Around Town: Studio Grow

As Forest’s wake times get longer (about 3 hour stretches at this point) I am starting to go a bit stir crazy trying to keep him entertained in the house. He is crazy mobile these days. Not walking yet but crawling at the speed of light. He’s also recently learned how to open drawers and cabinets and gets a thrill out of pulling out all the contents inside and scattering them on the floor. It’s a real hoot. 

While I admit it is fun to watch him explore and make new discoveries, it is also crazy tiring trying to keep up with him. A friend in my play group told me about a place called Studio Grow which is a sort of indoor play space for the toddler and pre-school set.  I decided to try it one day with a friend whose baby is pretty similar developmentally to Forest . 

When we got there I expected Forest to go nuts exploring, but instead he sat stunned for about 15 minutes. 

He’s kind of like that in new situations. He is cautious and just has to take it all in before he makes a move. Once he felt comfortable he was off to the races. 

Poor baby is obsessed with older kids and kept crawling over to the train tables, pulling up and then knocking the train off the tracks. The kiddos were very patient with a baby in their midst and would normally just shrug off his presence and go find another area to play in.

Studio Grow is one main room with a second private room for classes and parties. The main room is gigantic with plenty of space and activity centers to keep kids busy. 

I think that Forest is still a little young to get his $14 admission’s worth, but it’s still a nice activity to break up the week from time to time. What I like best is that I know it’s baby proof so I can sort of let my guard down and not interfere with his self-play too much. 

I definitely want to encourage his curiosity and  independence but that can be hard to do at home where he seems most fascinated with dog bowls, toilets, and computer cords. Here I can just set him free to explore his little heart out. I think once he’s officially toddling I will get us a membership and go more frequently. Studio Grow is doubly nice because it’s located in a nice little outdoor shopping center called Blackhawk Plaza which a duck pond, playground, and numerous restaurants and cafes.   

It’s definitely the perfect place to kill some time with a little one! Once he makes his final nap transition down to 1 a day, he will be staying up for 5 hours straight. I'm gonna need lots of tips for keeping this busy baby entertained for that long of a stretch. Any suggestions?