| Arms wide, my eight-year-old reached toward the dropping balls. He caught one and tossed it to his ten-year-old brother who aimed for the bulls eye. The ball hit the target and a stream of air lifted it, pushing the ball through a series of twists until it reached the end of the tube. “It’s gonna shoot us!” they yelled, and plop, it did. The boys played ball, and bounced in them, charged up steps, slid down slides, and steered a helicopter over an elephant at the Action Zone of Totter’s Otterville. The “Village of Play, Discovery, and Fun” is adjacent to Johnny’s Toys in Covington, Kentucky, at Howard Litzler and Boron Drive. Totter’s Otterville boasts over 30 attractions, but some of the best are outside. When we visited, it wasn’t too cold, so the boys zipped up and dashed out. They passed a playset designed for kids under three, and gathered tools for the dinosaur dig. As they scratched at sand and filled a dump truck, they wondered aloud, “Are these real bones?” I said “no.” Disappointed that their work would not immediately advance archaeological knowledge, they abandoned the dig site for make-believe fishing. At Totter’s Fishin’ Hole they stood atop a bridge and cast their lines. A fountain fed the stream and moved floating fish through the pond. “I caught one!” “I caught two!” The boys released their catches and did it again. And again. And then some more, before the play set caught their eye. The boys ducked under the tunnel and took steps to the top. They waved and then disappeared into the tube slide, reappearing with their hair sticking straight up from the static. They played hide and seek, tag, and begged to come back. But their days are limited. The play set has a height limit of 54 inches and says it’s for ages 3-10. Indeed, most of the visitors of Totter’s Otterville are younger than my two youngest, but I’d bet even my oldest kids would have had fun. Still, when we first arrived and they saw the Thomas the Tank Engine sets of Totterville Station, they moaned, “We’re too old.” Soon, though, they knelt by the train tables and their imaginations took over. “Here, let’s play Indiana Jones.” With trains? Why not? They turned wooden stop lights, crossed the bridges, filled the engines with water, and sent the helicopter flying. They raced balls along wires in Miniature Play, passed the face painting and created their own artwork in the Arts and Crafts area. They drew on dry erase boards and then left the easels for the tables stocked with stamps, crayons, glue sticks, chalk, and stickers. They proudly displayed their artwork and then pointed to the Let’s Pretend area. While little girls in princess gowns stirred pretend porridge in the kitchen, my boys filled grocery carts and scanned their crackers, juice, and other boxes at the beeping toy register. A girl with a mailbag delivered letters to a nearby box and they read an envelope and decided to visit to the vet’s. They admired a real bunny named Marshmellow, and a live guinea pig named Snickers, and then made me their guinea pig for using toy stethoscopes, blood pressure monitors and syringes. “Now this might pinch a bit,” my son said as he gave me my flu shot. The vaccine administered, they flew from the vets to boats and spinning water wheels in Water Play and then drifted to the Building Center. They played with blocks and watched a boy build a wall around his brother. His tower kept growing— over his brother’s shoulders, above his eyes, and finally covering the cowlick of hair that had peeked from the top. We admired the work, but not for long. The younger boy quickly burst through the bricks for more fun at Totter’s Otterville. |
Totter's Otterville
Trips with Kids!
Trips with Kids!
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| Cincy Trips with Kids |
| More Great Trips with Kids! |
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| www.johnnystoys.com 4314 Boron Drive Covington, KY 41015-1721 (859) 491-1441 |
Totters Otterville