Redmond's oldest park offers two historic cabins and a covered picnic shelter available for rent, along with picnic tables, a shaded children's play area, bike racks, and a brick plaza with an outdoor stage.

The playground is on many "best of" lists, for good reason; it provides colossal fountain sprays, lounge chair swings, and plenty of ride-on activities.

Facilities at Auburn Valley include an aquatic center with two pools and a whirlpool, a gym, a teen and family center, baseball and soccer fields, and a running track. Featured programs at this branch are swimming lessons, family swim sessions, summer programs, before- and afterschool care, youth and teen sports, and birthday parties.

The Ballard Pool offers weekend and afterschool swimming lessons for kids as young as six months, as well as private and pre-competition lessons.

Family swim sessions are offered at different times throughout the year (check the website for the schedule), as are special events. (Check our calendar for event information.)

Private rental is available for parties with some blackout dates. You get the rope swing, spa, slide all to yourselves, and rent the lobby if you need more space. Call for details.

Bellevue Aquatic Center's blue lagoon pool is 25 yards with six lap lanes, a diving tank, and a 10-foot slide. The center's warm springs pool, which was designed for therapy and rehabilitation, but is available for public open swim, has a wheelchair ramp and an average water temperature of 91 degrees.

The center offers swimming lessons and has locker rooms are available for men, women, and families. The pools are also available for rental for special occasions and birthday parties, along with a party room.

Pool schedules are subject to change; be sure to call ahead before you go.

Facilities at the Bellevue Family YMCA include an indoor pool, cardio equipment, weights, indoor track, family activity center, teen and senior center, childwatch, and a full-size gymnasium. Featured programs at this branch are swimming lessons, youth and teen sports, birthday parties, camps and afterschool care.

Cougar Mountain Zoo is located on eight-acres and specializes in unique and endangered species. Birthday party packages, tours, and other prescheduled programs are available year-round.

Facilities at the Downtown YMCA include an indoor pool, gymnasium, racquetball/squash/wallyball/handball courts, a strength training center, an indoor running track, a power cycling studio, cardiovascular center, and massage therapy room. The recreation room features an air hockey table, foosball, ping pong, and darts.

Featured programs at this branch are swimming lessons, youth and teen sports, and birthday parties.

Teens can participate in the Leadership Development, Service & Civic Engagement program and learn a variety of leadership and team-building skills.

Camp programs and afterschool programs are offered at local schools. See the website for more information.

Class offerings at Frog Legs include seven-week sessions for ages three and up and occasional one-day Saturday classes. Birthday parties are also available for $300; parties are two hours long, can accommodate up to eight children, and each child makes one entree, a drink, and a cupcake.

The hatchery, opened in 1936 as a WPA project, raises 2.5 million chinook and 1 million coho salmon each year from eggs taken during the Issaquah Creek fall salmon run.

Although visitors can see tanks of fish and displays at any time of year, September and October are the best months to visit to see returning fish as they crowd the creek.

Check the website for information on tours of the hatchery. If you visit with the kids, look for the eight-foot "Big Salmon" bronze salmon statue at the hatchery, and visit the park across the street if you need a place to run around.

Summer camp: During the summer, Friends of Issaquah Salmon Hatchery (FISH) offers Salmon Science Camp for kids ages six to 11. Kids learn about the salmon's life cycle, habitat, and anatomy; conduct experiments about watersheds and pollution; sample and test Issaquah Creek; play educational games; use microscopes; learn to identify native plants; and more. [425.392.8025; celina@issaquahfish.org]

Birthday party packages: You bring the cake and FISH provides a guided "behind the scenes" tour, fish feeding, games or crafts, salmon legend activities, and up to an hour's use of the facility for gifts, cake, etc. Goody bags and a special gift for the birthday child are available for an additional charge. Parties generally accommodate up to 12 guests; call for more information. [425.392.8025]

A visit to Kelsey Creek makes a delightful outing with kids - it's worth the drive if you live in the Seattle area. The park is made up of 150 acres of forest and wetland habitat, with a number of hiking trails (including a gravel loop trail that goes around the park's barns and pastures) that are easy enough for tots to traverse. A popular working farm is also located on the park grounds.

Picnic tables and a covered picnic shelter are available for brown-baggers and events. The picnic shelter is located south of the parking lot (call or email for rental information); tables are located throughout the park. A play area for small kids is conveniently located near the picnic shelter area.

