Clip 'n Climb at Spooky Nook Sports - Manheim, PA

We visited Spooky Nook Sports in Manheim, PA on a Monday in the early afternoon.  It was the week after Christmas, so they had special holiday extended hours for Clip 'n Climb while the kids were out of school.  I called ahead to make sure that my 4 year old met the weight and age restrictions for climbing.  Luckily she did, because I had already shown her photos of the climbing walls, and she was very excited.  I also checked to make sure they didn't have a full session at the time we were going.  It sounded like it was a popular activity for groups to do, so it can fill up at certain hours.  We used the specific GPS address at the bottom of their web page to navigate to this part of central Pennsylvania that we've never been to before.  The parking lot for Spooky Nook is humongous, just like the size of the building.  We found a fairly close spot and entered the building.

Clip 'n Climb is immediately to your right when using the main entrance of Spooky Nook.  Everyone climbing during that time checked in at the top of the hour.  They then did a quick tutorial of how to clip your children and other safety instructions.  It takes a few times clipping on to fully get how to twist and unlatch the clip, but it became easy quickly.  Everyone spread out to find a wall that they wanted to climb, and even though our hour session was busy, we hardly ever waited for a wall.

Some walls were definitely harder than others, and my four year old quickly found ones that she was particularly good at and could make it close to the top.  Several walls have different ways in which they can be climbed to make them easier or more difficult depending on your climbing skills.  In addition to walls, there is one climb that is several tubes, arranged like steps, that can be walked up.  On this climb, a staff member must help you.  My four year old tried to do the tube steps, but they were just too far apart for her to step from one to the other.  I saw several older children accomplish this climb fairly easily.

Leap of Faith

There is also what they call the "leap of faith".  On this equipment, you climb up a pole and then stand on a small platform.  There is a punching bag that you jump out and grab on to.  They can move the bag closer if your child can not make the full leap.  This one also requires special help from the staff, and it has a special cost associated with it in addition to paying by the half hour or hour for the wall climbing.

My four year old climbed for a half hour and that seemed to be plenty before her arms got tired.  Older children in our group stayed for the full hour.  We took a break and crossed the hall to the food court.  We purchased some nachos and drinks at the snack bar and settled in to a large seating area where we could still watch the climbing.  After that, we explored the rest of the building a bit.  We stopped at the arcade and also watched a few sports games on the large indoor courts.

Things to Remember:

1.  Call ahead to make reservations for your climbing time.  Also, ask about age and weight restrictions, if you have concerns.

2.  Have your child wear really comfortable clothes and shoes.

3.  Make sure they visit the restroom before their climbing time.  Since it's limited amount of time, you don't want to waste it in the restroom.

The KidsPlace at the Whitaker Center - Harrisburg, PA

The KidsPlace is a special section for children 5 years and younger in the Harsco Science Center.  The Science Center is part of the even larger Whitaker Center, which also boasts an IMAX theatre.  The Whitaker Center is in downtown Harrisburg, with limited on street parking or you may park in the nearby Walnut Street garage.  Parking on street is free on Sundays; during other parking times there is a fee, as well as a fee to park in the garage.  When arriving at the Center, proceed up-stairs to the ticket desk for admission into the Science Center.  There is also a small gift shop on this level.

Cityscape with Slide

Immediately upon entering the Science Center there are a few kid-friendly exhibits, as well as the gated entrance for the KidsPlace.  The KidsPlace contains several exhibits, perfect for the 5 and under crowd.  The first exhibit is a cityscape with slide and pulley system to bring play bricks to the second level of the play structure.  Across the room is a padded play area for toddlers and a play market with plenty of play food and a place for a cashier to "check-out" the groceries.

Waterworks

Next is a water works area with two baby seats for the
smallest visitors to sit in the water play area to splash around.  There are water proof bibs available to help clothes stay dry.  Even if the kids get a bit too wet from the water, there are hand dryers to help dry their clothes.  The favorite exhibit on the day we visited seemed to be the ambulance, complete with lights and siren sounds.

