Love to Laugh and Learn

Fun and interesting learning activities to do with the children in your life

  • Home
  • About Me
  • Attractions
  • Recipes
  • Privacy Policy

Sledding: A Family Friendly Event

February 23, 2015 by Mama Carmody 4 Comments

Sledding: A Family Friendly Event

Sledding is a great family friendly event. People of all ages can enjoy it. In Indiana, you never know the amount of snow you will get during a winter season. Last winter, we received enough snow to last for three winters (at least in my opinion). This winter we have had a lot of bitter cold temperatures but not much snow. This weekend, Indianapolis received approximately 6 inches of snow and, with the predicted temperatures, it should stay around most of the week.

The house I grew up in sat on three quarters of an acre. The front yard had a perfect slope for sledding so we never had to look for a sledding hill. I realize not everyone is that lucky, so today my husband and I headed to a couple of Indy’s local sledding hills to gather some information, just for you.

Butler Hill

I’ve spent the majority of my life in Indianapolis so I had heard about Butler Hill but had never been there. I grew up hearing how great the sledding hills were at Butler but it was not what I expected. There are two hills and they are actually behind the end zones of Butler’s football field. The hills aren’t real tall but they have enough slope and length for adults as well as kids, to get a good ride. Do watch out for the goal posts.

Family Friendly Events: Sledding at Butler Hill
Family Friendly Events: Sledding at Butler Hill

Fort Benjamin Harrison State Park Sledding Hill

Our second stop was at Fort Benjamin Harrison State Park. We spend a lot of time at the foot of the sledding hill each summer. I am usually sitting in a lawn chair, listening to one of the bands my husband participates in. This was the first time we experienced the hill with snow on it. It is a fairly large hill. There was plenty of action happening here. There was all types of equipment; sleds, snowboards, inner tubes, etc.. As I was facing the hill, I noticed the right side was getting a lot more use than the left. I believe there was a bit of a dip in the middle of the hill which made the ride a little more exciting.

Family Friendly Events: Sledding at Fort Benjamin Harrison State Park
Family Friendly Events: Sledding at Fort Benjamin Harrison State Park

My Recommendations

Both places offer great sledding. At my current stage of life, I believe I prefer Butler Hill. The two little guys in my life are 1 and 3 years old. I think I would rather drag sleds and corral little ones on the smaller hills at Butler. But I know, in the not too distant future, those two little guys will have grown enough that they will want the adventure of the bigger hill at Fort Ben. At that point, I might just have to drag along my lawn chair so I can sit at the bottom of the hill and watch them zoom up and down the hill.

Where is your favorite place to go sledding?

Here are some other Indy Sledding Hills you might want to check out:

Brookside Park
3500 Brookside Pkwy S. Dr.

Butler Hill
On the football field (Butler Bowl) next to Hinkle Fieldhouse
510 W 49th St, Indianapolis, IN 46208

Christian Park
4200 English Ave.

Ellenberger Park
5301 St. Clair

Fort Benjamin Harrison State Park
6000 N. Post Road
Indianapolis, IN 46216

Garfield Park
2450 S. Shelby St.

Glenns Valley
8015 Bluff Road

Paul Ruster Park
11300 E. Prospect St.

Rhodius Park
1001 S. Belmont St.

Southeastway Park
5624 South Carroll Road

Filed Under: Attractions and Events, Reviews Tagged With: Butler sledding hill, family friendly activities, family friendly events, Fort Benjamin Harrison State Park, Fort Harrison sledding hill, Indianapolis, Indianapolis sledding hills, Indy, Indy Family Friendly Activities, Indy Family Friendly Events, sledding, sledding hills, snow, winter

Review – Hoosier Outdoor Experience at Fort Benjamin Harrison State Park

September 30, 2013 by Mama Carmody 14 Comments

Hoosier Outdoor Experience at Fort Benjamin Harrison State Park, Review

Saturday and Sunday, September 20 & 21, was the 5th Hoosier Outdoor Experience at Fort Benjamin Harrison State Park. This was my first year to attend and I really regret that I hadn’t gone before. Of course, I hadn’t heard of it before but I had such a blast that I wish I HAD known and gone before.

This is such a big event (and free, I might add) that you can’t drive into the park on these two days. You park just a little distance from the State Park and they shuttle you in on buses. When I saw the line waiting on the buses I thought we would be there forever but that wasn’t the case. Four buses pulled up, they counted us off and directed us to the one we were to board and we were on our way. I don’t believe we waited in line anymore than 10 minutes. Here is a picture of where we started at:

Love to Laugh and Learn: Standing in Line at Hoosier Outdoor Experience
Love to Laugh and Learn: Standing in Line at Hoosier Outdoor Experience

The buses dropped us off at the Welcome area. From the Welcome area we could walk to many activities. We could also catch shuttles that would take us to other areas of the park where activities were happening.

We started with the activities around the Welcome area. There were 25 different activities in this area. We didn’t get to all of them but I will share with you the ones that we did participate in.

We headed to the Teepee first. It was huge. I love anything that has to do with Native American Indians.

Love to Laugh and Learn: Teepee at Hoosier Outdoor Experience
Love to Laugh and Learn: Teepee at Hoosier Outdoor Experience

On our way to the Teepee we stopped by this huge piece of machinery to find out what it was. We found out it was a piece of equipment to dig wells. At this spot, I learned a new word, along with the 5 year old that was with us. The word was aquifer. According to the Merriam-Webster online dictionary, an aquifer is, “a layer of rock or sand that can absorb and hold water”. Children were able to build their own aquifers with wells at this station. They used a straw as the well and then placed different types of rock and soils around the well. Water was then poured over the soil. Finally a “pump” was placed in the well. The pump was a pump from a bottle of hand soap. The children were then able to pump the water from the well. I found it quite fascinating.

