Just a few minutes from Polaris Fashion Place is Lewis Center. It’s a great day trip for family fun. Lewis Center has a lot to offer! As I put this post together, it made me a little sad since we moved from this area. I think another visit is in order to explore the parks and unique places!
Top Things to do in Lewis Center
Orange Bridge
7171 Gooding Blvd. Lewis Center
A cool bridge and small art garden, yes please! It was a nice little morning excursion with no one in sight. It’s in full sun, so going in the morning is nice during the summer. This is located at Orange Library.
Read more about our adventure at Orange Bridge and Imagination Garden.
Orange Library has the friendliest workers and great educational toys and the Toddler Dancetime Story time is the best. They also have great programs for family nights. Check them out: Orange Library.
North Orange Park
7560 Gooding Blvd. Lewis Center
Also known as the blue swing park with my girls. This park features separated play areas for younger and older kids. It’s great for climbers of all skill levels.
We like to check out nature by the ‘Dora troll bridge’ and it also has a nature trail. There is a huge sand play area. The sand is relatively clean on a dry, hot day.
There are lots of paved walking trails too, so if Dad comes along to play with the kids, you can get a workout. It is also great for biking if you can drag your kids away. The park is handicap and stroller accessible.
Alum Creek Beach Trifecta
3305 S Old State Rd.
Take a little vacation for the day! Here you’ll find a story trail, nature inspired playground, and an old boat playground. Oh, and it’s at a beach!! My girls enjoyed all it had to offer and were worn out after, Mom-win!
- Storybook Trail
I love storybook trails! It lets me get a little workout (kids too) while also educating about nature. The book is ‘In the Trees, Honey Bees’ by Lori Mortensen. If you haven’t experienced one yet, you should! Besides the story, there are interactive questions along the way.
2. Beach Playground
I love the nature inspired playgrounds. If Rocky Fork Metro Park and the Shops of Worthington Place Treehouse Playground (playground is currently closed) had a baby, this would be it. I thought the sand would make it super hard to navigate, but it wasn’t bad.
-Wishbone balance beam
-Rocks with rope climbing
-Log tunnel
-Swings for all abilities
-Playset with slide, log stepping stones, ladder and steps.
3. The Old Playground
My girls spent more time on this boat than the other play space. They have big imaginations and loved walking the plank, argh! There are also swings beside. As of August 2020, this playground has been updated and new equipment has been added.
Alum Creek Below Dam Recreation Center
5905 Lewis Center Rd.
-3 play sets for varying ages
-Pretty scenery and shade trees
-Alum Creek Beach can be viewed at the top of the dam steps. It is also a few minutes drive and there is a small play set there as well.
-2 large picnic shelter areas
-Butterfly playstation as well as the U.S. states, space, and decoder game
Read more about the Army Corps Visitor Center and see lots of pictures. Click here: Visitor Center
Nature’s Splash Pad at Shale Hollow Park
6320 Artesian Run, Lewis Center (website: Shale Hollow Park)
This is the clearest and cleanest water we have played in for a creek. It’s also shaded, pretty and tranquil. There is a natural play area in the same area as well to build a stick teepee and explore. Also, a fun wobbly bridge and a log picnic table for an outdoor lunch.
There is a nature center inside the building and restrooms. They also run special programs which are excellent! (Due to COVID, this is currently closed.)
(If you are looking for other creeking spots all across Columbus, check out this post: Best Parks to Get Down and Dirty.)
Glen Oak Park
7126 Blue Holly Dr. Lewis Center (website: Glen Oak Park)
We like to go to this park for something different. It has educational nature facts and lots of room to run. This is just a few minutes from Ro Park (the one with the tallest slide permitted in Ohio, 14ft!)
