Things to do with Children (Indianapolis, Fishers: rent, home, buy) - (IN) - City-Data Forum

bpinsky33 · 03-10-2010, 07:22 AM

My family and I recently move to Carmel. As we were gearing up for the move all we heard was how great of a place Indianapolis is for families. Once we got here we started asking people what some activities that we can do with our kids (parks, museums, etc). The ONLY thing people could tell us was the Children's Museum. I'm sure there has to be more to do than just one museum. I know there is a zoo, but that gives us only 2 things. I know other cities usually have much more than that. So my question is what are we missing? Are their and great parks with play-structures for kids?

I've got a second pseduo-related question. Where do people test-drive strollers around here. The only Baby store that I've found is Babies-R-Us. It appears that their was a Child's Space but that is no more.

Any help on these two things would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks.

hconstan · 03-10-2010, 07:52 AM

Carmel Clay Parks & Recreation :

City of Carmel, Indiana in Hamilton County (http://www.ci.carmel.in.us/ - broken link)

Carmel Public Library is great too...

we always enjoyed going to Pinheads Bowling Alley (in Fishers however) when we were there, great kid's area with playgym and arcade right by the bowling area.

not sure what you mean by test-driving strollers. do you mean before or after you buy one? you can't take it out of the store to test drive it, so you'd have to do anything like that at the actual store. if you want to test drive it AFTER purchase, do that at a local park i guess.

MissingIndiana · 03-10-2010, 08:28 AM

There are plenty of things to do with the family. For Carmel specifically, I know they just built a new Central Park which might be good to take the kids to. Here is the website for the Carmel Clay parks and recreation department (Carmel Clay Parks & Recreation : (http://www.carmelclayparks.com/index.asp - broken link)). There are some good activities and locations on there.

This website (Indianapolis Convention & Visitors Association: Visitors (http://visitindy.com/indianapolis/web/jsp/index.jsp - broken link)) isn't specifically for families, but does have info and videos on some of the things you can do with the kids and is a great resource in general. In addition to the Children's Museum and the zoo, there is also a botonical garden right next to the zoo if you want to show your kids something along those lines. There are also other great places to get outside and run around such as Eagle Creek Park (Eagle Creek Park Foundation (http://eaglecreekpark.org/index2.html - broken link)) which is the 4th largest city park in the country and has educational centers on various nature aspects. Another nice little park is Holliday park near 62nd and Meridian (Programs at Holliday Park). The link I provided is to the "youth and family programs" page of their website.

There is a Carribean Cove indoor water park at one of the Holiday Inns on the NW side of town on Michigan Rd just south of I-465 by the pyramid office towers (Caribbean Cove Indoor Water Park). Conner Prarie is a historical village/park in Fishers that has lots of family activities (Conner Prairie Interactive History Park). The Indiana State Fair will be coming up this summer. This website (2010 Indiana State Fair) has a link both for the state fair and the fairgrounds in general. Aside from the actual fair, the grounds have other events that go on including public ice skating and Indy's AAA hockey team that plays there, the Indy Ice. Speaking of sports, AAA baseball is downtown. The Indianapolis Indians play there at Victory field and tickets aren't too bad. While you are downtown, you can also take them to see all the monuments. I would specifically recommend going into the Indiana WWI memorial (Indiana War Memorial on Flickr - Photo Sharing! (http://www.flickr.com/photos/myindy/3877912609/ - broken link)) and walking around the Soldiers and Sailors Monument on the circle. They have a small museum in the WWI memorial and a beautiful inner chamber. The canal is also a great place to walk around. The have a place where you can rent paddle boats or family bicycle types of devices (imagine a golf cart with pedals and bicycle wheels). The Indiana State Museum may also be an interesting place to take kids(Indiana State Museum). It is right on the canal, but obviously you can also drive and park there. They have an IMAX theater as well. The Indianapolis Museum of Art may be a little more for adults, but they also have a 100 acre nature center opening soon and it might be nice to walk around there or around the Eli Lilly mansion (Home | Indianapolis Museum of Art). Both the IMA and Lilly estate are free btw. There are always things going on in Indy, and you can always take some great road trips as well. If you have the time, I would definitely recommend driving roughly 2 hours up to the Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore or to many of the other great state parks in Indiana, particularly those to the south. A lot of people like to go down to Brown County in the fall, but there are lots of other great places as well. Louisville and Cincy are also both roughly 1.5-2 hours away. Kings Island in Cincy is great when the kids get a little older and there are lots of things to do in both of those cities.

I hope that helps getting you started. Sorry you haven't had much luck asking people around town. I think too many people in Indy either don't know what they have in their own backyard or they take it for granted. Best of luck to you. Hope you enjoy Indy.

MissingIndiana · 03-10-2010, 08:30 AM

Wanted to add one more thing. Duckpin bowling is a 1920's style of bowling that uses smaller balls and is fun for adults, but might be fun for kids too. It's at Fountain Square, southeast of downtown. Action & Atomic Duckpin Bowling

mobyhead · 03-10-2010, 10:03 AM

I only add these because I am a southsider and have a 3-year old.

Bouncertown in Greenwood Kids Party in Indianapolis - Bounce Party for Kids | Bouncertown
Great Times near Beech Grove Greatimes Family Funpark - Home of Indy's Best Birthday Parties!

BTW, Conner Prairie is in Fishers Conner Prairie Interactive History Park

domergurl · 03-10-2010, 11:14 AM

There's a Bouncer Planet in Noblesville.

And don't underestimate the Children's Museum. You may say "it's just one place" ... it kind of sounds like you haven't been there yet. Don't poo poo it until you actually see the place. There's a reason everyone is telling you about the CM ...

PixiStix · 03-10-2010, 11:33 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by domergurl

There's a Bouncer Planet in Noblesville.

And don't underestimate the Children's Museum. You may say "it's just one place" ... it kind of sounds like you haven't been there yet. Don't poo poo it until you actually see the place. There's a reason everyone is telling you about the CM ...

Because every time you go to the Children's Museum, there is something new to see!

We never got tired of going there.

mobyhead · 03-10-2010, 12:21 PM

The Barbie exhibit was pretty neat. This comes from a straight man too. :-)

domergurl · 03-10-2010, 05:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mobyhead

The Barbie exhibit was pretty neat. This comes from a straight man too. :-)

you'll see the world in pepto bismol pink for a week!!!

All 3 of my kids have taken preschool classes there (simply awesome!) and 2 of them have gone through Channel 6's weathercamp ... and have gotten themselves on tv every time ... watch out for domergurl's kidlets this summer!

bpinsky33 · 03-11-2010, 05:56 AM

Thank you everyone for your suggestions. To clarify the stroller question. I simply want to know where you can push the stroller around in the store. Both my wife and I are tall and we don't want to kick the stroller as we try to push it. Babies R Us has a very limited amount of strollers. I was simply trying to figure out where else I could possibly shop.
Thanks