We stopped and watched several children and adults playing games at the Outdoor Craft and Game Exhibit but we didn’t participate. We then went to the Girl Scout Outdoor Fun area where we played with bubbles…even the adults (me included) got our hands soapy.

Love to Laugh and Learn: Blowing Bubbles at Hoosier Outdoor Experience
Love to Laugh and Learn: Blowing Bubbles at Hoosier Outdoor Experience

The 5 year old spotted the the sledding hill. There were children running up the hill and either running back down or rolling down. He said he had never rolled down a hill before so he and his dad went to roll down the hill while we went to get all of us some food. The food was delicious and at surprisingly reasonable prices. My husband got 2 hot dogs and a bag of chips for $4 and I got an ear of roasted corn for $3 (2 for $5).

At this point we headed over to the Shuttle to ride to another section but when we got over there we found a tractor and a wagon taking people on a hayride. We climbed on and got a tour of the west end of the park. It was relaxing and fun.

Love to Laugh and Learn: Hayride at Hoosier Outdoor Experience
Love to Laugh and Learn: Hayride at Hoosier Outdoor Experience

After the hayride we climbed onto the Green Shuttle so we could head over to the NRA Shooting Sports Spectrum. Luckily for us, our shuttle driver got a little confused and missed our turn. The reason I say “luckily” is because we ended up running out of time and weren’t able to go to the activities in the “Red” section. At least we were able to get a glance of the activities in that area when we rode through. There were 19 different activities spread out over the “Red” area. Naming just a few of the activities; there was basic fishing, kayaking and critter chat.

Once our driver was back on track, we headed to the “Green” section and were finally dropped off at the NRA Shooting Sports Spectrum. In this area we had the opportunity to participate in archery, air rifle, shotgun and crossbow. Since the lines were a little long we only took the time for the archery. Next year I’m going to find time to try all of them.

We climbed back on the Green Shuttle to go a little further down the road. We found 8 more activities in this area. The activities in this area were very popular and the lines were very long. We wanted to do the off-road rides but the wait was 45 minutes so we decided against that. We also wanted to try the horseback riding but you had to be over 8 years old and we had a 5 year old with us so that was out of the question. We thought we would bring the 5 year old back for the pony rides (the lines weren’t nearly as long for them) but we ran out of time.

The last activity we participated in was the Tiny Tots Mini-Bikes. Although our little guy doesn’t usually like to wait in lines when he saw he was going to be able to ride a motorized bike he decided he could wait. We ended up waiting for about an hour and a half but according to the expression on his face it was worth it. After the ride, he said he was glad we waited. I was glad too when I saw how much he enjoyed it. They did a wonderful job of instructing and supervising the young riders. There was an adult assigned to each rider. They gave the rider clear directions and practice before they were turned loose to drive around the track. It was fun to watch.

Love to Laugh and Learn: Motorized Mini-Bikes at Hoosier Outdoor Experience
Love to Laugh and Learn: Motorized Mini-Bikes at Hoosier Outdoor Experience

After the ride on the Mini-Bikes we caught the shuttle and headed back to the Welcome area where we caught the bus to take us back to our car.

I must say that I absolutely love and recommend the Hoosier Outdoor Experience. I plan to attend again next year. I may even go on both Saturday and Sunday to make sure I get to experience everything they have to offer.

*Disclosure: I was in no way compensated or asked by anyone to do this review. All opinions are mine. I have done this to help my readers find great family friendly events.

Other Reviews That Might Be Of Interest

Review: PBS Kids in the Park
Review: BounceU of Fishers, IN
Review: Chase 500 Festival Kids’ Day
Review: Christmas on Monument Circle, Indianapolis
Review: Conner Prairie on President’s Day (with a 2 year old)
Review: Conner Prairie with Young Children – update
Review: Radio Disney Event, Indianapolis 2012
Studio Movie Grill Review
Review: Rhythm! Discovery Center
Review: Peanut Butter and Jam Concerts at the Center for the Performing Arts, in Carmel

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...

Filed Under: Articles, Reviews Tagged With: family friendly, family friendly activities, family friendly events, Fort Benjamin Harrison, Fort Benjamin Harrison State Park, Hoosier, Hoosier Outdoor Experience, learning opportunities, Outdoor

Subscribe

  • Facebook
  • Pinterest
  • Twitter
  • Instagram

Don’t Miss This Great Book

Categories

  • Articles
  • Attractions and Events
  • Autumn/Fall
  • Children's Books
  • Christmas
  • Coloring Pages
  • Colors
  • Community Helpers
  • Contest
  • Cooking with Kids
  • eBundles
  • Gardening
  • Halloween
  • Holidays
  • Learning Activities
  • Music
  • Reviews
  • Sensory Bins
  • Shapes
  • Thanksgiving
  • Uncategorized

Follow Me on Bloglovin

Follow on Bloglovin
Subscribe via RSS

Recent Posts

  • Mother’s Day Memory Jar and Free Printable Card
  • Favorite Mother’s Day Handprint and Footprint Crafts
  • Dig into Gardening: Fun Activities, Science Projects, and Healthy Eating Tips
  • “Someone I Love Has Gone to Heaven”
  • Love to Learn about the Nativity
  • The Lame Valentine Sensory Bin
  • Hearts: Learning Activities for Shapes
  • Martin Luther King, Jr. Day Activities

Check This Out

Holiday Toy List – STEM Toys

Books

US Family Guide

USFamilyGuide.com

Recent Comments

  • Mama Carmody on Your Favorite Childhood Book
  • Lisa Smiley on Your Favorite Childhood Book
  • Harlow's Harvest on Eggs in a Nest: Cooking with Kids

Copyright © 2025 · Lifestyle Pro Theme on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in