There's something that happens on a Friday that no one can really explain. Before the clock has even ticked over from 9 to 10am, the backpacks hit the floor with a thud, the shoes are hurled in the right direction and, somewhere between 3pm and dinner time, every family in Los Angeles is left with the same nagging question. What are we going to do with all this freedom?
Its quite a challenge in reality. The week has ended and everyone would love to just switch off. And yet, all of a sudden, every kid in my class appears with a vast amount of energy which apparently had been building up since Monday. Of course, fun friday activities for kids wont be easily done, planned, organized or even budgeted for some classes. Believe me, its NOT about being impressive or spending years planning or saving up. They just need to be productive, efficient and simple. Work that will withstand the rigours of LA rush hour traffic and can happen in the minutes between snack and bedtime.
This is what our Fridays really look like + a few things that are making them better for us!
Fun Friday Activities for Kids That Don't Require a Minivan Full of Equipment
The simplest act you can take on a Friday afternoon is to give kids one chore that moves their bodies and one that uses their hands. This hybrid of motion and manual dexterity seems to provide just enough balance out to calm the energies that have been building all week. I suspect a ton of LA families already sort of do this anyway without even realizing it – run around and get silly at a park, say, and then come home and paint something, build something, mess up the kitchen trying to bake something and so on.
When people think of Good Friday activities for kids they often think of something themed. But not here! As far as we are concerned a good play area is all you need. A ball pit, climbing walls and a slide (which is always way more harder to climb up than it is to come down!) is all you need. The reason for this is that kids between the ages of 2 and 10 love to move, and they need lots of exercise to keep them happy. Allowing kids to have an unstructured opportunity to climb, bounce, slide and play is the best fun you can get for your kids. The proof is in the pudding when they get home. They may be happy for the first 10 minutes but after that the wind down to bedtime is so much quicker. Tired happy kids are the best!
Why Indoor Playgrounds Have Become the Default Friday Plan for West LA Families
When was the last time you dragged your kids to an indoor play space on a Friday just because it was a Friday and you are desperate for something to do? This was a common problem for parents of young kids living on Pico Boulevard a few years ago and as the weather in LA is notoriously poor for significant periods during the year, the idea of taking the little ones to a playground that has real climbing equipment and decent air conditioning on a Friday "just because" became more and more popular. Limited options The other factor was the lack of things to do in this part of the city on a Friday. Having a community with so many apartments means that families may live close to each other but are unlikely to ever walk the same streets more than once, which often equates to limited choices when it comes to options for afternoons when the kids have no after school activities.
Fun Play World – 10672 West Pico Blvd in Los Angeles, 828 Pico Blvd in Santa Monica Being as this is now a routine stop on our weekly schedule, I'm not sure if we would be going here as often if they had a more impressive marketing campaign to try and get parents to visit Fun Play World, but I suppose it's really worked in their favor. As one reviewer put it: "my kids and I love this indoor play area — it is by far the cleanest, well-kept indoor playground." There's obviously something more than just surface level quality that creates such repeat loyalty to one specific play area, but perhaps it comes down to being consistent, clean, and never being a letdown to kids.
What the Space Looks Like When You Walk In
The moment you step through the door it is LOUD. But it isn't crazy. It is loud with the sounds of children doing things. Inside there is a soft play area off to the left as you enter. Bouncy floors, low climbing structures and a ball pit filled with enough balls to swallow up a small person. If you have a child who has been sedate for the entire car ride, you know they will bolt for this area the second they are sprung loose and can get their shoes off.
As you venture further into the playground, things start to get more challenging. Curvy tunnels that lead to unknown destinations. A climbing structure that requires problem-solving skills. Ropes and pulleys, a variety of ramps, and a trampoline area that will be the haunt of all children between the ages of 5 and 9 for about 30 minutes. The idea of the playground design is to keep the children in motion. Friday fun day activities for kids are best when the kids are aided by the environment.
Parents sit at tables along this side. There is Free Wi-Fi. A good view of the play area. You can bring a coffee in a bag which is fine. It's not luxurious, but it's OK. Comfort isn't as important as having a good view of your baby at playtime.
Things to Do This Friday With Kids When You Want Something Different
Not every Friday needs to be at the same location. The texture we want to achieve in our good friday activities for kids rotation is VARIETY and I truly believe that LA provides so many more opportunities to experience this than other cities.
Some weeks we have a very relaxed Friday – library afternoon and a trip to the park. This week was one of those weeks. The library here in Culver City has a kid-friendly section of books that can actually grab our kids' interest. But when our kids have too much energy and this has been a long, tiring week and what they all need is some exercise – we go to Fun Play World. It's open until 8 PM on Fridays, which means if your kid(s) are done with school for the day you can go after dinner, without having to speed along the way.
