If your preschooler’s truly happiest when he’s pushing a dumptruck—Diggerland USA in West Berlin, NJ may be the most amazing thing that’s ever happened to him. The new construction-themed park, which opened on June 14, features diggers, dumpers, rovers, and cranes in all their yellow-painted glory. And the best part? Your kid gets to drive them!
Kids need to be at least 36-inches-tall to get in on the fun, which is apparently the minimum height required to ride or drive real stationary construction machinery, safely. And it’s not just about moving dirt (though yes, we know, that would be fun enough for your hard-hatter). Diggerland incorporates the machines into games like Mini Diggers: Treasure, where little builders get behind the wheel of mini-excavators to dig for buried treasure.
Beyond all the digging and dumping, Diggerland also offers rides, a rock wall, a ropes course, and tours around the park in construction trucks. There are also daily machinery stunt shows featuring “heavy equipment acrobatics”—come watch a backhoe pop a wheelie!
Diggerland makes a great day trip (there’s probably not enough here for more than one day’s visit) and costs $29.95 (online)/$34.95 (walk-up) for the full day.