Best Indoor Playgrounds in the Twin Cities (Local Map)

Hannah Scott:  The Lookout Ridge Indoor Playground is nature themed, so it's a great way to have faux outdoor adventures even when the weather is less than cooperative. Kids will love exploring the tree house, cave, cliffs, slides, tree foam forest, and more! Note that this is a particularly popular destination on no-school days, so the price increases a bit when ISD 833 is not in session.

Age: 1-12

Cost: from $3.50/child

Hannah Scott:  Millz House is a recreation showroom featuring swing sets, trampolines, game tiles, and basketball courts for sale. During open play times, kids can enjoy the equipment for a small fee. It's a win/win!

Age: 10 and under

Cost: from $6/child ($18/family)

Hannah Scott:  Good Times Park is home to a wide variety of play spaces and equipment for all ages: including a turf field, basketball court, playground, building area, climbing web, and crawling area for the youngest kiddos. A nursing and diaper change facility is a nice perk, and a picnic area (still indoors) is great for a much-needed snack or lunch break.

Note: This play space is not supervised. Admission is purchased online, and a unique same-day code will be sent to you to grant you access to the facility.

Age: 1-17

Cost: from $8/child

Hannah Scott:  The Blast is a unique space-themed indoor playground, complete with launch pads, propulsion launchers, a space jet, Milky Way tunnel, and a wormhole slide portal. The structure itself might not be that much different from many other indoor play spaces in the area, but the themed attention to detail here is a breath of fresh air for a different kind of imaginary play!

Age: 18 months - 12 years

Cost: $4/child

Hannah Scott:  

Gleason's Gymnastics School offers weekly Open Gym time for kids to experience the gymnastics equipment at their leisure rather than in a structured class environment. School age (K- 13 years), Preschool (age 0 - Kindergarten), Teenage (age 13+), and homeschool (4 - 13 years) time slots are available. Kids can use the trampoline, bars, tumbling mats, and foam pit, and preschool open gyms also include a fun circle time!

Age: 0+

Cost: from $8/child ($10/family)

Hannah Scott:  Burnsville Mall recently upgraded their play area with a new "Explore Minnesota" theme. Now kids can interact with various characters like a bear, moose, and foxes, pretend to roast marshmallows around a fire, camp out in a tent, and drive in a model of a Honda Odyssey.

Ages: most appropriate for primary school and younger

Cost: free

Hannah Scott:  Shoreview Community Center has a Tropical Adventure themed play space available to both members and nonmembers. Kiddos can explore caves, swing, slide down a pretend waterfall, and enjoy a five-level spiral slide. Open play areas encourage jungle imaginary play!

Age: 1-10

Cost: nonmembers $6/day

Hannah Scott:  IGM Gymnastics offers two Open Gym times on Fridays: one for younger kids (ages 1-6) in the morning, and one for older kid (ages 5+) in the evenings. Both time slots include access to the gymnastics equipment, foam pit, and trampoline.

Age: 1+

Cost: from $8/child

Hannah Scott:  Open Gym at Five Star Ninja Warrior gives school-age kids and teens a chance to experience the ninja course without the commitment of regular classes or membership -- and have a blast doing it! You'll find all of the standard ninja equipment and obstacles for climbing, balancing, jumping, swinging, hanging, and more. Be aware that open gym does not include immediate supervision by the ninja warrior coaches, so be prepared to supervise closely!

Age: 6+

Cost: $17/hour

Hannah Scott:  This place is every parent's dream: comfortable seating and a quality caffeine fix for the adults, creative play area with allll the creative play materials you could imagine for the kiddos: a log cabin, train table, instruments, doll house, diggers, building materials, puzzles, books, role play materials, and even a live turtle! All ages are welcome, but the playroom is geared towards preschool and younger.

Age: all

Cost: free

Hannah Scott:  What do you get when you bring your child to a room full of rainbow-colored swingsets, basketball hoops, and trampoline? Hours of fun! That's what you'll find at the showroom for Rainbow Play Systems, and the public is welcome to come have a blast on the equipment during designated Pay-to-Play times.

Age:all

Cost: $7/child (2 hours) ;16 months and under are free

Hannah Scott:  The Eagle's Nest indoor Playground is full of open-ended creative fun, thanks to a web tower, weave slide, walk-on piano, tight rope, hanging "foam forest," ball pit, and more! A special toddler area features foam play, a tree slide, and mini versions of the big kids' play structures. Note that this playground is a big hit, an only a certain number of kiddos are admitted at a time for safety reasons. On high-traffic days like school holidays, you may want to call ahead!

Age: 12 months - 12 years

Cost: $6

Hannah Scott:  InnerActive is open 365 days a year, so it's a perfect choice for school breaks, rainy or snowy days, or any other time cabin fever strikes! Activities include an indoor playground, climbing wall, basketball court, turf field, jumping pillow, large building blocks, and even a dedicated toddler space. As an extra bonus, outside food and drink IS allowed -- score!!

Note: Passes must be purchased online in advance.

Age: 1-17

Cost: Day pass from $9.75/child

Hannah Scott:  Edinborough Playpark features three separate areas for kids to enjoy: Adventure Peak (a large climbing structure with slides and tunnels), Little Peak (a padded area for toddlers with music elements), and the Great Hall (a gym with bounce house, scooters, and small basketball hoops). Admission grants access to all areas.

Age: 1-12

Cost: $8/child

Hannah Scott:  Open Gym at Dynamic Gymnastics gives kids (both members and nonmembers) an unstructured time to use the gymnastics equipment and facilities. They can spend that time getting in extra practice, or just have fun with friends!

Age: Preschool and Up

Cost: from $7/child ($12/family)