Rainy Day Drop-in Activities for the Little Ones

With children bouncing off the walls at home on a rainy day, I’m always looking for places to go to get them out of the house and burn off all that energy. Here are a few ideas for rainy day drop-in activites:

Corte Madera:

• Stretch the Imagination offers a drop-in style play date for parents and their children January-April. The studio will be open for creative exploration of fun activities such as sensory exploration, art, gross motor movement, construction with recycled materials and much more. This is for children ages 6 months to 4 yrs. Children must be accompanied by their caregiver. Drop-in cost $12 for first child and $6 for second child. Play Passes are available for purchase that reduces you drop-in cost to $10 and $5 for second child. For more info, go to their website.

Novato

• Hamilton Indoor Tot Playground, run by Novato Parks and Recreation, is a drop-in indoor playground for preschoolers (toddlers–5 years old) open from 9 to 11 am. Kids can run, climb, play parachute, and socialize. Adults must attend and actively participate with their children. Space is limited on a daily basis. This program runs every Monday and Thursday, Jan 11- May 27 (no program 4/12 & 4/15). The cost is $3 daily drop-in per family. This indoor playground takes place at the Hamilton Community Center Auditorium (see sign out front) and are located at 503 South Palm Drive. For more info, call (415) 899-8200.
• Marin Treks Natural History Museum is a hands-on educational experience for your child. Come handle a few of their many reptiles, amphibians, insects, and arachnids. Open Tuesday, Thursday and Friday from 10 am to 1 pm and Satuday from 11 am to 12:30 pm. They are located at 1559 S. Novato Blvd., Suite H in Novato. Call (415) 892-3001 or go to their website.
• Cal Star Gymnastics Indoor Power Play drop-in. Participants 5 yrs. and under can run, jump and play in an open gymnastics environment. Bring the kids in on a rainy day to burn some energy. This program takes place every Wednesday and Thursday morning during the week. The cost is $10. Cal Star Gymnastics, 70 Digital Drive, Suite #3 in Novato. For more info, go to their website.

Mill Valley

• The Mill Valley Community Center offers Jump Indoor Playday Drop-in for children ages 1–5 every Wednesday from 9 am to noon in the Cascade Room. All the mats will be out with push and pull toys, balls and obstacles to play on. Parents and or caregivers must attend. No Jump indoor play on 4/14. The cost is $5 child or $7 for the family. No registration necessary. Exact change appreciated. The Mill Valley Community Center is located at 180 Camino Alto. For more info, call (415) 383-1370 or go to their website.
• The Strawberry Recreation offers Jumping Jacks drop-in program, a safe, soft, super place to play every Monday and Friday from 10:30 to noon. There are obstacle courses, climbing structures, slides and rides are all part of the fun. Kids will have fun with parachute games and songs. You stay and play with your little one. For children under 5 with adult supervision. The drop-in cost is $5 per child or $8 per family. Series Cards: 10 classes – $50/individual or $80 per family.  Strawberry Recreation District is located at 118 E. Strawberry Drive in Mill Valley. For more info, call (415) 383-6494 or go to their website.

San Anselmo

• The Play-Well TEKnologies Marin Engineering Center on Greenfield Avenue offers drop-in LEGO play. They offer a special drop-in preschool (ages 2-4) rate of $7 per hour if you attend before 1 pm. For older kids, the drop-in rate is $10 per hour.. Read more about Play-Well TEKnologies in our post here.

San Rafael

• The San Rafael Community Center offers a Jumping Jacks drop-in program for ages 6 mos. to 3 years. Jump-up (for children crawling to 22 months) class is from 9:30-10:30 am. High Jump (for children 23 months to 3 years) is from 10:30-11:30 am. Jumping Jacks is an hour-long class that consists of activities that encourage creative movement, balance and hand-eye coordination. These activities are done in a high-energy, fun-filled atmosphere. The first half of each class is free play and the last half hour of class is group time...have fun dancing with scarves, playing with the parachute and of course popping bubbles!  Fees: 6 classes for $54, 12 classes for $96. Drop-in fee is $10. 25% sibling discounts available. For more info, call (415) 485-3333 or go to their website.

Sausalito

• The Sausalito Recreation Department offers a few different drop-in options. Tot Club drop-in is an open play program Mondays and Fridays 10:30 to 11:30 am in the City Hall Exercise Room, 420 Litho Street. The drop-in rate is $5 for residents and $8 for non-residents. The drop-in card cost is $25/8 visits for residents and $30/8 visits for non-residents. Adventure Club drop-in takes place Wednesdays from 10:30 to 11:30 am and is located at MLK Gym at 610 Coloma Street, a larger space that offers the kids room to burn off a little more energy. Play in the bounce room, drive kiddie cars, jump on a trampoline, play with puppets, tumble on mats, draw pictures, or do some puzzles. Drop-in cost: $5 residents, $8 non-residents. Music for Tots drop-in takes place Tuesdays from 4:30 to 5 pm and Thursdays from 4:45 pm to 5:15 pm. Children will sing and clap together, and learn fingerplays, how to play simple percussion instruments, and dance. The Tuesday class takes place at the City Hall - Parks and Recreation in the game room and the Thursday class takes place at the City Hall - Parks and Recreation in the Edgewater room. The cost is $8 for residents and $10 for non-residents. All programs are suitable for children ages 0–3. For more info on any of these programs, call (415) 289-4150 or go to their website.
• The Bay Area Discovery Museum is also a perrenial favorite with Marin parents and children. They have a number of different indoor play and activity areas that are perfect for a rainy day. For program information, visit www.baykidsmuseum.org or call (415) 339-3900.