After spending at least an hour in the KidsPlace, we ventured downstairs to other kid-friendly exhibits.  There was a place to design your own race car with the several different sizes and shapes of cars, and then the cars can be raced down a ramp.  It even tells you the speed of your car.  You can also make paper airplanes and fly them using a special launchpad to see which design goes the furthest.

The Market in KidsPlace

The bottom floor contains the hurricane chamber, simulating wind speeds of over 100 miles per hour!  This floor also houses any special exhibits that there may be at different times.  When we visited, there was a Christmas tree display and several hand crank train cars for kids to ride around a track.  We ended our day at the Whitaker Center by riding these trains and looking at the special Christmas light display.

Things to Remember:

1.  In case your child splashes around a bit too much in the water works area, it may be a good idea to bring a change of clothes.
2.  Check the Whitaker Center website for any special exhibits that may be there during your visit.
3.  Go on a Sunday to take advantage of the free on street parking.

Go 'N Bananas - Lancaster, PA

Go 'N Bananas is a new family fun center in Lancaster, Pennsylvania.  It is located close to Route 30, right off Dillerville Road.  If coming from Route 30 on Manheim Pike, it is best to pass Dillerville Road and turn right onto Garfield Ave after Sheetz.  We visited only a few days after their grand opening, on a Tuesday during the late morning.

Ballocity tube slide

When arriving, you check in at the desk and purchase the activity package that fits your needs - or your child's wants!  We chose the Monkey Toddler pass which includes play time in Ballocity, the Toddler Zone, and a $5 game card. The three level Ballocity structure is the first thing you see as you enter.  It has two twisting tube slides that start on the third level, as well as three regular side-by-side slides for racing.  There are plenty of balls to be thrown, shot out of cannons, or dumped from the large overhead bucket.  To get to the higher levels, children must climb up using the angled netting.  If needed, you can assist younger children, but the structure is meant for those 12 years and younger.  There are cubies for shoes - make sure you bring socks!

Next, we went to the arcade area to spend our $5 game card.  It looked as though most of the games were 50 cents and up.  Some were as much as $2 to play.  The games are all modern and very interactive.  My 4-year-old played basketball, a soccer-style kicking game, skee ball, a candy pick up machine, among others.  The $5 was spent pretty quickly though.  The game card is also used to accumulate tickets, and we turned in our tickets for a slinky-style bracelet.

Arcade and ropes course

While we didn't take advantage of the other attractions, there are many other things to do at Go 'N
Bananas.  There is laser tag, a toddler zone with soft climbing toys, two bowling lanes, spinning bumper cars, and an overhead ropes course.  The overhead ropes course looks challenging and fun for those that do not have a fear of heights.  In addition to these places to play, there is a cafe with Hershey's ice cream, sodas, and many other offerings.  I also noticed about four birthday party rooms.

Spinning bumper cars

Things to Remember:
1.  There is only one entrance / exit to Ballocity, so it is easiest to find a seat near there to keep track of your child/ren.
2.  You can keep your game card and any remaining tickets on it by registering your card at the kiosk in the game area.

Kids Castle - Doylestown, PA

Entrance to Kids Castle

Kids Castle is located within Central Park in Doylestown, Pennsylvania.  Doylestown is directly north of Philadephia and about two hours from the York / Harrisburg area.  Central Park is a large park with all the usual park elements: soccer fields, playgrounds, a walking trail, and pavilions.  When pulling into the parking lot, it's easy to spot the most popular feature of the park.  A short walk down a paved trail takes you to Kids Castle, a huge wooden play structure with eight stories of labyrinth-like passages.

Portions of the Kids Castle play area are undergoing renovation, but it doesn't affect the main play structure of the Castle.  We arrived around 11 AM on a cool Sunday morning.  It had rained the night before, so a lot of the steps to the Castle were wet and slippery.  We quickly realized that the passages inside were perfect for kids, but there were places that adults would have difficultly fitting.  There is a path around the perimeter of the inside that is tallest and best for adults.  Further in, there are chutes that even a 3-year-old would need to crouch down to enter.  Throughout, there is themed artwork to look at on the interior and exterior of the Castle.

