Toddler Activities in the Mid-West!

Cartman78

Hey guys,

Am on parental leave next month with an extremely active and inquisitive 20 month old toddler/mini-action man

Would be grateful for any recommendations on activities to help keep the tantrums at bay?

We haven't been to any of the various petting farms etc around the place yet so would be grateful for any reviews/do's and don'ts for these types of places.


Open to all suggestions - have done a good bit of Googling but nothing jumping out at the moment. Willing to travel to Clare, Tipp too.

Thanks in advance cm

Knit wit

Went to the donkey sanctuary on Sunday last in Liscarroll (about 45mins from limerick) - it's lovely. My 2 year old loved it - donkeys are her new favourite animal ... bring a picnic (there's a small shop for ice-cream, sweets, coffee and souvenirs) - it takes a little less than an hour to walk around - and is buggy friendly.

We're only new to limerick so as I find things to do I'll post them here.

Enjoy your parental leave!

angelll

St gabriels hydrotherapy pool have a couple of parent & toddler sessions every week, we love it as the pool is kept at a good temp and not freezing like most! Delta adventure prob do a parent and toddler morning, i know tons of fun did/do, not sure about the one near the parkway. Gymboree do classes in clare : http://www.playandmusic.ie/b2c/location/Clare/Clare.shtml Will come back with more as i think of them.

iguana

Tons of Fun and Delta don't do toddler mornings during the school holidays but you can still go for general play. The toddler area in Delta is superior, imo, as it's bigger and completely enclosed so you don't have to worry about your little guy being bowled over by a bunch of overexcited 9 year olds. Lots of comfy couches right in the toddler area too, so you might get a minute to sit with a coffee with him in full view. That said I have taken my 20mo to Tons of Fun plenty of times at weekends and he has never come to any harm despite his insistence on running about in the thick of it with the bigger kids. Word of warning though about Delta, they have a whole bunch of activities and supermarket style rides that cost extra on top of the entry charge, so be prepared for that. I'll let my little guy sit on them if he wants but I won't put money in as he'll always expect it.

All that said, imo, it's too nice out at the minute to waste money on indoor play. The People's Park has a great playground with an excellent toddler climbing frame, 4 toddler swings and lots of interesting bits for play. Bring a ball along for a kickabout in the grass too. If your little guy has a late bedtime he might enjoy the free Proms in the Park, movie theme night that's on tomorrow evening. Castletroy Park also has a lovely playground. I find Clare St park playground a bit disappointing compared to the other two but if it's local it's worth a visit and you could always bring some bread to feed the ducks in the canal behind it and in a month or so, you could go blackberry picking along the banks.

Swiper the fox

The new playground in Adare is absolutely fantastic, you'd pay good money to go into it if they were charging. Cratloe playground is excellent also, you don't want to be in an indoor play area this time of the year. In town the Shelbourne park has the best playground, the one in the peoples park badly needs a few quid spent on it.

Vinz Mesrine

I know it's not in Limerick but there is a fantastic new park in Newmarket on Fergus. It is absolutely huge and has everything you could want/need in a play park.

Cartman78

Just a quick update on my own question -

Took a spin out to Spanish Point yesterday and stopped off in the new (?) Super Value in Milltown Malbay to get a few bits and bobs.....there's a really fabulous playground there, easily the best I've seen so far.

Deffo worth checking out if you're in the part of the world and need a break from the car. Had stuff for all ages (unlike some playgrounds)....had a cool little fort style thingy with 3 slides which was perfect for my fella and at the far side a zip-wire style apparatus for 10+ yr olds.

Anyway, thanks for all the replies so far, much appreciated

Swiper the fox

I see that the playground in the crescent is built and ready to go, not open yet though (not last Saturday anyway). Looked a bit meh considering the standard of some of the playgrounds that have gone up around the country in recent years. Still it's well overdue for the Southside of the city.
Interesting reading here about Newmarket and Milltown, I haven't been to either of these, hopefully I'll remember to check them out next time we're in the areas. Have you been to the Adare playground yet? I'd probably have that at the top of my list for the mid west area.

Poxyshamrock

Swiper the fox wrote: »

I see that the playground in the crescent is built and ready to go, not open yet though (not last Saturday anyway). Looked a bit meh considering the standard of some of the playgrounds that have gone up around the country in recent years. Still it's well overdue for the Southside of the city.

A shopping centre car park seems like a strange place to put a playground what with all the traffic around.

Swiper the fox

Poxyshamrock wrote: »

A shopping centre car park seems like a strange place to put a playground what with all the traffic around.

Strange place indeed but it's better than nothing IMO. It's actually laughable that for the massive suburbs of Dooradoyle and Raheen there was no playground until now. As well as this the closest one to them is the Park in town which is a terrible amenity, the flooring there is a death trap after a shower of rain and is just a poor playground all round considering the quality of some others.

Mr. G

Swiper the fox wrote: »

I see that the playground in the crescent is built and ready to go, not open yet though (not last Saturday anyway). Looked a bit meh considering the standard of some of the playgrounds that have gone up around the country in recent years. Still it's well overdue for the Southside of the city.
Interesting reading here about Newmarket and Milltown, I haven't been to either of these, hopefully I'll remember to check them out next time we're in the areas. Have you been to the Adare playground yet? I'd probably have that at the top of my list for the mid west area.

