Looking for kids cooking classes in Greenville, SC? Would you love for your child to learn how to cook? Here’s a list of local venues that offer kids’ cooking classes. Kids will learn cooking and baking, and possibly the best part is that they won’t make a mess in your kitchen!
For even more classes offered for kids in Greenville see our Ultimate Class and Activity Guide.
(more…)Kids Play and Cafe in Easley, SC is the answer to what many parents of small kids have been asking for in the Upstate, SC – a large, safe, and fun place for their kids to play indoors that also includes wifi, coffee, and snacks for parents and their kids. We visited and have all the details on Kids Play & Cafe!
A brand new indoor play place, cafe included, is now open in Easley, SC and we know our readers are absolutely going to love this place. Kids Play & Cafe was designed by parents and their kids for parents and their kids. It has all kinds of fun and interactive play structures and is perfect for indoor fun plus great coffee – what a great combination!
We’ve got all you need to know about Kids Play and Cafe in Easley and how to make sure you don’t miss out on any of the fun!
Kids Play & Cafe started out of a dream a decade ago that Jennifer and her husband, Keith, thought about doing far in the future. Keith was in the military and settling in one place and creating an awesome indoor play place would have to wait. After their two daughters were born and started growing up, the girls got in on the dream and the family started to take steps to make it happen.
And here they are. It’s obvious a lot of thought went into this place. The play structures were designed completely by the family themselves to maximize imagination as were the little tiny town structures. The setup was designed so parents can sit comfortably and pretty much see their kids all of the time yet chat with their friends if they want to.
And coffee – good, local coffee – is available. High-five to Jennifer and Keith.
The couple also asked for a lot of input on what parents would want to purchase for food and drinks at the cafe, which they took into consideration when figuring out what to offer.
There are two play structures connected by a bridge in the 5400 square foot space. They are soft play, climbing structures that allow not only kids to play on them but also their parents if they want. I tested it out myself and indeed, there is enough space for an adult to get up in there and play!
There is a set of three slides plus a twisted barrel slide. There are tunnels, a little zip line, swing, ball pit, and climbing structures within each play area. And there is only one entrance which makes it a bit easier to keep track of the kids.
These little tiny town-inspired play areas are my favorite things in the entire place. Jennifer and Keith’s daughters’ fingerprints of imagination are all over these, which I think makes them extra fun.
The barber shop is adorable. There are a lot of dress-up clothes, play hair care and makeup items, a barber chair (very comfortable, I may add), hats, a mirror, and lots of other thoughtful and fun touches.
The kitchen has all kinds of play pots and pans plus a little breakfast table with a menu. There are play fruits and vegetables in a pantry setup and an apron.
Next door is the doctor’s office, which has all kinds of play items you’d find in a medical office plus charts and first aid kit supplies. It’s adorable.
And lastly, there’s a supermarket complete with tiny shopping carts, reusable bags, grocery items, and a scanner for checkout.
Besides excellent coffee sourced locally from a vet-owned coffee roaster, the cafe has smoothies, lunchables, snacks, drinks, and some healthier items available.
There are plenty of seating options available around Kids Play & Cafe where parents can even bring their laptop to work, get caffeinated, and let their kids run around and get out energy.
Of course Kids Play & Cafe in Easley is offering birthday party packages because, really, this is a great place to hold a party.
All parties include at least 75 minutes of play and 45 minutes of festivities in their private party room. Packages start at $309 and include a certain number of kids and add-ons like food and decorations as you need. Weekday parties are a little cheaper and all packages can be found on their website.
Here are a few tips so you can enjoy your time at Kids Play & Cafe.
Admission for kids a year old and younger is free. Admission for kids ages 2-3 years old is $10.95/weekdays and $12.95/weekends. Admission for kids ages 4-12 is $12.95/weekdays and $14.95/weekends. Admission is good all day.
If Kids Play & Cafe announces membership options, we will post them here.Â
Monday, Wednesday, and Thursday from 10 am – 7 pm
Tuesday – Closed
Friday and Saturday from 10 am – 8 pm
Sunday from Noon – 6 pm
Kids Play & Cafe
210 Fern Street, Easley
Kids Play & Cafe Website | Kids Play & Cafe Facebook | Kids Play & Cafe Instagram
864.307.8080
Want more indoor play?
