Whitney Center KinderGym is an indoor kids play option in St. Cloud, Minnesota. A full sized basketball court with a small bounce house, toys and balls all available for your child to play with. Play with the provided toys or bring your own! This is a great indoor play date option!
Address: 1529 Northway Drive, St. Cloud, MN 56303
Phone Number: (320) 255-7277
Play Hours: Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays, 9:00 am – 11:00 am
Website: Whitney KinderGym
Cost: $2.25 for the 1st child, $1.25 for each additional child
Bathrooms: Automatic flush toilets, baby changing station, lockers. Downside: soap dispensers are not accessible to children, no step stools for small children to use for washing hands.
Things to Know: There are water fountains, drink machines, snack machines, an inflatable bounce house and toys. You can bring your own toys or use what is provided. Adults are required to stay with children at all times.
The Whitney Center KinderGym is another great location for indoor play in St. Cloud, Minnesota.
When I lived in Colorado, there was a similar program offered at a community center. An open gym full of random toys for kids to play with. So when we moved here to St. Cloud, Minnesota, it was one of the first things I looked for.
The Whitey Center is also connected to the Whitney Senior Center. Many I’ve talked to assume it’s just a senior center. However it’s so much more than that! The Whitney Center offers a variety of things to do with the KinderGym being our favorite!
WHAT TO EXPECT:
The KinderGym open play is open to all ages. However it’s catered towards the preschool and under age group.
If this is your first time, you’ll want to park and enter through their main entrance. Do not enter through the Senior Center entrance. You’ll walk into a large room.
Forward and to the left is a desk next to the basketball courts. This is where you’ll pay and can find out any additional information about upcoming activities.
Once you’ve paid, you’ll enter the gym. Stay to the right of the court. There is most likely a Pickleball game happening right when you walk into the gym. Don’t worry though.
The gym is technically the size of 3 basketball courts side by side. All separated by curtains. Pickleball occurs in the first and third court. KinderGym is in the middle court.
So walk down the right side of the first court, to the middle court. If you are the first to arrive there will most likely be a cart for the bouncy house and a cart full of toys.
Once the first person arrives, someone will be over shortly to set up the bounce house. No need for you to do it. The cart of toys is there for your use during open gym.
You are expected to clean up the toys when you are finished playing with them. Drinking fountains are found on court 1 (you’ll walk right past them) and the bathrooms are outside the gym, past the vending machines.
The KinderGym is a full sized basketball court, with sideline space. There are chairs provided for put your things on and PLENTY of room to run, skip, jump and chase with your kids.
AVAILABLE TOYS TO PLAY WITH:
The Whitney Center does a good job of providing a few toys to play with. In our experiences the toys have been items such as:
- Hula Hoop
- Small Bounce House
- Rubber Gym Balls in various sizes
- Floor Puzzles
- Push Cars
- Pop Up Tunnels
- Jump Ropes
- Fire Truck
- Circular “parachute”
- Motor skill activities
On one occasion there was a junior sized basketball hoop. However on our last visit it was no longer there. Perhaps it was broken or just not brought tout. The large basketballs hoops are not available for use.
However if there isn’t a large group of children you could always ask to see if they’d be willing to drop one of the basketballs hoops down for the children to play with.
TOYS YOU CAN BRING:
You are welcome to bring your own toys from home. However whatever you bring will be envied by all other children, so be prepared to share or make it clear that the items are not for public use.
These can include push cars, trucks, stuffed animals, soccer balls, blocks and more. Keep in mind you will be on a basketball court so anything that may cause damage to the court should be left at home.
ACTIVITIES YOU CAN PLAY WITH YOUR CHILD:
Because the space is so large, you could really let your imagination go wild. Think back to your elementary school gym days. All the games and activities you liked to play, your kids will too! We love to practice our basketball warm ups.
Chest passes, bounce passes and dribbling are all ways that your child can work on their motor skills. We do races from one side to the other of the gym. If there are enough people we’ll play a variety of parachute games too.
This last time we practiced hopping, jumping and hoola hooping. I also showed my children how to toss a hoola hoop and have it come back to you!
Some childhood games we loved were 4 square (you can use jump ropes to create the squares), and tag. With enough adults you can regulate the game and keep the little ones out of the way. Red Light Green Light, Simon Says and relay races are always a fun game with a group!
Duck Duck Goose is a great game for little kids or create an obstacle course to climb over, under and go around!
Overall my son is full of energy, so any game that really gets him running and moving is going to be his favorite. He also loves when I join in and play with him instead of on my phone!
This is an opportunity to teach your child new skills or practice old skills. Playing at Whitney Center KinderGym also gives your child a chance to learn how to share toys and take turns.
And while they are playing their little hearts out, strike up a conversation with the parent next to you. You never know, they might just be your new best friend.
DOES IT GET CROWDED OR REALLY BUSY?
Every day you’ll find a new group of kids. Some days we’ve gone and there were 10 kids, and other days we were the only kids.
This is the best place to hold a play date with plenty of room for a large group of children to run, play and have fun together while the adults can catch up.
Overall the Whitney Center KinderGym is a fun indoor play place. It’s the perfect place for snow days, rainy days or days that are just too hot to play outside.