Indoor Playgrounds??

When it is cold, snowy, wet, or just wind chill madness at negative numbers, one does not want to go outside. However, an 18 month old does not understand the difference and needs to go outside to reduce the amount of energy that he has bottled up. When searching for fun, free/cheap things to do, indoor playgrounds came across my screen. Now, they are fun, cheap for little ones ($7-9) and some are FREE for adults. We have tried 2 of the 3 in our area (20 mile radius) and have determined that there are pros-and cons to both.

The first one we went to was in an old textile city north of us, basically the company took an abandoned warehouse and converted a portion of it into an indoor play-space. It has a bounce-house, garden and music area, art section, grocery store, pirate ship, and a huge plastic climbing gym/obstacle course. It was like a small hands-on children's museum.It is designed for toddlers-10 years old and parents are expected to watch their children and ensure the safety of their child, they're also expected to enforce the rule that you may not remove toys from one play space and put them in another...virtually impossible the way that this area was set up. There were clearly laid out sections to the play-spaces, however, there was too much open area for each section which translates to running area. Final big issue, the staff for this play-space did NOTHING to aide the play, especially in the art area, it would have been nice to see some sort of craft to do. Aside from that we liked the play spots, the decorations and the toys. Note: Parents are NOT free at this one.

The second play space we have gone to is a bit closer and less city-esque. This place had clearly designated areas and relatively few toys that could move. There was a wooden, giant pirate ship jungle gym, a wooden castle jungle gym, a track with ride-on toys, and 2 bounce-houses. There was a separate, gated toddler area with appropriately sized toys and bounce house (see picture below). This place was awesome and great fun for all. The only complaint was the cleanliness factor. One of the bathrooms did not have a child changing area and someone who used it before us had a clear aiming issue. Also, in the bounce house there was a layer of dust in the corners and creases that was thick and full of lint (icky). Aside from those down falls we enjoyed this place. Note: Parents/Adults are FREE!! (As seen in the picture, we loved the child sized picnic tables complete with paper towels)