A tucked away playground that isn't so secret…read more.. Found this playground through a friend who lives in the neighborhood. It's tucked away in suburbia and a collection of baseball diamonds. You wouldn't know it was here unless you live close by. Wonderful place to play! Must be new to the baseball diamonds. During COVID19 review: A playground that isn't so secret...Many visitors were here while we came out during the middle of a work day. There were a lot of kids running around including my own and a friend's. Kids were not social distant. Two kids wore masks while their mom had one on as well. The rest of the kids were not masked. The playground is super fun! Slides, slides, and more slides. Rubber playground surfacing and updated equipment make it phenomenal. The mini zip line seat is the highlight! Rolling slide and horizontal rolling slide. Plenty of swings as well. The playground is an all inclusive one: accessible pieces of equipment that were created and designed that allows all children to play of different abilities, skills, and conditions. We love these playgrounds! Highly recommend visiting! Will be coming back if there are smaller crowds.

I live right by this park and raised 50 dollars to help fund it, unfortunately my brother stole and…read morespent it, but its the thought that counts. Its a great park for all ages, adults too. Its got a zipline and a seesaw and a huge play set. I recommend visiting. Its a miracle park for handicapped people. And there is a bathroom nearby but its usually locked unless the miracle field is being used. I love going here at least weekly if not more. If you stand from the park side of the (well kept) trail, and go right down the trail. After a five minute walk there is another fun park with a little library. You have to cross the street once though (if you have little runners). I recommend the miracle park no question it is an amazing resource for disabled children and is wheelchair accessible. If you want to know about more good parks in the area, walker johnston park, terra park, and if you are willing to go for a 35 minute ride from the north view park area (urbandale), big creek park. I will leave reviews on these three parks for more information. - local helper, Via w.

We were checking this out for a future trip with the grandkids. I think it's a must go…read more It's a little sparse, but we were talking to the guy at the front desk and he was talking about trying to get official accreditation. Once they get that they can expand. Everyone who worked there was marvelous. Chatty, friendly, and enthusiastic. The exhibits are wonderful. The highlight for me is the big tank in the center with the small sharks. It's well worth taking an hour or two. I'm looking forward to what they become, and maybe give them that other star.

Love it here! I like to go right when they open so you can spend a little extra time looking at the…read moreanimals before all the strollers appear. Thankfully there is water and aquariums all over so the sound is dispersed nicely. Animals appear well cared for. Staff seems to care for the animals & be knowledgeable. They are almost entirely rehabilitated animals as well that would never survive in the wild. It's great they have an opportunity to live here. I really enjoyed the bid feeding. There are so many little hungry birds that don't mind sitting on your hand or shoe. Groupon has GREAT deals for this place as well. Highly recommend as they are set up with snacks and room for events and sometimes have experts speak & themed events.

We opted for the DSM children's museum as a road trip break a few weekends ago. It was a great spot…read moreto stop and get our wiggles out. I appreciate that they have a designated snack area where we were able to enjoy some lunches we'd packed. They had plenty of differing play spaces for the kids - a cute little ice cream truck, a parachute/wind experiment , light play, climbing areas, post office and libraries for pretend play, etc. Overall, for our 2&3 y/o it was plenty of activity and excitement for an hour or two. But I gotta say, when you hold it up against the Omaha Children's Museum, it falls a little short. For starters, it's just one large room divided up into little sections along the walls and in the middle of varying types of play. In addition, there's a decent amount of the supplies and props that just seem to be lower quality. Again, my toddlers certainly did not mind any of these changes but sure how well it would hold an older child's attention.

This is a small children's museum located within the Valley West Mall. We visited on a Saturday…read moremorning and the shopping mall had very little foot traffic. In fact, it looked like there were several empty stores. The children's museum has play areas with different themes. There was a fishing boat, pizza company, house, ice cream parlor, farmer's market, and chicken coop. It is ideal for children under 7 years old and a good option for a rainy day.

A hidden gem in Des Moines?…read more We think so. We have ridden by here a lot on our bikes following the Neal Smith bike trail, which is another gem of the Des Moines area! It goes right by on the levy and you can see this park just off to the northwest. We have also been here for several concerts as part of the river view concert series that are hosted by the City of Des Moines and parks and recreation systems. They host a fantastic and safe party. Please keep doing this!!! They bring in vendors and food trucks to provide food and refreshments for the attendees. They are parked right of the sidewalk and easily accessible without being in the way! Whether or not there is something happening on the stage, the place is perfect to enjoy with kids of all ages. The park equipment is all newly installed, Ada compliant and have historical themes, based on the rides that used to be here when this was an amusement park. The place is great, check it out and check out my pictures!