Check out this list of Indoor Playgrounds near Greenville, SC.
An awesome arcade that has the best games from the 80s and 90s is located in Simpsonville, SC and we just had to try it out! Thanks to the Upstate Pinball and Arcade Museum for having us come by to do this review.
When I see an old-school Pac-Man machine, I immediately think of my mom and how much fun we used to have to play it (and constantly getting eaten by ghosts). Super Mario Brothers bring back memories I had of my friends and me playing it together in middle school. Yes, I’m dating myself but I don’t even care because there’s a place in Simpsonville where I can now go and play all these retro games and share my own great memories with my kids and make new ones as well.
Searching for ‘things to do with preschoolers inside near me’? You’ve come to the right place. We’ve rounded up some of the best things to do with preschoolers inside in Greenville, SC. Let the indoor fun begin!
I love kids. I especially love my kid. Want to know what I don’t love? I do not love sitting at home for hours trying to come up with a variety of activities that both entertain and accommodate his non-existent attention span.
Enter Kidding Around Greenville.
We have compiled a list of 25 things to inside to keep you and your preschooler busy! This list focuses on indoor and cold weather activities so stay tuned for a future sequel that focuses on the summer months. Of course, regardless of the weather outside unless the activity requires cold weather most of these activities are a fun choice any time of year!
Have kids who love to make art? There are lots of places in Greenville where kids can create art. Children can benefit from local art teachers while parents keep all that paint, clay and glue off their tables, walls and carpets. Everybody wins! Here’s a list of places in Greenville where kids can make art.
(more…)Love a good puzzle challenge with the family? The Escape Game at Concord Mills recently opened with 5 escape room challenges for your friends and family to conquer. All five rooms differ with regard to difficulty and the number of players able to play together, so groups big and small, and beginner or more seasoned escape room players, will all find a game that’s right for their group.
The Escape Game: Concord invited us out to try a game so we could share the experience with our readers.
Three of my kids, aged 10-13, and I got to play the Playground Escape Game and we had a blast! It was a very cooperative game and really required us to divide and conquer and help each other to solve all the puzzles in time.
The game was full of surprises and we won’t share all the details, so you can enjoy the game yourself. But here’s how our experience went.
The Escape Game is located between the movie theater and Dave & Busters at Concord Mills. If you head towards the movie theater parking lot and then keep going around towards Dave and Busters, you’ll see The Escape Game, painted black and white, on the exterior of the mall. You won’t need to walk through the mall to get to The Escape Game, but there’s an entrance in the mall, too!
When you arrive you’ll check in with your name, if you’ve made reservations in advance. This is recommended, by the way. Then, if you haven’t filled out a waiver, there’s a quick form to fill out on a tablet kiosk. Then, you’re ready to go.
Your guide will walk you to your game and welcome you to the space. A movie intro will play on the screen above the door and you’re off.
Our game, Playground, set us up as 4th-grade students on the very last day of 4th grade. But our teacher wouldn’t let us out until we had completed all the tasks on the report card. Each lit up as we completed them during the game, helping us keep track of where we were and how many more puzzles were yet to be solved.
Up to 12 players can play this game, so I was a little nervous about how the 4 of us would do. We’re not exactly expert escape room players. But our game guide helped us out from time to time with clues on the video screen and little tips to let us know if we were headed in the right direction or not. Which, was super helpful and helped keep the game enjoyable and not frustrating.
The puzzles we had to solve were all themed by school subject, fitting with the 4th-grade classroom experience. The way information was displayed and hidden for each problem varied greatly. Some clues had us bouncing between rooms as they were opened and some of it was hidden in plain sight and required some deduction and logic, and maybe a little math to find the solutions. Each problem worked together to get us the information we needed to escape that fourth-grade class.
There were lots of fun little surprises along the way, that I, at least, have never seen in an escape room before. My kids really enjoyed those surprises.
