A busy day in Shakopee, Minnesota!

Since I grew up incredibly close to Shakopee, I figured I knew a lot of fun spots in Shakopee for our kids. Boy, was I wrong! I had heard about a wonderful Christmas lights display, called Shakopee Winter Wonderland, so had decided to make a day of visiting Shakopee. When I started looking up places, there was a lot to do! Much more than we could ever fit in one day, but I figured we’d go to a bunch of spots and explore as much as we could. 

Arriving mid-day, we started our day at Huber Park. Growing up, this park had been an all-wood park that we enjoyed! It was quite the surprise to see the difference in the park and all the accessible options available now. This park now has almost everything you could think of, but on a small scale. It’s not a huge park, but they definitely packed all the fun in. A large climbing playground with so many fun additions, a small toddler playground, swings, a zipline, an accessible swing, and the new version of a merry go-round complete this park. Fenced in, this park has a beautiful view of the Minnesota River and the outdoor amphitheater.  I’d definitely recommend this park for any age group…there’s something for everyone to enjoy. 

Next, we headed to Hiawatha Park. Tucked into a neighborhood, I had seen pictures of this park and thought my two oldest kids would enjoy. This is definitely a big kid park as everything is accessible mostly by climbing. Although, our almost five year old could do most of it and enjoyed the challenge. Walking up to the park, my son was slightly creeped out by some old clown swings that were still here. He quickly forgot about those as he jumped on the playground. As they climbed, I couldn’t resist and had to get in on the fun at this park. Swings, a basketball court, and a gazebo for picnics were all at Hiawatha. 

Since the weather was beautiful, we changed our plans and decided to take a walk at Memorial Park. For years, I drove by this park on my way to volleyball practices. Yet, I had never stopped at it, let alone walked here. It was definitely worth a stop. My son was instantly enthralled with the fighter plane and insisted on walking right up to it, to see all of the details of the plane. After looking at the plane, we began to walk. Despite driving by this park so many times, I had no idea the paths were so beautiful. Walking over a bridge, we were all pleasantly surprised to find one of the paths was sandwiched in between the Minnesota River and a small lake area. Due to the mild winter, there were swans and geese swimming on the lake. Stunning views were around every corner as we followed the path. As we walked, I told my son about The Landing, which is located right next to this park. He could not stop asking questions after I explained what the Landing was like. Needless to say, that will be added to our list of places to visit in the near future. 

Once we finished walking at Memorial Park, we headed to the Shakopee Community Center for more play for the kids. They have an indoor playground that someone recommended to me, so it was added to our day! At the time of our visit, it was only $3 per kid to play at the indoor playground. This changed with the new year and became $4 for residents per day and $6 for non-residents per day. We were pleased with the playground, as it was clean, not very crowded, and a great size for all three of our kids. A small toddler area was a hit for our youngest daughter. The climbing wall and a sensory wall were favorites for our oldest daughter. Our son kept busy sprinting around the large part of the playground. In the playground, there were many slides, a fire truck if you climbed up high, things to bounce on, climb on, and get all of your wiggles out. 

Finishing up our jam-packed day in Shakopee, we grabbed a quick bite to eat at Taco John’s and headed to the Shakopee Winter Wonderland (since it was around Christmas time). This spot was absolutely amazing! A family sets up their house every year with Christmas lights, crafts, hot cocoa, cookies, and just a great atmosphere for free for everyone to enjoy. They do accept donations. I truly was blown away by the amount of work that went into this house and how the house used all resources to bring Christmas cheer to everyone else. A walking path is lit up for you to walk through the lights display, full of lights, Christmas bears, and Christmas villages. Our kids walked through several times to even begin to see all of the lights. In the garage, there were a wide variety of crafts, hot cocoa, and cookies. Santa came to the display while we were there. A very kind Santa asked patiently what each kid wanted and gave each kid a candy cane. It was a special night and this will be a location that we continue to come back to for a Christmas tradition! What an amazing gift this family gives the community of Shakopee and everyone who visits! 

Overall, we just barely scratched the surface of all that Shakopee has to offer! If you’re looking for a town with a lot to do, this is definitely a town to consider visiting for a couple of hours, a day trip, or even a weekend trip.