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Community Corner

Sammamish Families: Extreme Fun

Places where toddlers to teens can experience indoor thrills flying, climbing and jumping sky high.

As the weather turns wet, cold and gray, I hunt for places nearby where my kids can be active and have some indoor fun with friends. I’ve found some great places where even when it is raining, they can climb, jump and even fly. 

You and your kids can skydive indoors at iFLY

Lysa Adams is co-owner of iFLY Seattle in Tukwila, located less than 20 minutes south of the eastside via 405. iFLY offers an indoor skydiving experience in a vertical wind tunnel chamber to adults and kids as young as three (as long as they are potty trained). There are 23 iFLY franchises around the world and this facility is the only one in Washington state and the fastest one currently in the U.S., says Adams.

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“Its everyone’s dream to fly and iFLY is where your childhood dreams can come true," Adams said. 

Kids do exceptionally well at learning to fly in the indoor vertical wind tunnel chamber says Adams, as do kids and adults who are athletic, but anyone can learn to fly. For $60 first time flyers can “earn their wings” with a class, followed by two sessions in the wind tunnel. You can save $5 by booking flights online

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Safety is a top concern at iFLY where an instructor is in the wind chamber at all times with students, while another instructor “drives the wind,” as Adams puts it, controlling the speed at which air pushes the student above the chamber’s floor.

“In the tunnel we are taking away many of the safety issues associated with sky diving from a plane,” Adams said. She added that the likelihood for injury is very low and her instructors are highly trained. 

Adams is herself the mother of a nine year old and 12 year old. She met her husband, iFLY's co-owner, while skydiving. She says her own two kids love flying at the facility and they “work” for their flying time doing chores. “Grounded has a whole new meaning at our house,” Adams says laughing.

 is the perfect place for your kids to get some super fun exercise

It is hard to find a place that thrills toddlers to teens and offers an opportunity to get a serious workout indoors while having fun. But SkyHigh Sports in Bellevue meets the bill, with a warehouse space full of trampolines including a trampoline dodge ball court, a “jump in” foam pit, a football field worth of floor to ceiling trampolines and a special trampoline area just for little kids. 

You can save money by taking advantage of “Wild Wednesdays” where you and your kids can jump any Wednesday for two hours for $14 (walk in price only – no reservations). 

Kids get hot and thirsty fast while jumping, so bring water and have them dress in layers if possible. While the facility is well managed with multiple instructors in all areas, injury is always possible. Minimize the potential of a trip to the doctor by reviewing the rules with your kids before they jump including no “double jumping,” no landing on other kids and aiming to land in the center of the trampolines. You will be required to sign a waiver if it is your child's first visit, which you can download online

Indoor climbing facilities on the eastside including a new one at Crossroads

In addition to hiking, camping and fishing, many Northwest kids learn to climb.  And they can climb and learn new skills all year round in Redmond at  and at a new Stone Gardens facility, which just opened at the .

Morgan Miller is the program director and head instructor at Vertical World in Redmond. Miller says what distinguishes the facility for eastside families is “the commitment of the instructors and the breadth of youth program.”  

Vertical World offers an extensive number of popular programs for kids age three to seventeen, as well as numerous programs for adults. Youth programs include after school group classes, a competitive youth team, camps and even birthday party packages.

Miller says that one of the reasons eastside families like Vertical World is climbing is a sport that families can have fun learning together. And climbing “is a life long sport that makes your body and mind stronger. We have active members at Vertical World who are in their 70s and even 80s,” Miller said. 

We “promote safety at all times," says Miller, with the commitment to safety starting with the selection process of instructors. “We look to hire instructors who understand how to teach youth,” says Miller. For kids nine and under the instructor to student ratio is just four to one and kids must be “within sight and sound of their instructor at all times,” says Miller. 

For families who would like to learn to climb together and save some money, Miller recommends a “one hour belay session” which includes up to four people and all the equipment and an instructor for $45. 

Another option for indoor climbing on the eastside just opened at Crossroads Shopping Center where Stone Gardens Climbers Gym now occupies the former location of Circuit City. The facility offers over 21,000 square feet of climbing surface.

Kids will enjoy the dedicated kid's climbing area, which includes a giant slide, pirate ship and kid size climbing walls. Stone Gardens offers a junior climbing programs for kids as young as five, a competitive youth climbing team for ages ten to nineteen and an advanced junior climbing program for ages ten and up.  Stone Gardens also offers birthday party packages. 

Jeremy Bowler is the Bellevue Stone Garden’s Climbing School Director. The teaching philosophy at Stone Gardens he says is “learning by doing”. Climbing offers kids extreme fun while teaching valuable skills. Bowler says that the focus of the facility’s youth programs is “to help teach children to be part of the climbing community by being respectful of the environment, responsible for each other and learn life skills that will translate well into the rest of their life.”

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