We had a great time playing Playground. Escape rooms are a great family activity for families, especially with hard-to-please tweens and teens and I would definitely would recommend playing a game at The Escape Game. Our game was really well done and we enjoyed working together to solve it and escape.
In my opinion, I don’t think kids much younger than 8 or 9 would be able to contribute much towards solving the puzzles and they might get bored. Although one nice thing about Playground is that there are a significant number of tasks that require collecting objects and younger kids could certainly help with that. But, suffice it to say, these are really geared toward older kids and adults.
We got to peek inside a couple of the other new rooms at The Escape Game!
Tickets are $34.99. Smaller groups may end up together, so if you’d like to book privately, for only your group, you can purchase the entire room beginning at $280. Of course, the other option is just to make sure you bring enough friends to fill the room.
Being located in Concord Mills, a large mall, you could easily turn your visit into a full day. Concord Mills has an aquarium, an arcade, movie theater, lots of shopping, and places to eat.
Our family went to the Lego Store and then decided to drive over to SunFlour Baking Company for lunch, which is a family favorite just about 15 minutes from the mall.
We also have a large list of family-friendly things to do in Concord, NC and Cabarrus County.
Need something to do inside with a toddler or baby in Greenville, SC? Well, the big kids are back in school again, and, let’s face it, the little ones need to be entertained (and sometimes just worn out). How about an indoor play area perfect for the toddler crowd?
We’re lucky to live in a great city where there are plenty of places to head to when you have to get out of the house but a park isn’t an option.
Here’s a list of some great indoor play places for babies and toddlers in Greenville, SC.
(more…)Are you heading to the movies in Greenville, SC? Fun for the family, fun with friends, or a great date night, whatever the reason, a movie at the theater is great entertainment. For the next time you are wanting to head to the theater, we have a list of the movie theaters in Greenville to help you find the best place to watch a movie.
Have you visited the Climb@Blue Ridge gym before? Whether you are a seasoned climber or just starting out, you’ll fit right in at CBR. With classes for kids, homeschool events, parent’s night out events, high school hangouts, and lots more special events it’s a place for families, kids, adults, and everyone! Climn@Blue Ridge is one of the more affordable climbing gyms in the Greenville, SC area and has an extremely supportive, helpful, and personable staff. Here’s everything you need to know about Climb@Blue Ridge to plan your awesome climbing day.
This article is pretty much not necessary. Yep.
We said we’d tell you what you needed to know to have a great time at CBR. But the bottom line is, you don’t need to know much of anything. Really.
Want to climb? Total 100% complete beginners of all ages can have a great time climbing at CBR, and so can seasoned climbers. The gym has everything you need from harnesses to climbing shoes that you can rent for a small fee when you climb. Just show up.
The staff is awesome, and they’ll help you get the right size shoes and get your harness and point you in the right direction of climbing walls and bouldering spaces. I say this to you as a non-athletic and sometimes painfully introverted mom. (Really, I write so I don’t have to talk to people.) But seriously, at CBR they’ll teach you to belay for your kids and show you how to hook up to the auto-belays. There are no stupid questions. Your kids will be climbing before you know it, and so will you!
But, there are so many cool things happening at CBR, so, we’ll use the rest of this article to tell all about the programs for kids, families, and adults, plus those nitty-gritty details like hours and cost.
Climb@Blue Ridge has climbing spaces for bouldering, top roping, and lead climbing.
There are several places for bouldering at CBR, a cave area, a small tunnel area, and a room off the main gym. These areas do not require the use of harnesses or ropes as they don’t go high. These areas are about traversing across or up, around, or under obstacles.
Top roping is the style of climbing with ropes. Basically, this is what you’re doing when you are hooked to a harness with a rope up above you and either a human or auto-belayer. The gym has three auto belays so you can climb even if you don’t have a climbing partner.
Last but not least, lead climbing is more like outdoor climbing. You must have your own equipment to lead climb at CBR.
The climbing routes at CBR are changed regularly. This means in all of the climbing areas you’ll find new challenges and problems to solve. You won’t be bored once you’ve mastered a route or two!
