St. John’s Swap & Play
For a fun time running and playing for younger children, St. John’s is the place to be! The expansive playspace features various rooms that offer different styles of play and learning, such as the “Bee’s Hive,” an outdoor space full of natural elements, including a garden, the “Meadow,” a vast indoor gross motor activity space with cars, climbing gear, and a ride-along roller coaster, the “Badger’s Burrow,” a building space complete with blocks, cars, trains, and train tracks for little engineers, and much more. St. John’s also features swap rooms, where families can bring their unneeded toys and swap them out for some fresh new toys to bring home. Admission is $10 for the first child and $5 for each additional child with babies under 1 getting in for free, or you can purchase a membership at varying levels to get full access.
Columbia Park and Annex
Columbia Park and Annex has much more to offer than a standard playground. At 35 acres, the park’s vast expanses of forested land offer many opportunities to run and explore the natural environment. With lots of walking trails, as well as play spaces, splash pads, tennis, baseball, and basketball courts, sheltered picnic areas, and a community center housed in the park’s historic cottage, families can spend all day enjoying the park’s offerings.
Mad Science
Do you have a budding scientist on your hands? They’ll go nuts for Mad Science in North Portland. Mad Science has a wide variety of scientific learning opportunities for little ones. For a quick visit, check out one of their public demonstrations, where kids can see presentations of scientific principles. Mad Science also offers summer camps, no-school-day workshops, after school classes, virtual learning opportunities, and birthday parties. Prices for their workshops and programs vary, but public demonstrations are completely free!
Portland Meadows
What kid doesn’t love horses? Taking kids down to the Portland Meadows can be an exciting and fun day for the aspiring equestrians in your family. Some track areas are off-limits for the younger guests, but Portland Meadows loves to see young racing enthusiasts visit and see the wonder of live horse racing. Take a visit to the restaurant for a delicious lunch to take a break from your day, or bring a picnic and snack while watching the horses run by!
Fazio Farms & Corn Maze
If you’re visiting North Portland in the autumn, stop by Fazio Farms & Corn Maze! It’s a great way to get into the Halloween and fall spirit and learn about agriculture. Take your kids through the giant cornfield maze, or keep it simple and explore the indoor hay bale maze. Load the whole family up in the back of a tractor to take a hayride tour of the farm itself, or hang around the farmyard to play fun family activities, like sliding down the giant bouncy slide! Entrance to the corn maze is just $5 per person two years and older, with ready-to-eat snacks and farm-fresh produce available for purchase, as well as pumpkins, of course!