Kelsey Creek Farm's barns and pastures are home to a variety of farm animals. The farm hosts a number of kids' recreational programs, including pony care classes and farm experience tours, as well as living history workshops for families throughout the year.

Kimmy's Kloset provides children's entertainment for all types of events and occasions throughout the Seattle Metro area (or outside the area with a travel fee). A vast array of characters are available including Kimmy the Clown, the Conductor from Thomas the Train, Daphne from Scooby Doo, the Disney Princesses, Barbie and the Twelve Dancing Princesses, Dora the Explorer, and many more. Character appearances include a magic show, story telling, face painting, and balloons. Parties for fewer than 12 children can also include games.

Kimmy's Kloset also offers dress-up theme parties for all ages, which include costumes, face painting, balloon art, and games.

Kimmy's Kloset also provides singing telegrams.

We hired Kimmy as Ariel the Mermaid for our daughter's seventh birthday party, and the children were mesmerized by her performance and thrilled with their painted faces.

Lake Sammamish State Park is a 512-acre day-use park with nearly 7,000 feet of waterfront on Lake Sammamish. The area around the lake was an important cultural zone for local Indian tribes for centuries. The park provides deciduous forest and wetland vegetation, along with a salmon-bearing creek and a great-blue-heron rookery.

The park offers several rentable picnic shelters that can accommodate groups of up to 400 people and offer amenities that include sinks, electrical outlets, horseshoe pits, and volleyball areas. For smaller gatherings, the park offers one sheltered picnic table, 475 unsheltered picnic tables, and 80 barbecue grills.

Other park offerings include hiking trails, bike trails, boat ramps, fishing, and softball, soccer, and volleyball fields.

Legion Memorial Park is a four-acre park on the bluff overlooking Port Gardner Bay. Amenities include picnic shelters, a playground, tennis and basketball courts, soccer and baseball fields, and an arboretum.

Lily's is a full-service beauty salon for kids (and moms) that offers pedicures, manicures, shampoos, and haircuts. Ask about the mother/daughter and birthday party packages.

Beautiful Mounger Pool is one of Seattle's two outdoor swimming pools; it's only open during the summer season. The other outdoor pool, Colman Pool in West Seattle, is also open during the summer.

The facility includes a large pool with a 50-foot corkscrew slide and a little pool that's used for group and personal swim lessons and family swims, and is ideal for swimming with small kids. The water temperature of the large pool is 84-86 degrees; the small pool 92-94 degrees. The pool area also includes grassy sunbathing areas, deck chairs, and an area for picnicking.

The pool's tot policy states that all kids under six or under 48" must be directly supervised in the water by an adult, and children who aren't toilet trained must swear swimming diapers or a cloth diaper with a tightly-fitting plastic cover. Regular disposables, loose-fitting swim trunks, and bare bottoms are no-nos! The pool does sell swim diapers if you're in a pinch.

A wide variety of swim programs are held here during the summer, including individual and group swim lessons all week long; public, family, and teen swims; a daily pool playland that features swim toys and is geared towards families with younger kids; and Fun Family Friday special events.

Group swim lessons are offered for children ages six months-17 years daily during the summer. Sessions range from five-10, and fees range from $5-$8/half hour. Lessons proceed regardless of weather, unless a thunderstorm threatens. Registration for lessons begins in April (mail in or walk in).

Summer Swim League is a novice competitive swim team for ages six-17. Classes run daily for 45 minutes. [$80]

Birthday parties at the pool include a "party guard", use of both pools, and the waterslide.

Lynndale Park is a 40-acre park located north of Lynndale Elementary School. Approximately 22 acres of the park are native forest, with the remainder developed for active use.

The park features three lighted baseball fields, a soccer field, tennis courts, a skate park, basketball courts, an amphitheater, paved trails, soft surface hiking trails, a large reservable picnic shelter, and a playground.

Meadowbrook Pool, attached to the Meadowbrook Community Center, offers 1M and 3M diving boards, a rope swing, and two family changing rooms.

Family Swim Times are offered on Tuesdays from 7pm-8pm and on Saturdays from 9:30am-10:30am and 4:30pm-5:30pm.

Lesson programs include tot, kinder, and youth lessons, private lessons, and summer swim league (ages six-17).

