Do you have splash pads in your areas?

[nikolita]

I live in a very rural area.  There are two city-run swimming pools in our county.  (One stoplight too- little bit of random trivia for you).  Anyways, my sister is on a committee to try and get a splash pad in her town.  They are meeting a ton of resistance from the city council.

Tell me why you love yours please.  I want to help promote this as much as I can.  And I've never been to one, so I can only imagine all of the great things about it.

Thanks to you all!

[AHappierHour]

Yes we do. My kids love them. I love them because they can play in the water and I don't have to worry about them drowning. It's much more relaxing for me.

[papie]

We don't have one near us, all our pools have baby pools instead. I want a splash pad so that I can sit on my ass while my kids get wet. In the baby pool, I still have to watch my toddler like a hawk.

[SKP82]

Yes. I love them, as does my DD. I can let her play in water without having to get into a swimsuit.

[thebuddhagouda]

We have small freebie ones that are basically just fountains with no reservoir and the giant ones that you pay to enter and are basically mini water parks.

I like them both, but the free ones are great when I need to just kill an hour or two in the morning before it's 100 degrees outside. He loves them. I don't have to get wet or even dress for water. Win all around.

[textbookcase]

Yes, we have one and it is awesome. I like to be able to relax and not worry about my kid drowning. It's also nice to have somewhere to cool off during our 9 months of summer.

[nikolita]

Nov 10, 2015 12:08:49 GMT -5 papie said:

We don't have one near us, all our pools have baby pools instead. I want a splash pad so that I can sit on my ass while my kids get wet. In the baby pool, I still have to watch my toddler like a hawk.

YES! See, this is a giant selling point to me.

And the parents that bring their kids will stop by the convenience store and buy ice cream from the local ice cream guy and get gas at the gas station, etc.

The city council is a majority of retired transplants. (No offense to retired transplants anywhere)  Its a river town with a lot of seasonal tourists.

[notoriousmeg]

We love ours. We live in a city that doesn't have any pools outside of a few private apartment buildings. It's a great way for DS to cool off and have fun with his friends in the summer. I second the idea of fun without drowning as well. I trust our nanny completely but wouldn't love the idea of her taking him to a pool regularly (and i don't think she would love the idea of having to get in a swim suit herself), so the splash pad is perfect for us.

[floridakat]

Nov 10, 2015 12:11:19 GMT -5 nikolita said:

Nov 10, 2015 12:08:49 GMT -5 papie said:

We don't have one near us, all our pools have baby pools instead. I want a splash pad so that I can sit on my ass while my kids get wet. In the baby pool, I still have to watch my toddler like a hawk.

YES! See, this is a giant selling point to me.

And the parents that bring their kids will stop by the convenience store and buy ice cream from the local ice cream guy and get gas at the gas station, etc.

The city council is a majority of retired transplants. (No offense to retired transplants anywhere)  Its a river town with a lot of seasonal tourists.

We have one at our zoo, and they sell swim diapers and sunscreen for the parents that come unprepared. Another revenue source for your community.

[Elsa]

We LOVE ours- they charge $5 to get in, but we'd pay more. Our neighborhood is looking at installing one too and I'm pumped. They are great because they are just a bit safer than pools. I still have to watch my kid constantly, but if she is 5ft away from me, I'm not worried. Ours has little kid slides, big slides, waterfalls, little fountains, and lots of just low water areas. It is just perfect for little kids

[oliveyou]

Yes, we have quite a few. I love them because I don't have to get wet and kids just love to run around in the water.

[memenee]

They are everywhere in my area. My kids are 6 and 3 and love them. They are in the same area as the playground so the kids love being able to run back and forth between the two. They love it more than going to the pool!

[ninjabridemom]

We have a small one. My favorite parts about it:

1) It made the town care enough about this park to take care of it
2) It is in a poor area of town and everyone gets to enjoy it, meaning it brings a good mix of socioeconomic and racial diversity
3) It's right behind the boys' school so they use it twice a week in summer lol

[Deleted]

Your sister is going about this all wrong. She and her friends should be lobbying for a community pool. When city or county counsel voices concerns about liability or cost, then they can "settle" on the splash pad.