Intro to Climbing Class: My kids have been taking an introduction to climbing class at CBR for homeschoolers since the fall. Each semester is 10 weeks of classes that cover top roping and bouldering, plus safety! The tuition is $200 for the semester and that includes harness and shoe rental plus a gym membership. That means your climber can climb for free anytime the gym is open.
Homeschool Climb: Every second Monday from 2 to 4 pm, homeschoolers can climb at CBR for just $12 which includes the harness. Shoes can be rented for $3 (but you don’t have to if you’d rather just use sneakers).
Every second Saturday from 6:30 to 9:30 pm bring the kids to CBR for parents’ night out. This parents’ night out is for kids ages 6 and up. They’ll have a blast climbing while you get a night out. The cost is $20 per child. Do sign-up in advance because the program only runs if there are at least 3 kids enrolled.
It’s CBR’s version of tot time. At Preschool Rocks, kids 2-6 get the gym all to themselves with their parent or guardian from 8 to 10 am on Tuesdays. The cost is $20 per parent/child team and that includes harnesses. CBR has full-body harnesses for little ones. And don’t forget, kiddos don’t need to harness up if they are bouldering. So, even if your little one won’t want to put on a harness, there’s still plenty of climbing fun.
High school kids climb at CBR on Saturday nights for just $10, including harness and shoes. It’s a great deal and a great way to spend a Saturday night.
Have kids who want to learn more about climbing? The climbing team meets weekly for beginning through advanced students. Kids learn climbing skills and encourage each other to be better. The team even takes outdoor climbing field trips!
Climbing team is $65 a month and also includes a gym membership. That means kids can climb anytime the gym is open for free. Gear rental is another $15 a month, or kids can purchase their own.
CBR also offers summer camps for kids, as well as camps during days off from school, and other special events.
In addition to climbing, CBR also offers weekly Yoga and Tai Chi classes. There’s also a ladies’ meet-up on Monday nights, plus special events, competitions, and more throughout the year.
CBR also offers a place for parties, lock-ins, and group events.
Do it!
When you climb at CBR you get full gym access for the entire day. You’re not limited to an hour or two, and you’re not limited to certain areas of the gym or certain routes.
Adult day passes are $12. Kids 10 and under are $10. If you want to rent harnesses and shoes, they are $3 each.
First-time climbers pay $24 and that includes both harness rental, shoes, AND some time with the staff for them to show you how to belay, ensure that you can do it safely, and make sure you don’t have any questions. Don’t worry about this, it’s really easy.
That’s it. You’re ready to go!
If you love climbing, you’ll want to check out the Climb@ Blue Ridge memberships. A family membership is just $75 a month. Individual memberships start at $50. This doesn’t include gear. You can buy your own harness and shoes, plan to spend a couple of dollars each visit to rent a harness and shoes, or add on to your memberships with a monthly fee for gear. ($15 a month for individuals or $25 for families.)
This is the section where I admit I am not athletic. I was the kid in gym class who kept sneaking to the back of the kickball line so I didn’t have to actually participate. I was also the kid who couldn’t climb to the top of the ladder in the elementary gym because I was terrified of falling. Yes, I went my entire elementary school career without my name on that PE ladder sticker chart.
So, here I am, with kids who are taking climbing classes and recently joined their climbing team. They’re at the gym a couple of times a week and are really loving it. I have a strong belief in taking an interest in your kids’ hobbies. (You’ll always have something in common and have ways to share quality time when you’re active in your kids’ interests.) So, that’s how I found myself in a harness and climbing shoes one afternoon for a little climbing myself, having never climbed before. This is how I can say with absolute certainty that total skill-less beginners are welcome at CBR!
If you’re worried about being embarrassed. I get it. Me too. Just go do it.
Let me just take this one moment to encourage you to step out of your comfort zone and try something new with your teens and preteens! The kids and I had a blast. I did get to the top of a couple of routes, if you’re wondering, along with some seriously ungraceful falls and trips down the auto-belay. But, the best part was having my 13 year-old son coach me through my attempts on the wall. It was priceless. And, so was watching him encourage and cheer on his younger sister. I’m looking forward to going again!
