Friends with Kids & Wet Weather Activities with the Kids

Rain, rain, go away, come again another day. Well it won’t be going away until Wednesday so here is some suggestions on what to do and see this wet weekend.

Go to the Movies

Friends with Kids

Friends with Kids is a very funny movie written, directed and starring Jennifer Westfeldt with an impressive cast that includes Maya Rudolph (Up All Night & SNL), Kristen Wiig (Bridesmaids & SNL), Jon Hamm (Mad Men & Jennifer’s husband in real life) .It is about two friends who watch how their group of friends change dramatically when they have kids (as we all know). They also want kids but can’t find the right person so decide to get pregnant together and continue to find their Mr. & Miss Right.

'Friends with Kids' movie

Suggestions on where to take the kids this weekend

If running around the Northgate Mall doesn’t feel you with excitement than try taking the kids to these indoor activities:

Play Café 

Take shelter from the rain with a hot coffee and a Panini at Play Cafe while the kids can dress up in costumes and perform in the theater room, discover their culinary skills in the toy kitchen, play with the train tables, toy castles and dollhouses or jump in the “swimming hole’ ball pool. There is free wi-fi and magazines for the grown-ups and a selection of kid-friendly snack and lunch options.

Play cafe, Oakland

Chuck E. Cheese 

Take a trip back to your own childhood with a drive further north to Chuck E.Cheese in Rohnert Park. Grab some tokens and let the kids run around the slot machine rides, climb up the tower and scoot around the play tubes above you. Pizza, oven roasted sandwiches and fill up at the salad bar for lunch.

Chuck E.Cheese

Habitot 

Celebrate St. Patrick’s Day with ‘Shamrock Day’ at HABITOT, the children’s museum in Berkeley with Irish themed arts and crafts. Read my review of Habitot here.

Habitot in Berkeley

Story time with Christopher Smith at Book Passage

My baby daughter had the pleasure of being introduced to the popular Christopher Smith's  story and sing-along time last Sunday, and was rocking out to it for the full half hour.. It happens every Sunday at 11.00 am at the Book Passage in Corte Madera. The Book Passage also has great children’s book section and café! 

Christopher Smith at Book Passage

Play Land in Sausalito

Play Land, 610 Coloma Street, Building 6, Sausalito

Looking for an alternative indoor activity to BADM in Southern Marin?  

Play Land is a full sized gymnasium in Sausalito that becomes an inflatable wonderland four times a week. An amazing giant bouncy house takes up the majority of the space with a basketball hoop, a 15 foot inflatable slide and a toddler bouncy zone. There are also plastic cars and wagons dotted around the gym drive around in and mini basketball hoops.

Bouncy houses in Play Land

For younger kids seeking less octane play, there is an arts and crafts room and train table area. There is a padded area for tots between the ages of 1 – 2 years old where they can explore at their own pace by their parent’s side, but the main event here is the oversized bouncy house.

Play Land

You can take a quiet moment away from the play area to enjoy lunch or a snack at the food area with picnic tables where tea and coffee is available.

15 ft slide in Play Land

The space is available for hire on Sundays and there is drop-off available for older children some afternoons. For further details about opening times and cost, please check out Play Land website

Baby & Toddler 

Weekly Activities Calendars

Looking for something to entertain your toddler or want to reach out to new moms with babies this week?

To view this week’s activities: Click here

Indoor Play at HABITOT

If you are looking for indoor activities to do with your children during this changeable weather, check out HABITOT in Berkeley. Habitot is a children’s play and learning center with various themed areas for plenty of exploration and dramatic play.

Children can dress up as astronauts and take a ride inside a rocketship full of lights, buttons, keyboards, and phones to call mission control beside it. 

They can dress up in other costumes in front of lit up mirrors and experiment with face paints. Take a shopping trip with their carts round the fresh produce market, or splash round with water in Waterworks area.

There is a great arts and crafts room which has a huge wall for kids to grab a paintbrush and go crazy on, or sit down for organized art and craft activities. My son enjoyed discovering GAK which is similar to Playdoh but has a sticky rubbery consistence (GAK Facebook page). We also played with glue and glitter together to make a picture of his name.

There is also a small soft play area called the Infant Garden for little ones which was perfect for my 8 month daughter who is less happy to sit in her stroller and wants to join in the fun by starting to crawl and cruise around.

HABITOT has some great resources like the good selection of books in their parenting reference library with their own parenting pamphlets on useful subjects like; learning to share, how to stop biting, and how to control anger (theirs and yours). Also a toy lending service which is a wonderful idea!

The discovery museum is a small part of the large building that has been hosting classes and art programs since 1998. The appearance of the museum and its play structures reflects how long it has been open, and they welcome donations to help update their exhibit. I just wish the toy store by the entrance wasn’t so close the play areas as my son just kept wandering into it and wanting me to buy everything he picked up. 

But HABITOT is good fun, especially on a rainy day and worth checking out!

For further information and opening times, please see their website

Baby & Toddler 

Weekly Activities Calendars

Looking for something to entertain your toddler or want to reach out to new moms with babies this week?

To view this week’s activities: Click here