Open play is so great for social Fridays for kids that also work as fun activities for kids. In about 5 minutes kids meet tons of other kids. There is just something about sharing a space like a tunnel that all of you and your friend are trying to go through, or a foam block that you and your best buddy both really want a turn on a play structure, that instantly fosters so many new friendships and that has been noted by parents who have attended. "My daughter is not usually very social with other children," one reviewer wrote, "but loves to tell me about the children she has met here & who have befriended her"
The Friday Night Version
Things to do with kids on Friday night is a different beast to things to do with kids in the afternoon. After 5:30 the world changes, kids can be either completely knackered or in that second wind phase that is best avoided. Kids Friday night fun activities are best when they have a clear end point – ie: they finish at X time so you have a defined wind down period before bedtime battles commence.
An indoor playground with a closing time is pretty self-explaining – you come in, the kids play for a couple of hours and you leave when it closes. Easy peasy. Some families prefer to do dinner first and then come in for the last hour of playtime. The logic here is that kids are easier to manage in play structures when they've had some grub, and ending the evening at an indoor play space that kids love is a great way to wind down. Things to do with kids on a Friday night in Santa Monica can feel quite limited after the beach closes and restaurants start to fill up with adults. An indoor playground with extended Friday hours can really help ease that struggle.
Good Friday Activities for Kids That Also Feel Like Good Parenting
This needs to be said. More to parents. Less to everyone. We all feel this. The Friday decompression is real. We all need to unplug, away from the constant glare of technology and the never-ending stream of commitments and schedules. The strain of the week is real, and what every parent needs is a safe space where their children are engaged, happy and secure. So they can sit down, unplug, catch their breath, and actually speak to another human being without having to hurry away. The world isn't always a nurturing place. Even the simple act of taking a little time out of our schedules each week to recharge as a family feels profound.
There are so many fun Good Friday kids activities that you can try, and not only are they beneficial for the kids, they can be quite helpful for the adults as well. Here are a few you might enjoy.
We have a ton of ideas for fun Friday things to do with kids, some that are repeat fun and some that our kids have requested us to do by name on Thursday nights. They all tend to have a few things in common: that they are accessible, not too time-consuming to get ready, and that our kids are happy but not too wound up when we are done. Fun Play World in Los Angeles is a great option for one of those days. The cost is $35 for 2 hours with discounts for additional siblings and you get in 2 adults per family. It's one of the few really reasonably priced options for an evening of fun for kids in a city where ridiculous prices are the new normal.
When Friday Becomes a Birthday
Some weeks, our Friday fun day activities are kind of a big deal. A birthday that has been talked about for weeks. Kids who just want to play together. Open play is great, but all of these factors make for a private party. Quite different to our usual open play!
The cost for a birthday at Fun Play World starts at $1,800 for the Fun Play Basic. The Adventure option is $2,300 for 20 children and 30 adults including 5 large pizzas, organic juice boxes and all the socks the kids will need plus 2 helpers. The Fun Play Ultimate Adventure is a larger time frame with more children allowed and even more food choices. The VIP option is $5,700 including a 2 tier, custom-made cake for the kids and catering for 35 people as well as a beautiful themed balloon set up for the kids as well as desserts. The VIP option is really handed-together-for-you with a complete staff of activities staff, and event coordinators to handle everything – a necessity if you've ever tried to plan and run a kids party solo. Parents rave about how "thorough" the staff are, adapting activities to match the party theme you book (we found this to be true with the classic car theme we had), and the cleanliness and organization of the play facility as well as the wide range of fun things to do for all ages.
Things to do with kids this friday — or next friday, or the friday of someone's seventh birthday — can be as simple or as thought-through as you need it to be.
Why This Place Specifically
I've been to a few other indoor play places in Los Angeles, and they vary. Some are more spacious, some are cheaper, but my experience at Fun Play World has been distinctly better than the rest. Reviews across various platforms point to several key differences that make this place stand out. First, the place is actually clean. Aspirational cleanliness is a common place where play areas try to pretend that everything is spotless, when in reality it's just a quick wipe and calling it a day. Not so here. The staff actually engage with the families, too, which you rarely see. And finally, the space is sized in a way that means you can always keep an eye on your kid (as one review put it, "not too big to lose children"). In fact, my friend and her one and a half year old had a great time, and she mentioned that it was actually suitable for her child's age, which is not often the case.
Things to do with kids this Friday in Los Angeles can mean a lot of things. But finding a place that works the same way every time — that's worth knowing about.
The Santa Monica location at 828 Pico Blvd brings the same setup to a different part of the westside, with the same hours and the same entry format. Families who live closer to the beach or in the neighborhoods between Santa Monica and the LA location may find this the more convenient option. Quality remains the same, but the zip code is different.
