Well, it's 20-ish degrees on a Sunday morning in St. Louis. Time to put some ideas down about what to do in this weather, in this city! Sundays are especially tricky but I encourage some planning ahead to tackle that!
http://saintlouis.kidsoutandabout.com/ Great website, just found it! (added to list Jan. 2014)
great museum list, make sure to read all the way down! click to open in new window
INDOOR WINTER FUN IN STL WITH LITTLE KIDS! (This might be turning into an all-ages list...)
1. Library- our favorites are U City Public Library, St. Louis County Libraries (Mid-County in Clayton, Headquarters in Ladue, and central library downtown which was renovated and has awesome kids section)
2. St. Louis Mills Mall (indoor playground + more for kids)
3. Science Center!!!
4. Discovery indoor play room @ Science Center (~$3 per person)
5. Wild Wonder indoor play room @ Zoo ($2-3 per person)
6. Art Museum
7. History Museum
8. Butterfly House
9. Magic House
10. City Museum
11. Missouri Botanical Gardens has tropical dome and some other indoor spots
12. Zoo has indoor children's zoo area, insect area, and a few other small indoor spots
13. brewery tours (Schlaffly, Budweiser) (haha would they go for this???)
14. World Bird Sanctuary- some indoor things to see
15. Powder Valley Nature Center (nice indoor center, could walk outdoors a little if it isn't too frigid!)
16. National Great Rivers Museum in Alton, IL.
17. GATEWAY ARCH! (has wonderful museum and films too)
18. Hartford Coffee Shop (near Tower Grove Park) (lots of playspace meant for kids!)
19. Kissing Nesi's soft baby cheeks!
20. Rainbow Swing Set Superstore showroom (pay to play indoor playground store in Chesterfield)
21. Dream Play Recreation showroom (pay to play indoor playground store in Chesterfield)
22. Kemp Auto Museum (Chesterfield)
23. TAKE A METROLINK or BUS RIDE!!
24. Explore Union Station downtown
25. Ice skating (Shaw and Forest Park outdoors, others indoors)
26. The Heights (Richmond Heights Community Center) has pool, library, and two really special playgrounds. we love this place!
27. Wednesday Play and Ride @ Faust Park Carousel
28. Ladue Early Childhood Center offers a playtime on Friday mornings
29. Contemporary Art Museum has a stroller tour and play date for kids 2-5 on the first Wednesday of every month. Been there, and it's really a nice thing to try!
21. Tour the Old Courthouse downtown, part of the Jefferson Nat'l memorial/Gateway Arch
And then there are all the commercial places like Bounce U., Monkey Joes, Little Gym, Gymboree, The Nest (brand new), Sky Zone, Sports Fusion, and places like that! I don't have much experience there but it seems like a good idea if you want to drive out to Chesterfield.
...and I hope there are more ideas out there!
A SUB-LIST OF WHAT IS PRETTY MUCH FREE...
All the Forest Park places
try a new library
throw pennies in fountain at the mall
massive art projects!
play dates
cooking and baking projects
picnic, bonfire and cooking s'mores
...to be continued...
FAIR-WEATHER FUN
1. See winter list; many are available year-round!!
2. Grant's Farm
3. Check museum and community center calendars for outdoor music
4. Muny Theatre
5. Numerous playgrounds to visit!
6. Hiking trips
7. Anandaga Caves, Meramec Caverns
8. Cahokia Mounds
9. Shaw Nature Reserve
10. Theis Farm's Pumpkinland- awesome!!!
11. Lumeier Sculpture Park
12. Purina Farms!
13. Missouri Botanical Gardens has an incredible children's garden (and free on Wednesday and Sat. mornings for county residents!) (play places, lots of large and interesting things to climb on, nature explore classroom area, and lots of kid-level plants)
14. Lone Elk Park- you drive through it!
15. World Bird Sanctuary
16. The working farm known as Suson Park
...and much more!
