It’s summer, your kids have found every ounce of sugar in the house, your sprinkler has been running for two hours, there is mud all over the floor, everyone is fighting, the kids have been watching TV far too long, and there are toys strewn about the room. Sound familiar? Well, if you, too, are experiencing sensory overload and feeling a little cramped, come check out the indoor play that Modesto (and the surrounding areas) has to offer!
- Play Modesto
- Great for crawlers up through age 8
- The baby area is separated and they have age-appropriate toys and activities
- They bring in super fun characters on some days
- Clean
- Friendly staff
- Small enough to not stress about where your kids are, large enough for them to explore for hours
- Decent price (currently $16) (Adults do not have to pay! yay!)
- It would be really nice if they would build a concession stand in this place and serve some food that adults also would like to eat, but they DO provide snacks you can purchase for your kids if you forgot yours at home.
- Rate: 10/10
- Modesto Kids Club
- Smaller facility, but lots of little fun nooks and crannies to play in (the size is actually just right in my opinion!)
- Super fast slide
- Good for crawlers- around age 8
- Decent price
- Lots of bright colors
- Rating: 9/10
- Vintage Fair Mall Indoor Play Area (by the food court) and VR area (downstairs)
- Good up through around age 6 or so (depending on your child)
- Right next to Coldstone (good motivation for good behavior 😉
- FREE, so that’s always good!
- It’s smaller, so may not hold their attention as long
- Carpet is a bit dirty, so I might not bring a crawler..but it does seem to be somewhat geared towards crawlers (just bring your hand sanitizer if you dont like germs 😉 )
- Pretty basic play area, but it sparks imagination and play!
- Rating: 6/10
- Stockton Children’s Museum
- Built in probably the 70’s or 80’s, so the activities are geared towards learning as well as imagination. We absolutely LOVE this place
- Lots of color and beautiful details throughout
- They have a full-on helicopter, police car, firetruck, police motorcycle, ambulance, and bus inside!! Also a pretend grocery store, bank, lego area for racing cars, etc. It’s awesome.
- Story time on some days!
- Not open on Mondays, just FYI
- Only $10 entry!!! (Adults have to pay as well, but trust me its worth it!)
- Rating: 10/10
- Modesto Children’s Museum
- This is a relatively new museum/play place
- Great for all ages up to around 10/11
- Lots of activities inside, including a large climbing structure, STEM activities, art and science activities, an area for toddlers/babies, and more!
- A stage where kids can change the background, try on costumes, and act out their favorite play
- Storytime
- A water-play room (I’d definitely bring an extra change of clothes just in case! They do provide little aprons, but they don’t always have enough for everyone)
- Adults + kids pay, so this can get a little pricey
- Rating: 10/10
- STEM Days and Free Lunch at the Salida Public Library
- More details to come, but typically this starts around 11/113o and is over around 12:30/1.
- Lots of STEM activities provided as well as a free lunch
- They may even have a Nintendo switch set up for all the kids to join in
- Rating: 7/10 (it can get a little crazy in there)
- Living Spaces indoor play zone-Manteca (FREE!)
- Giant indoor play structure that adults and kids can all play on
- BONUS: You can drop the kids off while you shop around and get a moment of peace. Or you can even go into the kid zone with them and play.
- Rating: 8/10 (they dont have much else for the kids to do, but besides that, its really awesome. Probably won’t spend more than an hour or two there max, but its great if you are looking for something!)
- Funworks (Indoor treehouse/play area plus lots of arcade games!)
- Inside, they have a place called “Freddy’s Treehouse”, which costs around $6 to play on. This can keep them entertained for a good amount of time.
- They also have an indoor arcade, complete with a miniature bowling alley and *sometimes* bumper cars
- Food is available in the concession stand (pizza, nachos, etc)
- Rating: 8/10 because my kids always try to run out of the treehouse area and play the arcade games, and they get lost in there when it’s just me, and then they complain when I don’t want to give them all my money to play video games that they quickly lose interest in. lol.
- Sky Zone (An awesome updated trampoline park!)
- This is the old “Rockin Jump” but with many upgrades!
- This includes a climbing structure for kids 6 and under (just be aware that adults cannot climb on the structure, so if you have kids that you can’t really trust to be by themselves, you will have to sneak up there to grab them if they start acting up)
- 2 Giant slides
- A dodgeball area
- A giant pillow to dive onto
- and more!
- Rating: 9/10.
- Luv 2 Play- Stockton
- This is one of our favorite spots. It’s not the cleanest place, but the facility is larger and there are a lot of nooks and crannies for the kids to play in. Adults can climb on the structure, as well, which is always a bonus!
- This place also has a mini arcade with simple games.
- Food is served in the concession stand (I recommend the pizza…it really is pretty bomb!)
- ….on that note, they won’t let you bring in your own food. So unless your child has an allergy or a medical reason why you can’t purchase food from Luv 2 Play, and even if they DO have an allergy (I said it…lol), you will get spoken to by one of the workers. So you might want to come ready to advocate for your child if you want to bring your own food in.
- Adults do have to pay for entry, unfortunately, so again, this one can get pricey as well. (especially if you are there for 2 hours and your kid is starving and you then have to buy a pizza for almost $20. Can you tell I’m a little bitter? ha! It’s a fun place, though.)
- Rating: 9/10
- Monkeyin Around-Stockton
- I have not been to this place, but it is on our bucket list for this Summer!
- John’s Incredible Pizza – Modesto
- Ah, the lights, the energy, the GAMES!! This is a giant arcade, a big step up from Chuck-E-Cheese. It also has really fun bumper cars, an indoor spinning ride, a laser-tag area, and mini-golf. ALL INSIDE!!! (Not to mention the food!)
- This is a great place to host a birthday party.
- Rate: 9/10
- Chuck-E-Cheese, Modesto
- Did you know Chuck-E-Cheese got a facelift? Yeah, me neither, until we attended 2 birthday parties there this year.
- Again, this is an indoor arcade. I believe you can purchase a pass that lasts for a couple of hours and the kids can play unlimited games (that’s how it worked with the birthday party, at least!)
- They also have monthly memberships that you can purchase, as well.
- I rate this probably an 8/10.
- Lost World’s Adventures – Livermore, CA
- We haven’t been to this one, either, so TBA!!
- Great Wolf Lodge, Manteca, CA
- This is a hotel that has a pretty epic indoor waterpark. (Definitely bring enough adults so each child has a 1:1….)
- They do provide life-vests.
- Not suitable for non-strong swimmers to walk around alone. There is a giant wave pool that gets pretty deep. So combine moving/waving deep water with a child and an adult that can’t reach the bottom, and you have a serious drowning hazard. USE CAUTION!
- Expensive. With the price you pay for a day pass, you may as well just book the hotel.
- They have a variety of food options, so everyone should be able to find something they like
- There are fun games for the kids to play, including a “quest” they can go on, complete with magic wands.
- All in all, I’d rate it an 8/10, but just know this place is a financial and time COMMITMENT. You can’t just walk in very easily and do a couple of things. And it’s fairly busy, as well. But the water park is super fun.
- Pottery Magic, Modesto
- We haven’t ventured to do this one, either, because our kids would probably break everything in there, but if you have a child that sits still and likes to paint, this is a great activity for you!! :). You can paint pottery, glaze it, and give it out as gifts to loved ones (or keep it for yourself!)
While not all of these are in Modesto, most of them are an hour within us, and absolutely worth the drive when your sanity is on the brink! Let me know what YOU think and if you have any other favorite spots!
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