Around Indianapolis, parents can find numerous fitness-oriented and educational activities designed specifically to entertain children. This Indiana city is filled with child-friendly activities such as zoos, kid museums and fitness centers.
Museum
The Children's Museum of Indianapolis is a hands-on museum designed to encourage discovery and creativity. This museum features the largest display of juvenile dinosaur fossils in the world. To further children's interaction with this prehistoric animal, they can dig for faux fossils. In one part of the museum is a four-story glass-blown tower and here children can create their own sculptures with acrylic orbs. Other activities in the museum include exploring a mummy's tomb and learning how to sail a boat.
Fitness Center
At Indianapolis' My Gym on East 96th Street, parents will find a fitness center designed specifically for children. This location is the ideal place for kids to spend hours running around playing. My Gym was developed to help children have fun while learning strength, balance, coordination and self confidence. My Gym provides a safe environment for children to be active. Gym classes are separated into parent-child classes and independent gym classes exclusively for children. Classes are organized by age groups and kids learn gymnastics, group sports and karate.
Zoo
Spend a day with the kids exploring the animals at the Indianapolis Zoo. This zoo encourages hands-on involvement. Children will marvel at being able to touch sharks in the shark touch tank. Another exhibit that children adore is the 30-foot acrylic underwater room. Here your children have the ability to watch dolphins swim from all angles. Outside, children can assist in the feeding of a giraffe or help wash an elephant in the zoo's cageless exhibits.
Rock Climbing
Climb Time Indy is dedicated to providing a safe and exciting environment for children to learn to rock climb. This indoor facility works to teach children body control, balance and confidence. The 8,500-square-foot center offers a variety of walls, ranging from easy to difficult. The Kids Climbing Club is a weekly class offered on Wednesday evenings from 5:15 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. for children of all abilities. As of 2010, the club is free to members of the center or $12 for non-members.
Park
Indianapolis' Conner Prairie History park provides children with a hands-on adventure through history. The park is filled with costumed staff to make children feel as if they have been transported to the 1800s. The staff reenacts how settlers spent their days, from plowing fields to playing musical instruments. Hands-on activities include puppet making, a wagon-making shop and a carpentry shop. At the park's Discovery Station, children ages 2 to 8 can dress up in period costumes.
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