Yu Kids? YAY Kids!

Yu Kids Island

Address: 122 Hawthorn Center, Vernon Hills, Illinois 

Hours: Monday - Saturday: 10:00 a.m. - 9:00 p.m.

Sunday: 11:00 a.m. - 6:00 p.m.

Admission: 

Monday - Thursday $10 for one child, $9 for each additional sibling

Friday - Sunday $12 for one child, $11 for each additional sibling

YAY! YAY! YAY! YAY! 

• Offers hands-on learning? Primarily gross motor development.
• Engages an active toddler in play? Yes
• Provides interaction with other children? Yes
• Allows children room to play without long waits? Yes
• Is clean? Yes

Yu Kids is fabulous choice for energetic kids. Children are free to jump, swing, slide, bounce and spin in a safe, pastel cushioned playground. 

Some of the equipment is motorized, moving kids slowly round and round as they play. There are dancing balloons sure to delight any child. Or children can bounce in quite possible the firmest bounce house I’ve ever seen. Kids fall down and pop right right back up again. 

My kids love it. And it is conveniently located in a shopping mall, which makes getting children to the mall a whole lot easier. 

It is a franchise business out of Japan. I anticipate seeing more Yu Kids pop around the Chicagoland area. 

If you can’t get to the park or need to hit the mall, check out Yu Kids!

Olly. Olly. Great for Molly!

Olly Olly Play Cafe

Address: 321 Park Avenue, Glencoe, Illinois 

Hours: Monday - Friday: 9:00 a.m. - 3:00 p.m.

Saturday: 10:00 a.m. - 2:00 p.m.

Admission: $12 for one child; $6 for each additional sibling

Monthly passes available

YAY! YAY! 

• Offers hands-on learning? Yes
• Engages an active toddler in play? Yes
• Provides interaction with other children? Yes
• Allows children room to play without long waits? Yes
• Is clean? Yes, but safety is a bit of an issue

The suburbs don't have the myriad play places of the city so we were delighted to learn about a brand new kids space: Olly Olly Play Cafe. 

The boys very much enjoyed playing pirates, and princes, and chefs. As always, we arrived right when it opened & pretty much had the place to ourselves. I can't even imagine how we would have managed if it had been crowded. It's a tight space.

The boys played in the castle playhouses a bit. Racing up the stairs and down the slides. And then fell in love with the pirate ship playhouse. They ransacked the treasure chests and steered the ship. Again, it was great because they had it all to themselves. If other (older) kids were there, I would have been very concerned for my toddler's safety.

Safety was a bit of an issue in general. There were cleaning products within a child's reach and unlocked and easily accessible in the bathrooms. 

We had to make an emergency run to the bathroom for a massive blowout, and was shocked to find it absent of any changing tables. So we made do on the bathroom floor. It was a little a gross. But sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do.

Overall, it reminded me of a daycare setting. And there's nothing wrong with that. It was very nice. It had a plethora of toys, games, playhouses, costumes, etc. And it is in a great location; even though parking is a bit sparse as well as limited to two hours.  

Again, my boys had a big time. And I walked away thinking it is an ideal place for a well-behaved, potty-trained five year old girl.

The Rainbow Connection

Rainbow Play Systems

Address: 300 Corporate Woods Parkway, Vernon Hills

Showroom Hours: Monday & Thursday 10:00 a.m. - 9:00 p.m.

Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday, Saturday 10:00 a.m. - 6:00 p.m.

Sunday 11:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m.

Admission: N/A

Unrated

• Offers hands-on learning? No
• Engages an active toddler in play? Yes
• Provides interaction with other children? No
• Allows children room to play without long waits? Yes
• Is clean? No

While this isn't really a children's play place (hence the non-rating), it got us all out of the house and energy out of my two monkeys!

Rainbow Play Systems manufactures the big wooden play sets you see in backyards. You may even have one in your backyard. And if so, we are super jealous.

The indoor showroom is huge. There are roughly ten play sets that kids can try out, featuring most models from tree houses and tunnel slides to swings and sand boxes. It's amazing what you can get if you have the space and the money (like bunk beds in your tree house...no joke!)

Obviously it is free, but you do get a sales pitch. And I'm assuming a follow up call...

My little piggies went whee! whee! whee!

Betty Brinn Children's Museum

Address: 929 E. Wisconsin Ave, Milwaukee, WI

Hours: Tuesday - Saturday: 9:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m., Sunday: 12:00 - 5:00 p.m.

Admission: $7.50 for anyone over age one; children under age one are free

YAY! YAY! YAY! YAY

• Offers hands-on learning? Yes
• Engages an active toddler in play? Yes
• Provides interaction with other children? Yes
• Allows children room to play without long waits? No
• Is clean? Yes

Fantastic! Just the children's museum we've been looking for. It is great for toddlers. It's great for babies, especially new crawlers! And it's easy on moms/caregivers.

