 Years of ‘Best of Boston’: Kids

1975

Best Children’s Show, Local

Zoom. If you were born in the early ’70s (or raising your kiddos then), you likely have fond memories of this popular GBH kids’ show. “WGBH understands that children are people, and treats them accordingly—both as participants in, and as viewers of, Zoom,” the editors wrote in 1975. “As a result, this snappy product is more popular than Donny Osmond or Dubble Bubble gum.”

Courtesy of GBH / Getty Images

1978

Best Children’s Clothing, Discount

Calvert’s. Before there were racks and racks of tiny dresses and short sets at TJ Maxx and Marshalls, there was this Needham discount retailer. “Lots and lots of good quality kids’ stuff from the Carter’s factory, all packaged and neatly arranged for easy shopping,” our researchers noted.

Getty Images

1982

Best Toy Store

Children’s Workshop. “Toys, games, and clothing, and workshops in magic. Run by two former teachers and coprincipals.”

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1986

Best Place for Kids

Boston Children’s Museum. “Very hands-on. And the hands can be dirty.”

1993

Best Daycare, Occasional

Hamilton Children’s Center. “It’s bright, clean, fun, and $50 a day,” we raved about this drop-in daycare program in 1993, which would take in tots whose regular childcare arrangements fell through. The only catch? The little germ spreaders had to be (ahem) healthy—a tall order indeed.

Photo by Jörg Meyer

2009

Best Children’s Clothing, Shoes

Bird by Bird. “Sorry, but your child’s first steps must…not…be…in Crocs,” the editors wrote at the end of the aughts. (If only they could see toddlers today.) Regardless, the Best of Boston researchers at the time gave high marks to this Inman Square spot, which “has the kind of footwear that’s ideally suited for all the firsts in a pre-hip-kid’s life—tiny slip-on sneaks, rainboots, polished Mary Janes—by brands like Morgan & Milo and See Kai Run.”

2011

Best Children’s Bookstore

The Children’s Book Shop. “Will future generations see actual hold-in-your-hands books as curious, unidentifiable objects?” we asked in 2011. Thirteen years later, the answer is still no—thanks at least in part to this Brookline Village institution, which sadly sold its last volume in 2022. “The area’s oldest independent children’s bookstore has aisles teeming with tykes digging into the 28,000-plus titles on offer,” the editors wrote.

2023

Best Coworking with Kids Space

The Pop Center. “Working from home when you have small children is great—that is, until your four-year-old shows up in the back of a Zoom call covered in fingerpaint from head to toe (only a slightly exaggerated story),” the editors opined last year. That’s why we were thrilled to recognize this family-friendly coworking spot, “where parents and young kids can work and play side by side thanks to well-staffed playgroups, private nursing stations, and cozy coworking lounges with a call pod and nap rooms (for grownups, too!).”

First published in the print edition of the September 2024 issue with the headline, “BoB50: Kids.”