Any Given Sunday – Indoor Playgrounds
Rain, Rain Go Away!
This past weekend, the wet weather derailed my family’s usual Sunday plans of going to Splash N’ Play at Pinecrest Gardens. If you’ve never made it to the Garden’s water playground, I highly recommend it. Splash N’ Play has just enough water features to keep the kids entertained, while not being so big that you actually entertain the idea of putting your kids in one of those harnesses – yikes!
As an added bonus, the Garden has an awesome Farmer’s Market on Sunday’s as well. You can find everything from juices and produce to flowers and candles. If you go, make sure to stop by and see Zak the Baker – he makes organic sourdough bread that is out of this world!
So with no sun on the horizon and my kids chomping at the bit to run around and play, I quickly started searching on my phone for some indoor playgrounds that were nearby. We ended up going to Play Au Lait (mentioned below) after a quick coffee and snack stop at the new Pasion Del Cielo coffee shop that opened up right around the corner from my house – can you say Happy Mommy?
Below are some of the indoor places that I’ve bookmarked. Thought I’d share my findings with other like-minded mommies who enjoy planning active weekend activities for their family. In order from South to North, here are a few of my picks:
1) Play Au Lait (Miami-across from Dadeland Mall)
Recently opened in the booming Downtown Dadeland area, Play Au Lait has three designated areas for kids of all ages. The activities in each section are specifically designed to help kids explore and build motor skills that are inline with their stage of development. This place is all about getting kids moving and encouraging them to run, hop, jump, slide, crawl, back crawl, squeeze, balance, hang & bounce at their own pace.
Location & Contact: 9025 SW 72nd Place Miami, FL. 33156, (305) 514-0248 http://www.playaulait.com/
2) Cool-De-Sac (Sunset Place in South Miami & Dolphin Mall in Miami)
Cool de Sac is a place where kids can play, create and explore while parents relax, dine and enjoy a little bit of freedom. The food is delicious and the place boasts a number of different imagination stations that gets kids playing, climbing and creating. My kids love the Lego and art stations at the Sunset Place location and nothing makes me happier than coming home with a Max & Zoey original painting.
Locations: Sunset Place location – 5701 Sunset Dr #355
Miami, FL 33143, (305) 446-1686 or Dolphin Mall location – 11401 NW 12 Street, Space # E610
Doral, FL 33172, (305) 477-5505 – http://www.cool-de-sac.com/
3) Play-In (Midtown Miami)
Play-In is an indoor multi-sensory environment, where all children can come together to stretch, play, learn, feel and grow. What makes them unique is that their play area is set up with each child’s sensory system in mind, and offers specialized equipment to help kids achieve balance. We actually had my daughter’s first birthday here and the place & staff rocked…all of our guests kept commenting that Zoey’s party was the most relaxed birthday party they had ever been to – can’t beat that!
Location & Contact: 2501 NW 2nd Avenue Miami, FL 33127, (305) 576-7604 – http://play-inmiami.com/
4) Café Bambini (North Miami)
Cafe Bambini is an upscale, quality-driven coffee house with a stress-free, warm, inviting atmosphere. Set up like a chic MMA-style octagon, kids play in the center of the space while parents can sit at café tables around the perimeter and enjoy delicious bites and a great cup of coffee.
Location & Contact: 3073 NE 163 Street North Miami Beach, FL, (305) 944-1566 – http://www.cafebambinimiami.com/home.html
5) Funderdome (Fort Lauderdale)
Funderdome is an indoor, activity-based, family entertainment center that integrates state-of-the-art, interactive play systems in an exciting and weather-independent environment for kids of all ages. This 8,600 square feet fun house includes everything from a Toddler Zone and giant indoor playgound to a High-Tech Laser Maze and a ropes course.
Location & Contact: 1455 SE 17th Street Fort Lauderdale, FL 33316, (954) 525-1816 – http://www.funderdome.net/
This post was written by Nikki Deas of Vine Communications, Inc. You can learn more aout Nikki at vinecommunicationsinc. com and you can follow her @vinePR.
