PLEASE NOTE: This post was written in 2019, and while it should still give you a good overview of the experience, it may also contain some outdated information. Please be sure to visit their website for the most up-to-date information.
2019 Post:
As you now know from my recent post, I once again have a toddler in tow. And my oldest is about to turn 9 (how did that happen?). Now as I consider outings for my family, I’m looking for activities that can please a wide range of ages: in our house we’ve got almost 9, almost 6 and almost 2.
With all the hot and humid weather upon us, I am especially interested in finding water activities that suit all three, which can be hard when you’ve got a range of swimming abilities and only two adults to supervise three kiddos (I’m still getting used to this zone defense thing!).
Spray Parks to the rescue!
These fun water playgrounds appeal to kids of many ages, and since there is no submerging in water, even your non-swimmers can participate fairly independently (assuming they are old enough to walk, of course). Plus, I like when the kids can participate together and interact, rather than each one off in their own separate area.
So a couple weekends ago we decided to check out a new-to-us Spray Park that we had heard about just over the border in Agawam, MA.
It’s about a 30 minute drive for us coming from just east of Hartford, but it was worth the trip!
The Spray Park is part of the larger School Street Park recreation complex, but you don’t actually want to go to the main park entrance to access the Spray Park (which is probably where your GPS will send you–mine did!). You want to head to the “Corey Street” entrance instead.
There is a spectacularly large parking area here, but I imagine it gets pretty crowded.
And the Spray Park is right there!
It’s HUGE! It’s like something you’d expect to find in some kind of resort. But here it is. Completely FREE!
One end of the Spray Park is great for your older children. It’s got the water sprayers. This is of course the place my boys ran to.
On the other end is a perfect spot for your toddlers and preschoolers. It has a bunch of these little mushroom-y sprayers
In the middle there are all kinds of ways to get yourself completely soaked 🙂
Like most of the Spray Parks we have been to, the water features are on timers and controlled by a button on a nearby post. If the water is not running, just press the button and wait a few seconds!
The water is, um, chilly. But that’s got to be a bonus when the weather is this hot!
Also a nice little bonus: a perfectly pint-sized play area right next to the Spray Park! This was fantastic for my crew. When our toddler got tired of splashing, she headed over to the playscape to practice her new favorite skill: walking up and down stairs.
There are benches all along the perimeter of the Spray Park and set back in the grass there are lovely picnic areas, some of them covered, including a large pavilion where the restrooms (yes! real restrooms!) are located.
The building below is part restroom facility, part HUGE covered picnic area. On the day we were there, there was a birthday party going on in that area so I didn’t want to weird anyone out by taking photos of picnic tables full of small children. So I just took pics of the half with the restrooms (I mean, what would an OAAM post be without some restroom photography? Ha!)
I am still pinching myself over this unbelievably lovely Spray Park and surrounding areas. All FREE to use!
My kids could have played in these fountains for hours but as they have come to know, their blogger mom doesn’t like to miss out on anything and hey, wasn’t there a giant playscape in that first area of the park we went to by mistake? Yeah, we’d have to go check that out before we headed home 🙂
So we dried off, got changed and headed over to the main School Street Park entrance to see what fun awaited us there.
There are picnic areas over here too, but they aren’t covered.
There is, however, another real restroom!
As you may have noticed in a couple of those above photos, some menacing clouds started to roll in shortly after we arrived at the playground, followed by some thunder. So we had to cut that part of the adventure a little short.
But that’s okay. Because now that we know this fantastic park is here (and not far!) we will definitely be coming back.
Agawam, MA
The entrance to the Spray Park is located on Corey Street (According to this Splash Park Facebook page, the address is 418 Corey Street.)
The entrance to the big playground is on School Street.
Hours (2019):
The Spray Park opened in June and is now open daily from 11:00am to 7:00pm through Labor Day.
Pricing (2019):
FREE!
Details:
- Stroller Friendly: YES (for babies watching from the sidelines)
- Coffee Mug Friendly: YES
- Restroom: YES
- Baby Changing Station: NO
- Parking: YES
- Food for Sale: The ice cream truck was there!
- Outside Food Allowed: YES
- Cash Required: NO (unless you want to have it for the ice cream truck)
- Dress Code: Swimwear is your best bet, of course. I would also recommend water shoes with plenty of traction, especially for your little ones. Wet pavement can be slippery! And sunblock. The Spray Park is in full sun.
- Age Recommendation: All ages!
- Evening/Weekend Hours: YES
- Birthday Party Venue: It must be because we saw one in progress!
- Discounts: Can’t do better than FREE!
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I read this post and took my 5yr old and 18 month old there as soon as possible! It was great and everything you explained was accurate. Really appreciated the heads up on the Corey street entrance. We will definitely be going back. Thanks again for sharing this place!
So happy you enjoyed it and that the post was helpful! Thanks so much for sharing!