White Lick Creek runs north to south through Plainfield, and most of the town’s parks sit along it, tied together by the White Lick Creek Trail. That is where these 10 picks start: Hummel Park’s five playgrounds, a nature park with a fishing pond south of I-70 and a rec center with an indoor water park for the cold months. The rest are mostly indoor: a free church playground, the public library, a trampoline park and a padded playground at Perry Crossing. Downtown has a theater and a 1954 diner on the National Road. When the kids have worked through Plainfield, our list of things to do in Indianapolis with kids covers the rest of the metro.
Jump to upcoming events in Plainfield
1) Hummel Park
Guilford Township owns and runs Hummel Park, 205 acres on the south side of town with five playgrounds: a nature playground, two for ages 2 to 5 and two for ages 5 to 12. Next to the main playground on the east side, a We-Go-Round and a We-Go-Swing let kids who use wheelchairs spin and swing alongside their friends, no transfer needed. The nature playground, in the middle of the park near the performing arts center, had manufactured boulders and rope webs to climb when we visited.
More than 3 miles of paved paths cross the park, with pedestrian bridges over White Lick Creek and five small lakes, including Blue Heron Lake, where fishing is allowed with a state license. The creek and lakes are look-only, though: township rules ban swimming and wading anywhere outside the splash pad. That splash pad, for kids 12 and under, is closed for the season. When it runs, it is on from about 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. daily, and it won’t turn on if the air is below 70 degrees.
In winter, the sledding hill on the west side of the park is one of the Hendricks County hills on our list of sledding hills around Indianapolis. Summer brings free concerts at the Hummel Park Performing Arts Center and the township’s Fourth of July fireworks.
- Address: 1500 S. Center St., Plainfield
- Hours: Dawn to dusk daily
- Cost: Free
2) Splash Island and the Richard A. Carlucci Recreation & Aquatic Center
Plainfield Parks runs two water parks at one address. Indoors, year-round, the indoor Splash Island has a two-story waterslide, a gently winding river, a pulsating vortex, an interactive children’s play area and three lap lanes. Open swim has its own hours, posted by season on the indoor pool schedule, and the rest of the day goes to lap swim and classes. A day pass also covers the rest of the rec center, including the Play World indoor play area, the basketball courts and the walking track. Preschoolers pay $9, or $12 for nonresidents.
The outdoor Splash Island Family Water Park next door opens Memorial Day weekend and closes after Labor Day. It has six waterslides, a 900-foot Leisure River, a lily pad crossing and a heated zero-depth kiddie pool with a 500-gallon tip bucket. Riders on the big slides must be 48 inches tall.
Inside, kids 8 and under need a parent or guardian right with them, and kids 9 to 12 need one in the building. Locker room renovations are expected to run through January 2027, with temporary locker rooms open until then.
- Address: 651 Vestal Road, Plainfield; 317-839-7665
- Hours: Mondays through Saturdays 5:30 a.m. to 10 p.m.; Sundays 2 to 9 p.m.
- Cost: Day passes $10 youth and $12 adults for Plainfield residents, $15 and $17 for nonresidents; 1 and younger free
3) The Treehouse at Plainfield Christian Church
The Treehouse is a two-level play structure under a giant sculpted tree, in a big, bright room at Plainfield Christian Church. Kids 5 and up can climb to the top level, and the lower level is for ages 2 and up. It is free and open to the community, and there is free coffee for the grown-ups.
Community hours are for kids from birth to 8. Shoes stay on here, so put kids in athletic shoes, and keep snacks and drinks in the sitting area. Our reviewer noted that the couches are set up so you can see the play structure from wherever you sit. Every visitor fills out a release form the first time, groups of eight or more kids need to give advance notice and the entrance is Door 5.
- Address: 800 Dan Jones Road, Plainfield
- Hours: Tuesdays and Thursdays 9 to 11 a.m. and 1 to 3 p.m.; Wednesdays 5 to 7 p.m.
- Cost: Free
4) Plainfield-Guilford Township Public Library
A big sculpted tree stands in the middle of the Children’s Room, ringed by play tables, toys and a play kitchen, and tall windows keep the room full of daylight. The library holds storytimes on weekdays and after-school programs, and it lends STEM kits and kids board games. Families with little ones can join 1,000 Books Before Kindergarten. The library is one of the stops on our list of libraries near Indianapolis with great kids areas.
- Address: 1120 Stafford Road, Plainfield; 317-839-6602
- Hours: Mondays through Thursdays 9 a.m. to 8 p.m.; Fridays 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.; Saturdays 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Sundays 1 to 5 p.m.
- Cost: Free
5) Echo Hollow Nature Park
South of I-70, the town is turning former airport land into Echo Hollow Nature Park, formerly Sodalis Nature Park. The open section covers 310 acres, with 5.1 miles of nature trails, picnic areas and the 5.5-acre Sodalis Lake, where fishing is allowed. The land along East Fork White Lick Creek is wetland and mature hardwood forest, and the town’s master plan puts habitat for the federally protected Indiana bat first.
The town has a master plan for a much larger park on the rest of its 1,928 acres, but most of that land isn’t open yet. The park shelter can be rented through Plainfield Parks at 317-839-7665.
- Address: 7700 S. County Road 975 E., Plainfield
- Cost: Free
6) White Lick Creek Trail and the Vandalia Trail
Plainfield has about 20 miles of trails, and the White Lick Creek Trail is the spine. It runs north and south through the creek’s floodway and links Franklin Park, Friendship Gardens, Anderson Park, Swinford Park, the Recreation & Aquatic Center and Hummel Park. The Vandalia Trail crosses it east to west on the old Vandalia rail bed, and the Sugar Grove Trail heads west from Hummel Park.
