I have a love – hate relationship with indoor playgrounds. My childhood memories of them are fond, my boys love them, and sometimes when the weather is too hot, too cold, too rainy, too-“insert rationale here” they can be a lifesaver in helping kids play out some of their limitless energy (seriously,where do they keep the extra power packs?).
What’s the dark side of indoor playgrounds?
For all their positive attributes, indoor playgrounds are notoriously icky. They don’t appear to be cleaned often enough and that many kids in a confined indoor place can be a breeding ground for, well, most anything.
Therefore, I prefer my kids keep their socks on when they play on them. Now I’m not saying there aren’t times they go barefoot, but in general I try to keep socks on them at these places. I’m also aware that their hands touch everything so wearing socks may not help much from that perspective, but stick with me, wash your hands when you’re done playing, and read on.
Now the tricky part – regular socks are h-o-r-r-i-b-l-e for traction on these playground and therefore, without fail, within 4.2 seconds of arriving the boys want their socks off. I can’t blame them, it is hard to climb up the slide you’re supposed to go down while wearing socks.
The lifehack for today – throw a pair of trampoline park socks in your car or backpack to use on any indoor playground. With these they’ll keep their socks on and, from my experience, they actually tend to provide better traction over bare feet.
If you’ve never been to a trampoline park, they make you wear their special socks that are basically hospital slipper socks in bright colors – the type with the rubberized grippy tread on the bottom. The nice thing about trampoline park socks is they come in kid sizes, are fun colors, and are usually inexpensive.
Quick and Simple Hack For Indoor Playgrounds
Wear grippy socks on indoor playgrounds and give your kids the extra traction to burst into “cheetah mode”without crashing as they try to turn the corner at top speed. If you have a trampoline park nearby they’ll likely be your best price, plus you can purchase them as a single pair in the sizes you need. If you don’t you can order some online, click here for some examples.