Birthday party packages include one-hour exclusive use in a section or portion of the pool, a 30-minute party in the lobby, water recreation leadership, juice, paper products, and favors. (Food items are not included.)

For muddy fun, explore the forests, marshes, swamps, and bogs of the 320-acre Mercer Slough Nature Park, the largest remaining wetland in the metro area. Set close to the rush and bustle of the I-90 corridor, this wild park feels like it's a world away. The Slough is home to a great blue heron rookery, and to a wide variety of bird and animal species, including otters and beavers.

Park rangers offer free guided nature walks at 2pm on Saturdays from May to September. Walks begin at the parking lot kiosk at the Winters House Visitor Center.

Ranger-guided canoe trips leave every Saturday (May-Sep) from Enatai Beach Park. Canoeists paddle across Lake Washington to the Slough. Kids ages five and up are welcome, and no experience is necessary. Pre-registration is required and classes fill quickly. Call 425.452.6885 to register.

The Mercer Slough Environmental Education Center hosts a wide variety of nature-oriented classes, camps, and opportunities for visitors to explore. Campers participate in canoeing and hiking at one of the Center's Summer Day Camps. Go to www.pacsci.org for more information.

Kids ages five and up can even celebrate their B'earthday at the Environmental Education Center - in conjunction with the Pacific Science Center - with an environmental celebration just for them. Call 206.443.2925. More information is also available online

The Overlake Blueberry Farm at Mercer Slough is open daily during the summer. You can pick your own berries or buy them already picked. The farm is located at 2380 Bellevue Way SE. [425.467.0501]

Facilities at Meredith Mathews include an indoor pool and gymnasium. Featured programs at this branch are swimming lessons, youth and teen sports, and birthday parties.

Camp programs and afterschool programs are offered at local schools.

Mountlake Terrace Recreation Pavilion is the city's community center and features an indoor pool features a "lazy river" with a moving current, a shallow-water leisure play area, and a handicapped access ramp.

Swim lessons are offered for children ages nine months and up. Aquatic camps are offered in the summer for children ages four and up.

Birthday party packages are available with an indoor playground for ages five and under, supervised swimming, and private party rooms. The facility was recently voted Best Pool Party by Seattle Metropolitan magazine. The whole pool or half of the pool can be reserved for your party. Refrigeration is available, and tables, tablecloths, and chairs are provided along with basic setup for up to 20 participants. Celebrants bring their own food, cake, and decorations and are responsible for clean up. Parties are available Fridays from 2-7pm and Saturdays and Sundays from 1-8pm.

Other classes and programs are available for children and teens, including dance, preschool, before- and afterschool care, summer camps, and an indoor playground for crawlers, toddlers, and preschoolers.

Summer camp programs include themed dance camps, Aqua Kids water camp, Navigators, and many others.

The 29-acre Newcastle Beach Park is Bellevue's largest and most popular beach park. Amenities include several picnic shelters, which can be rented for private events, a swimming beach, nature trail, 300-foot dock, and playground. Life guards are on duty at the park from 12n to 7pm from the last Saturday in June through Labor Day.

A turn-of-the century depot houses the Northwest Railway Museum (filled with antique box cars and engines) and functions as a hub for the Snoqualmie Valley Railroad. On weekends from Apr-Oct, passengers can ride an antique train for a 65-minute, 5-mile trip through the Upper Snoqualmie Valley to North Bend. Passengers can get off at picturesque North Bend and take another train back later. On the return trip from North Bend enjoy the fabulous views from the top of Snoqualmie Falls. Kids love the excitement of the antique train's slow journey through the pretty countryside.

The train also operates special runs during certain holidays like Father's Day and Mother's Day, the Day Out With Thomas event in July, and operates a very popular Santa Train during the holidays.

The Whistle Stop Birthday Party program gives kids the opportunity to have their party in a real baggage car and ride the train to Snoqualmie Falls and back. Parties can be scheduled on Saturdays and Sundays in April, May, August, September, and October.

Paint the Town stocks more than 250 ceramic pieces that customers can paint on site with materials supplied by the store. Pieces are fired and ready for pickup in five to seven days. Paint the Town does not charge studio fees.

Party packages are also available.

The only combined zoo and aquarium in the Northwest, Point Defiance Zoo & Aquarium is large enough to house a variety of animals, but small enough to be accessible to families with small children.

