Where to Wednesdays: Artbeast
Have you ever wished you had a whole (separate) house full of things for the kids to run around and play with? If you could build a kids’ house, it might look just like the one in Sacramento at Artbeast. Here a downtown victorian home has been renovated into paradise of play.
The ground floor is dedicated to dramatic play. There is a small rocket equipped with car seats (buckles included), two steering wheels, and enough switches and dials to satisfy any budding astronaut. There are dozens of costumes, a small stage, a puppet theatre, and a small castle all in a large room.
Upstairs is another huge room with art supplies. My kids were immediately drawn to the kid-sized easles standing with paper and paint all ready for any artist to come along. Tables also line the room with interesting materials at each: pipecleaners and beads, buttons and other household bits, and one table with a huge lump of clay. Pictured here Ryan is making rubber band art and Josh is raking moon sand. A neighboring room offers an indoor treehouse-like climbing structure with a kitchen downstairs and baby beds with dolls in an upstairs area.
On the third floor of the Artbeast is an incredible room with wood floors and windows on all sides. This is the movement room where, at various times of the day, music and movement classes are held. My kids could not resist jumping around despite the fact there was no music on. I must admit, it was quite enticing and I’m probably the last person to get up and dance. Adjacent to this is a room just for infants, and another room with small cones and other padded objects to make into obstacle courses.
One of my favorite areas was actually the backyard courtyard. Here too were items no kid could resist: hanging pots and pans for banging, rocks and gravel for digging, and a wash station with dolls that you could bathe. Luckily at the front desk you can purchase snacks, as I could easily see bribery was going to be the only way to get the kids to the car once it was time to go home. And if all this fun doesn’t make you feel great, the proceeds from the Artbeast go to the Tubman House, a residential community for homeless youth and children. A house full of fun projects and I don’t have to store any supplies or deal with the mess? If only I lived next-door!
This is incredible. Do people actually live there? (Like a Daycare/house or B&B/house.)
Must visit this when we return. Great find!
No, the house is totally dedicated to playing. The admission cost is $8 per person, kids under 1 are free. BTW, I hear from 10 – noon is the busiest time. We went in the afternoon and practically had the place to ourselves.
[...] dance floor, and more places kids will love to explore. For more details on the Artbeast see my earlier post on our [...]