On a cold summer day, more reminiscent of March than June, Lydia and I ventured to Fondulac Farm Park for a play date. As newbies to the park, I had no preconceived notions of what to expect and was pleasantly surprised by the simple, yet engaging features of the park. For the small price of admission ($3.50 for adults, $2.50 for kids or free on Tuesdays. There is also a coupon in the yellow pages for a free child admission with a paying adult) we felt it was worth it. We chose to buy the animal feed so Lydia could feed the ducks, ponies, cow, sheep, goats, rabbits, and whatever else we could find! The park has two quaint ponds at the entrance that are occupied by various water fowl. There were a set of baby geese that Lydia enjoyed tossing food to. Following the path, we passed a playground as we ventured to the one room school house and to the sheep, goats, and cow. Lydia did well with approaching the sheep and attempting to feed them, but was not as open to the horse or goats.
There is a silo with a curly slide and several playgrounds both inside and outside the confines of the park, including a small toddler play area with age-appropriate slides, swings, and other equipment. I thought Lydia would be completely excited about the playground, until I realized she didn't enjoy the sand. She had open toed shoes that immediately got sand in them, to her distaste. She dealt with her frustration because she was motivated by the slide, but as she ran, she tumbled a bit. About the funniest thing was watching her refuse to put her hands or feet down to touch the sand to get herself back up. She wasn't crying, but stayed in an "airplane" position for awhile as I took pictures and giggled. She would look at her hands and say "dirty sand!" What a funny, funny girl!
After we made our way through the animals and play areas, we grabbed a quick lunch at their food barn. They had a small assortment of kid friendly foods. Lydia opted for a hot dog and also indulged in the crackers and juice I brought with me. The menu was small, but reasonable and quick. There was ample seating in the shade, although today the clouds took care of that for us.
Outside the farm park, there were two other playgrounds. We were cutting nap time close, but I imagine that Lydia and I will revisit just to play on the fun playgrounds.
Toddler Fun Factor: 4.5/5 : The farm park was a perfect way for Lydia to interact with a variety of farm animals in a fun and non-threatening way. There were no crowds, she she meandered between animals, pointing and laughing. There wasn't a lot of walking to do, so we didn't bring our stroller and that worked well for us. She didn't enjoy the one room school house, but all the other areas of the park were perfect for her!
Parent Pleasers: 4/5
- Bathrooms were family bathrooms and included diaper changing facilities. They were clean considering it was a park.
- The food barn had kid friendly food at reasonable prices
- The admission was reasonable. It is free if you go on a Tuesday. There are coupons in the Yellow Pages for Buy One Adult get One Child. Regular Price Admission is only $3.50 for adults and $2.50 for kids.
- There was ample seating for parents to use to watch kids play
- One concern was that the duck pond, although only about a foot deep, didn't have a railing around it. Lydia got pretty close a few times and I was sure we would be "that family" that had a kid fall in!
- One other small issues was that there wasn't hand sanitizer accessible near all of the animals. We always bring ours, but it would have been nice after feeding the animals to have that available.
Car Seat Curb Appeal: 3/5
The park is located on a bluff in East Peoria. From the front, it resembles a quaint farm house. There was a large wooden cow in front and ample parking. Lydia noticed the playgrounds right away.
Overall Impact: 4/5
Despite the weather and time constraints nearing nap time, we had a wonderful time. I imagine that the poor weather kept large crowds away so it was a perfect time to introduce ourselves to the park. I would love to return on a warm day to allow Lydia more time to play on the playgrounds and visit with the animals.