Exhibits include the Asian Forest Sanctuary with eight vanishing Asian species, including tigers and primates and the Rocky Shores/Tundra, with polar bears, Pacific walrus, beluga whale, sea otters, and tufted
puffins. There are two aquariums, one of which features a seahorse
exhibit and also contains trumpetfish, angelfish, and other sea
creatures. Zookeepers regularly offer talks and presentations in the
Wild Wonders Outdoor Theatre.

A new (opened 2005) Kids' Zone, geared for ages three to eight, has play
equipment that mimics the ways different animals move, including an otter slide, a dancing lilypad fountain, goats to feed, animals to groom, and a play
area where kids can pretend to be a veterinarian and zookeeper.

The zoo offers summer and school break camps, sleep-overs, zoo career
days, and programs for families with kids ages three to four and
five to seven.

Catered events are accommodated in a variety of indoor and outdoor
venues. Contact Visitor Services at 253.404.3805. The zoo also has a
gift shop and several places to eat. We like to bring a picnic on nice
days and take in the awesome views of Puget Sound, Mount Rainier, and
the Olympics.

Strollers are available for rent, and parking is free.

Pony Paradise Rides offers pony rides, lessons, camps, and parties.

Parties are two hours long and include unlimited riding, music, a bounce house, and a large party tent for rainy days. Families supply cake, food, and decorations. Prices range from $225 (one pony) to $375 (four ponies).

Pony rides are $20 and last about 20 minutes. Call to schedule an appointment.

Camps are offered during spring break and in the summer for children ages seven and up. Weekday camps are $400 per week and run from 10am-4pm. Weekend camps are $150 and are held from 10am-5pm. Call or check the website for upcoming camp dates or for lesson information.

The Seattle Aquarium, built on a pier that boasts excellent views of Elliott Bay, offers a mix of older exhibits that still shine after all these years, and exciting new exhibits with thoughtful features for kids.

Seattle Aquarium expanded in 2007 and remodeled the east end of Pier 59. A new entrance on Alaskan Way leads into the Puget Sound Great Hall, an airy room featuring the new Window on Washington Waters exhibit. The 120,000 gallon exhibit boasts a 39' x 19' viewing window filled with rockfish, salmon, perch, urchins, anemones, sea stars and hundreds of their marine friends.

Renovations also include an expansion of the Aquarium's gift store and a new Aquarium Cafe, serving a variety of family friendly fare to Aquarium visitors.

The exhibit Life on the Edge is in a large deep-blue painted room with two large tide pools. Wild Outer Coast mimics a coastal tidal pool filled with sea weeds, colorful anemones and urchins, fish, crab, and giant mussels. A wave sweeps into the pool periodically, to show how the rushing water affects its inhabitants.

Inland Seas features five interlocking shallows filled with native sea stars of all hues, feathery sea pens, sea slugs, and the foot-long predatory moon snail, whose tirelike egg casings you sometimes see on shore during low tide. Kids can reach in and touch any of the creatures in the pools, and naturalists are on hand to answer questions.

Toward the back of the room, visitors can view milk-white moon jellies in a unique ring shaped exhibit, look at specimens of marine creatures, and get their hands on please-touch exhibits.

Other exhibits feature the Giant Pacific Octopus, seals, and sea otters that can be viewed underwater in a naturalistic setting. This last exhibit, called Sound to Mountains, features hands-on activities for kids and an innovative play area. Most children can also spend hours in the cool, damp-feeling Underwater Dome, pointing out the ferocious-looking wolf eels and dozens of other Puget Sound fish, swimming all around and above them.

Naturalists are on hand around the aquarium to answer questions, and animals are fed on a regular schedule during the day. Times are posted prominently around exhibit spaces. The aquarium also has Beach Naturalists stationed at area beaches during the summer.

Admission deals: If you want to visit the Aquarium and take an Argosy Harbor Cruise, ask about combination packages. The Aquarium is also a CityPass attraction.

Marine Camps: day programs for youth ages seven to 15 are offered during summer and winter school breaks. For more information, call the registrar at 206.386.4353.

Classes: Story- and family times offered throughout the year. Check our calendar for listings.

Birthday parties (weekends): You bring the cake and the Aquarium provides sea creatures; two-hour room use; party invitations; ID wristbands for your party to visit the Aquarium; and same day admission to Seattle Aquarium exhibits. Cost is $200for up to 15 guests (ages three & up) and $5 per additional guest.

