PlanJam!From your screen to the scene

Being stuck indoors on a rainy day can turn even the sweetest child into a wild-eyed miniature monster, especially when that little munchkin is being raised in San Diego, spoiled rotten by the ability to play outdoors 362 days a year. But on those 3 rainy days that we get here in SoCal (and on the handful of scorching hot ones in August and September), you will thank your lucky stars for a cool, dry, indoor place to entertain the little buggers like Kidsville in Poway.

The industrial park setting isn’t exactly the most welcoming, but inside Kidsville, bright mural-covered walls surround a mini city filled with a large selection of clever stations where kids can play pretend. There’s the theater filled with costumes, the hospital where kids can play doctor (fully clothed, of course!), a pizzeria, fire station, school, veterinarian office, and gas station to keep the little ones busy for at least a couple of hours. Kids can stay active, too, by riding or pushing the wide selection of ride-on toys around the rectangular "track". Moms (and the token dad) can hang out and chat at the center tables where they have a view of the entire place. At Kidsville it is actually possible to sit back and relax while your children play, a huge bonus for most parents. Also in the center is a baby play area for the littluns who don’t venture far from Mom yet.

Kidsville is actually CLEAN, unlike the flu-virus-covered play land at McDonalds. The staff sanitizes the toys daily and it shows.

Be sure to wear socks and pack a snack for your child. Otherwise, he’ll cruise around mooching crackers and juice boxes from other toddlers, like my own son did while visiting.

While Kidsville’s target market seems to be preschoolers, I know an 8-year-old boy who love this place and a 5-year-old girl who finds it boring. My own 1-1/2 year-old and 5-1/2 year-old boys can stay entertained for up to two hours at Kidsville, but my 7-1/2 year-old maxes out after an hour.

The biggest downside I can see is the price of admission. Personally, I think $9.95 (plus $4.95 per additional sibling) is a bit steep considering you’ll likely stay for two hours at most. However, there’s a new $50 punch card that gets you 10 visits. That is much more reasonable to me (especially if you split it with a friend!). Beware that it does have an expiration date, though.

Kidsville also offers themed birthday parties and Saturday night babysitting.