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WDM Community Center

We checked out another indoor play area last week! The West Des Moines Community Center located in Valley Junction. Another place that was recommended by Des Moines Beyond 4 Walls!

West Des Moines Community Center

The WDM Community Center has been around for awhile, but we just decided to visit because they changed their hours! They are a little bit more convenient for those with little kiddos.

It is open Monday’s & Wednesday’s 10 am – Noon

The kids had fun, but I was not overly impressed with what they had to offer.

They had several toy cars, four-wheelers, little motorcycles, a plastic stroller with baby, and tumbling mats. The room was very large, so the kids enjoyed running around and riding back and forth.

I felt that they could place more things out to play with such as plastic slides, toy houses, etc. I was expecting more, something a little more similar to Waukee Tot Lot.

After we were there for awhile someone mentioned there might be more things to play with in the closet, but it was locked 🙁

Overall, I think this is a great place to take your kids to burn off some energy in these colder months, but I think they could offer some more items to play with! We will probably check it out later this winter to see if there is more 🙂

Playdough Mats

We LOVE playdough in our house and it’s another great activity to keep the kiddos busy during the blustery months!

Of course, I was spending my time on Pinterest and came across some great links for playdough mats! I could not believe I never thought of this! With how much we play with playdough, this is another thing they can use besides all of the cookie cutters and other toys we use.

There are so many different ones available for FREE to print off. All you have to do is print and then laminate! They have some where you decorate, like the gingerbread man below. I also printed off a snowman, Christmas tree, and Santa hat that could be decorated too.

They also have playdough mats that help with counting. Such as a tree and it asks to place three apples on the branches. This is great for the kids to work on counting and what color an apple is!

Here are some of the sites I used to print off playdough mats …

  1. Fall Playdough Mats
  2. Christmas Playdough Mats
  3. Christmas & Winter Playdough Mats 
  4. Alphabet Playdough Mats
  5. 100 Free Playdough Mats
  6. Turkey Playdough Mats
  7. ABC Tracing & Playdough Mat  
  8. Princess Playdough Mat 

There are so much more too! Make sure to check out Pinterest.

Also, do not forget my Easy Peasy Playdough to play with all these fun mats!

What fun things do you do with your playdough?

Tot Lot Waukee

We checked out another fun indoor activity last week!

Of course, Des Moines Beyond 4 Walls was behind this great find 🙂

Tot Lot Waukee

This place is perfect to let your little ones run around and burn off some energy and it’s FREE! We spent almost 2 hours running, playing, meeting new friends and did not want to leave when it was over.

There are several things available at Tot Lot.

The inflatable pool with plastic balls was a HUGE hit. It’s hard to believe something so simple, is so entertaining!

There were a bunch of tumbling mats, toy bikes, huge bin of legos, tunnels, and much more to play with!

They also had a bouncy house available to play in. I am not sure if this is always available, but the kids had an awesome time bouncing around!

Monte also loved the basketball hoop, shown above. There were also ball hoppers that the kids could bounce around on.

The Tot Lot is located in Waukee at the Public Works Building and is available Mondays 8:30-10:30 am & Wednesdays 8-10 am. The times are kind of early, so make sure you plan for it!

I highly recommend Tot Lot for these upcoming winter months. A perfect place to for the kids to burn off some energy, bring a snack and make a morning of it!

Heat Wave

Man it’s been a hot one here in the Midwest! It has been 100 degrees or there about everyday, for over a week and I am tired of it! Monte and I have not been able to go outside much due to the hotness.

Saturday we stopped by the Dallas Center Fall Festival. Due to the scorching temperatures a lot of the events and activities were cancelled. We did stop to see the Balloon Dude, saw a real owl AND enjoyed some homemade ice cream and baked goodies from the local Methodist church.

Dallas Center Fall Festival

Sunday we decided to try and cool off in our pool. Monte always enjoys swimming!

I also created a shady oasis for him in the backyard. He loves to play with his water and sand toys! We only stayed out for a little bit though, before we needed to go in to cool off and get re-hydrated.

Remember! 

1. Stay hydrated! Drink lots and lots of water. I have been guilty the past few days with not keeping up with my water intake and you can definitely tell a difference when you don’t get enough water.

2. Freeze fruit! This makes an awesome snack for yourself and the kiddos.

3. Do NOT turn your oven on! I turned my oven on the other day to make some kiddie sized pizzas (I will be sharing later) and the temperature rose like 5 degrees in my house. Avoid the oven and stove. Eat sandwiches, salads, etc.

4. Running out of things to do with your kiddos? Here are some awesome indoor ideas around the metro.

What have you been doing to keep cool and stay busy during this heat wave?