Canton With Kids
*This post is sponsored by Visit Canton. In this post, we give our honest review of our experience taking a trip to Canton in Stark County. For more information on our Disclosure Policy, please visit this page.
We love it whenever we get to sneak in a quick family getaway. We recently explored a new to us city and had a great time! Canton is a city we haven't had the chance to explore, and we loved that it was only an hour drive from Cleveland.
For this trip, we used the free Pigskin's Pal Adventure Pass. This pass is available to anyone (not just residents) to save money and discover family-friendly attractions and food in Canton, Ohio.
We found the Pigskin's Pal Pass super helpful in finding things to do since we weren't very familiar with the area.
Where We Stayed
Hyatt Place Canton
We stayed at the Hyatt Place Canton, which we found to be very warm and welcoming. The staff was friendly, and the complimentary breakfast had a nice selection, which was important since I have some picky eaters. We also appreciated the indoor and outdoor seating for breakfast.
Our room was clean and spacious. It had two beds, a nice seating area, and a huge TV.
The highlight for us was definitely the pool and hot tub. We spent both nights swimming and relaxing at the pool. My husband also appreciated the fitness room, which had dumbbells up to 50lbs, treadmills, and a cable machine.
Attractions We Visited
Fannie May Chocolate Factory
We took a tour of the Fannie May Chocolate Factory on our first day. The tours are always FREE and offered Monday-Thursday from 11:00-3:00 at the top of each hour. Reservations should be made ahead of time to ensure an exceptional tour. To make a reservation, call 330.494.0833 Ext 119
On the tour, you learn the history of Fannie May and how the factory runs, and you even get to try some of the chocolates! The tour lasted about 45 minutes. After the tour, we stopped by the gift shop to buy some delicious chocolates.
Dogwood Park Playground
We also visited Dogwood Park on our first day. This large playground has been on my bucket list since it opened in 2022. The playground is a 12,000 sq. ft inclusive playground and has something for all ages. Some of my kid's favorite features were the zipline, the large twisty slide, and the rock wall. There’s also a fun story walk next to the playground and some picnic tables if you’d like to bring lunch.
Beech creek Botanical Garden and Nature Preserve
On our second day, we visited the Beech Creek Botanical Garden and Nature Preserve. Beech Creek Garden has been on my bucket list for years, and it did not disappoint! It has 181 acres of gardens, hiking trails, exhibits, and two nature playgrounds. We found it to be beautiful and serene!
One of our favorite places at Beech Creek Garden was the butterfly house, where you can safely hold the butterflies by holding a nectar stick. We also loved the kids' nature play. My kids could've played in this area alone for hours! The nature playground has a zipline, a treehouse, an obstacle course, a mud kitchen, a sprinkler (bring a change of clothes!), and more. This area was so cute!
We also loved the Woven Outdoor Art Museum and visiting the owls and eagle in Raptor Hallow Sanctuary. You can find a complete list of things to do at Beech Creek Botanical Garden and Nature Preserve by clicking here.
General Admission is $17 (kids 0-2 are Free). There’s also a Buy-One-Get-One children’s admission discount with the Pigskin’s Pals Adventure Pass.
Troll Hole Museum Tour
Another fun activity we did was the Troll Hole Museum tour. This was the quirkiest and most unique tour we've ever been on! On the guided tour, you discover the legends, myths, and magic behind trolls. Sherry has been collecting trolls since she was 5 years old, and her collection has grown to the largest in the world! She currently holds the Guinness World Record for the Largest Troll Doll Collection.
My kids were a great age for this tour (7 and 9 years old), and my husband and I also really enjoyed it.
Tours are $12 for general admission, ages 6-11 $8, ages 3-5 $5, and 2 and under are FREE. You can also get Buy-One-Get-One children’s admission with the Pigskin’s Pals Adventure Pass. You can book your tour here.
Umbrella Alley
I saw someone post about Umbrella Alley a while ago, and when I realized Louisville was this close to Canton, I just had to visit! There's just something so fun about skipping through an alley full of flying umbrellas. It made our day extra happy and it was only 15 minutes from the Troll Hole Museum Tour.
McKinley Presidential Library
I was so, so, so impressed with the McKinley Presidential Library and Museum! This is one of the places we got one free child admission thanks to the Pigskin's Pals Adventure Pass, which was great.
We started by climbing the giant steps to the top of the McKinley National Monument. We went inside and paid our respects to the 25th President of the United States of America. Then, we made our way over to the museum building.
The museum was much bigger than I expected. It was like a science center and history museum combined, and my kids had lots of fun.
The McKinley Presidential Library and Museum has a planetarium (included with admission), a world science center where you can play tic-tac-toe against a robot (my husband's personal favorite!), and a Street of Shops that transports you back to the early 1900s.
Play-Action Plaza
On our last day, we went to Play-Action Plaza at the Pro Football Hall of Fame, only a 5-minute drive from the Hyatt Place. We rode the ferris wheel, zipline, and Spike-It! Ride which was like a power tower drop. My son loved the Spike-It! Ride so much that we had a hard time getting him to leave.
Where We Ate
Breakfast
Each morning, we enjoyed the complimentary breakfast at Hyatt Place. It had plenty of options for our family, and it was nice to be able to save money by eating at the hotel.
Lunch
On our second day, we ate lunch at Grinders. We really appreciated that they had a kids' menu with prices ranging from only $3.55 to $8.25. The food was good, and the atmosphere was family-friendly.
On our last day, we ate lunch at a Canton staple: Taggarts Ice Cream. I wasn't so sure about having lunch at an ice cream shop, but our burgers and sandwiches were really good. And the ice cream—oh man, the ice cream! The ice cream is homemade and comes in classic dishes.
Taggarts is an old-school-style ice cream shop (it has been there for nearly 100 years!), and it was really tasty.
Dinner
On our first day, we had dinner at The Howlin' Bird, and it was FABULOUS! I got the Nashville chicken and waffles, and the flavor was amazing. We happened to be there on a Monday, which worked out nicely because kids get free milkshakes (Milkshake Mondays!) with a chicken finger meal. And my kids were super excited to have chocolate milkshakes with their dinner.
Our second day we ate dinner at Don Shula’s American Kitchen right next to Play-Action Plaza. The food was so, so good! I saw some reviews mention that they really liked the cornbread, so we decided to get it as an appetizer and it was seriously the best cornbread I've ever had! Don Shula's was another place we were able to save thanks to the Pigskin's Pals Adventure Pass. We went on a Tuesday and kids eat free on Tuesday's with the purchase of an adult entree.
Coffee Shops
If you've been following our blog for a while now, you probably know that my husband and I are always looking for good coffee. Whenever we travel, we try our best to check out local coffee shops, and we were surprised to find that Canton had quite a few delicious local gems.
These were the three we visited. They were all great.
That's the rundown of our trip! My husband and I both grew up in Cleveland, but neither of us had ever really spent much time in Canton. We were both surprised at how many family-friendly activities there were and our kids had so much fun.
If you're looking for a fun family getaway that is just a short distance from Cleveland, I definitely recommend Canton.
Check out VisitCanton.com to plan your trip and be sure to check out the Pigskin’s Pals Adventure Pass!
