It’s an indisputable fact that Minnesota is known for its cold weather. However, it needs to be said that it isn’t winter here 12 months out of the year.
When the summer is here and we can get outside in bare feet and sundresses and shorts, we take full advantage of the beautiful outdoors. FFTC has collected quite a few ways to enjoy being outside with gardens and bike trails and hiking trails and playgrounds. This is like all the outdoor fun that doesn’t involve getting wet, though there are some opportunities in this list of places where you can get wet if you choose to.
Twin Cities Free Summer Concerts & Entertainment for Kids
Low-key, open-ended and FREE – aren’t park days are just the best when it comes to combating summer boredom? Our fair Twin Cities are simply stuffed with lovely parks that offer imaginative playgrounds, splash pads, picnic shelters, nature trails and free entertainment that gets little toes tapping. We’ve collected the lineups for all the best, free and exclusively for kids entertainment in the parks this summer. Read More →
Twin Cities Bike Rodeos & Events Round-up
Hear that? It’s the sound of thousands of wheels happily spinning in anticipation of young bikers taking to trails across the Twin Cities. May is National Bike Month! What better excuse to pull the bikes out of the garage, have them checked over and give the kids a refresher on their riding skills. Many communities host special events in the springtime to generate excitement – and teach safety precautions – around this wonderful pastime. Read More →
The Best St Paul Bike Trails for Families
Saint Paul is a very friendly city to explore by bike, filled with parks, lakes, and a vibrant riverfront. Read More →
The Best Minneapolis Bike Trails for Families
Minneapolis is a wonderful city to explore by bike, filled with parks, lakes, and an exciting downtown riverfront. Planning to bring the kids along? Read More →
The Best Bike Trails in the Twin Cities Northeast Metro
Check out our favorite bike paths around the northeast metro. Read More →
Public Flower Gardens: Twin Cities Parks With Beautiful Gardens to Explore
My five year old was a flower aficionado. She was always the first to tell me when a new flower had made an appearance in one of our gardens. We would go for a walk nearly daily to check out the flowers around our neighborhood. We still have favorite places (we named one “the butterfly house”), and we love when we find a new garden. Our wish list carries an ever growing list of flowers we’ve found and love and want for our own garden. It makes sense then that we would love to visit parks with especially beautiful gardens when we plan our destinations. The following list is our growing collection of Public Flower Gardens where we can explore.
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Kid-Friendly Hikes: 10 Twin Cities Hiking Trails That Are One Mile or Less
Minnesota does not lack places to hike. The bigger problem we have hitting the trails with beginner hikers and small children is the fear we will get a mile away from anywhere and have a child who suddenly has to go number 2 or can’t walk another step and now needs to be carried. Read More →
Boat Rides and More in the Twin Cities
Summer is the time for boat rides in Minnesota. In the Land of 10,000 Lakes, it’s impossible to go anywhere without running into a body of water. You can enjoy the water in a variety of ways–wading, swimming, fishing–but you will never regret getting out in the middle of the water, i.e. on a fishing boat, speed boat, canoe, kayak, paddle board, etc. Read More →
Family Fun Idea: StoryWalk
No arm-twisting is necessary to get our kids out the door to the park or to pick up a book (and coincidentally, we’ve had a peaceful, satisfying summer!) So here’s what I find so cool about the StoryWalk program, which unites these classic indoor-outdoor summer activities: it turns us on to new (to us) authors and takes us to parks not normally on our radar. Read More →
9 Twin Cities Waterfalls to Visit With Kids
Waterfalls have a magical appeal to them and we are extremely lucky to have different ones to explore and discover in the Twin Cities during your waterfall adventure. Read More →
9 Twin Cities Metro-Area Minnesota State Parks
In 2003, mere weeks from our wedding date, my future husband and I picked up a Minnesota State Parks Passport Club kit from one of the park nature shops. What a wonderful way to step off on our life together, I recall thinking, by flitting around Minnesota exploring all 70+ state parks and recreation areas. Get your passport stamped at each one and receive — along with bragging rights, of course — a personalized commemorative plaque. Oh, I could see that plaque right then, hanging on some future living room wall. Read More →
12 Minnesota Sculpture Parks to Visit with Kids
We have more than a handful of sculpture parks within the Twin Cities metro featuring beautiful and unusual sculptures in natural outdoor settings. Bonus, many of these parks are also dedicated to sustainability and conservation of natural resources with special stormwater management and native plants incorporated into their beautiful landscapes. Read More →
10 of the Best Twin Cities Playgrounds
Summer is the perfect time to leave the beaten path around the neighborhood park and explore some of the more unique playgrounds in the Twin Cities. We’ve been trekking to all corners of the metro to find and share new places to climb, slide, splash, swim and entertain your little bundles of energy this summer. And we found tons to do! Here’s our list of the 10 Best Playgrounds: Read More →