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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

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

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

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

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

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

The Radio Disney event was nothing like what I had conjured up in my mind. I thought this was going to take place in one of the many large buildings on the Indiana State Fairgrounds but I was wrong. I was also surprised to find out that, although the event was free, the fairgrounds charged $5 to get in and park. There was only one entrance open so there was no choice but to pay the $5 to get in.

Still holding on to the picture in my mind of entering a large building with rows of exhibition booths and a stage for the concert, I was shocked when this is what I saw:

It looked more like a kid-sized state fair. There were a few food booths scattered around. The ones serving cold items were the favorites since the temperature was hovering near 90 degrees. There were all kinds of booths with great activities and crafts for the children to participate in.

A Few Of My Favorite Things

Turbana

The first exhibit I came to was the Turbana tent. Turbana manufactures many flavors of plantain chips. I’ve never tasted a plantain let alone a plantain chip but they were giving away small packages of chips so I won’t be able to say that for much longer. There were several other free items too.

There was also a foam banana, a real banana and a cute button and coloring page presented by The Produce Mom.

The Girl Scouts of Central Indiana

The Girl Scouts of Central Indiana had a booth where they used homemade solar ovens to cook s’mores.

Girl Scout's of Central Indiana - Solar Oven

Although they didn’t have instructions with them to show how to make the ovens, one of the ladies described it for me and I found these instructions on the internet: Making A Pizza Box Solar Oven. You were able to cook and eat the s’mores you made…yum!

Rhythm! Discovery Center

This is a place I want to visit but just haven’t made it yet. Rhythm! Discovery Center is an interactive percussion museum. They had several drums set up and some cute shakers for the kids to make their own music. It looked like it was a real popular place.

A Critter’s Chance

A Critter’s Chance is at the top of my favorites list. I love and respect the job they are doing for the rehabilitation and rescue of exotic animals. For a small $2 donation they would take your picture with one of their rescue animals. I donated $2 to help them out and was able to get a great picture for my blog.

Four Willows Farm

At the Four Willows Farm exhibit you were able to get a ride on a horse. I saw “kids” of all ages getting rides.

If you have been thinking about taking riding lessons, Four Willows Farms is a training facility that specializes in American Saddlebred training, showing and riding instruction.

Indiana Horse Rescue

I don’t believe I could word any better what Indiana Horse Rescue is all about than they do in their mission statement:
“To provide a caring, positive environment for those horses that have either been neglected, abused, abandoned, and/or are at risk of going to slaughter. We will place these horses in an environment that benefits both the horse and the adoptive family.”
They do not receive any state funding but wholly rely on the support of caring individuals that have a heart for neglected and abandoned horses.
This is the adorable little gal they had at their exhibit for the kids to enjoy. I loved what they did with her mane.

My Conclusions on the Day

This event may not have been what I pictured in my mind; it was actually so much more. You may have noticed that I didn’t mention the concert. I actually didn’t stay for the concert. I was more interested in finding out what type of activities there were to enjoy with your children.

As you can see from the few exhibits I posted, there was a lot to do even if you weren’t interested in attending the concert. The one thing that disappointed me is that I am an “old school” Disney fan and I didn’t see much that actually related to Disney at all. There were a couple of Disney backdrops for picture opportunities and there was a set of balloon Mickey and Minnie Mouse on the concert stage but other than that, not much to make you think of Disney.

Regardless of my disappointment in there not being much that reminded me of Disney, there were a lot of fun things to do with your children. I would definitely go again and for the mere price of $5 for parking it was a great deal.

If you took your family out to enjoy the day, please leave a comment here and on my facebook page of how much you enjoyed your day. If you took any pictures you would be willing to share I would love to see them. Just post them on the Love to Laugh and Learn facebook page.

Attractions
Review: Conner Prairie on President’s Day (with a 2 yr old)