Families in the Arlington area can find a full day's worth of entertainment at local year-round amusement parks, such as Six Flags Over Texas Theme Park (sixflags.com/overtexas) and its companion water theme park, Six Flags Hurricane Harbor Theme Park (sixflags.com/hurricaneharbortexas). Discounted combination ticket packages for dual park admission are available and allow families to enjoy water slides and tube rides, roller coasters, suspension rides and a lazy river float ride. Families looking for shorter lines at an affordable fun park can spend the afternoon at a miniature golfing facility, such as Putt-Putt Fun Center (putt-puttgolf.com), which includes batting cages and a miniature bowling alley.
Children in the Arlington area who enjoy swimming can take their families to a nearby City of Arlington Parks and Recreation aquatic facility (arlingtontx.gov). Outdoor aquatic activities, such as a vortex pool, current channel and water slide, can be found at Randol Mill Aquatic Center in Randol Mill Park. During cooler or inclement weather, Arlington families can swim at an indoor pool facility at the city's Hugh Smith Recreation Center. The pool offers scheduled children's swim times and lessons and is kept at a constant 86 degrees.
Educational and hands-on entertainment for the whole family in Arlington is available in area museums, such as The Arlington Museum of Art (arlingtonmuseum.org). Admission is free, and the museum sponsors Saturdays at the Museum for children ages 8 to 12 to engage in creative art exploration and workshops during the school year. River Legacy Nature School (riverlegacy.org) helps to expose children to proper environmental education and the natural surroundings of the local area. Children's nature walks and boat building contests, animal habitat viewing hikes and exhibits that feature terrarium and aquarium animals and fossils are available.
Families in many large cities grow up watching and following local professional sport teams together when the teams play in town. Arlington hosts two professional sports franchises within its city limits -- the National Football League Dallas Cowboys football team (stadium.dallascowboys.com) and the Major League Baseball Texas Ranger baseball team (texasrangers.com). Cowboys football games are played on Sundays, Mondays and an occasional Thursday during the yearly August to December regular-season schedule. The Texas Rangers play at their home field, Rangers Ballpark, in Arlington each year from April through September.
