Union Station Railway Museum in Ogden
While my first choice of energy burning activities would be a park, sometimes because of weather or other reasons that just isn't possible. So I have compiled a few of our favorite indoor activities listed by city. Let me know in the comments if you have any favorites that aren't listed.
FARR WEST
Farr West Rec Center- This one we found by chance using the restroom inside while visiting the Civic Center Park in the same parking lot. There is a full size open gym including basketball hoops, work out equipment for adults, a few toys in the the workout area for kids, and restrooms. We like to go to their open gym time and bring balls and stomp rockets for a play date. $2/person for each visit is a steal. The gym is primarily used for indoor pickleball games, so call ahead and see when there is open availability.
NORTH OGDEN
North Branch Library- We love the new Weber County library that opened up in July 2018. The entire downstairs is devoted to kids with a teen hang out area with board games, computer stations with ABC mouse loaded on them, two separate kids play areas with lots of brand new Lakeshore Learning toys and of course books. Since this branch opened up we have noticed that the majority of the kids books are brand new, which is nice. They also have a 0-3 yrs and 4-5 year old story time at this library every Thursday morning at 10:30 and 11:30am.
OGDEN
Toad's Fun Zone- This one is fun for older kids mostly, but I am sure some younger kids love it too. Inside Toad's has an arcade, miniature golf course, laser tag and a snack bar with tables and chairs. Outside they also have a miniature golf course, batting cages, golf driving range, and go karts. The summer pass is an especially good value for the 6-12 age range.
George S. Eccles Dinosaur Park One of our go-to places, even in the winter. The Dinosaur Park has an indoor museum of dinosaurs downstairs and gems and minerals upstairs, animatronic dinosaurs, and indoor dinosaur dig (with rubber pellets instead of sand) and a separate building past the playground with crafts, activities and dinosaur toys to play with. Outside there are paved pathways to see all the dinosaurs, usually cleared of snow and a fun outdoor playground with two separate dinosaur themed playgrounds, one for older kids and one for toddlers. The yearly pass is worth the money and is bundled with the Union Station, Ogden Nature Center and Tracy Aviary all for one price.
Kangaroo Zoo- one of our favorite activities during the freezing cold months of winter. This is an indoor "playground" with inflatable bounce houses and slides. It is a little pricey in my opinion but you can buy a 10 punch pass to lessen the cost. Two hours of jumping here in the morning wears my kids out and they usually take a nap (even the 4 year old). Don't forget that everyone (including parents) must wear socks inside or you will have to buy a pair there.
Union Station- I have a train loving little boy that begs to go to the Union Station and see the model trains. At the peak of the train phase, we went here almost weekly and even donated a bunch of new wooden trains to the museum for the wooden train board. There is an indoor train museum, a train themed play area that you can go inside a real train engine, a pretend train station, wooden train board with magnetic train cars and a few activities including lights and buttons to push. There is also a model railroad exhibit with scale model trains in scenes behind glass. The trains are close to the ground and my kids love running through the exhibit following the 4 trains. The bundled yearly pass referred to above is a must.
Treehouse Museum- This is an amazing interactive children's museum with two levels of learning exhibits and toys. They have weekly story times for toddlers and Kindergarten readiness programs. I love that each area has books in that theme for extra learning.
Fly High Trampoline Park (located behind Newgate Mall)- This is our newest love for indoor places good for toddlers. We go to the Moms and Tots time on Mondays or Friday mornings. When we have went it has been almost empty and super fun. They have trampolines, foam pits, and Ninja Warrior style course and an arcade.
Ice Sheet- This is a fun place to take kids 3 and older to go ice skating year round. It is an indoor ice rink with open skate times daily. They also have reasonably priced skating lessons and drop in hockey times.
LAYTON
Seaquest Aquarium- this is a smaller interactive touch aquarium in the Layton Hills Mall. Lots of fish tanks to look at, touch tanks and various animals including a giant tortoise and birds. The entire aquarium takes about an hour to go through. On weekends and during school trips it gets pretty noisy and crowded but a neat experience.
Layton Hills Mall play area- This is a fun themed soft play area of Weber State University located below the food court. Lots of separate soft slides and things to play on. There is only one way in and out of the the area, which is nice for watching multiple kids and kids that like to run away. Benches surround most of the play area with room for lots of moms and a separate stroller parking area nearby.
ROY
Hill Aerospace museum- This is a fun and free educational activity for all ages. We usually visit here with out of town guests. The Aerospace museum is spacious and almost never crowded during the weekdays, especially the winter. The collection of airplanes in impressive. My kids favorite part of the museum is the airplane pilot seat you can sit in and buckle yourself in. They also have restrooms, a small gift shop and a couple of the big round banks you can put a penny in and watch it roll around until dropping in the center. In the gift shop there is a few pressed penny machines too so bring some change.
No comments