-Geared towards older climbers, but littles can have fun too
-Great nature structures to climb and learn with at all the same time and a spinning toy as well
-Nice walking paths
-A huge hill to explore or sled down
-A few ponds to find creatures in and a bridge to walk on
-A nice picnic pavilion as well as restrooms
Ro Park
6804 Snap Dragon Way, Lewis Center (website: Ro Park)
A fun park with different play features than most parks. Here you will find the tallest slide permitted in the state of Ohio, 14 ft to be exact!
-Small and large play sets for varying ages
-A 14 ft slide!
-3 climbing walls and a climbing slide
-Ladders to climb up the center of the structure
-Sand pit with diggers
-Teeter totter and airplane for the little kids
-2 Track ride (zipline feel), my oldest daughter thought these were really cool!
-Nature trails with winding exploration
-Picnic shelter and benches
Highbanks Metro Park
9466 Columbus Pike, Lewis Center (website: Highbanks Metro Park)
This is my girls’ favorite nature center. The hut is also a favorite for their big imaginations. And you can’t go wrong with the reptiles. (All of the Columbus Metro Parks Nature Centers are currently closed due to COVID.)
-A huge tree you can go inside and learn and find a few creatures.
-A closet full of puppets to play with on a tree stage. Also tons of nature puzzles and log blocks.
-An awesome hut with a bear rug and you can build with Lincoln logs.
-An outside xylophone along a fun chair, whimsical mushrooms and bald eagle nest.
-Lots of nice gravel paths to walk, along with a playset in the shade.
-Handicap and stroller accessible
-And a secret scavenger hunt where you can unlock a prize in the steps by the snake
Creeking and Natural Play Area
@ Highbanks Metro Park
9466 Columbus Pike, Lewis Center
Here there’s a natural splash pad with beautiful views. We bought fish nets and our girls were so excited! My oldest daughter enjoyed the ‘rainbow rocks’, and my youngest just enjoyed the calm water to splash in. As the warm weather comes to an end, you’ll want to check this area out.
How to get there?
Drive to the Big Meadows Picnic Area and walk straight across the open field from the restrooms, enter the path in the woods past the natural play area. Once you get to the path intersection, turn left. Continue walking until the creek becomes rocky and more shallow, you’ll know when you get there.
-Natural play area to build a teepee with large sticks, climb a tree and dig in mud
-A divided playground for varying age groups
-The larger playground has 2 slides (tunnel and twisty slide), larger steps up, and a coiled ladder. Underneath there are spinning animals to match and other toys to explore.
-The smaller playground has a ramp to walk up to a double slide and steps to climb up and down, steering wheel, spinnable math problems and another spinnable toy.
-6 swings to catch a breeze
-Picnic pavilions with charcoal grills, new picnic tables under large shade trees and lush grass for a picnic blanket. Make it a day trip!
Goldfish Swim School
7838 Green Meadows Dr. N (website: Goldfish Swim School Lewis Center)
My girls learned to swim at this location. I can’t say enough good things about their program. The teachers are fantastic and the facility is so clean (germaphobe here.)
The Little Gym of Polaris
8645 Sancus Blvd. Columbus (not technically Lewis Center, but right beside) (website: The Little Gym of Polaris)
The Little Gym is geared towards babies through 12-years-old.
My daugther enjoyed climbing, but I didn’t realize how educational the class would be!
Get Moving!
Muscle control, coordination, motor skill development
Brain Boost
Color recognition, language development, number & letter recognition
Citizen Kid
Independence, sharing, cooperation
P.S. Our super climber scaled that wall like it was nothin’!
The Art of Music
129 N Orangewick Rd. Lewis Center (website: The Art of Music)
Two of my girls’ favorites! We love Dawn and her kind heart. The Art of Music is “an innovative way of bringing kids together with Music and Art to develop the whole child.” Through movement and object play (Music and Art), they offer 6 week sessions of 1-hour enriching experiences for children (ages 1-21.)
Read more about our experience with The Art of Music.
Love Alum Creek Below Dam and Shale Hollow!
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