One corner has a popular "elevator" which takes kids, one at a time, down to the lower level.  The other favorite feature is the three story twisted tube slides.  I even saw some adults who managed to fit themselves down the very twisted slide.  While it is easy to lose your child in the complex passages of the Castle, there is a fence around the play area, making it easier to know that your child hasn't left the immediate area of the playground.  We solved this issue by having our 3-year-old yell out a window down to us from time to time.

Two twist tube slides

Even though we arrived fairly early on a Sunday morning, the playground quickly became busier as it got closer to mid-day.  There is plenty of seating around the Castle, but on this particular day most of the seats were still wet from the rain.  There is not much shade, so plan accordingly if it's a hot day.  There is a water fountain nearby, but it's a few minute walk over to a pavilion that also houses the restrooms.

Overall, Kids Castle is unlike any other play structure I've seen.  While it isn't that old - built in 1997 - a project is already underway to improve it and "save" it.  More play structures, such as a pirate ship, were recently added to the grounds.

Things to Remember:
1.  If you enter the address of the park, 425 Wells Road, into your GPS, it will most likely take you into a neighborhood.  Using "Central Park" or "Doylestown Township Municipal Building" for GPS directions that will most likely lead you to the park entrance.
2.  The restrooms are a bit of a walk on the other side of the parking lot, in a pavilion near the soccer fields.  We asked our 3-year-old if she had to go often, to avoid an emergency.
3.  Since it's easy to get lost within the structure, prepare your child beforehand with where to meet you if you get separated.

Curiosity Connection - Harrisburg, PA

Curiosity Connection is a special section of the State Museum of Pennsylvania in Harrisburg.  If you're traveling from Interstate 83, it's the 2nd Street exit that will take you into the city of Harrisburg.  A few more turns, and you'll see parking along the street all around the circular museum.  We were there on a Sunday morning and circled the block once before we found a parking space.  There are also parking garages in the city.  One nice reason to go on a Sunday is that metered parking in downtown Harrisburg is free on Sundays.

When we arrived at the museum, we found Curiosity Connection to be located right beside the front desk.  There is an admission charge to the museum, but the three of us entered for under $20.  We headed directly to Curiosity Connection, because the 3-year-old was very excited as soon as she saw it through the glass wall and doors.

There are different sections of the play area, much like Storyville in Baltimore.  There is a building materials section, bedroom / house, forest, farm, school bus, and automobile section.  The 3-year-old started with the house and immediately went through a small door that adults could not easily fit through.  I didn't realize that it was a tunnel that led to a couple of different places, so I waited for her to return to the bedroom play area, and she didn't.  The play area isn't very big, so it didn't take long to find her when she came out in the forest.

The play area was decorated for winter, with a special winter section for building a snowman with large stuffed white balls and an area where the kids could pretend to ice skate.  The trees in the forest were snow covered at their roots, and there were a few woodland creature costumes as well as a snowflake costume, which the 3-year-old loved and refused to take off.  We played in Curiosity Connection for about a half hour, and then decided to walk around in the rest of the museum, since that was included in our admission.

The escalators to the three other floors of the museum were a hit with the 3-year-old.  She also enjoyed the top floor which had the prehistoric animals, fish, large mammals, and small critters.  Older children may also enjoy the collection of wagons, stagecoaches, and the airplane.  There was also an interesting exhibit of an archaeology dig site.

Things to Remember:
1.  Conveniently, there's a family bathroom inside Curiosity Connection.
2.  The museum is really close to the Capitol Building, so if the weather is nice, it'd be a great walk.
3.  Curiosity Connection is only for children five and under, so make arrangements for older children.

Central Market - York, PA

Central Market in downtown York is located along Philadelphia and North Beaver Streets.  It's simple to get to from Route 30 in York, by taking George Street into the city and turning right onto Philadelphia Street.  There is a large parking garage across the street from the Market, and it's free to park on Saturdays.  We visited the Market on a very cold Saturday morning.

