Sacramento is a HOT town in the summer. With kids under 5, what is there to do? These are our favorite things to do- in no particular order
- Visit Fairytale Town with packed lunch in tow. Even on hot summer days, Fairytale town has plenty of shady trees to keep most slides cool and the grassy areas always have shade. I recommend parking the in parking lot because there’s shade, otherwise your car seats will be burning hot!
Our favorite time to visit are weekdays because it’s not super busy. On special days, we may stop by Fortune Chinese Take Out Food (2805 12th Ave, Sacramento, CA 95817) afterwards. If it’s Sweet Saturday, we may stop by Japanese Bakery Mahoroba Japanese Bakery (4900 Freeport Blvd, Sacramento, CA 95822) BEFORE. Chinese is closed on Mondays and Pastries usually sell out before noon on the weekends. - Visit local Splash Pads. It’s great for little ones. Don’t forget Sunscreen, pool shoes (because the ground can get HOT), beach towels, bubbles, buckets, watering can, snacks, WATER, and beach towels. Sometimes we drive 20-30 minutes away from our home just to try something new but the lovely thing about very young children is they like routine, so although you may feel like visiting the same splash park feel monotonous, they love it because it is familiar. These are some of our favorites.
Oasis Park- Pros: Large, lot of kids to play with, restroom is adjacent to splashpad, huge playground for when it gets cooler but it’s on the other side of the park so if you have multiple small children you’ll have to choose one activity at a time. Sand pit in the playground area has a water feature that allows kids to pump out water. Cons: Limited shade (there is some but not much), during busy times benches are all taken up, the railings in the playground aren’t very close so must watch littlest ones more carefully
Deer Okamoto Park- Pros: Playground and restroom are right next to the splash area, usually not as busy as Oasis, the playground for little ones have smaller gaps in the rails. Cons: NO shade next to splash area
North Natomas Ball Park- Pros: Has a Large park with epic playground BUT no small kid playground, Baseball theme park with wide open fields, Farmer’s Market Saturdays in the Summer 8AM-Noon, View incoming and departing Airplanes landing at Sacramento International because park is in the flight path. Outdoor stage kids can play on. Close to many retailers and food establishments Con: Splash park is relatively small, if your kid is just learning to walk this playground may not be the best. However, there’s always plenty of big kids to play with so if they are older, it’s a REALLY great park!
White Rock Community Splash Pad- Pro: Good price: Free unless you’d like to go on the slide, for the smallest slide, friends must be 36 inches. Slide pass is $1 a session. Cons: A little too intense for extra small friends. Not very shady.
Stone Creek Community Park- Pro: Perfect place to watch airplanes with very little ones during the California Capital Airshow. Loud but not deafening, free, and kids can run around and play. Cons: occasionally smells of recreational marijuana - Visit Sacramento Railroad Museum. On hot summer days, park in the parking garage otherwise, your car seats will be unbearably. I learned the hard way how hot seat belts can get. The museum itself is always cool inside, there’s plenty of space to move around and best part is the toy trains upstairs.
- Sacramento Children’s Museum in Rancho Cordova. We are so happy they are letting families stay for more than 1.5 hours now. My children absolutely love this place. It can get a little crowded and not all children are the most well behaved so coming with a patient and compassionate heart for friends who are still learning is a MUST. The bathrooms are really fun and bring a change of clothes because they are bound to get wet in the water play area. Loved this place when I had a small baby because they have a special area for extra little friends.
- Ikea in West Sacramento has a wonderful view of the freeway in the cafeteria area. My children love meeting for lunch and watching cars and trucks go by. They love looking around and trying the furniture. I love their prices on batteries, home goods, and unique snacks.
What’s your favorite thing to do in the Greater Sacramento area with little kids when it is scorching hot outside?