• Rainy Day Places for a Crawler
• More Advice about Places to Go

I'm looking for good rainy day places for an active young crawler who lives in a tiny, tiny house in Rockridge. Where do the crawling babies go when the parks are wet? He's not crazy about Habitot. We're thinking bookstores, cafes, etc. But where can a small guy enjoy some supervised floor time without getting scowls? Hilary

From: Natasha 

As it just so happens, I am in the midst of putting together a list of 
indoor activities for Neighborhood Moms; but it won't be available until 
October 15th (the deadline for our print newsletter).

Meanwhile, here are a few suggestions:

The Oakland Museum - Especially the Natural History section. We once 
lucked upon a kindly docent who took the children around.  It might be 
worth calling ahead to see if someone is available.

If you can face a drive to S.F., The Steinhart Aquarium is wonderful for 
all ages, and the Exploratorium works best for five year olds and up, 
though I hear they have a new area for younger kids.

The Lawrence Hall of Science.  Most exhibits are for school aged kids, 
but there is usually an exhibit with foam blocks or some such activity 
for little ones.  There is a cafeteria downstairs which works fairly well 
for antsy kids.

The Nature Center at Tilden Park (by the Little Farm).  Children enjoy 
going through the exhibit on Wildcat Canyon.  It would not be appropriate 
to eat inside or to let them run completely amuck.

I'd rather lie on a bed of nails than go to Chuck E. Cheese (in El 
Cerrito), but if you're desperate, it has a ball room and mechanized 
rides.

The Emeryville Public Market has a small ball room and a couple of rides, 
adjacent to some fairly decent food.

People have been known to drive to Concord or S.F. to "the Jungle", which 
is one of those large Discovery Zone type of places.

The Albany Library and the Berkeley Main Library have nice areas for 
small children to read and hang out.

I'll send more ideas as they come in from Neighborhood Moms, and will 
have a Web Page up by mid October.