Came here during 4th of July and it was so much fun! Two very cool bands played on the stage which…read morewas such a cool experience. Plenty of food trucks and beer options too. Parking was right across the bridge and there were outhouses available as well

Party of 2 Splatter and Smash. It was a blast! We tossed paint onto the canvas, the walls and each…read moreother! You can wear their ponchos or white shirt & change after. T here supply you with protective eyewear. The have a bin you can put your personal items in that stays in the private room with you. We brought a backpack with a change of clothes. Smash room was the best outlet for my pent up emotions! Breaking bottles, destroying printers, fax machines, telephone base, key boards.... With crowbars, a bat, hammer, mallet.... It was honestly therapeutic! They give you protective glasses and a face shield along with a jumpsuit. They go over the rules and you'll watch a short video. I laughed and raged so hard my muscles hurt. I didn't take pictures because....... It was just too fun to bother. Enjoy the moment here and just let go! You'll feel like a kid again!

Everyone is super friendly. Odd location in the mall tho. Registering was easy online. They provide…read morethe white hazmat shirt, eye glasses, face shield, & gloves. There's different size rooms. Music is SUPER LOUD. We were in a small room that had 2 metal bins, a printer, 2 keyboards, glass beer bottles you throw against some cinder blocks, a boxing maniquin, & a "stab" area where it was a table with foam and you stab with a screwdriver. There were hammers, crow bars & sledge hammers to help break things. There was 2 of us, not enough room in the small room. Def needed more items to smash as it was destroyed within 10-15 mins so the rest of the time it was just going back over the stuff we already broke up. But definitely an interesting experience. We want to go back for the paint room.

This place is actually pretty rad. For under 10 bucks you…read morecan give your kid a lot of hop for not much drop in the wallet department! Now usually these kinda places freak me out... cause I'm a germ a phobe but this place seemed pretty clean and hey when it's cold out and you need a little slide time this is a great option! There are plenty options for jumping and bumping here.. I will be back I bet!

Completely let us down - we had a major cultural event in Des Moines with over 4000 people turnout…read more Bounce houses were booked in advance, money was paid before the event - they were supposed to arrive at 10am, and I got a call at 12:06pm saying they couldn't arrive until around 1pm. Main crowd and families gathered between 11-2pm ... They still hadn't arrived by 1:30pm. Completely let us down ... NOT SHOWING UP at all. Got a refund but our event was ruined as we couldn't keep families at our festival long enough - kids couldn't enjoy the bounce houses. We had ordered 2 to ensure kids had something to do. NEVER HIRING FROM HOP-A-LOT again.

In all reality there are not that many places in town, where you can bring a kid in the winter and…read morepretty much let them run free and play and keep them occupied for over an hour! The DSM Children's Museum is one of those spots! Don't think of it like a normal Children's Museum, it's more like a big play zone, with all the stuff your kids love about going to pre school or school in general.. They can dress up like a construction worker, Make Pizza, play on a farm, balance on balance beams by a volcano.. You know all the fun stuff! I was here recently for a B-day party.. They have some separate rooms in the back perfect for hosting a crew for a bday! Bathrooms were clean and they do have hand sanitizer stations.. Which is probably a wise thing! This is a fun spot and heck they don't charge the parents to be here just the tikes! So that rules too!

Spock Sanctuary + Yelp = Super Sweet Event! We were blown…read moreaway by the hospitality given during this event. Loved how everything was open and inviting right when we walked in. Small tent inside that houses reptiles and their habitats. Many exotic animals were shown and were allowed to be held. Owners Cam and Cole shared their starting point and experiences in growing Spock's. Family friendly event with so many opportunities to ask questions and learn. Yelp really made this engaging and brought community. We have visited Spock's again since this event and we are so glad we have gotten the chance to meet and know the owners.

What an awesome place! They really hit itcout of the park! I mean this in the best way, they…read moreexceeded our expectations in every single way. While visiting family we were looking for something new and different to do. I was honestly surprised my 9yr wanted to go since reptiles aren't usually her bag but Cole made it such a fun experience and by the end of our visit, my daughter wanted to pet the snakes, hold the geckos, she WANTED to see the scorpion, and she even held the mealworms in the tongs by herself! They managed to turn us into reptile lovers in hours (although my daughter's new favorite friend is Adonis, he's her dude!) We will without a doubt be back!

Get Sendy Great…read moreGym, Great Staff, Great Problems. I can't say enough good things about these guys!

Fun local place for exercise and fun! I'd been a few years previous but forgot how fun and…read morechallenging it was! The staff is young so not overly friendly but we got the information we needed and then went to the refresher on belay. There were a lot of unsupervised children while we were there, which is annoying. It's not the staff's fault but it would be nice to be able to use the equipment without kids running into you or cutting you off. A kid also kicked a water bottle from the top floor and almost hit a mother walking with her baby below. It seemed chaotic but it was still fun. I'd love going for an adult only time if that was a thing.

I'll use Party Decor 4U again and again!…read more Sveta made balloons for my mom's 60th surprise party and not only were they gorgeous (and long-lasting), but Sveta was so helpful when she came to set them up. Quick, easy, and beautiful!