[adhdfashion]

It's a stress free way to have little kids play in water. Great for birthday parties. They are a big selling feature in new build communities.

[dexteroni]

Yes; I used to take my nephews when they were little. It's safer than the pool for the very little non-swimmers, and it's like running through a ton of sprinklers at once. They love it, and it gets them running around and wears them out. In the pool all they can really do is hang on to you and kick and splash, and at least in my experience, the recipient of most of the kicking and splashing is me. I enjoyed avoiding that as well, lol.

What on earth is the rationale behind the resistance? I can't imagine a reason to be against a splash pad.

[georgeharrison]

Yep - South Seattle area chiming in. They are awesome for all the reasons listed above.

[madringal]

We have a few in our area and got them all in the last 3 years. I love them because they are so much safer then water parks (clearly do the e to worry about drowning). Most are surrounded by benches so you can see all your kids at the same time. They also are in downtown locations, which leads to lots of business for surrounding ice cream shops, restaurants, pet shops. I think it also helps promote the walkability of the neighborhoods since most don't have their own dedicated parking lots. They just become a great meeting spot for play dates, picnics, and mom groups.

[tacokick]

No, kids just set off the fire hydrant. I wish we had them!

[balletofangels]

Yes. It is awesome and safe and the kids have so much fun. Ours is at the public beach, but the swimming area is a river and that is nerve wracking. It is so nice to be able to sit and watch and she has a blast.

[Marmee]

Yes, we have lots around. No worries of drowning...and your child isn't swimming around in water potentially (& guaranteed to be if a baby pool) contaminated by urine & feces.

[WOT?*]

Even the older kids love the splash pads in our area.
this one is closest to us.
It's at a community park that also has a play are with swings, climbing nets, merry-go-round, dog park, amphitheater, walking trails, etc.

This is at the park a bit further from us but still driving distance:

It's immediately adjacent to the playground, and the kids can run from one to the other quite easily. The play area is on the right, the splash pad is the area at the end of the walkway you can see on the left. You can see the small concrete wall between the two that parents sit on and kids climb over. There are also walking trails, a petting zoo, play field and other things to do here as well. It's also got a pretty good lecture and educational center.

We also have splash areas at three of the community pools within reasonable driving distance from us but that doesn't sound like what you're looking for. I'd post pictures but they're pretty amazing and people would be jealous.

[fezzik]

Yes, we have a small free one in our rural town of 900 people (no stoplight here, ha). I like it for all the reasons already stated and it's nice to be able to walk over and play for a bit vs packing up and taking the whole afternoon to go to the pool the next town over.

[sandpiper]

Well, my kids love to play in the water and I hate swimming pools...so, we get lots of use out of our local splash pad. Great activity on super hot days and I can be lazy!

[roadbananas]

I have no idea where my mind is, I first read splash pads as problems with pee, in our "areas". Wtf? Lol

We do, not super close to us though. I think they are proposing one in our town. Some of the pics of them in this post are really cool!

[lilac05]

They're a perfect place for play dates! We frequently take picnics to splash pads & meet friends there. It's a great place to meet new people in your community, too!

Ours all run on a cycle that needs to be activated every few minutes (frequently by rubbing the top of a fire hydrant), so it reduces water waste. I'm sure you could find out how much water it saves every year vs a pool.

Lots of people do drive in from surrounding communities, too. The one near McDonald's is always full of families who pick up food & eat at the splash pad. Another park frequently has a shaved ice truck parked at it & there is always a line.

We didn't even go to a pool last summer. My kids were almost 2 and 4 during the summer. I couldn't figure out how I could safely manage both of them at the same time at a pool. (They're both runners, frequently in opposite directions, and the little one is too brave for my taste!) The splash pads brought us MANY hours of entertainment this summer!