Frankfurt winters are long and gray, and a toddler still needs somewhere to climb, splash and wander. These are the indoor spots we'd pick for under-4s: play halls with a separate toddler zone, city pools with warm baby water where kids 14 and under swim free, a children's library and a theater with shows for two-year-olds. Here's what we checked, from Monkey Town's toddler zone to the Palmengarten's butterfly house.
Monkey Town Frankfurt is an indoor play hall inside the NordWestZentrum mall, by the Praunheimer Steg entrance. Kids work through slides, a ball pit, a volcano, a spider tower, a kart track, a multisport area and a laser tag arena, while under-4s have a separate toddler zone. Parents can watch from the bistro tables. Air conditioning keeps it cool on hot days.
Tiggolino is a 2,300 m² indoor play hall in Mörfelden-Walldorf, about 15 to 20 minutes' drive from Frankfurt. The centerpiece is a climbing volcano with a 7-meter drop slide.
Around it sit a trampoline arena, a bouncy castle park with an airbag jump, a multicourt with an airtrack, ball cannons, electric cars on a kart track and a separate toddler zone. A jungle-themed snack bar serves burgers and pizza.
KiBi is the city library's central branch for children and teens, on the ground floor of the Saalbau Bornheim. Shelves run from picture books and non-fiction to magazines and children's books in other languages.
Teens get their own TeenLounge with console games, DVDs and manga, and the weekly TechnoTHEK lets kids try hands-on tech kits alongside a parent.
Theaterhaus Frankfurt is an independent theater for children and teenagers, with two small stages seating 80 to 120. Frankfurt's independent ensembles premiere their own plays here, from puppet and clown shows for toddlers to drama for teens, and international guest companies visit for the Starke Stücke festival. Plays are performed in German.
Storytellers also run fairy-tale Sundays for families on the little stage in the theater café.
Titus Thermen is a leisure pool run by BäderBetriebe Frankfurt. The adventure pool has a 50m slide, a waterfall and neck showers, and the main leisure pool has a current channel and a water organ, both up to 1.30m deep at 29°C.
Babies and toddlers get the Bambini Welt, a shallow 32°C pool with small animal features. Swimmers have a five-lane 25m pool with a 1m diving platform.
Main Bad Bornheim is the Frankfurter Bäder leisure pool next to the Ostpark. Kids head for the 74-meter tube slide and the wide slide, then the spray park with jets, a water tree, a cascade and a tipping bucket. Toddlers get their own splash pool.
There is also a warm bubble pool, plus a 25-meter pool with a movable floor, a 1-meter board and a 3-meter platform for confident swimmers.
A natural history museum built around a dinosaur hall, where a Tyrannosaurus, a Triceratops and a long-necked Diplodocus stand over the floor. Other galleries cover whales and elephants, the deep sea, coral reefs, insects, and 47-million-year-old fossils from the nearby Messel Pit.
In the Aha?! Science Lab, kids handle more than 100 natural objects, look at them under microscopes and help sort samples for real research projects.
A 20-hectare botanical garden in the Westend with around 13,000 plant species. Indoors, kids walk through the 1869 Palm House, the Tropicarium's rainforest and desert glasshouses, a carnivorous plant collection with Venus flytraps, and a butterfly house where pupae hatch in view.
Outside are a large playground with a water play area, a shaded playground above the pond, rental boats in summer and a mini golf course.
Textorbad is an indoor pool in Sachsenhausen run by BäderBetriebe Frankfurt, the city's pool operator. The main hall holds a 25m lane pool, and the building also has a gym room used for aqua and fitness courses.
Fridays are warm-water day, with the pool heated to 32°C, a gentle temperature for babies and toddlers. It suits families after a plain swim rather than slides and wave machines.
Frankfurt winters are long and gray, and a toddler still needs somewhere to climb, splash and wander. These are the indoor spots we'd pick for under-4s: play halls with a separate toddler zone, city pools with warm baby water where kids 14 and under swim free, a children's library and a theater with shows for two-year-olds. Here's what we checked, from Monkey Town's toddler zone to the Palmengarten's butterfly house.
Monkey Town Frankfurt is an indoor play hall inside the NordWestZentrum mall, by the Praunheimer Steg entrance. Kids work through slides, a ball pit, a volcano, a spider tower, a kart track, a multisport area and a laser tag arena, while under-4s have a separate toddler zone. Parents can watch from the bistro tables. Air conditioning keeps it cool on hot days.
Tiggolino is a 2,300 m² indoor play hall in Mörfelden-Walldorf, about 15 to 20 minutes' drive from Frankfurt. The centerpiece is a climbing volcano with a 7-meter drop slide.
Around it sit a trampoline arena, a bouncy castle park with an airbag jump, a multicourt with an airtrack, ball cannons, electric cars on a kart track and a separate toddler zone. A jungle-themed snack bar serves burgers and pizza.
KiBi is the city library's central branch for children and teens, on the ground floor of the Saalbau Bornheim. Shelves run from picture books and non-fiction to magazines and children's books in other languages.
Teens get their own TeenLounge with console games, DVDs and manga, and the weekly TechnoTHEK lets kids try hands-on tech kits alongside a parent.
Theaterhaus Frankfurt is an independent theater for children and teenagers, with two small stages seating 80 to 120. Frankfurt's independent ensembles premiere their own plays here, from puppet and clown shows for toddlers to drama for teens, and international guest companies visit for the Starke Stücke festival. Plays are performed in German.
Storytellers also run fairy-tale Sundays for families on the little stage in the theater café.
Titus Thermen is a leisure pool run by BäderBetriebe Frankfurt. The adventure pool has a 50m slide, a waterfall and neck showers, and the main leisure pool has a current channel and a water organ, both up to 1.30m deep at 29°C.
Babies and toddlers get the Bambini Welt, a shallow 32°C pool with small animal features. Swimmers have a five-lane 25m pool with a 1m diving platform.
Main Bad Bornheim is the Frankfurter Bäder leisure pool next to the Ostpark. Kids head for the 74-meter tube slide and the wide slide, then the spray park with jets, a water tree, a cascade and a tipping bucket. Toddlers get their own splash pool.
There is also a warm bubble pool, plus a 25-meter pool with a movable floor, a 1-meter board and a 3-meter platform for confident swimmers.
A natural history museum built around a dinosaur hall, where a Tyrannosaurus, a Triceratops and a long-necked Diplodocus stand over the floor. Other galleries cover whales and elephants, the deep sea, coral reefs, insects, and 47-million-year-old fossils from the nearby Messel Pit.
In the Aha?! Science Lab, kids handle more than 100 natural objects, look at them under microscopes and help sort samples for real research projects.
A 20-hectare botanical garden in the Westend with around 13,000 plant species. Indoors, kids walk through the 1869 Palm House, the Tropicarium's rainforest and desert glasshouses, a carnivorous plant collection with Venus flytraps, and a butterfly house where pupae hatch in view.
Outside are a large playground with a water play area, a shaded playground above the pond, rental boats in summer and a mini golf course.
Textorbad is an indoor pool in Sachsenhausen run by BäderBetriebe Frankfurt, the city's pool operator. The main hall holds a 25m lane pool, and the building also has a gym room used for aqua and fitness courses.
Fridays are warm-water day, with the pool heated to 32°C, a gentle temperature for babies and toddlers. It suits families after a plain swim rather than slides and wave machines.
