L to R: TuneBugz, Barnes & Noble La Frontera, Safari Champ, A Child’s Garden of Language, Mt. Playmore, The Rhythm Studio, All Things Kids, Tiny Tails to You at BookPeople
We’ve rounded up a few of our favorite baby-friendly indoor adventures in Austin, but we hope you will add to the list by sharing your go-to destinations in the comments!
Storytimes at the Library
- Austin Public Library – Toddler storytime, pajama storytime, bilingual storytime, and more!
- Pflugerville Public Library – Enjoy Babytime, Mondays at 10 a.m. Bilingual storytime follows, Mondays at 11 a.m.
- Kyle Public Library – Baby Lap Sit, Baby Signing Time, puppet shows and more.
- Cedar Park Public Library – Lap Sit Storytime is offered three times a week! See the calendar here.
- Laura’s Library – Attend Infant Storytime or Tot Time Storytime.
- Round Rock Public Library – Babytime is a program specially designed for babies and their parent/caregiver. Babytime encourages language development and learning through stories, rhymes, and music. Each week, there will be a different theme in which baby and parent/caregiver will take part by listening to stories and rhymes, singing songs, and doing finger plays. Themes will be repeated every 6-8 weeks. The stories, songs, and rhymes will last approximately 15 minutes, after which toys will be brought out so that the babies and their parent/caregiver may play and interact with other babies and adults. See the calendar here.
- Leander Public Library – Try Baby & Me is a storytime and playgroup for children under 24 months and their parent! You’re never too young to read!
- Bee Cave Public Library – Join Ms. Laurie and the BEE for 20-25 minutes of stories, songs, and fingerplays. Toddler Tales Storytime is geared for children ages 18 months to 3 years, and is held in Community Room A above the Library.
- Lake Travis Community Library – Bounce, sing, and clap with your child in their first library experience. Try a 20-minute program that promotes parent/child interaction and includes a blend of books, finger plays and songs.
- Wells Branch Community Library – Baby Bookworms is held on Monday mornings.
- Georgetown Public Library – At Baby and Me, lapsit storytime for children 0 – 18 months, sing songs, hear stories, play, and enjoy time to talk with other parents and caregivers.
- San Marcos Public Library – Visit the library for storytime, puppet shows, and more!
Storytimes Around Town
- BookPeople – Visit Austin’s favorite independent book store for a marvelous storytime! Choose from Tuesday, Wednesday, or Saturday morning. See the store calendar here.
- TEXplorations Story Time – The Bullock Museum hosts free storytime on the first Sunday of each month at 2 p.m.
- Whole Foods Market – Several locations of Whole Foods have weekly, free storytimes for kids. See the store calendars for details: Lamar (Wednesdays), Arbor Trails (Wednesdays), Gateway (Saturdays), Domain (Tuesdays), and Bee Cave (music for kids on Mondays).
- The Little Yoga House – Enjoy storytime yoga on Fridays at 9:30 a.m. All ages are welcome to play!
- Barnes & Noble – Find a free storytime at a store near you.
Toy Stores
- All Things Kids in the Domain has a great little play zone in the back of the toy store. Stop by to let Baby play, then stay for storytime, Wednesdays and Fridays.
- Kaleidoscope Toys – This toy store in Round Rock offers free signing storytimes on Mondays.
- Brilliant Sky Toys and Books – Babies will enjoy music by Mr. Will one morning every week. Check the store calendar for times.
- Toybrary Austin – This local toy-lending library hosts free and cheap events each week! See the schedule here.
Baby Stores
- BabyEarth Round Rock – Babies can enjoy Zumbini, dance and music classes, The Signing Connection classes, playtime, concerts, and more! There is always something going on at this great store. Some classes are free, while others have a fee. See the schedule here.
- The Natural Baby Company – This local store frequently hosts cloth diapers and baby signing events. Follow their Facebook page for updates.
Indoor Playgrounds
- Lakeline Mall – Just in front of Dillard’s (on the north side of the mall) is an enclosed, carpeted play area with a clubhouse and lots of low play structures. Great for tiny tots, but it can get crowded. See a map of the mall here.
- Safari Champ (Round Rock) – Children under 12 months are free and parents get in free too! There’s a small, enclosed baby and toddler area.
- Mt. Playmore – Children under 2 get in free. Parents are $1. There’s a large toddler room that is separate from the main playground.
- Loco-motion Inflatable Play – Infants under age 1 are free and there is an enclosed baby and toddler play area.
- iPlay (formerly Wazoo’s) – Admission for children under 2 years and parents is free. Only children age 3 and under may play in the iPretend toddler area.
- Chuck E. Cheese’s – Free for all to enter. There are some small baby rides (which require tokens). The Round Rock and South Austin locations have toddler play areas which are free. The Round Rock and Arbor Walk locations have Sky Tubes, which bigger kids can explore for free. If you plan to buy food or tokens, get coupons before you go.
Free Classes
- The Little Gym – The first class is always free! There are locations in Round Rock, Lakeline, and South Austin.
- Emler Swim School – Enjoy free swimming lessons with Baby! There are locations in Anderson Mill and Westlake.
- Gymboree – Sign up for a free class and give it a try! There are locations on S Lamar, Arboretum, and Cedar Park.
- TuneBugz! – Offers free demo classes in South Austin.
- Heartsong Music – Offers free demo classes at several locations.
- Music Forever Music Together – Demo classes on occasion.
Animal Interaction
- Tiny Tails to You – Let your baby hold a hedgehog or bunny at an event near you. Not all of their events are free, so be sure to look for a price. We like their free story times at BookPeople.
- Pet Stores – Any pet store, anywhere! Babies love them all!
- The Fish Gallery – Stop by to see neat aquariums.
- The Austin Aqua-Dome – Just north of 290 off of Manchaca is a cool fish store in the shape of a dome. You can check out the interesting livestock for sale (freshwater fish downstairs and saltwater fish upstairs) or just observe their amazing in-store reef tank set-ups downstairs. Outside are several ponds with koi fish and turtles which you can feed for $1 by buying a bag of food inside at the register.
- Cabela’s – Walk through this mega-store in Buda to see huge aquariums stocked with a variety of fish, giant taxidermy displays, and more. Read more about visiting the store with kids here.
Movies
- Baby Day at Alamo Drafthouse – The Alamo Drafthouse offers Baby Day, for regular shows that start before 2:00 p.m, on Tuesday afternoons, excluding national holidays and special festival screenings. Infants are welcome to these shows and are allowed in for free. Adults pay regular price. For Baby Day shows, the theater keeps the lights up a bit, and the sound down a bit. Note: Baby Day is only on Tuesdays at the Alamo Village, Alamo South Lamar, Alamo Lakeline and Alamo Slaughter. Read about Catherine’s Baby Day experience here.
Concerts
- Strange Brew Lounge Side – Catch a free show with the littles, Saturday mornings at Strange Brew. A different children’s entertainer performs each week. See the event calendar here. Read about Catherine’s experience here.
- Cherrywood Coffeehouse – Grab a cup of joe and listen to children’s music at free Sunday morning shows. See the event calendar here. Note: Sometimes this show is inside and sometimes it is outside. It depends on the weather. Cherrywood says they don’t cancel shows due to weather, but sometimes the musicians do. If the weather is poor, it is worth calling ahead to make sure the show will go on.
Have older kids? You may also enjoy Free Indoor Family Fun in Austin and 25 Free Places to Play Indoors.