Climb@ Blue Ridge Regular Hours:
Monday: 4 pm–10 pm
Tuesday–Friday: 12 pm–10 pm
Saturday: 10 am–10 pm
Sunday: 4 pm–10 pm
Climb@Blue Ridge
301 Bulls Road, Taylors
864.895.1416
Do you or your children enjoy creating art? These women-owned art studios throughout Greenville, SC offer classes, special events, and maker spaces for people to explore their artistic side while bringing a little color into their lives. These Greenville area artists are carving their name into the art scene by helping develop the next generation of young artists by providing a creative space to play, learn, and thrive with art!
Find the Spanish translation of this article below.
3 South Main Street
Travelers Rest, SC
Kristin LaRoy of TR Makers Co is a multi-disciplinary arts integration teacher who created a maker space for children and adults to create art.TR Makers Co. offers playdates, mini-maker events, summer camps, after-school programs, and parties!
27 South Main Street
Travelers Rest, SC
Make art and enjoy some coffee with Kristin Coward, owner of TRee House Cafe & Art Studio. Guests will find an art bar down the center of the cafe, offering a space to color, paint, and create while sipping coffee and eating panini’s. What a win-win!
14 South Main Street
Greenville, SC
Ashley Brickner, owner of Open Art Studios in Downtown Greenville, has created an immersive art experience with the combination Greenville Fine Art Gallery, DIY Space, and Event Space. Drop in to paint, join a Group Drawing Class, or explore the gallery during art crawl the first Friday of every month.
1320 Hampton Avenue Extension, Studio 607
Greenville, SC
Lauren Runion, owner of YellowBobbyPins, is guiding young children to explore their inner artist and strengthen their creative confidence through art classes, summer camps, online art classes, and even parties! Parents can sign up their child for classes through the YellowBobbyPins website.
Are you ready to create some art?
¿Usted o sus hijos disfrutan creando arte? Estos estudios de arte propiedad de mujeres en Greenville, Carolina del Sur, ofrecen clases, eventos especiales y espacios para que las personas exploren su lado artÃstico mientras aportan un poco de color a sus vidas. Esta área de artistas de la localidad está grabando su nombre dentro de las artes escénicas, ayudando a desarrollar la próxima generación de jóvenes artistas, al proporcionar un espacio creativo para jugar, aprender y prosperar con el arte.
TR Makers Co
3 South Main Street
Travelers Rest, SC
Kristin LaRoy de TR Makers Co. es una maestra de integración de artes multidisciplinarias que acondicionó un espacio para que niños y adultos creen arte. TR Makers Co. ofrece ¡citas de juego, eventos de minicreadores, campamentos de verano, programas extracurriculares y fiestas!
TRee House Cafe & Art Studio
27 South Main Street
Travelers Rest, SC
Haz arte y disfruta de un café con Kristin Coward, propietaria de TRee House Cafe & Art Studio. Los huéspedes encontrarán una barra de arte en el centro de la cafeterÃa, que ofrece un espacio para colorear, pintar y crear mientras toman café y comen panini. ¡Qué ganar-ganar!
Open Art Studios
14 South Main Street
Greenville, SC
Ashley Brickner, propietaria de Open Art Studios en el downtown, ha creado una experiencia artÃstica inmersiva con la combinación de Greenville Fine Art Gallery, DIY Space y Event Space. Pasa a pintar, únete a una clase de dibujo grupal o explora la galerÃa durante el recorrido de arte el primer viernes de cada mes.
YellowBobbyPins
1320 Hampton Avenue Extension, Studio 697
Greenville, SC
Lauren Runion, propietaria de YellowBobbyPins, está guiando a los niños pequeños a encontrar al artista en su interior y fortalecer su confianza creativa a través de clases de arte, campamentos de verano, clases de arte en lÃnea e incluso fiestas. Los padres pueden inscribir a sus hijos en clases a través del portal en lÃnea YellowBobbyPins.
¿Estás listo para hacer algo de arte?
