Best of Nashville
BEST PLACE TO TAKE THE KIDS WHEN IT’S RAINING: KIDS’ COURT, THE BELCOURT In the glory days of the Belle Meade Theater—oh, how that empty shell pains us—kids met every Saturday for the theater’s long-running Birthday Club. The Belcourt has started a similar tradition, with programming specially for kids at 10 a.m. every Saturday. Most every week you’ll find upwards of 60 to 80 kids, and when the Olde Worlde Theatre Company produces one of its interactive children’s plays (like this weekend’s Alice in Wonderland), the theater typically sells out. Since the Belcourt was the early home of the Nashville Children’s Theatre, it seems a good fit. And if the programming doesn’t please the young’uns, the $1 popcorn and juice boxes will. —JIM RIDLEY
BEST PLACE TO TAKE THE KIDS WHEN IT MIGHT CLEAR UP: DISCOVERY CENTER, MURFREESBORO Sure, there are rainy-day distractions galore inside this former Coca-Cola bottling plant, ingeniously renovated to house a giant water table, an airplane ride, a tree house and cabin stuffed with toys, an art lab and kitchen, a two-story slide, and tanks full of fish and turtles. When the clouds pass, though, that’s when this godsend for parents really shines. Outside, a water garden teems with tadpoles, koi, frogs and other aquatic curiosities, while fountains shoot 20-foot arches of water into a nearby reservoir; a boardwalk winds through the adjacent wetlands, where beavers, river otters and herons can be seen in swampy splendor. The clincher, parents: the outside’s free. Go now, while the leaves are turning. —JIM RIDLEY
BEST PLACE TO TAKE THE KIDS WHEN IT’S SUNNY: PINKERTON PARK, FRANKLIN You can tell the health of a community by the public space it provides for its children. We love usual suspects such as the Bicentennial Mall fountains and the Vanderbilt-area Fannie Mae Dees Park (a.k.a. Dragon Park), joys that every Nashville child should discover for him- and herself. But for someplace different, take an outing to this sprawling complex off Highway 96, which offers something for every age: grassy hills to climb for grade-schoolers (or to roll down for toddlers), a pedestrian bridge over the Harpeth for games of “Pooh sticks,” bicycle paths, hiking trails and a playground with tire swings, towers and pipe-frame fire engines and locomotives. Frozen custard on the way home optional, but recommended. —JIM RIDLEY
Best Jungle Gym Nashville Zoo
BEST JUNGLE GYM: NASHVILLE ZOO If there could possibly be anything more interesting to a child than live elephants and monkeys, it must be a 66,000-square-foot jungle gym. Based around a 35-foot-tall tree house, the playground at the zoo is its own ecosystem of kids, who careen across swinging bridges, through the giant snake tunnel and up and down cargo netting. Little monkeys love to take their shoes off and bounce on the mats. Everyone falls asleep in the car on the way home. —CARRINGTON FOX
BEST PLACE FOR KIDS TO PLAY WITH LOCOMOTIVES: TRAIN UP A CHILD Color me amazed at the continued popularity of Thomas the Tank Engine, the British television series about a bunch of steam engines set in an era when people actually rode trains pulled by steam engines. It’s not that Thomas is a bad show; in fact, it’s quite good. But animation and special effects take a backseat to the stories, which are character- rather than action-driven and laden with intelligent dialogue rather than the snarky crap that passes for cleverness in much of today’s kiddie fare. Thomas is a welcome throwback for those of us raised on the likes of Mr. Rogers’ Neighborhood. It’s also a merchandising juggernaut, with wooden trains and tracks and tables and everything else you can imagine, all of which, 1. can keep kids occupied for hours, and 2. is rather expensive. To the rescue comes Train Up a Child (at 4825 Trousdale Dr., #217), which already has all of this stuff set up for kids to come in to channel their inner railroad engineers for a flat fee. Warning: have a game plan for leaving before you get there or you might be there for the rest of your parental career. —ROGER ABRAMSON
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BEST FREE FAMILY ACTIVITY: PUPPET SHOWS AND STORY HOURS AT THE DOWNTOWN PUBLIC LIBRARY It makes you wonder if someone is pumping a toddler-calming gas into the beautiful story room of the Downtown Library, where kids and parents alike seem instantly soothed by the diverse performances. The legacy of master puppeteer Tom Tichenor lives on every Friday and Saturday morning through Jennifer Giraffe, Tommy Dog, Cedric the Dragon and other shows appropriate for the whole family. Story hours, which include singing and other activities for preschoolers, are every Tuesday and Thursday. Shows generally take place at 9:30, 10:30 and 11:30, but are subject to change, based on the material. Check online at www.library.nashville.org or call 862-5785. —CARRINGTON FOX
