I love living in Maple Grove, MN! It’s a wonderful family-focused city with many great places to bring your kids. Summer, Winter, Spring, and Fall there is always something to do.

Having lived here for over 18 years with my husband and 13-year-old son, we know there is always tons of fun to be had!

Being a newborn photographer near Maple Grove, MN, my clients sometimes ask me what they can do with their kids while in the area. Some are residents of Maple Grove while some are in the area for their photo session and want to make a day of it while visiting the area.

And some dads just need a place to bring their toddlers or bigger kids during a newborn session when they need to kill that hour or so after family photos.

Well, here it is! My list of the Top 5 Things To Do With Your Kids in Maple Grove, MN (and most of these are just a 5-minute drive from my studio).

MiniSota Play Cafe (for the littles)

MiniSota Play Cafe opened in 2018 and is described as “A clean, safe, imaginative play area for your kids. You can work, play, or relax. We are a judgment-free zone where you just do you.”

With over 240 reviews and a 4.4-star rating, Maple Grove moms and dads are clearly loving bringing their littles here to safely play while enjoying a hot cup of coffee.

General admission for 2 hours of play for ages 1-9 is only $12.50.

I seriously wish this place had been around when my son was a toddler. As a stay-at-home mom, letting him run around and play while sipping on a hazelnut latte would have been heaven!

Maple Maze (for the littles and the big kids)

Maple Maze is an indoor playground located inside the Maple Grove Community Center.

According to the City of Maple Grove’s website: “The Maple Maze is amazing fun for children ages 12 and under! Start on the first level by climbing the rock wall, hopping on the pogo stick, or entering the tree house and climbing to the second level. Multiple routes bring more to discover in the jungle of the maze and four slides entice children to keep crawling back up to discover new routes to slide down, long tubes to push through and Hoover rings to crawl over.

The toddler area is for ages 3 and under. Toddlers are able to crawl into the lion’s mouth and back down a slide to venture onto the molded alligator, hippo, and more. Activity panels keep the young minds intrigued and active.”

Admission for ages 1-12 is $6 with no time limit specified.

I know my son loved playing here while attending birthday parties when he was younger. So much fun!

Central Park (for the littles and the big kids)

Per the website: “Central Park of Maple Grove is a 44-acre park that can be enjoyed all day long. This award-winning park offers many amenities! These amenities include a playground, an interactive fountain (splash pad), and an ice skating loop.

The Phenow Pavilion is a beautiful park facility built for multiple uses throughout the year. Restrooms in the main lobby are open daily year-round for public use.”

There’s even a concession stand, which is open in the winter from November to mid-March.

Admission is FREE! Go and enjoy!

Sundance Entertainment Center – Bowling (for the big kids and adults)

When I was in elementary school, we took a field trip to a local bowling alley so we could not only learn how to bowl, but how to score the game correctly. This was back in the day when everything was done with paper and pencil.

Now bowling scores are automatically calculated for you and displayed overhead on small TV screens with fun graphics and animation. How times have changed!

I guess that’s part of the reason bowling is such a fun game for kids and grown-ups alike!

Sundance Entertainment Center offers bowling 7 days a week. Games are only $4 Monday-Thursday during the hours of 12 pm – 9 pm. You can grab a few games and a pizza from their bar & grill for a fun little weekday bowl & lunch date with the kiddos.

Dave and Busters or Chuck-E-Cheese (options for both littles and big kids)

Depending on the age of your kiddo, you have 2 fun options where you can grab a meal and play arcade games.

Dave and Busters is geared toward older kids and adults with a full bar and dining menu. They offer arcade games, tabletop air hockey, ping pong, billiards, and more!

It’s on the pricier side for a few hours of fun with 75 “chips” starting at $15. Obviously, the more you buy the more you save. but a word to the wise. It goes fast so spend wisely!

Chuck-E-Cheese is fun for the whole family. It’s similar to D&B’s arcade-dining style entertainment but geared more toward the little ones. Their menu isn’t quite as large either, but they serve pizza, wings, fries, cheese bread…you know all the things kids like! They also have fun desserts like unicorn churros and dippin’ dots.

Chuck-E-Cheese has an All You Can Play type system that works by time; not tokens. You buy a card for an hour and your kids get to play unlimited games for that hour. It’s kind of a genius system. Kids are great at telling time, but when you tell them you’re out of tokens? Cue the screaming and crying.

Hopefully, this article helps you in finding something fun to do with your littles and big kids this Spring and Summer. I know I’ll be taking my son for a little mom/son date to Dave and Buster’s over spring break next week.

I also hope this article helps any of my clients looking to do something fun in the area with their little or big kids while visiting the studio for their newborn, baby, or maternity session.