Sports of All Sorts

Connecticut's lone major league sports team is the Connecticut Sun, bringing the very best women basketball players in the world to Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville. The regular season runs through the summer, and no home game starts after 7 p.m. It's a great chance to inspire your junior hoopster by getting her, or him, close to some real talent.

Minor league baseball is uniquely tailored to young kids, and if you'd like to see how they do it, just head for a New Britain Bees game, or, later in the summer, take in a Hartford Yard Goats game at brand-new Dunkin' Donuts Stadium in Hartford. Every home game seems to be tied to a promotion or giveaway of some kind, there are between-inning contests for fans. They specialize in birthday parties.

Have you got a little speed demon or two in the house? Take them to Lime Rock Park in Lakeville to experience cars racing like they've never seen them before. Lime Rock is located in a lovely rural setting where a curving Le Mans-style track (not an oval) takes the racers past fields and rolling hills. Spectators can move quite freely through it all, and if the kids get inspired, there's even a Go Kart track.

Connecticut hosts a couple of major sports events every summer, and each happens to be very kid-friendly, too. Many of the best golfers in the world converge on Cromwell's River Highlands golf course in Cromwell for the annual Travelers Championship, this year held June 19-25. Events include a Family Day, and on-course features include a Kids Zone with golf-related challenges for young ones.