Free & Cheap Activities for Babies & Toddlers in Pierce County

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Fun isn’t just for the older kids! Babies and toddlers can have it too! There are quite a few free or cheap activities for babies and toddlers in the Pierce County area.

If you’re local to the Pierce County area and have younger ones at home take a look at the list below. It’ll be separated by town/city, if you wanted to stay in a specific part of Pierce County.

I’ll try keeping this post updated, but do check out the locations website to make sure hours are up to date. If you’re looking for activities in the Kitsap County area, check it out.

 

Check out these local posts;

• South Sound Pumpkin Patches & Fall Fun
• Pierce County Family-Friendly Summer Fun 2023
• Pierce County Birthday Party Locations for Kids & Teens
• List of Zoos and Aquariums in Washington
• South Sound U-Pick & U-Cut Farms

 

FREE & CHEAP ACTIVITIES FOR BABIES & TODDLERS IN PIERCE COUNTY

Updated last: 6/20/2023

 

•Pierce County Library– Visit a library to check out books, play with hands-on educational items, toys, computers, and have social time. Be sure to check out their calendar events, they host story times, and so much more.

•Tacoma Public Library– Visit a library to check out books, play with hands-on educational items, toys, computers, and have social time. Be sure to check out their calendar events, they host story times, and so much more.

•$ YMCA Membership– Although not free or cheap up front, but if you use it often it’ll be worth it. Most have indoor pools, gyms, classes, indoor playgrounds, ect.

•Play to Learn– The Play to Learn is such a great program for kids and their families. Be sure to check out their website for information, times, and locations.

•$ McDonalds Playlands – There are a few playlands still open. Have a treat and let kids run off some energy. Perfect for rainy days.

UNIVERSITY PLACE

•$ Odyssey 1– Indoor jungle gym, play as long as you want, $7.85 kids ages 2+ Monday-Friday, $2.25 for under age 2 unless you have another paying admission, supervising adults free.

•Any of parks in University Place are great! The Playground by the Sound is somewhat fenced in. Homestead and Kobayashi Park are excellent to hike and/or explore.

 

FIRCREST

•The Fircrest Tot Lot located at 527 Ramsdell St is fully fenced it and a popular playground for younger ones and parents.

•Any of the other parks are great to visit as well; play, hike, explore.

•$Edwards Family Aquatic Centerat the Fircrest Community Center has a beautiful new pool, including a wading pool. Open seasonally, admission is required.

•Roy H. Murphy Community Center hosts a ton of stuff for families, go to their website for the full list. Tuesdays & Thursdays 11:00am-12:30pm drop-in Tot Gym, let your kids run out their wiggles and socialize. During the school year they host a drop-in Tot Storytime on Tuesdays at 10:30am.

STEILACOOM

•They’ve got a few parks to hike and explore, one of our favorite parks is Sunnyside Beach. It’s got a big playground, picnic area, trains, sandy beach and so much more.

LAKEWOOD

•Fort Steilacoom has a great big “castle” playground, as well as plenty of space to run, hike and explore. Check out the huge dog park too.

•$ Catapult Adventure Park – in Lakewood would be good for the toddlers, they have a reasonable member price or just pay the one time. They also have a Cub Launch Time.

DUPONT

•Take the family friendly hike down the Sequalitchew Creek Trail, enjoy a picnic on the beach when you get to the end. The kids always enjoy walking through the tunnel at the end, it’s wide enough to have space when it’s busy(and it gets busy often), it’s a dirt path but we’ve managed to bring the jogging stroller once.

•Technically in Olympia, but it’s about a 5 minute drive down the freeway to the Billy Frank Jr. Nisqually Wildlife Refugee. We really love this local hike all year round, you see so much wildlife and beautiful nature, check out the old barns and picnic spots throughout. Parking usually cost a couple bucks. $

TACOMA

•Tacoma has a ton of awesome parks; from hiking, exploring to beach combing. Check out Metro Parks and also Pierce County parks. Check out all the indoor and outdoor pools Tacoma has to offer.

•$ DEFY Tacoma is an Indoor trampoline fun park! They have a KidJump (6 & under only) Monday-Saturday mornings 9-10am one adult jumps for free with one paying child $13, but 2 and under are free.

•Tacoma Nature CenterMonday-Friday 10:00am-2:00pm for the indoor area, check online before heading out to make sure they don’t have any closings. You can visit the outdoor playground area and the trails whenever.

•$Star Center Indoor Playground great indoor and outdoor jungle gyms for ages 6 months to 12 years old. Parent/guardian supervision required and play time may be limited to 60 min. based on capacity.

•Tacoma Children’s Museum. The Children’s Museums are so great, they’ve got a downtown Tacoma location and a new museum on JBLM for those with base access. Such a fun and educational indoor place. It’s pay as you will.

•Ride the free link light rail(Tacoma Trolley), start at Freighthouse Square and just stay on until it brings you back. Short but fun ride for kids.

•$ Kids love to walk and visit all the animals at the Point Defiance Zoo. If you plan on going often, I highly suggest getting a membership.

•$ Toddlers love Chuck-e-Cheese! And they have way more safety protocols then the past.

•$ Pump It Up would be perfect for the toddlers to get the wiggles out.

FIFE

•$ Take your kids swimming at the indoor Fife Aquatic Center.

•Any of the parks are great to visit as well; play, hike, explore.

SPANAWAY/GRAHAM/EATONVILLE

•Any of the parks are great to visit as well; play, hike, explore.

•$ One of my daughters favorite places is Old McDebbie’s and Jim’s U-Fish, hands on experience with a lot of the animals, fishing, I-spy trail, music trail, picnic tables, toys, playground. You could easily spend all day here!

•$ Take the littles to Northwest Trek & Wildlife, ride the tram, walk around looking at the animals, eat at the cafe and play at the playground.

PUYALLUP/BONNEY LAKE

•Any of the other parks are great to visit as well; play, hike, explore. Check out Pierce County Parks, Puyallup Parks and Bonney Lake parks.

•$ Take the little ones to Super Jump Party Zone open play. Open 7 days a week, check their website for times.

•$ Take a class or go to their open gym time at The Little Gym, they’ve got stuff for 4 months- 12 years old. Gymnastics, music, dance and more.

•$ Let your kid get those wiggles out at Wiggle Works – this one is perfect for the little ones as you have to be under 48″ to play, check their website for more information but admissions is reasonable.

•$ Catapult Adventure Park – in Puyallup, would be good for the toddlers, they have a reasonable member price or just pay the one time. They also have a Cub Launch Time.

•$ Kidz Happy Hour – indoor playground perfect for little ones in Bonney Lake.

GIG HARBOR/KEY PENINSULA

•The Gig Harbor and the Key Peninsula have a few parks and playgrounds, great for playing, exploring, picnic, swimming, hiking and so much more.

•Take your plane lover to the Tacoma Narrows Airport, grab a bite to eat or just watch the planes take off and land.

•Key Peninsula Civic Center has a toddler indoor playground on T & TH from 9:30-11:30am – must be supervised by an adult.

There you have it, a few different ideas to keep your little ones entertained and learning. Be sure to save this post for future reference!

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