Anderson Park, right on the trail, is home to the town skate park.
- Anderson Park: 1050 S. Center St., Plainfield
- Franklin Park: 300 N. Mill St., Plainfield
7) Urban Air Adventure Park
Trampolines are only part of Urban Air in Plainfield. There is also a Sky Rider indoor zip line, a ropes course, climbing walls, a warrior course, laser tag, two kinds of bumper cars and the Tubes playground, a climb-through obstacle course. Sensory Friendly Play is the first Sunday of each month from 9 to 11 a.m.
Every guest wears Urban Air socks ($4.99), and height rules vary by attraction. Sky Zone, a short drive away at 851 S. Columbia Road, is the other trampoline park in town, with a Toddler Zone and 90-minute tickets at $23.99. Our roundup of trampoline parks and ninja gyms in Indianapolis compares the two and the rest of the jump parks around the metro.
- Address: 392 Plainfield Commons Drive, Plainfield
- Hours: Mondays through Thursdays 4 to 8 p.m.; Fridays 4 to 9 p.m.; Saturdays 10 a.m. to 9 p.m.; Sundays 11 a.m. to 7 p.m.
- Cost: $29.99 for Unlimited Play; $14.99 for kids 40 inches and under; parent tickets $14.99 with a child ticket
8) Kids Empire
Inside The Shops at Perry Crossing, Kids Empire is a padded indoor playground for ages 1 to 12. The main structure is a multi-level maze of winding slides, ball pits and obstacle-style passages, and there is a dance floor. Kids 1 to 3 get their own padded zone with mini slides, soft blocks and a small ball pit.
Admission is good from open to close, so you can leave for lunch and come back the same day after checking in with staff. Kids and adults wear socks, shoes stay off the play floor and a waiver is required. Kids Empire takes cards only and is open every day, holidays included.
- Address: 2539 Perry Crossing Way, Suite 100, Plainfield; 317-821-7211
- Hours: Mondays through Thursdays 10 a.m. to 8 p.m.; Fridays through Sundays 10 a.m. to 10 p.m.
- Cost: $19.90 per child, including two adults; $5 for each extra adult; babies under 1 free with a paying sibling
Related Article: 25 Best Indoor Playgrounds in Indianapolis for Kids
9) Hendricks Live!
Downtown Plainfield’s performing arts center books concerts, comedy and symphony nights, and its Hendricks Live! Family series is the list to watch for shows aimed at all ages. Local groups fill much of it: the Hendricks Civic Theatre, the Hendricks Symphony and youth companies. In December, The Children’s Ballet and the Hendricks Symphony stage The Nutcracker, with young dancers, on Dec. 18 and 19, 2026.
Every child 1 and older needs a ticket; babies under 1 sit on a ticketed adult’s lap. Parking is free in the Plainfield Downtown Parking Structure at 125 N. Center St.
- Address: 200 W. Main St., Plainfield; 317-754-5281
- Box office: Mondays through Fridays 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., and from two hours before the day’s first show
10) Oasis Diner
Mountain View Diners in New Jersey built the Oasis, and it came to Plainfield by rail in 1954. After it closed in 2008 and landed on Indiana Landmarks’ list of the state’s 10 most endangered buildings, it was moved 4 miles west to downtown, restored to its original look and reopened in 2014. The diner says it is the only one on the Historic National Road in Indiana. Booths, counter stools and milkshakes make it a breakfast or lunch stop a short walk down Main Street from Hendricks Live!
From Nov. 3, 2026, to Feb. 28, 2027, the diner sets up heated igloos outside. Each one seats up to six and comes with a heater, blankets and board games. Reservations are for 90 minutes, the rental is $25 with a $75 minimum spend and s’mores kits are extra. It is one of the stops on our list of Indianapolis restaurants where you can eat in an igloo.
- Address: 405 W. Main St., Plainfield; 317-837-7777
- Hours: Mondays through Thursdays 7 a.m. to 9 p.m.; Fridays and Saturdays 7 a.m. to 10 p.m.; Sundays 7 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Coming Up in Plainfield
Most of Plainfield’s family events come from three places: the town’s community events team, Plainfield Parks and Guilford Township at Hummel Park. The slider below starts with Plainfield’s own listings and fills in with events elsewhere in Hendricks County. Each fall, Plainfield’s trick-or-treat hours go into our list of Indianapolis trick-or-treat times.
Coming Up in Plainfield
Family events in and near Plainfield, updated daily
The town’s two biggest family traditions are the Fourth of July Fireworks Extravaganza at Hummel Park and Trees of Plainfield, a free walk-through trail of decorated Christmas trees with s’mores and snowball fights at the Al & Jan Barker Sports Complex each December.
Pairing Up a Plainfield Day
- On a cold Saturday, open swim at the indoor Splash Island, then a booth at the Oasis Diner, less than a mile away downtown.
- Tuesday or Thursday morning at The Treehouse, then storytime or the Children’s Room at the library on Stafford Road.
- Bikes on the White Lick Creek Trail from the Recreation & Aquatic Center south to Hummel Park, with a playground stop at the end.
- With a toddler and a tween, Kids Empire and Urban Air are a few minutes apart near Perry Crossing, so one trip can cover both.
- A December night downtown: an Oasis igloo for dinner, then a holiday show at Hendricks Live! a short walk east.
Avon, just north of Plainfield, and Brownsburg, farther north on the same side of the county, have their own Hendricks County guides: things to do in Avon with kids and things to do in Brownsburg with kids. For what’s happening across the metro on any given Saturday, start with things to do this weekend in Indianapolis.
