Type of Place: Mall with children's play area.
Secret: There are two play areas, on separate sides of the mall. If you get bored of that, there is a very cool fountaip n near the food court. Water spouts up at intervals, getting taller and taller, and sometimes splashing onlookers. Kids love it!
Appropriate ages: The play area is geared towards kids five and under, but slightly older kids will still enjoy it. The mall in general is very family friendly!
Cost: Free just to hang out!
When we lived in Glendale Heights, we used to go to Stratford Square Mall all the etime. But after we moved to Lombard, Yorktown was much closer! However, today we had the chance to meet a friend and her little boy at Stratford Square for play time. Hayden didn't even remember toddling around this mall a year ago, so she was seeing it from new eyes!
The mall has two separate play areas. One is called Kids Towne, and the other is called Kar Towne. Both are "soft play" areas, meaning they're supposed to be pretty safe. The floor is carpeted, and the structures are made out of a soft sort of plastic material. Kids can clamor onto the roof of a house, jump on bugs and frogs and other creatures, sit in a fishing boat, crawl through tunnels, and slide down slides.
[caption id="attachment_62" align="alignleft" width="415" caption="Pufferfish dances on a fake dock!"]
[/caption][caption id="attachment_63" align="alignleft" width="383" caption="Pufferfish slides down the treehouse slide!"]
[/caption]You want to see the cutest thing ever? When Pufferfish was a baby, she would crawl around the play areas and climb on all of the structures. One day I took this adorable picture, which I still use as my avatar on playgroup message boards!
...
...Pufferfish doesn't remember this... but here she is two years later, revisiting the bear and the book!
Anyway, after Pufferfish and my friend's little boy played around in the play area, we headed over to the food court. The food court sports a dancing fountain which is named Oracle. The kids could have stayed there watching it, and throwing pennies into it, for hours! Especially on hot summer days, this is a great place to go to relax when you get tired of the play areas. I didn't take a picture of it this time, but I did find a picture of it on the Internet in case you don't believe me! (The picture dourset do it justice, though. You'll have to go see it for yourself!)
Another fun fact about this mall is that, one night a month, Stratford Square hosts a free Family Fun night with some sort of activity. One time it was a free karate lesson, and another time it was a craft at Painted Penguin. The next Family Fun night there is on April 16th at 6 pm.
I also just learned that Stratford now has a Glow Golf place, which I hope to review as soon as possible! They also have a pet store... although I tend to avoid those because they break my heart!
The next time its a rainy day and your kids are driving you crazy, Stratford Square is a great choice to spend some time at!
By the way, if you live in DuPage and you need an occasional babysitter, I can provide that! Check out my babysitting website, and contact me for references!
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