Hot Springs, AR Outdoor Activities

Inside The Wonder Place’s 5,700 square-foot indoor play space, colored balls and scarves shoot through spiraling tubes. Stuffed animals await vaccinations in the vet's office, and tables covered in water and sand become interactive landscapes. The playhouse's supervising staffers encourage their visitors, generally aged 8 and younger, to explore freely as they engage in imaginative play.

Kids slip down slides and scale a rock-climbing wall at the tree house, and build towers and obstacle courses for toy balls using square blocks and ramps at Wonder Works. A child-sized stage lets them perform their own plays or reenact Hamlet with puppets using costumes and set pieces, and an art area sets them loose with a menagerie of art supplies. Infants and toddlers frolic in a designated play area, filled with smaller play structures and toys. While kids can make pretend meals using pretend produce and haggle with pretend cashiers at the River Market and Cafe, there's also a real, health-focused vending machine. An onsite gift shop peddles educational toys and puzzles from brands such as eeboo, Melissa & Doug, and Manhattan Toy.

The instructors at Green Haven Horse Stables guide riders of all skill levels on the path to proper horsemanship with private and group lessons as well as summer camps for children. Each lesson focuses on safety and building self-confidence, which are of the utmost importance when commanding a steed to jump over fences or ride through an airport security checkpoint. Riders may choose to ride in the styles of English, hunter jumping, Western, or dressage, with intermediate and above dressage lessons conducted by a certified USDF judge. At summer camps, children ages 6–14 receive a proper introduction to horses, spending a full week learning the subtleties of equitation and participating in fun-filled games and activities.

Surrounded by lush, green trees and grassy areas for lounging, Wild River Country overflows with 13 watery attractions such as the Cyclone, which sends groups of four tubing down a slippery slide for a big splash at the end. After getting the water and Poseidon's bickering out of their ears from the wave pool or the rip-roaring Accelerator, parents and kids can grab a bite to eat at the Cookhouse Grill and enjoy it at the picnic area. The Tad Pool lets the little ones splash and play, and the Lazy River lets tubers linger in the sun for a relaxed float while the Pipeline slings threesomes zooming bobsled-like down the slide in a raft. Family-oriented, and safe for all ages, the water park doesn't allow smoking or alcohol in the facility and offers clean restrooms and showers.

Stretched across a 30-acre produce farm and peach orchard, Scott Pumpkin Patch marks autumn's arrival with a seasonal slate of family-friendly activities. Every year, the family-owned operation presents visitors with wholesome, hands-on amusements, including an animal barn, a playground, and scenic tractor rides that coast leisurely around the property. Before heading home, families can stock up on keepsakes, such as photos snapped at themed displays or a perfect pumpkin picked according to its size, weight, and silky singing voice. The onsite farmers' market stocks edible souvenirs, too, ranging from fresh picked pecans and peanuts to jams and jellies.