For a Rainy Day

These facilities are designed for children and typically offer a combination of physically active play areas and interactive/imaginative zones. Many also allow parents to host birthday parties.
For information on ongoing enrichment classes at indoor facilities, please click here.
To see museums for kids and adults, please go here.
Going on vacation? Find children's museums in other states.

Indoor Play Areas & Children's Museums

Multiple Locations

Bounce U - locations including Morganville, Piscataway, West Windsor
Gymboree - several NJ locations
My Gym - several NJ locations
The Little Gym - several locations in NJ
Monster Mini Golf - locations including Edison, Fairfield and Params, NJ

Atlantic County

The Jersey Shore Children's Museum (Egg Harbor Township) - for children ages 1 to 10; hands-on activities and exhibits include a puppet corner, car factory, dinosaur table and a tot area

Bergen County

Cutie Patooties (Englewood) - 3,500-square-foot play place for infants up to 6 years old; includes a 1,500-square-foot indoor play area; they also offer classes including yoga, art & music
New Jersey Children's Museum (Paramus) - toddlers and preschoolers love the interactive, hands-on exhibits, including a real fire truck, a real helicopter, cool fossil/dinosaur cave, play ballet studio, kids' medieval castle; there is a Baby Nook for infants & crawlers; they also host special events

Burlington County

Jelly bean Jungle (Marlton) - indoor play center includes ball pit room, carnival center with carousel, ocean center with pirate ship; designed for children up to 5 years old
Funplex (Mount Laurel) - attractions include indoor & outdoor fun: an arcade, Go Karts, Lazer Runner, rides and an outdoor pool; another location in East Hanover
Kid Junction (Mount Laurel)- recreational play place and indoor playground for toddlers and kids up to 9 years old. Features an indoor play area as well as a grocery store, pizzeria, costume shop and Kid Fit exercise room. You can also host parties here. There also is a separate play area for toddlers

Camden County

The Garden State Discovery Museum (Cherry Hill) - a lot of hands-on activities, including a rock wall; they also host classes & programs as well as special events

Cumberland County

Jumpnasium (Fairfield) - 13,000 square feet with more than 10 gigantic inflatables, basketball trampoline, air hockey and more; for ages 2 & up; some rides require min. height of 34 in

Essex County

The Jersey Explorer Children's Museum (East Orange) - one of the first non-profit children’s museums in the country to display true-to-life, interactive exhibits that are the handiwork of at-risk youth; exhibits include Tomb of the Ancient Kings, Time Travel & more
Funtime Junction (Fairfield) - indoor play place with a soft playground, including a spiral slide, climbing tower and bouncing tunnel, as well as interactive attractions such as the Playhouse, Lazer Tag, Sand Art and Kiddie Rides including a Helicopter Ride. They also offer "Build-A-Buddy," where you can create your own special buddy to take home.

Mercer County

Tiger Hall (Princeton) - 2,800-square-foot play and enrichment facility; offers classes, mommy and me sessions, kindergarten readiness programs, tutoring programs and workshops as well as daily open play opportunities

Morris County

Funplex (East Hanover) - attractions include indoor & outdoor fun: an arcade, Go Karts, Lazer Runner, rides and an outdoor pool; another location in Mt. Laurel

Middlesex County

Jumping Jungle (East Brunswick) - a 10,000 square foot, indoor inflatable recreation center including 8 unique inflatables for open jumps and birthday parties, as well as kid-friendly arcade games. Children should be at least 34 inches tall but their are no age requirementsRebounderz (Edison) - indoor trampoline arena; Children Under 5 will only be allowed for Open Jump Monday through Wednesday. Children 5 and over may come to Open Jump Monday through Sunday; Open jump is available anytime during operating hours but parties and other special events such as Friday Night Frenzy may impact the amount of open jump available so check before you go
Uptown Playground (Kendall Park) - designed for children up to 10 years old and offers an indoor playground area and imagination stations. There also is Toddler Avenue, a separate area for younger children
jerZump (Monmouth Junction) - 17,500-square-foot facility geared towards children ages 1 to 7; includes a contained toddler room, an open play room with inflatables, arcade and snack bar. Open play on the weekends is geared for those over 34 inches and under 14 years of age.
Let's Pretend (Old Bridge) - includes a bouncy house, ball pit, rock climbing wall, wii system and arcade as well as theme areas including Aloha Market and Rock Star Room; also offers "Date Night" for parents on Thursdays
Dynamic Fit Kids (Piscataway) - offers a weekly Klimbing Kidz program introducing children to fitness

Monmouth County

Klimbing Kidz (Howell) - includes a 52-foot crawl-thru unit
JungleRRRific (Oakhurst, South Howell) - 4,200-square-foot indoor play gym for kids up to 8 years old; features include a rock wall, jungle-themed equipment and toddler area; two locations

Morris County

Community Children's Museum (Dover) - an interactive children's museum for children 6 months to 10 years old.
This is a not-for-profit created by area parents. They also have a nice Kids Page.
Imagine That! Discovery Museum for Children (Florham Park) - 16,000 square foot hands-on museum featuring over 50 unique exhibits including a puppet theater, a pirate ship, a TV newsroom & more; they also host special events

Somerset County

Children's Museum of Somerset County - host special events for children at various locations in the county
Brancburg Sports Complex (Branchburg) - arcade, laser tag, batting/pitching areas and indoor turf fields; sports programs for kids as well
Kid Junction (Branchburg) - recreational play place and indoor playground for toddlers and kids up to 9 years old. Features an indoor play area as well as a grocery store, pizzeria, costume shop and Kid Fit exercise room. You can also host parties here. There also is a separate play area for toddlers
Wee Play (Bridgewater) - a parent/child play program for walking children up to those 48 months old; classes are divided into 4 age groups
Boro Kid Zone (Hillsborough) - indoor play area includes a moon bounce castle, horizontal rock wall & 18-foot inflatable slide. Special programs include a drop-off play program; for infants up to 12 years old

Union County

Kidz Village (Kenilworth) - 11,000 square foot children’s play facility created for kids ages 10 & under; multi-level indoor playground & theme areas including comic book store, supermarket, dance academy, movie theater & 50's style diner; also offers special activities including storytime & pizza time

Fun at Home

Crafty Corner - ParenthoodNJ craft ideas & projects
Recommended books - including those for holidays/seasons
DLTK's Growing Together - lots of crafts, coloring pages & activities organized by theme including holidays & countries & culture
Learning Planet - educational activities for preschool & kindergarten, grades 1-3 and grades 4-6 & up
Enchanted Learning - free printables of alphabet activities, animal coloring pages, connect the dots, crafts and more
KinderArt - art lessons, crafts, printables & a preschool section
KidsKnowIt - online network of interactive websites for children on a variety of subjects including dinosaurs, outer space, math, biology, history
NickJR- lots of crafts & activities for your kids' favorite characters