Start your family weekend in Brookings on Friday, by kicking off the fun with ice cream at South Dakota State University. The Dairy Bar is closed Saturdays and Sundays.

Let the kids see how the dairy products are made. Schedule a free tour of the Davis Dairy Plant. Call 605-688-5482 to schedule it, or use the “schedule a dairy plant tour” link on their website. Ice cream is available for purchase as part of the tour.

Try cookies and cream ice cream. SDSU claims they invented it and I believe them. I ordered a waffle cone with one scoop of it and added a scoop of mint cookies and cream on top.

Do your kids love an ice cream cone but like to savor it slowly? Ask for a dish on the side and grab a spoon. They can turn their cone upside down and enjoy it even as it melts.

If it’s not too hot outside, enjoy your ice cream at the outdoor seating by the building. A fun family photo opportunity/op with your ice cream is with the cow on the wall inside!

Check the cooler in the Dairy Bar for meat and cheese which will make excellent hotel room snacks.

Parking is available just north of the Dairy Bar and a few spots to the south of it. If you have a Brookings Great 8 passport, get it stamped here.

A community farmers market is a wonderful environment for kids to learn that fresh food, locally grown flowers, and handcrafted goods come from real people.

Brookings Farmers Market is open Saturdays from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. but get here early because popular vendors sell out. There are fun areas for the kids to play. The season is May through October and there are different food vendors, hand-made products, and children’s activities to explore each week.

The market is dog-friendly. Playing with people-friendly dogs might be my favorite part of the morning.

Located on the 300 block of 6th Ave, the street between the Brookings Library and County Courthouse. Just southeast of the Children’s Museum of South Dakota. Some vendors prefer cash. Stop by the market booth to ask questions and run your SNAP EBT card.

Take your kids to a museum? Yes! They are going to have so much fun here. Exhibits are visually appealing and there are quite a few that include a mini video display and headphones to learn more. The kids will think that’s pretty cool.

In addition to lots of interactive activities for the kids to learn, the upper level of the museum is made just for kids. They can build a farm, milk a cow, watch the auger deliver into the grain bin, and play farmers market. Can your kids imagine eating dusty peas? Stroll through the 1915 farmhouse kitchen replica to see them on display.

Be sure to ask about the blue and gold wool blankets in partnership between the SDSU sheep and Faribault Mill in Minnesota. When in season, buy a few seed packets from the museum store to plant at home as a souvenir.

This museum is free and ADA accessible, including the children’s interactive learning area on the upper level. Parking is available west and north of the building. Check with the museum staff when you enter the building to ask if you’re parked in a public spot. If you have a Brookings Great 8 passport, get it stamped here.

Now you’re really going to show the kiddos where fresh food comes from. It’s time to head to Sanderson Gardens to pick whatever fruit is in season.

The best part for parents? The owner, Jan Sanderson, encourages kiddos to eat fruit as they’re picking it. He knows no kid can resist a warm from the sun juicy red strawberry.

The front yard is full of toys and play areas for the kids. Bring sunscreen because the kids will want to be here a while.

Pick your own asparagus, rhubarb and strawberries in the spring and early summer. Later in the summer, come back and pick raspberries. When the pumpkins and gourds are ready, the patch is perfect for kids and fall photos. Follow the signs in the yard to the U-pick that’s in season.

Weigh your berries on the scale up in the front yard. Pay with cash. Leave the money in the ammo box.

Dakota Nature Park, once a landfill and junk yard south of town, is home to a beautiful 135-acre city-owned nature and recreation area.

Open in all seasons, visitors enjoy the ponds for kayaking, paddleboarding and fishing (catch and release when possible) and the trails for walking, biking, and snowshoeing. It’s a quiet place to bird watch, relax, picnic, and breathe in nature.

There are benches scattered throughout the park’s ADA-accessible trails, so I like to walk partway through the park and then sit and enjoy the sounds of nature and watch the birds and dog-walkers that come through.

I’m a novice bird watcher so I use a birding app on my phone to identify birds I hear or see. During your time here, you might see birds such as Prothonotary Warbler, Green Heron, Yellow Flicker, Great Horned Owl, Baltimore Oriole, Orange Crowned Warbler, Franklin Gull, Great Blue Heron, Eagle, Marbled Godwit, Long-billed Dowitcher, Kingfisher and hundreds more.

Summer rentals include kayaks, stand-up paddle boards, fishing rods, mountain bikes and single or two-person adult tricycles. Staff will help you get situated and get in and out of the water. Winter rentals: snowshoes. You can also rent binoculars and GPS units.

Dogs are welcome but must be leashed, not only for their safety and the safety of visitors, but for the protection of birds as several in the park are on ground nests.

The park is a great option for cross country skiing too. They groom trails on Mondays and Fridays, weather permitting. View a map of the cross county and walking trails on the park’s website. The park is open from 6 a.m. to 11 p.m.

Located within Dakota Nature Park is Larson Nature Center. Programs for adults, families and children are held in the facility (mainly in the summer), plus it’s a relaxing space to get out of the elements and sit by the fireplace. The center offers educational activities for the public to enjoy, with seating and a classroom for instruction.

The kids will think it’s cool to come in and see and touch the animal furs and enjoy the activities. Check out their social media and website for program schedules and pop-ups. https://www.cityofbrookings-sd.gov/313/Dakota-Nature-Park

Staff is available to educate visitors when the Larson Nature Center facility is open. Late May through mid-August hours: Mondays and Tuesdays the facility is closed. Wednesday – Friday 12-8pm, Saturday 9am – 8pm, Sunday 12-8pm Fall/winter hours: Saturday 9-5 and Sunday 12-5pm

The Nature Center can be rented out by space; availability depends on the time of year and what else is scheduled. (Classroom, Atrium, Sunroom and the entire facility.) The facility is also available to rent for birthday parties, weddings, showers and other special events.

Pizza farms have gained popularity over the last few years and the Brookings community is lucky to have Good Roots just a few minutes from town.

It rained off and on the night we went but it didn’t stop them from making pizza in the two wood-fired ovens. Everyone just grabbed their stuff, including the live music, and moved into the nice barn, which is where the bar is anyway. We ordered pepperoni pizza and dessert pizza which was rhubarb and aronia berry, both from the farm. So good! The menu changes every two weeks.

Wood-fired pizza nights on the farm, Sundays only, 4:30-7:30 PM, starting early June through mid-October. Many of the ingredients are grown right on the farm.

You want to order ahead. Online ordering for the week opens on Tuesday afternoons. https://goodrootsfarm.square.site Sometimes they can accommodate walk-up sales, but you’re taking a risk of not getting any pizza because they often sell out online. They sell beer, wine and signature lemonades like lemonade with aronia berry juice. The bar is located in the barn.

The farm has lots of open space for kids to play, there’s an area with yard games, and the goats, Double and Trouble, enjoy visitors.

Pizza is served in a box so bring with you: chairs or a blanket to sit on in the grass, plates, napkins, sunglasses, water, bug spray, hand wipes (there are public restrooms). We packed all our stuff in our utility wagon and wheeled it right to the yard.

The week after we were here, they opened a cute little farm store near the barn so that’s something to check out as well.