I’ve lived in and near the Peoria area my entire life and a pretty common statement I found myself saying is “There’s nothing to do in Peoria!”. The truth is, there are a ton of things to do in Peoria (case in point, check out the Peoria Macaroni Kid calendar!). Now being a mom of a two year old, I’m constantly looking for activities to keep him active and around other children.
I’ve found a couple of hidden gems that are a little outside of the normal family activities (movies, arcades, etc). This is by no means a comprehensive list, but we’ve found them to be quite enjoyable and keep my active toddler busy learning new things.
1. Bicycle Safety Town – My son is a little ways off from being able to ride a bike, but he absolutely loves to push his Little Tikes car around. This facility has a decent sized space to run around and burn off some steam. It’s small enough to keep an eye on multiple children at one time and also fenced in, so I’m never worried about someone running off. It also has a great little playground for smaller children to play in, in the event that your child or children aren’t big enough to handle a bike yet.
2. Gymnastics – I can’t ever see my children being master gymnasts, but I couldn’t find an indoor activity that I thought he would find interesting. We enrolled him just before turning 2 years old and it has been really neat to see him learn everything in the 4 months he has been in the program. During his short time he has grown leaps and bounds (pun intended) in his social skills including waiting his turn and sharing, and his physical ability as well. It’s quite impressive to see how long a 2 year old can hang while holding on to a bar! We personally decided to go to Jump Start, since we had previously been there for birthday parties, but there are some others in town as well (i.e Elite Gymnastics). Many of these facilities have open play time in case you just want the kids to burn off some steam on a rainy day!
3. Forest Park Nature Center – If you want to see some great trails in Peoria, Forest Park a great place to go! There are trails from beginner to advanced. Some areas are even okay to take a stroller or you can also get a baby carrier for smaller children on the more intermediate to advanced trails. Forest Park also has some classes you can enroll children ages 2-12+ if you want something more organized. All classes have some type of an educational component and a hike, when weather permits. It’s also extremely reasonable if you are trying to be more money conscious or have a larger family!
4. Donovan Park – You love nature, but don’t love the heat or sun? Donovan Park has a great observatory where you can view the night sky between dusk-11pm on Saturday nights. This is a great activity to do with the older kids. They will love the idea of staying up late. You could make a night of it and finish with s’mores back at house by campfire!
If you’re still wanting more suggestions on things for you and your family to do in Peoria, come check out RiverPlex’s Fit Families. We will be exploring parks within the Peoria Park District that families can enjoy together and stay active!
