We took a visit out to the Falkirk Wheel the other day. Well, we were in the vicinity of the Falkirk Wheel but we didn’t actually go into the visitor centre or onto the wheel at all. We will do that eventually, but that’s not why we went along this time.
It’s been so hot recently that I’ve been trying to take us (and I don’t just mean the kids – I mean myself too) places where we can all just have a good cool down. And that was why we went along to the Falkirk Wheel – to have a play in the splash park there, and have a good cool down!
The Splash Park
The first splash pool you come across is just past the little kids pedal boat pond. It’s a 3D map of Scotland surrounded by water. It has a couple of little baby fountains, plus some locks and water gates to play with. This is where my two spent most of their time.
They just loved splashing and jumping around in there. One kid had brought a watergun, but quite a few kids (including mine) had just grabbed an empty bottle and were playing happily with those.
There’s also an engineering splash park that reminds me of the water play area at Dumfries House. (If you haven’t been there, it is amazing!) There are lots of different parts to twist and turn and lift to get the water up to the top of the hill, and then flaps and gates to open to get the water back down the bottom. Kids can get into most of the water channels and splash about in those too.
There are some broken bits in the splash park now that weren’t broken last year. Some of the pumps are broken and one of the water channels was empty (perhaps that’s related to this heat and lack of rain? I don’t know.) But this didn’t bother my two at all. They still loved playing in it.
The pedal boats are the only things that we paid for when we visited. Baby boy is too small for them but the little lady absolutely loved them. She was in her boat for ages, pedalling around the pond. They work by turning the pedals with your hands rather than feet, and they seem to glide quite easily along the water so they’re a bit easier for little kids to use.
The Play Park
There is a play park. That’s literally all I can say about it. I’ll need to update this paragraph in the future because honestly, my kids never even looked at the playpark when we were there. There were far too busy trying to skoosh water at me from an empty fruit shoot bottle they found lying around.
The Extra Bits
There are so many other activities around the Falkirk Wheel; little pedal boats for kids, canoeing, bumper boats, segways, waterzorbing and bike hire are the ones I can currently think of but there are probably more than that. They are generally open at weekends and school holidays.
There is a car park at the Falkirk Wheel and parking is free.
As far as I could tell, the splash park looked very accessible.
My kids didn’t find it slippery at all but if you’re worried about that, bring some pool shoes or sandals they can wear in the water.
The Cost
The splash park and play park at the Falkirk Wheel are completely free. As is the visitor centre. To go on the Falkirk Wheel itself, the cost is £11.50 for adults and £7.50 for The other activities here all cost extra. The only one we’ve so far done is the little kids pedal boats which are £4 per child.
The Verdict
The Falkirk Wheel splash park is so much fun, and it’s free. There are a couple of different parts to the splash park, plus a playpark and lots of other (paid) activities. We spent the best part of 2 hours here and could easily have stayed longer. The Falkirk Wheel splash park is a great place for a cool down on a hot sunny day!
The Falkirk Wheel is located at Tamfourhill, Falkirk, FK1 4RS.
