What to do with a toddler in Lincoln City, Oregon
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The magnificent playground at Regatta Park.
Before we arrived in Lincoln City, I despaired a bit about finding toddler-centric activities. I had trouble finding information online, other than a few generic articles on kid-friendly stuff. But I needn’t have worried. After two months here, I feel pretty confident that Luca and I have explored just about every last inch of toddler-friendly ground. And I’m happy to say we found quite a bit of fun and adventure along the way.
This post is for future visitors with children in the 1 to 4 age range. I’ve divided the activities into those best for nice weather and those suited to rainy days (which I’m told become pretty frequent between November and March).
Nice weather activities
Playgrounds at Regatta Park, Wecoma Park, and the Outlets
Regatta Park is really a stand-out in terms of playgrounds, with a sprawling wooden play structure, an additional upper level playground, and the gorgeous backdrop of Devil’s Lake. When you get tired of playing on the playground, walk down to the lakeshore and dig in the sand of the little lake beach, take a dip in the shallow waters, or have a stroll on the dock (preferably with a free life jacket on the tot).
The playground at Wecoma Park is small and close to the beach with modest-sized equipment suited to toddlers, and a little free library. There’s also a nice green area to run around and picnic table.
The playground at the Outlets is small but fun--especially the whale slide with barnacles. It’s sunny, protected from wind, and a great place to stop while shopping. We like to combine a stop here with a visit to the organic food market (Trillium Natural Foods) across the street.
Examining the forest floor at Agnes Creek open space.
Open spaces: Spring Lake, Friends of Wildwoods, Cutler City, Agnes Creek
These were a late discovery for us since I didn’t understand what “open space” meant at first. Essentially, these are small areas of wooded land with short trails running through them, little pockets of pristine wilderness surrounded by residential streets. Because they are small and the trails are short and safe, they’re great places to “go hiking” with toddlers. Most of them took us a half hour or an hour at most to explore on foot, mostly with Luca walking but sometimes riding on my back or shoulders. A carrier could be good here, though I like to encourage walking where Luca is able.
Connie Hansen Garden
We made several visits to this delightful little one-acre garden with its native Oregon plantings, beautiful flowers, koi pond, and footbridges. It’s just the right size for toddler exploration, and Luca loved leading the way along the paths, climbing up on the benches, playing hide and seek amongst the trees, and choosing a little handmade keepsake from the shop inside. It’s free and open daily from dawn to dusk. We were often the only ones there.
The Connie Hansen Garden.
Beach hopping/Tide pooling
The beach is an obvious and easy go-to activity for any nice, not-too-windy day (we ended up buying Luca a windbreaker-style jacket with hood just for this purpose). Early in our stay, we got him a nice set of beach toys at NorthWest Winds Kites & Toys, and we kept them in the car for impromptu beach visits. I love living so close to the beach that you can go for an hour or two in the afternoon, or whenever you feel like it. If you time it right, you can explore the tide pools that are exposed at low tide--and the fascinating green anemones, starfish, barnacles, etc that live within them.
Finders Keepers
There is a tradition in Lincoln City that comes from the glass floats that used to wash ashore here from Japanese fishing nets. Hand blown glass floats made by local artists are hidden between the high tide line and the embankment for people to find as a kind of community event/public art installation. Though we never found one, it was fun to get Luca excited about searching, and he found lots of other interesting things on the beach. We turned some of his treasures, including shells and small rocks, into fridge magnets by gluing small magnets from JoAnn Fabrics (in the Safeway shopping center) to the back.
Farmers’ Market on Sundays (10am-2pm) at the Lincoln City Cultural Center
Live music, balloon animals, freshly made donuts, dogs to pet….what’s not to love for a toddler? This was a weekly stop for us on Sunday mornings, and we usually stayed for a delicious lunch at the tables set out in the food court area.
Rainy day activities
Driftwood Library
The Driftwood Library has a fabulous children’s department, with tons of great books as well as a train table, play kitchen, and lots of other toys. Highly entertaining story times (sometimes with crafts) are on Mondays and Thursdays at 10:30am.
Bob’s Beach Books
This is a nice independent bookstore with a good children’s section and a fun selection of postcards to mail home.
Bijou Theater
The Bijou is a small, old-timey theater with amazing atmosphere. The owner stands up front and gives a little talk about the movie before it begins. On weekend mornings, they sometimes show kids’ movies for two dollars a ticket.
Prehistoric
With many breakables on display, this dinosaur-themed store is not exactly geared to toddlers, but if you have one who is extremely interested in dinosaurs (as ours is), it’s worth keeping him/her on a short tether to have a look around. Leave with a shark tooth, a shiny rock, or some other treasure.
Play area at Scout Northwest Trading Company
Another fun find at the Lincoln City Outlets. This Pacific Northwest-themed store, with pine-scented candles and soaps, cool clothes, and camping gear, also has a great little playhouse. It has a lego table with tons of legos, chalkboard walls, and a play kitchen. Luca and I went here on at least five occasions, and he never wanted to leave.
Candyland candy store
I mean, if you are crazy enough to give your toddler lots of candy.
The beach by Proposal Rock at Neskowin.
Kid-Friendly Restaurants
Think supermarket-style vending machines with plastic rings, glow-in-the-dark aliens, and other treasures, arcade games, grilled cheese, and ice cream sundaes.
Tasty Oaxacan-style Mexican food in a very family-friendly, low-key atmosphere.
Delicious wood-fired pizzas, a children’s menu, attentive service. Get there early (by 5pm) if you don’t want to wait. Adjacent to the beach at Neskowin with its dramatic Proposal Rock.
This is a hip(ster) restaurant/bowling alley. Toddlers can’t really bowl, but they can watch! This place was a fun, casual spot for dinner and beers. No children’s menu but lots of kid-friendly foods and soft-serve ice cream or homemade cakes and cookies for dessert.
This was a go-to spot for us, with the option to grab our coffee (me) and smoothie (Luca) to go at the drive-through window, or to sit and enjoy the pretty little garden out back.
