5 Things Kids Will Love about the Flower Fields at Carlsbad Ranch
“Do we have to go to the Flower Fields? It’s going to be so boring just watching you take a million trillion photos,” they whine from the backseat.
Whining is what my 6 year old twins appear to be majoring in this year.
“Yup!” I cheerfully reply.
My husband launches into a very sweet lecture about how we are a family and that this means sometimes we do things for people we love that we don’t want to do.
They don’t buy it but they do stop whining. Then several minutes later –
“Mom look! A tractor ride!”
“Mom look at all those flowers!”
We have arrived at the Carlsbad Ranch and the huge rainbow of flowers sits before us. Also before us is a sprawling area full of things to do.
Their eyes are wide and I know this is going to be so much better than they expected.
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5 Things for Kids to Love about the Flower Fields
There is no doubt that I did take a million pictures. How could you resist? The flowers were incredible.
What did surprise all of us however was just how much my kids loved the Flower Fields.
The Flower Fields at Carlsbad Ranch are located just north of San Diego. We drove up for the afternoon and spent about 2 hours wandering, exploring, playing and yes, photographing.
1. Scavenger Hunt
When we walked in the gate the ticket taker offered my kids a scavenger hunt. They could run around the activity area and find stamps at each of the different activities.
Note – some of these cost extra money and almost all only took cash so be prepared for how you want to deal with this.
2. Tractor Wagon Ride
My son spotted this one from the parking lot and was SO excited. The tractor ride is his favorite part of our trips to pumpkin patches so he had no doubt it was going to be the best part of this too.
We paid the extra 3-5$ per person at the front gate. You can also buy tickets later.
It is not required that you ride the tractor to get out to the flower fields. You can easily walk and if it were just me that’s what I would have done, but my kids loved the tractor ride.
3. Rainbow of Colors
My twins were very excited about the rainbow of colors. They had a long discussion about why there weren’t green flowers and then of course wanted to look at and smell each color.
They spent a lot of time smelling flowers.
Note: you are not supposed to touch the flowers. This illegal activity pictured above is a big no-no. You can however smell them without touching – we practiced this.
You also cannot walk among the flowers. Only the workers can do that. My kids followed that rule easily, but with littler kids you may want to warn them about staying behind the green barrier line.
4. Photo Opps
Now this one was more for me. My kids though have gotten into taking pictures.
They are happy to be in photos right now as long as I also give them a turn with the camera.
Their favorite photo opp was the one with the tractor positioned out in the field. Who wouldn’t want to hop up on an antique tractor?
We also took lots of photos of the flowers. I don’t think a single one of them really captured how pretty this place was though.
5. The Sweet Pea Maze
One of their favorite parts was our last activity – the Sweet Pea Maze. There is a map of the maze on the inside of the scavenger hunt page and my kids LOVED following along as they went through the maze.
Good things to know about the flower fields
- Bathrooms are available in the activity area and porta potties are available throughout.
- There is food for purchase, but it is limited. The mall right down the block is probably your best bet for finding more of a meal.
- We had a pleasant breeze on the afternoon we visited, but I imagine on still days there would be some bugs – bug spray would be a good idea.
- Sunscreen and a sun hat would be a good day every day. Don’t underestimate that bright California sun, even on a cooler day.
- The tractor only makes two stops – one where it picks you up and the other in the back middle of the field. Then you can get off and hop back on later if you want a ride back up to the start.
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