While it is a bit of a hike, we felt it was well worth it. The museum has many great play areas, including a bank, a television news station, a child-sized city bus, a child-sized train & farm, a grocery store (with brats, of course!), a harley, a garage repair shop, a pizza place, a house under construction, a music area (with the piano from "Big"), and loads & loads of other fun activities. We spent about two and a half hours and made it through approximately half the museum. We ended in the fenced-off crawler/toddler area, which I have to tell you is huge. It was nice to see this area a little bigger than a 3'x3' box. Again, both boys had a great time. The older one played on the slides and tunnels as well as in the sandbox. While our new crawler crawled over padded mats and blocks.

We all had a great time. The other families were so friendly and really engaged in playing with their kids or grandkids. And while this shouldn't count for much, the museum does have covered parking at a very reasonable price (ok, reasonable by Chicago standards).

The only downside is that the museum does not have a cafe. They do have a picnic area so I recommend bringing lunch & snacks with you. Or you can stop by the A&W drive-in on your way back to Chicago!

Get Your Kids on Route 66

Volo Auto Museum

Address: 27582 Volo Village Road, Volo

Hours: Monday - Sunday 10:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m.

Admission: $8 for adults; $6 for children over age five

YAY! YAY! YAY! YAY!

• Offers hands-on learning? Not really
• Engages an active toddler in play? Yes
• Provides interaction with other children? Yes
• Allows children room to play without long waits? Yes
• Is clean? Yes

I've absolutely jumped on the Volo band wagon - this place is fantastic! It was such fun for all of us.

The Volo Auto Museum houses cars from almost every movie & television show you can remember: Back to the Future, The Cat in the Hat, Dukes of Hazzard, Ghostbusters, Scooby Doo, Herbie Goes Bananas, Blues Brothers, James Bond, The Munsters, and on & on. But the biggest hit with my kids was the full size Lightning McQueen and Hudson Hornet. Really too cool...

The showroom also displays fully restored cars from the 50s, 60s, and 70s. I loved looking all the old cars that I'd heard about but never seen outside of a Kojak re-run. And they are all for sale. So if you have $70K lying around, a convertible Chevy Belair can be yours!

The museum also has a military exhibit, featuring a helicopter used in combat in Vietnam and a tank captured in Iraq.

There are coin-operated cars the kids can ride for fifty cents and a number of jungle gyms to climb.

It's not often my husband is jealous of our outings, but he was this time!

A W.H.O.P.P.E.R. of an Activity

Obstacle Course

YAY! YAY! YAY! YAY!

• Does it offer an educational experience? Yes
• What does it teach? How to directions & a series of steps, concentration, the fun of physical activity
• Is it age (i.e., 2 - 3 year old) appropriate? Yes

What You’ll Need:

• A variety of your child(ren)'s toys

Adult Prep Work:

1. Plan activity line up

What Your Child Will Do:

1. Help you set up the obstacle course
2. Run through the obstacle course (repeat)

We pulled out puzzles, race cars, and a ball popper and incorporated them into an obstacle course. First, my son crawled through a tunnel. Then, solved a puzzle. Followed by driving his car from point A to point B. And then, he finished with the ball popper. He absolutely loved it! We ran through it three times and then he tried to make his own.

We also took it outside and used his tricycle and outdoor toys to make a bigger course. Obviously, he was able to run around more outside. But it was still a lot of fun indoors.

My husband joked that I was preparing him for War Games in case you were wondering about the activity title. And for those of you who got the reference, my husband would be thrilled!

On the Grow!

Growth Spurts

Address: 404 Linden Avenue, Wilmette

Open Playtime Hours: Monday - Friday: 9:00 a.m. - 12:30 p.m. (with additional play hours on Tuesday & Thursday afternoons); Saturday: 9:00 - 10:30 a.m.

Admission: $5.95 for each adult & child; pre-crawler children are free

YAY! YAY!

• Offers hands-on learning? No
• Engages an active toddler in play? Yes
• Provides interaction with other children? Yes
• Allows children room to play without long waits? Yes
• Is clean? Yes

If you live in Evanston or Wilmette or near the Purple Line, this is a great indoor play option for you! It appears to meet the needs of the local community, but it is not a destination spot.

First of all, it is small and parking is limited. Because most of the area is permit parking, we had to hoof it about four blocks in the sweltering heat. No bueno!

Second, the areas are not divided or sectioned off for crawlers. I can understand that they did not want to further reduce the size of the play space, but it does make it a little treacherous for the crawler set. The toddlers run roughshod over the open area, and you have to be hyper-vigilant to prevent your child from getting trampled. Plus, they have art supplies and a sensory table full of items unsafe for babies. Because it is totally wide open, you really have to watch your child(ren) like a hawk. Of course, you should always watch your kids. But now you're talking about protecting them from a barrage of toddlers hurling objects right and left. It just seemed less than ideal.

Third, their pricing model is per body. So adults have to pay, too. It is only $6 per person so it won't break the bank; just something to keep in mind.

And finally, you need to call ahead to reserve a spot. Sometimes you can walk in, but you never know if they have reached capacity and will turn you away. I don't know about you, but I find it a little hard to plan outings. I like a place where I can just drop in if the kids need to get out of the house or we feel like doing something different. It's more of a fly-by-the-seat-of-your-pants model, but it works for us!

And if you've tried an indoor play area we haven't reviewed let us know. We are looking to try something new!