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Health & Fitness

12 Ideas for Indoor Family Adventures on Bad Weather Days

When you’ve faced what can seem like an endless stream of bad weather days, entertaining young children indoors starts to test even the most creative parents. Here are ideas for indoor adventures out and about, building on our recent article, 11 Fun Indoor Activities for Bad Weather Days for keeping kids entertained at home.

Be sure to think ahead about packing snacks or lunch depending on whether you want to buy food where you are headed. There’s nothing like hearing “Mom, I’m hungry” two minutes into the adventure after the effort of getting out of the house! And consider the easiest way to handle parking or public transportation with the kids in tow, especially in the midst of snow or pouring rain.

While we have listed a number of free options below, many places such as community centers offer need-based scholarships.

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1. Children’s museums and science centers are an obvious source of fun. Joining your favorite museums can be cost effective so that you can visit for short periods of time whenever the mood strikes. That way we avoid the temptation to stay longer than best for children’s temperaments to feel we got our money’s worth out of an individual day ticket.

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2. Indoor play venues with features like bouncy houses, climbing equipment, slides, and mini golf. For example, the new La Petite Playhouse in Redwood City, California, features giant undersea-themed structures, climbing wall, and a separate baby/toddler play area.

3. Your city or county recreation department or local community centers often have drop in play programs for young children in addition to swimming pools, play equipment, and inflatables or gym areas available for families to enjoy. For example, my Cleveland Mandel JCC offers drop in Family Place activity center and gym programs for young children.

4. Most public libraries offer a variety of programming for young children which is usually free.

5. Bowling with bumpers in place on the lane is a great activity to entertain different aged children for a few hours.

6. Try out an indoor roller or ice skating rink.

To read the rest of the article, please visit my parenting blog at http://gooseling.com/2014/01/14/indoor-family-adventures-bad-weather. Lisa Danielpour is Co-Founder and COO of Gooseling, dedicated to teaching children social & life skills through video game apps. Cavity Dragons is the first game designed to encourage kids to brush their teeth, the Jr version for 2 to 5 year olds and the Pro version of 6 to 9 year olds.
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