BEST UNKNOWN FREE PLACE TO TAKE YOUR KIDS: CHRIST CHURCH INDOOR PLAYGROUND Located at 15354 Old Hickory Blvd., on a huge tract of land between Nolensville Road and Edmondson Pike, Christ Church can be an intimidating place. Its shameless promotion of some of the cheesier aspects of pop Christianity—including a bookstore, a coffee shop and so forth—can also be a little off-putting to those of a more mainline or secular bent. But those things aside, its indoor “KIDPARK” playground is awesome, featuring a two-story slide and other climb-on, crawl-through and clamber-over stuff. It’s also open every day of the week. If you have a phobia about proselytization, never fear; you are left alone to enjoy the place at your leisure. It’s a “ministry” unto itself, you see. Granted, that’s a little weird (a “playground ministry”?), but what are you going to do? Enjoy it for what it is, that’s what. —ROGER ABRAMSON
BEST PLACE TO EXPERIMENT WITH SHARING: DAVIS-KIDD’S TRAIN TABLE There is solidarity among the mothers chaperoning the train table in the children’s section of this Green Hills bookstore. Everyone knows it could just as likely be her offspring throwing the tantrum or hording Thomas the Train, so it’s not so embarrassing when you have to put someone in Time Out or have a little talk about playing well with others. Perfect for a rainy day or an easy free outing when the toys at home have lost their magic and Mommy’s about to lose her cool. —CARRINGTON FOX
BEST PLACE TO FIX A BOO-BOO: VANDERBILT CHILDREN’S HOSPITAL Kids break bones and sprain things, but at least the new Monroe Carell Jr. Children’s Hospital can cushion the blow with its child-friendly decor and layout. Waiting for an X-ray? Climb on the riding toys, watch the train set, play with the puzzles and games, or stroll by the fountain. Here’s hoping you never get to see how colorful and welcoming the place is. Just take our word for it. —CARRINGTON FOX
BEST KID-FRIENDLY RESTAURANT: BOBBIE’S DAIRY DIP On weekends, the picnic-table patio at this beloved 55-year-old burger joint on Charlotte essentially turns into The Trace for tots. While parents watch, either in exasperation or amusement, kids wander from table to table socializing, grabbing for the hanging decorations, or improvising dance routines to the golden oldies crackling over the loudspeakers. As for the menu, it’s kid heaven down to the bulbous corndogs and vanilla cones with sprinkles. And if April Glaser is working the counter, your child will be converted into a regular on the spot. It’ll close soon for the season, though, so hurry. Just be careful of all the cars—although I’ve seen six-foot bikers gently steer kids away from the curb. —JIM RIDLEY
BEST KID-FRIENDLY MEXICAN RESTAURANT: LA TERRAZA It isn’t just the menu at the Nolensville Road location that appeals to kids, with its broad variety of foldy things, crunchy things, grabby things and scoopy things. It’s the overall warmth—the mustardy colors, the peppy mariachi music, the comfy lighting, the breathing room and, above all, employees who genuinely seem to like children. That is crucial when your 3-year-old decides that avocados can fly. At any rate, the first time a server stroked my little girl’s curls and called her “niña,” she melted like queso on a quesadilla. And that was even before her margarita. —JIM RIDLEY
BEST KID-FRIENDLY BREAKFAST: NOSHVILLE Loud places are always good for kids, where their whining gets drowned out by the clamor of conversation and the clanging of pans and plates and won’t drive the other diners meshugenah. Noshville fits the bill perfectly, both in Green Hills and Midtown. It’s even got a frequent-flier program for little noshers: order a drink in a spill-proof Kid’s Cup, then bring it back on the weekends to get free pancakes for the kids. —CARRINGTON FOX
BEST PLACE TO BOOST A CHILD’S CALCIUM INTAKE: MAGGIE MOO’S Kids love the audience-participation element of choosing toppings and watching them get smushed into ice cream. Black-and-white cows all over the place don’t hurt either. Maggie Moo’s, located on West End Avenue and in Green Hills and Cool Springs, is just old-fashioned fun. Remember: ice cream bribes should be used sparingly, and calories don’t count if you’re eating a kid’s leftovers. —CARRINGTON FOX