Not a lot of traffic there since the SuperValu is off the road and not next to it. If anyone is trying to find a nice similar playground and is in North Clare, there is a playground beside the tennis courts behind the health centre in Lisdoonvarna. Zip wire there also.

Cartman78

Here's an update on what we've been up to so far:

* Stonehall Farm - fantastic afternoon spent here...we were lucky with the weather. Really impressed with it myself....very well maintained and safe for the smallies. My little guy loved it...if anything he couldn't take it all in so might have another trip in the autumn.

* Castletroy/Newtown Playground and Park - lovely playground for toddlers...2 fort style thingys with steps, slides etc. Been there a couple of times actually and the adjacent park is a great spot for picnics and generally running about shouting at birds :pac:

* Adare Playground - this is more of an adventure/activity centre than a playground really. Might be suited slightly better to 3yrs+, although my guy loved the mini-trampoline and the tunnels (and of course the fort style thingy even if he struggled to climb up it)

* Formula for Fun - had a good morning here, would rate it higher than Tons of Fun

* Grove Island Pool - first time in a pool other that St.Gabriels so the cooler water temperature was a bit of a shock at first :eek: Had good craic on the water slide, but need to invest in armbands for the next time

All good so far...will update again in a few days

iguana

Cartman78 wrote: »

* Formula for Fun - had a good morning here, would rate it higher than Tons of Fun

Really? Formula is my local but I don't really rate it. My biggest bugbear has to be the huge, eye-level to a toddler display of sweets for sale. It's not been a problem for us yet but it's designed to tantalise the kids and put them in full pester-power mode. It's the same as the coin operated rides at Delta. You pay enough to get into these places, especially people with more than one child, you shouldn't be under constant pressure to buy more.

Formula also has the smallest play area and it's the worst designed in terms of safety. My 21mo has no problem climbing right to the top all by himself and 3 times on our last visit I had to dash up after him to stop him going head first into the snake slide which he thinks is a tunnel. In Tons the more dangerous stuff is on higher levels with much higher steps, so he can only go to the higher levels with my help. I can let him play by himself, knowing he can only get off the groundfloor in one small area that's specifically designed for small kids. That said I was thinking of signing him up for one of the Kinder classes that they run in Formula, they look pretty good.

iguana

I keep meaning to go out to Adare, must do it when the weather is a bit better. Cratloe Woods also has a lovely playground.

Is there a special kids pool at Grove Island? I've never gotten around to going swimming with the little guy yet, so I'm not sure how he'd take to it.

Swiper the fox

iguana wrote: »

I keep meaning to go out to Adare, must do it when the weather is a bit better. Cratloe Woods also has a lovely playground.

Is there a special kids pool at Grove Island? I've never gotten around to going swimming with the little guy yet, so I'm not sure how he'd take to it.

Adare is brilliant, much better playground than Cratloe IMO but it isn't in such a nice location unfortunately.
I took someones advice from this thread and went out to Newmarket on Fergus last week with the four kids. I was very impressed, it's probably even better than Adare(quite similar) and is in a nice park with walks etc.

Formula for fun is my favourite of those indoor places also but I can see iguana's point about the sweets. Delta could be great but they've let it go to crap, it was too big for a start, maintenance must be impossible.

Knit wit

My hubbie took my dd to the cresent playground yesterday - neither were impressed - not enough variety for toddlers - and just two little swings - won't be rushing back

HattieMcDoogal

iguana wrote: »

Is there a special kids pool at Grove Island? I've never gotten around to going swimming with the little guy yet, so I'm not sure how he'd take to it.

Yep, there is a shallow toddler pool beside the main pool.

Hamstring

HattieMcDoogal wrote: »

Yep, there is a shallow toddler pool beside the main pool.

That pool is split into 2 parts, one is a kiddies pool probably a foot or so deep (has a fountain in the middle of it that comes on without warning)...then you can go into the 2nd section which is deeper (i'm guessing 2-2.5feet) which they use for teaching kids to swim.

Hamstring

HattieMcDoogal wrote: »

Yep, there is a shallow toddler pool beside the main pool.

That pool is split into 2 parts, one is a baby/toddler pool probably a foot or so deep (has a fountain in the middle of it that comes on without warning)...then you can go into the 2nd section which is deeper (i'm guessing 2-2.5feet) which they use for teaching kids to swim.

gavinhenson

Knit wit wrote: »

My hubbie took my dd to the cresent playground yesterday - neither were impressed - not enough variety for toddlers - and just two little swings - won't be rushing back

What exactly were you expecting? It's not Disney Land.

unichick

Where abouts is Castletroy public park? Would it be suitable for nice walks with a baby?

Swiper the fox

unichick wrote: »

Where abouts is Castletroy public park? Would it be suitable for nice walks with a baby?

t's directly opposite Castletroy college (secondary school). It isn't the most scenic park or anything but it's fine if you want a bit of exercise.

unichick

There's family fun in Delta Sports Dome every Tues & Fri at 10.30. Music, rhymes, plenty of toys for kids to play with. It's only €5. Think it's on Sat soon too.