Pullman McDonald's Play Area
It’s too cold to go outside, and the kids are bored. More to the point, YOU need to get them out of the house, or you will all go crazy. Enter the indoor play area.
Longer View, Pullman McDonald's Play Area
The only indoor play area I know of in Pullman itself is McDonald’s. (If there are others, PLEASE let me know!) Even if you would never have stepped foot in a McDonald’s before moving to Pullman, you will do it once you live here. And it is actually quite pleasant- it is clean and bright, and is the nicest of the area McDonald’s and McDonald’s play areas. Order some coffee if you are anti-McD’s food, and let the kids run wild.
1620 GRAND AVE S – PULLMAN, WA 99163-4905 – (509)332-6725
Pullman McD's
Other McD locations with play areas:
Lewiston McDonald's Play Area
Lewiston: This is the second best. It is the largest, and it can help make the drive to Lewiston worth it for kids. There is a sign that says Mondays are Family Nights, which I think means the whole family can play on it. Like all these McD play structures, if your kid gets stuck/scared or just refuses to come out, extracting him or her would be basically impossible.
119 THAIN ROAD – LEWISTON, ID 83501 – (208)746-3032
(The McDonald’s website indicates there is also one in Clarkston, WA with a play area, but I have never been there. Address: 350 BRIDGE ST – CLARKSTON, WA 99403-1929 – (509)758-9603)
Moscow, Idaho McDonald's Play Area
Moscow, Idaho: This one is my least favorite, as it seems like the least clean of the three (just my take on it from looking!). But it is still not bad, and you know, it is something to do.
1404 MOSCOW-PULLMAN HIGHWAY – MOSCOW, ID 83843 – (208)882-2900
OTHER INDOOR PLAY AREAS:
Eastside Marketplace, Play Area
The Eastside Marketplace in Moscow has a nice indoor play area. It is in front of the movie theater. It is clean and free. You can even have a birthday party there. I highly recommend this play area.
Eastside Marketplace Rules
The play area is also in front of Wild At Art, the paint-your-own pottery place, which is an excellent thing to do with kids (maybe I’ll do an entry on that too).
Eastside Marketplace
1420 South Blaine Street
Moscow, ID 83843-3973
(208) 882-1533
www.eastsidemarketplace.com
Eastside Marketplace
And then, there is Bumpers.
Bumpers, Palouse Mall, Moscow, Idaho
Bumpers is in the Palouse Mall in Moscow, Idaho. It is kind of notorious around here because it truly appears to never have been cleaned. [Note, I do not mean to libel Bumpers. This is just my opinion, which I have formed from going there and from hearing stories of other parents who have gone there.] It is obnoxious and way overpriced, and of course, kids LOVE it. I walked by many times without relenting. Finally I had to use it as a bribe to get the kids through a particularly long Bed, Bath and Beyond trip, and I lived to tell about it. I doubt I will ever again get through a trip to the mall with the boys without going there.
Bumpers, Palouse Mall, Moscow, Idaho
Bumpers has arcade games, air hockey, Foosball, etc. for bigger kids (which the little kids will want to do) and a play area for small kids. You will not want to let your kids play in the play area because it seems so gross. But over time, you will probably do it! (Full disclosure: I have not let my kids on the play area yet. I have let them do the arcade games and skeeball. I am sure this winter we’ll finally go on the play structure!) There are also bumper cars, but I have not seen anyone on them.
Bottom line is that the kids are really thrilled by this place. And it is pretty cool to impart so much joy for a hand full of quarters and some Purell.
Bumpers Small Kids Play Area
Right outside Bumpers is the coin centrifuge. It is cool. It will make you feel a little better about going to Bumpers.
Palouse Mall
1850 West Pullman Road
Moscow, ID 83843-4014
(208) 882-8893
www.palousemall.com
Palouse Mall Coin Centrifuge
I know Pullman parks and Rec opens the Sunnyside Elementary gym sometimes over winter break, and I have heard there is a Moscow rec center (?) that has something similar. You may also be able to play at Gladdish Community Center and the Pioneer Center (both in Pullman) but I have not done it.
My Pullman Paradise 
i love McDs coffee but i always get freaked out by those tubes they climb thru. i recently took K to one of those (in another play area, not McDs) and i almost had a heart attack because i couldn’t find her. also i think they never clean them, right? ew! other than the tubes i love play areas though. and it’s also an excuse to eat fries!
I have worried that the kids would get lost or just refuse to come out – because I truly don’t think I could get in there. I am sure it will happen some day! As for cleaning…… I just have to hope.
Hmm? McDonalds? Is that creepy Hamburgler still hanging around there? Not sure I’d trust my kids (if I had any) around that guy.
I love the Hamburgler! But I have not seen him at any of these locations……