I am the mother of 19 month old twin boys. Over the past few weeks I have been park shopping and I have been disappointed by what I have seen. I am looking for indoor and outdoor free or very inexpensive playgrounds, parks or other activities. We spend lots of time at the Fort Worth Zoo and Trinity Park. It would be nice if these activities were close to downtown Fort Worth, but we also spend time in mostly Southlake/Keller and sometimes Burleson/Crowley. Safety is a big concern of mine and I do not like parks that are too close to busy roads or not gated off from water or creeks. I have heard that Dallas has some great parks too.
I would love any suggestions you may offer. Thanks for sharing you goldmines!
river legacy park in arlington (I30 and cooper)is free and is great for toddlers. They have indoor activities and play things as well as outdoor activities adn bike trails. they have a website. www.riverlegacy.org
Hi M.
Check out this website:
http://playspacefinder.kaboom.org/
It is a map with all kinds of parks and the ratings that other parents have given them (1-5 stars). You can click on the park location and see pictures of the park.
I hope that helps!
M.,
I have 4 children and have lived in this area for 6 yrs. We LOVE Sanguinette park for children your boys age. It is completely fenced and gated, but is a public park. It is off of Camp Bowie, on the corner of Merrick and El Campo. It also has gravel instead of mulch, which is wonderful to bring "sand" toys to play w/. The only draw back is that there are no public bathrooms. Hope this helps.
S.
I too like the indoor play area at Ridgmar. Much cleaner than the one at Hulen. An outdoor option, although may be a drive, is Eagle Mountain Park on Eagle Mountain Lake. It's a great place to let our little guy (who's 3 now) just run and wear himself out. There isn't any playground equipment, but lots of trees, trails, rocks, etc. Again- a great place to just let them run. One time we saw a small deer that was eating out of people's hands and my husband saw a bobcat mom and baby. Here's the website: http://www.trwd.com/prod/TRWDweb/App_Pages/EagleMountainP...
Glenview baptist church (4805 NE Loop 820 at Haltom Rd.
Fort Worth, Texas, 76137) has a free playtime in their incredible play area. certainly worth checking out. their website is a little uninformative but i believe the tree house is open to the public on the 1st, 3rd, and 5th mondays of the month. i'm not sure what time they open but you really want to get there early because once they reach their limit they are not allowed to let anyone else in until somebody leaves.
I am also a fan of ridgmar play area.
We have a great park in Grapevine. Its called Parr Park. Just google Parr Park Grapevine.
I don't know any outdoor parks, but I like taking my 2 year old to the mall play areas. It's indoors so I don't have to worry about heat, and I can walk around when he's done playing. They're designed for young kids and toddlers, so it's perfectly safe. The only thing I don't like is sometimes you see parents who let their kids run wild, but that's pretty much everywhere you go. Pretty much all malls have them now, but some are better than others.
Ridgemar Mall has an excellent indoor toddler playground. I drive a little further out to play there...it is worth it for us. I would recommend going early in the morning (we always arrive at 10 and play until lunch time). Not everyone respects the height restrictions and if you go later in the afternoon (when school is out) the kids get bigger and rowdier. The entire playground is foam...trains, fire trucks and double as jungle gyms and slides.
Johnson Road park in Keller is nice. They have a section that is meant for 2-5 year olds. The park is right next to the library. Johnson road isn't as big as some of the major roads in the area and the side with the "younger" park is fenced off.
