SKYZONE Trampoline Park

Skyzone is a wall-to-wall trampoline park with many fitness programs and exercise challenges for all ages, including a foam pit for acrobatics, climbing walls, warrior courses, and ultimate dodgeball, but they also schedule toddler times, home school times, and sensory play times. A general pricing is $15.99 for 60 minutes. Participants must wear specific SkyZone socks $2-2.50, which you can save for next time.

We went to the Oakdale location, but several more are scheduled to open soon in the Twin Cities, and there are many locations in other states. You can save time by filling out waivers and purchasing tickets ahead of time. The staff was very efficient and very helpful. The kids loved it!

Some fun events for your Grands might be...

TODDLER TIME: Toddler Time is a great shared experience for child and parent. A time for your little ones to discover the joy of being active, bouncing under the supervision of their parents, and without interference from the big kids. Tues, Fri, & Sun 9:30-11am, $6.

GLOW: We're different after dark. Lasers, music and blacklight transform the whole park into a crazy jumping dance club (Ages 6+). 7-10pm Fridays, $25.

I begin and end with a visit to SKYZONE being a great idea with the Grands, but wanted to tell the whole truth of an outing with a 20-month-old and 3-yr-old in a Minnesota winter, just for humor’s sake! It has a happy ending. #6 was my favorite. I don't have many pictures - the kids were mostly a blur!

1. Getting out of the house. Grace, the 20-month-old, loves hats and shoes and mittens and cozy socks, so much so, that she tries them on many times throughout the day, and often discards any part of her accessories in any part of the house. One mitten might be in the basement, another under her crib, and a second set, somewhere in Mom’s car, or one in my car, one in Mom’s car. She does the same with Jack’s attire, so it is the same kind of treasure hunt. This particular day, it was -13 degrees, and we could only find one shoe, no boots, white cotton socks, no mittens, and no hat for her, but we were able to put together an entire Jack ensemble. Nine days and counting in the house, so we weren’t giving up on getting out.

2. Getting in the car. Stuffing two kids with puffy coats into those car seats. Yep, I know I’m supposed to take the jackets off, but the people that say that don’t live in -13 degrees, and I haven’t even mentioned the wind chill. I won’t.

3. Getting there. Easy, but Jack always corrects me if I don’t follow everything Siri says.

4. Getting out of the car. My parking lot rule is I get Jack out first, and he stands nearby with his hand on the car, while I get Grace out. I do need to mention that there was windchill, and a very impatient 3-yr-old who did not want to stand anywhere in it. And a 20-month-old wearing white cotton socks, who gasped as we ran from the car to the door.

5. Signing up for Toddler Time. Slick; the guy even guessed our SkyZone sock sizes as Grace escaped to climb some stadium seating across the muddy concrete floor in her white cotton socks. There was a bit of hang up in getting them to sit at a table while I completed each of three computerized liability waivers on a bank of monitors. They started taking off all their outerwear while I typed as quickly as humanly possible. (You can do this ahead. But would have been no easier for me to get out my laptop and type during Stage 1.)

6. Lockers. I figured SkyZone had them, and they did, and I had smartly brought an extra canvas bag to put all of our accessories in before putting it in a locker. The problem was they are small and squarish, and I had to jam in the canvas bag, my coat and boots, and large purse that always has an extra diaper, wipes, and Thomas the Tank engine undies just in case. And the locker would snap shut if you had to bend over and pick something up that dropped out or a small child escaped from the bench next to it. And then you had to enter codes all over again. Took three times, just sayin.’

7.  SKYZONE. Super fun – entire rooms of trampolines (even the walls), foam pits, balls to play with, basketball hoops, and Toddler Time without the dangers bouncing with older kids. Attentive and kind staff, moms and grandparents.

8. Challenges. Of course, Grace LOVED the trampolines, and Jack LOVED the foam pit, but alas, I am only one person.  I tried to straddle both – if Jack was safe in the foam pit, I would turn to Grace on the trampoline, and she would be licking the ball. If I played with Grace on the trampoline, Jack would be shouting, “Grandma, look at me!” or asking any Grandma or Grandpa to look at him. Grace finally managed to crawl over the foam cubes in the pit instead of sinking, but then got far enough away that Grandma had to get in to go after her. Grandmas sink. Another set of Grandparents said I deserved a gold star. Grace wanted a drink. Drinks would be in the big purse sandwiched in the locker. There were vending machines, but the money was in the big purse sandwiched in the locker. Finally, it was 11 o’clock – the time just flew by!

9. Getting to the car. All the accessories in reverse, still -13, and still breathtaking.

10. Getting home. After lots of exercise, and all bundled like that, there is the danger of children falling asleep on the way home instead of waiting for naps. I sang at the top of my lungs and turned up the radio really loud. I promised Micky D french fries, which revived them through the drive-up window transaction, but within moments, there were no responses from the back seat. Damn. I rolled the windows up and down (yep, still -13). Nothing. I parked and opened the car doors and they were mouths-hanging-open unconscious.

11. The blast of cold air and the reminder of French Fries turned the switch. Jack out. Grandma carrying the one in the cotton socks on the icy driveway, the big purse, and the Micky D’s. I left the canvas bag with our new orange SkyZone socks in the car.

12. Miracles. Nobody cried today. Not even me! We got through lunch. Jack created a new recipe by dipping fries in ketchup and sweet and sour sauce. And they both asked to go for naps! The power of good exercise and a good carb lunch.

13.   ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ.

Want more Twin Cities Toddler Events organized by days of the week? Click here.