The Tacoma Nature Center offers two miles of nature trails through 54-acres of wetland habitat, where visitors can glimpse local wildlife. Families can participate in a variety of nature and science classes and events. The center also offers birthday party packages (see the website for information).

This pleasantly located farm, nestled in the Snohomish River Valley across from the Snohomish River, offers a variety of family-oriented activities as well as U-pick flowers and pumpkins, and picked sweet corn (Aug-Oct).

We loved the place's friendliness - we arrived on a late summer day to pick some dahlias from the flower garden - and felt welcome to roam around and enjoy the beautiful setting even though we didn't enter the corn maze. Our bug-mad son found huge grasshoppers, spiders, and butterflies to keep him busy, while the toddler ran barefoot on the huge lawn and visited the free petting farm.

Look for a hay maze in the big red barn, or, from Aug-Oct, ride the wagon out to a 12-acre corn maze that's been cut into the shape of Washington State. Kids can traverse highways and roads within the maze, learning state geography along the way. Picnic at tables under the shelter, or buy reasonably priced hot dogs, chili, pie, cookies, and drinks from Little Piggy's Bistro, open on weekends from 10am-close. A putting course is located on-site, as is a softball field, volleyball, basketball, bocce, badminton, and wagon rides - call for details if you plan on coming with a group. Field trips are available for schoolkids during the fall.

Bathrooms are of the port-a-potty variety, and there aren't any diaper-changing facilities.

Birthday parties are available from Jun-Aug. The 1.5-hour party includes the hay maze, petting farm, Mr. McGregor's garden and cottage, a playground area, and supervision by farm staff. Parents can provide other treats, as well.

The Jungle Gym offers gymnastics classes for kids ages four months to 12 years, as well as yoga and martial arts classes for kids and adults. They also offer party packages that include games, obstacle courses, and the use of a party room featuring a Leopard Birthday Throne for the birthday child.

The Scratch Patch is an interactive and educational gemstone treasure hunt, the first of its kind in the US. A large pit is filled with over 150 varieties of sparkling, smooth, tumbled gems. Participants search among the stones to find their favorites, fill a bag and take them home. The fee includes the bag of stones - with no extra charge for weight or type of stone - and an identification chart. The stones are appropriate for use in plants, aquariums, gardens, mosaic art, and more.

The Scratch Patch also travels to outdoor events and offers kids' parties. Party prices start at $195; check the website for details.

Urban Botanic brings custom fragrance parties to your location. Party guests mix and combine perfume oils to formulate their own signature scents. Guests take home the bubble bath, lotion, shower gel, or perfume spray they've created - depending on the party package purchased. Products are hypo-allergenic and contain no alcohol or formaldehyde. Parties are about two hours.

Party hosts provide their own food and beverages.

Urban Botanic brings custom fragrance parties to your location. Party guests mix and combine perfume oils to formulate their own signature scents. Guests take home the bubble bath, lotion, shower gel, or perfume spray they've created - depending on the party package purchased. Products are hypo-allergenic and contain no alcohol or formaldehyde. Parties are about two hours.

Party hosts provide their own food and beverages.

Facilities at West Seattle include an indoor pool, indoor track, sauna and whirlpool, a gym, and a teen center. It offers offer full and part time preschool, as well as before- and afterschool and holiday care for elementary-age children.

Summer Day Camp offers all-day outdoor fun in the sun, with lots of games, sports, field trips, and educational playtime. Summer Enrichment offers more indoor fun options like arts and sciences, but still has lots of outdoor playtime and field trips.

Programs for teens include Red Cross Water Safety Instructor Classes and Saturday Night Live.

The branch also offers swimming lessons, family swim time, Kids' Gym, parents' night out, and birthday parties.

This world-class zoo covers nearly 100 acres of exhibits and open space, including a rose garden and a children's playground. You could easily spend an entire day at the zoo. Award-winning exhibits include the outdoor orangutan habitat at the Trail of Vines, with its boardwalk that makes visitors feel as if they're at treetop level, and the standout Northern Trail, with its awe-inspiring underwater view of a pair of grizzly bears.

The zoo has many educational programs on-site throughout the day, including animal contact experiences and feedings. Check the locations and times of a given day's programs at the entrances. The entrances also post which zoo babies are on view that day.

If the children in your group grow tired of walking, set them loose in Zoomazium, an all-season play space that offers kids a place to explore nature