February 23, 2015

Play Halls

I can't ride off into the sunset without a word or two about the "children's play halls" (jidoukan, 児童館) that you can find here in Japan. These are indoor / outdoor play places to which you can bring your kid (s). Here's the thing though --- they're free . I know there are places like this in the US, but I don't know about any of this caliber that are totally free.

All you (typically) have to do is sign in with your kid's name and age (I assume so they have an idea of ​​who all is there in an emergency) and then play as long as you want. I will say that most of them have the slightly worn air of a public school. The toys and stuff are pretty "well-loved".

But I will also say that there are a few local ones that have saved my sanity more than once, particularly on rainy days. They have staff to supervise but you can't usually just leave your kid there. I think some may offer short term babysitting, but that may have a fee involved.  

Most offer "mommy & me" type classes like dance or arts & crafts that can also be totally free. They are a fantastic way to find other kids to play with if you are a stay-at-home mom and they can keep you from having to buy new toys to keep your kid entertained.  

To find your local ones you can talk to other moms (how I learned about them), call your city office or even try typing the kanji I gave above into GoogleMaps. You might get lucky. Also, if you can find one play hall they may have information (maps etc.) on others in your prefecture.

Now some pictures! These were all taken at one particular play hall here in Ota but we have been to a few. There is another one located at the Gunma Children's Castle park which I wrote about here.





outside

new toys!

slides and light-up walls

bins and bins of toys, cars, houses .....

 a strictly supervised trampoline (one person at a time only!) that is
still a little terrifying for this mama

big kids playing ping-pong


a library, all Japanese of course


I found a funny set of encyclopedia, written in an odd mash-up
of English and Japanese. the entries were funny to me.

I find myself at a bit of a disadvantage in terms of knowing what kinds of entertainment options are available for kids in the US.  After all, I've never been a parent there except for a week or two here and there!  If there are any places similar to this (and free!) that I don't know about please comment!

1 comment:

  1. Where are you guys headed Amanda? There are places like these in a lot of communities. We had one in NC that was free. It wasnt quite as big or nice as the one you pictured, but the kids dont know the difference, they just like to play. If you call the local library a lot of times their kids section workers will know what is available in your area.

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