We entered the historic Market using the doors along Philadelphia Street, and the 3-year-old immediately saw the candy shop.  Our rule for trips to the Market is that she must walk up and down all the aisles before she decides what she'd like to purchase.  We kept her walking and enjoyed looking at all of the fresh vegetables, delicious desserts, and crafts for sale from the wide variety of vendors.

Eventually, we made our way to YorKitchen, which is a commercial kitchen incubator that has activities for kids on Saturdays.  Since this weekend was Superbowl Sunday, the kids had to throw a football through a goal to win a prize, which was a small football.  There were also a few other cute games for them to play.  Usually the activity includes decorating food in some way, for example on Valentine's Day weekend they decorate rice krispie treats with chocolate and sprinkles.

After seeing all of the goodies that the Market had to offer, the 3-year-old decided that candy was her choice for a treat, and we headed back to the candy stand.  There are various bags of candy, most $1, but ranging up from there.  Normally, she picks a cookie from a bakery stand, and now and then we get a pretzel wrapped hot dog.  There is plenty of kid-friendly foods at the Market, as well as many exotic treats to keep adults happy.  There are tables throughout, though the best seating location is a small loft overlooking the entire Market.

The Market is a great place to wonder around with the kids on a Saturday morning or early afternoon (they close at 2 PM), but there are also special events for kids throughout the year.  These events include a special New Year's Eve kids countdown; the Market is also a great place to get a treat before or after the York Saint Patrick's Day parade on Saturday, March 14th.

Things to Remember:
1.  If it's warm outside, bring a cooler to keep the goodies you buy cold until you get home.
2.  Check the YorKitchen website to confirm hours for the kid's activities.
3.  There are other small shops to check out around the Market, so consider walking the streets a bit.

Storyville - Woodlawn, MD

Storyville is located in the Woodlawn and Rosedale branches of the Baltimore County Public Library.  It is a kid-sized village where children age five and under can interact with specially designed elements that foster early learning and literacy skills.  We visited Storyville in Woodlawn on a rainy Saturday around noon.

The Woodlawn branch is close to I-695 at the Security Blvd exit.  The entrance to the Storyville parking lot is actually before the library when coming from I-695, so watch for a sign that says "Storyville".  If you miss it and turn into the library parking lot, you can walk through the library to the entrance of Storyville, which is in the back corner of the main library area.  At the entrance to the village, there are two family bathrooms, a water fountain, and an area to hang coats.

Grocery Store

At the front desk, you're asked for the first names of the people in your group, and then you are assigned one badge per group for one person to wear throughout the visit.  This is to keep track of how many people are inside the village, as they do have a maximum capacity.  When we entered, the 3-year-old went directly to the grocery store, which had a lot of fruits, vegetables, types of dairy, and meats to add to a basket and then check out with cash registers.  We were in this area for quite some time before she went exploring the other rooms.

Separate Play Area for Babies

Other rooms include a dress up area with stage, post office, construction zone with Lego table, library, house with upstairs loft and kitchen, trolley, puppet show theater, and forest.  There's also a separate play area for babies.  The kitchen was a big hit with the 3-year-old.  She loved the pretend kitchen sink, refrigerator, and all of the play bowls, cups, and food.  This was the most crowded room, since all the kids seemed to enjoy it.

In the back of Storyville, there is a small, traditional library space lined with books and some comfy places to sit and read.  We took notice to some backpacks along the wall in this area that were filled with books.  Each backpack was for a certain topic, such as "animals" or "things that move", and they could be checked out of the library as a package to learn more about that topic.

Storyville is free of charge for children and adults, and a great place to spend an hour or two learning and playing at the same time.

Things to Remember:
1.  Storyville has a maximum capacity with a wait list, so you may want to call ahead to see how busy they are on a particular day.
2.  Only children 5 and under can play in Storyville, so make arrangements for older children.