Best Things to Do in Spokane With Kids
Photo:
The incredible Ice Age Floods playground at Spokane’s Riverfront Park. Credit: Natasha Dillinger
Play all day by the river
Spokane’s incredible Riverfront Park offers — count ’em — three play spaces, two splash areas and a carousel!
Start by testing your bravery on the epically tall slides at the 40,000-square-foot Ice Age Floods playground, just completed last year. The darkest blue tube slide is pitch black in the middle, which scared me and a few other parents, but not the kids excitedly spiraling down. Learn about the floods that shaped this area while digging for fossils or frolicking at the splash pad.
Next, head to the iconic “Childhood Express,” a gigantic Radio Flyer wagon sculpture. Capture the perfect photo op as your kids slide down the handle.
Did you spot some litter on your walk? The Garbage Goat is just around the corner — this quirky iron sculpture was installed as part of the 1974 World’s Fair and will eat any trash you feed into its vacuum mouth.
We loved our ride on the historic Looff Carrousel, built in 1909. (Yes, they spell it with a double “r”!) Choose a hand-carved horse on the outside loop if you want to reach for colorful plastic rings to toss into the Garbage Goat façade on the perimeter. A rare and lucky bronze one will win you a free ride.
Stop off at the Rotary Fountain if it’s a hot summer day; this and the other splash pad are open seasonally from May through September. But your year-round destination is Providence Playscape. The first inclusive playground in Spokane, this fenced-in play area offers accessible teeter-totters and swings, musical moments and the most glittery play sand I’ve ever seen.
Next up: get moving
