We took the kidlets to St. Louis this winter for a wedding and to visit family. While there, we checked out some recommended spots for families – and it was a lot of fun!
I’ve waited an embarrassingly long time to write about it. Which makes it sound like it wasn’t that fun…nope, I’m just a procrastinator.
St. Louis hot spots for families
Our first stop was food. Naturally. This is me we’re talking about. Adam over at Visit Flyover Country recommended a few greats spots to eat in St. Louis and my mom picked the old-fashioned soda fountain, Jennifer’s Pharmacy and Soda Shoppe in Clayton. Darling place. And super friendly ladies behind the counter. My kids’ favorite part of the lunch was the flying monkey sundae. Order it and enjoy the literal flying monkey.
Mooch was a big fan of Jennifer’s, partly because it was inside a pharmacy with a lot of candy that her Grammy let her buy. The other part is that flying monkey. Mooch loves “oo oo ah ahs.”
The ladies at Jennifer’s sent us to the Frisco Train Store.
Farley showing off hIs haul from the Frisco Train Store.
It was nowhere near where we were so if you’re planning a trip, don’t plan to do it like we did (nor try to get to it during rush hour). But it is a fun store to check out if you have the time. The kids LOVED the train tables, as I imagine that’s the main draw for anyone who brings their kids there.
Frisco is the store for the train fanatic in your life. Four train tables, kids, four.
Basically, there are benches set up around the shop and parents can sit while their kids go nuts over the big track. You’ll be tempted to browse. And shop. Which we were. And that’s the whole point of the set up.
Like most kids, mine have an abundance of energy. Like insane amounts. So, we figured that we needed to take them somewhere to unload some of that energy before a wedding we were attending.
Adam made some excellent recommendations, especially for my kids’ ages. Check them out here. We had a hard time choosing given our limited time in the city.
So, we went to the City Museum. Go there! With or without kids.
The City Museum in St. Louis is hard to define. It’s a colorful, non-plastic dream world for kids and adults ( they have a bar there!).
It’s a bit of an enigma when it comes to explaining it.
No brightly colored, protective plastic here. If that makes you nervous, this is not the place for you and your kids.
Great for kids (multi-stories long slides, tunnels, circus, crafts, I could go on), great for adults (there’s a bar inside) – it’s just incredible.
The area for preschoolers and younger. A little more plastic there – toy trucks, building blocks, that sort of thing.
It’s like the creative folks at Hot Shops got a hold of your childhood drawings of a magical fort and bam!
What is this room for in the City Museum? Doesn’t matter. The kids loved running around it.
There it is with a skate ramp, ball pit and train added in.
Mooch could’ve stayed in the ball pit for two hours. I had to ignore the germ-phobe screaming in my head.
Our favorite spot was for the preschool and younger crowd. It’s much much easier to keep an eye on the kids in a room with only one exit.
Farley on one of the slides in the younger kids area at the City Museum. Such a cool design of a place!
I do it no justice, so just trust me, it’s worth a visit. There are food options there (pricey).
Our other kid-friendly stop was before we were heading out of town, trying to burn off that incredible energy again before an 8-hour road trip. NO, it doesn’t usually take that long to get to St. Louis, but traveling with my kids, it takes longer.
We checked out the FREE Science Center in St. Louis.
Mooch meets a dinosaur at the St. Louis Science Center.
This one would definitely be better for gradeschoolers on up, but my kids had a lot of fun. There were activities that suited my 4-and-under crowd just right. Take your kids over the interstate bridge, for sure. There is a food court there with some healthy options.
Can’t go wrong with building blocks.
This was a busy place, but my kids managed to play with lots of the exhibits.
And you can’t beat free.
Adam Sommer
Monday 27th of January 2014
Glad you had a good time!
The Science Center has had a rocky few years, but about to revamp many of the exhibits - I hope to appeal to a wider variety of ages. That said, I agree it's more geared towards grade-school kids than the under 5 crowd (though Discovery Room, which is an extra $3 per child, is perfect for the under 5s).
Funny thing - this is the first I've heard of the Frisco Train Store...so now I'll follow your advice on STL and check it out :)
Kim
Monday 27th of January 2014
Now I regret not forking over the extra money for the Discovery Room!
Let me know how your family liked the Frisco store. It's a train kid's heaven.