Sign4Baby Turns 4 {KidVentures Review}

Molly loved watching Signing Storytime

This past Friday I headed over to Kid Ventures to celebrate with Sign4Baby as they turned 4. We were a bit late to the party due to a busy morning and a napping M but when we arrived we quickly found that we hadn't missed a thing! We met up with our new friend Elodie and her mom, Kari. We met them during our first 6 weeks of sign language class and the girls are almost the same age (Elodie is a month younger).

I had never been to Kid Ventures before but have gone to similar type places around town. The first thing I noticed when I walked in was the layout of the location. There was an eating area in the center of the room and a KV snack area to the left. To the right there were two strutures that can't be missed. A huge castle and pirate ship! Kids were laughing and smiling all around me as they ran in the castle and slid down the slide attached.

The cafe and layout of the rooms

We found a seat right away because signing story time was starting.

The theme for this month's signing story time is Sea Life so Joann cleverly went with a Celebrate The Sea theme. We listened to a Hullabaloo song about the sea and then Joann read an adorable book by Karen Katz called Where's Baby's Beach Ball? Since we read Where's Baby's Belly Button? to M already she was very interested in the story.

Throughout signing story time Joann signed along with the book and the music. The children were very interested in watching her through the whole thing and would get excited when they heard or saw something they recognized. M stayed pretty interested in the signing but after a little it she wanted to explore. She loved all of the friendly faces around her and felt right at home with the fun energy that came with a room full of excited children.

Sign4Baby's Signing Storytime

As we explored we found out that there is a police department, grocery store, fire department, disco room, nursery, restaurant, library and art store in addition to the cool castle and pirate ship.Wow! And each room is completed with outfits, toys and activities for the kids to partake in. I know how much my two year old is into pretend right now and these different rooms would just make his day.

After a very fun storytime and scavenger hunt a raffle was held for those who chose to purchase raffle tickets. All of the proceeds for the raffle went to the San Diego Center for Children. There were many prizes being raffled off. Some of them included the following:

• 6 week session of Sign, Play & Learn
• (2) 3M Shoot n Share camcorder projectors
• SEA Life Aquarium tickets
• Parents Night Out at Kid Ventures
• One day of Kid Ventures Day Camp
• (2) GCs for a 30 minute facial by Firefly Wellness
• $25 gift card to See Kai Run sponsored by Red Tricycle

M's friend, Elodie, was lucky enough to win one of the 3M Shoot n Share camcorder projectors plus lots of other great prizes. And I was lucky enough to win a 30 minute facial with Karen of Firefly Wellness. This mama needs some relaxation! I'm sure you'll be seeing a review of my experience at Firefly Wellness in the near future.

Pickle and the KV Pirate

The great part about Kid Ventures is that even though it was a packed house I never felt crowded. Their layout gives kids the room to play together or independently without having to play on top of one another. I know that my son will love this place the next time we go! And I'm definitely considering using Kid Ventures as a venue for his next birthday party. With all of the fun we had at Joann's party I know that our friends and family would have an equally great time at this place.

The only drawback I found was that there wasn't a labeling or numbering system where you child and you have identification to prove that you belong to one another. I don't make it a habit to take my eyes off my kids but if there was a distraction I wouldn't want my kid to walk out with another family. Because I know my son would do this :) 

Here's some more information on Kid Ventures: 

• Kid Ventures is a socks only facility (this includes babies)
• They have two San Diego locations — Pacific Beach & Eastlake
• They have drop-in times, camps and classes where parents and children can participate together
• The Parents’ Cafe has a selection of drinks, salads and sandwiches available for purchase, and the seating area is within a few “footfalls” from where their children are playing
• Adults must stay with their children, as they are not a child care or child services facility
• And the best part... Sign4Baby will be offering their sign language classes at this location soon!

 If you are looking for a fun, kid-safe place to go with your kids I highly recommend checking out Kid Ventures at either their Eastlake or Pacific Beach location. And remember to bring socks!

Molly and her buddie, Elodie

*** Disclaimer: In exchange for this blog post I was offered free admission to the event (but didn't have to use it since non-walking babies are free) and 6 raffle tickets to enter the drawing. This in no way altered my opinion of Sign4Baby or Kid Ventures ***