So it’s your turn to take the kids on a Saturday afternoon. You are strapped for ideas. You live in Portland and it’s raining outside, thus eliminating any option of playing outdoors. You’ve also eliminated the option of playing at your house because

A.) you don’t want to deal with the mess

and

B.) because you truly want to give your kids a great afternoon and playing at home isn’t anything out of the ordinary.

Your budget is tight and options are looking bleak. But depending on the age of your kids there are some great inexpensive places to take your kids for an awesome Saturday afternoon.

Here are a few ideas to play around with:

Indoor inflatable playgrounds

Price Range $5-8

Places like Inflatable kingdom will be your best bet if you are looking to stay within a budget and remain indoors.

Inflatable Kingdom

Tickets range from $5-8. Inflatable playgrounds have open plays at varying times- always check the kids open play schedule before coming. Kids are able to run around and get out all of their energy.  There will be many other kids to play and make new friends with. And for the parents there is an area to sit and watch or mingle. It is a really low maintenance afternoon activity for parents. The inflatable playgrounds are monitored by trained staff. Snack and food options are available as well as coffee and other refreshments. Kids love it, you are guaranteed to win them over. The only downside to taking kids to an inflatable playground is that they wont want to leave. However you will encounter this problem with any fun filled and enjoyable afternoon.

Indoor Swimming Centers & Parks

Price Range $ 7-10

Kids always love swimming. Southwest community center has a great indoor pool.  They also have a basketball court and a gym, just in case you have older kids who might get bored. Indoor parks are great too. There are always tons of kids to play and make new friends with. With indoor swimming you have the ability to become more involved with your kids playtime. Hop in the pool with them and splash around, let them take a ride on your back while you swim under water. Kids love it.

Museums

Price Range $10-20

Omsi is always a great place to take your kids. Its educational and interactive. The biggest downside to museums is that they can become rather pricey. But who can put a price on education? Omsi has several ongoing exhibits, but there are always new ones coming and going, which makes no two visits the same.  They also have several different movie screens always playing new and different shows. However the tickets for shows can also get pricey as well.

Want to take your kids to Inflatable Kingdom?

Buy tickets online at InflatableKingdom.com

Or call (503) 719-0994

Don’t forget about the option of renting fun games or activities to have at your own home!

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March 23, 2011

Alex has been jumping off the walls lately. When the weather is nice, sometimes I bring him to the park near our house, and he plays on the swings and slide. When things are wet and cold, however, indoor options, like Inflatable Kingdom’s Open Play, are preferable.

The East Portland Community Center offers an Indoor Play Park for kids age 5 and under from 10 am until noon on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. I have been meaning to take Alex for quite some time. Today as I was trying to get my work done, he was tearing around the house yelling “ball” and throwing his inflatable balls around. Looking at the kid go, I decided there was no time like the present, and we packed up the diaper bag and headed out the door.

The East Portland Community Center is located near Mall 205 at 740 SE 106th in Portland. The Indoor Play Park costs just $1.25 and is very popular. There were a lot of kids today which I am told is normal.

The “park” is set up in the Community Center’s gymnasium. The gym has been filled with children’s ride on toys, slides, balls, and other odds and ends. Alex did not know where to start playing. He pushed a tricycle, hopped on, then ran after a ball. For the next hour or so we ran around that gym while he tried out pretty much every toy in the place. There are plenty of ride-ons and balls for every child to play, though the toys often got snatched up almost immediately by another kid when a child left them.

The play park was a lot of fun, and it certainly wore me out. I really had to watch Alex closely since kids his age are not very careful, and the place was busy with lots of little kids. Thankfully it is a big gymnasium, so there was plenty of space to move around and play. A trampoline is set up in the gym for the kids to take turns jumping on, but I did not let Alex jump on the trampoline this time since I could not be on there with him, and it was pretty busy. We’ll save his bouncing for our next trip to Inflatable Kingdom.

We had a great time at the play park, so I am sure we will go back again some time. They also have swimming pools over there and one of these days we will make it over to an open swim session. So many things to do!

Amazingly enough, even after playing all morning, Alex is still bouncing off the walls now. When he does finally nap today, he is going to sleep well!

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February 12, 2011

One of the great things about living in Portland is that the beach is just a short drive away. Last weekend, my husband, his parents, Alex, and I spent the weekend at the beach in Seaside. We were fortunate enough to have pretty nice weather on Friday and Sunday, however, Saturday proved to be windy, rainy, and cold.

Seaside is a great beach to visit in cold weather because there are plenty of shops and attractions to provide entertainment when it is too cold to play on the beach. We decided to visit the Seaside Aquarium on this Saturday, which proved to be a popular choice.

The Seaside Aquarium is a privately owned aquarium that was founded in 1937, making it one of the oldest aquariums on the West Coast. The Seaside Aquarium is located on the beach in Seaside at 200 N Prom. We got a family admission package which includes admission for up to six people for $25. Individual admission is $7.50 adults, $6.25 seniors (age 64 +), $3.75 kids (age 6 – 13), and free age 5 and under.

There is a lot to see at the Aquarium! They have a large octopus, all sorts of fish, anemones, eels, crabs, and more. A huge preserved lobster, Victor, greets visitors at the entry. The poor crustacean was saved from the stew pot and lived at the aquarium for a time. Unfortunately a would be thief dropped Victor and the lobster died later died from the injuries he sustained; however, he has been preserved for visitors to view.

The aquarium has a touch tank with anemones, starfish, and sea urchins. The other kids all seamed to enjoy getting the chance to touch these animals, but Alex thought the water was too cold, so he mostly just looked.

A favorite activity for kids and adults alike are the metal plates with ocean animals on them that are provided with paper and crayons to create rubbings. Alex liked coloring, although I think us adults may have had more fun than he did. Alex is nearly 17 months now, and he is just starting to color, but he loses interest pretty fast. Throwing crayons is much more entertaining.

Possibly the most popular attractions at the aquarium are the seals. The seals at the aquarium were all captive bred in the aquarium’s successful captive breeding program. Visitors can purchase food for the seals for $1 and the seals clap and show off for treats. We fed the seals then were fortunate enough to see the keeper feed them a mid day meal. The seals put on quite a show, and those of us who stood too close got a little wet. Alex thought the seals were interesting, but he did not like getting splashed, so when the seals got really animated, we moved him back.

We finished our visit with a stop by the Aquarium’s gift shop. The gift shop sells sea shells, toys, beach buckets, and more. Had the day been less windy, we might have bought beach toys and proceeded to the beach to make sand castles. As it was, the day was spent mostly indoors, so the visit to the aquarium was a welcome diversion.

This time of year, whether you are at the beach or in Portland, indoor activities are essential to keep kids entertained. Inflatable Kingdom’s Open Play sessions provided a great outlet for kids to expel some of their pent up energy and are lots of fun.

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