Ankeny's indoor play spots open and close at different times, and those times barely overlap. On a weekday, library sessions fill the early morning. The Playground For Kids carries the late morning and afternoon. Urban Air doesn't open its doors until 4 p.m. Once you see how the hours line up, a cold weekday stops being "where can we go?" and becomes "which spot fits right now?"
That schedule shifts on October 1, when The Playground For Kids moves to its winter hours. It gets a new stop at the end of the month, when Whimsy & Wonder Play Cafe is set to open on SW State Street.
The grid, before anything else
Here is how the published hours line up across a typical winter week. Everything below comes from each business's own posted schedule.
| Time slot | What's open | Where |
|---|---|---|
| Weekday mornings, 9:15 to 11:15 a.m. | Library story sessions on select days | Ankeny Kirkendall Public Library, 1250 SW District Dr. |
| Weekdays, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. | The Playground For Kids open play | 2401 SE Tones Dr., Suite 7 |
| Weekdays, 6 a.m. onward | Trail Point leisure pool | DMACC Ankeny Campus, Building 5 |
| Weekdays, 4 to 8 p.m. | Urban Air opens; The Playground stays open until 8 | 2829 South Ankeny Blvd. |
| Saturday mornings | The Playground, 9 a.m. to noon; FOSS Swim School open from 7:45 a.m. | SE Tones Dr. / 2455 SW State St. |
| Saturday afternoon and evening | Urban Air until 9 p.m.; Trail Point until 3 p.m. | South Ankeny Blvd. |
| Sunday morning | Urban Air's Jumperoo, 9 to 11 a.m. | 2829 South Ankeny Blvd. |
The biggest swing on that grid is the October 1 switch at The Playground For Kids, so that's where the week starts.
Why October 1 matters at The Playground For Kids
From May through September, The Playground For Kids closes at 4 p.m. Tuesday through Thursday. From October 1 through April 30, it stays open 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. every weekday, with Saturday open play from 9 a.m. to noon. That adds four hours of open play on three weekdays, right as outdoor afternoons get shorter.
The space sits in the Metro Center business park off exit 90, reached by SE Creekview Drive. It has five inflatables and a large treehouse structure with a triple-lane rainbow slide, a cork slide and a Wacky Ball room.
The pricing rewards regulars:
- $11 open play for ages 2 to 12
- $8 for walkers through 23 months
- Non-walkers free with a paying child
- Tuesdays, two children for $14, compared with $22 at the regular rate
- A 10-play card for $75, which works out to $7.50 a visit against the $11 single price
The facility doesn't allow outside food or drink, so plan snacks around the visit. The pricing page has been posted for a while, so a quick call to (515) 965-9899 before your first winter visit will confirm current rates.
Mornings belong to the library calendar
Before The Playground opens at 10, the Ankeny Kirkendall Public Library at 1250 SW District Dr. fills the early slot. Its programs are built around the youngest kids. The first week of October looks like this:
- Thursday, Oct. 1 and Thursday, Oct. 8: Toddler and pre-K Story Time, 10 to 10:30 a.m., with books, songs, rhymes, fingerplays and bubbles.
- Saturday, Oct. 3: A drop-in Family Treasure Hunt, 10 to 11:30 a.m.
- Monday, Oct. 5: Babies & Books at 10 a.m. and again at 10:45 a.m., with scarves, songs and bubbles for babies. Older siblings are welcome.
- Tuesday, Oct. 6 and Wednesday, Oct. 7: Sing & Shake at 9:15 and 10 a.m. An adult has to take part.
On a library morning, a family can finish a 10 a.m. session and still have a full afternoon of open play at The Playground across town. On those days the library covers the start of the morning, and the play spots take over after that.
The pool covers the cold mornings, with a few rules
Trail Point Aquatics & Wellness, in Building 5 of the DMACC Ankeny campus at 2006 South Ankeny Boulevard, is open to the public through memberships. It has a zero-entry leisure pool and an eight-lane competition pool. The leisure pool opens at 6 a.m. on weekdays. On Mondays and Wednesdays it closes from noon to 1 p.m. It runs until 8 p.m. Monday through Thursday and until 7 p.m. on Friday, and it's open 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. on weekends. Children 8 and under have to be in the water with a parent or guardian.
Read the pricing carefully. The $40 no-sponsor family visitor pass applies to one or two adults with at least three dependent children, or to grandparents bringing up to four grandchildren. A parent with one or two kids doesn't meet that definition. The community family membership costs $92 a month plus a $50 joiner's fee.
For lessons, FOSS Swim School at 2455 SW State Street, Suite 101, runs its fall quarter through Nov. 29. Its winter quarter runs Nov. 30 through March 12, 2027, and winter enrollment opens Oct. 27. Payments come in four installments of $94.25 to $100.75. The school is closed Fridays and opens at 7:45 a.m. on Saturdays.
After 4 p.m., the bigger kids take over
Urban Air Adventure Park at 2829 South Ankeny Blvd. doesn't open until 4 p.m. Monday through Thursday. It stays open until 8 p.m. on those days and until 9 p.m. on Friday. On weekends it opens at 10 a.m. Saturday and 11 a.m. Sunday. Its Sunday Jumperoo session runs 9 to 11 a.m. Inside are trampolines, a tubes playground, climbing walls, a ropes course, a zipline and obstacle courses.
The prices fit that older, after-school crowd. Unlimited-play admission is $29.99. A Shorty ticket for children 40 inches or under is $14.99, and a parent ticket bought with a child ticket is also $14.99. Required socks cost $4.49, and all prices are before tax.
Ninja U Ankeny at 1604 NW State St. lists drop-in open training every day. Standard admission is $18, ages 5 and under pay $10, and spectators are free. Families with a preschooler can buy an unlimited open-gym membership for kids 5 and under at $50 a month. There's also a 40-minute weekly class for ages 3 to 5, with a parent present, at $98 a month. Some notices on the Ninja U page look old, so call ahead to confirm hours and prices before the first visit.
Triad Kids Campus at 2202 SE Creekview Drive, just around the corner from The Playground, offers year-round recreational, preschool and tumble/trampoline gymnastics, plus parties and a special-events/open-play program. Weekday hours are 8:30 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday through Thursday and until 6:30 p.m. on Friday. Weekend hours vary, and its site doesn't list a public open-play price.
The new stop arriving on SW State Street
Whimsy & Wonder Play Cafe is taking 12,000 square feet at 2325 SW State Street, Suite A. Megan Holtz is opening it with her husband, Mitch. It takes a different approach from the inflatables and trampolines on the rest of the grid. In the business's own words:
"Every corner of our indoor play space is thoughtfully designed with high-quality, sustainable materials to encourage open-ended creativity, sensory exploration, and motor skill development—without overstimulating bright plastics, inflatables, or chaotic screens."
Axios Des Moines reported the planned layout in July: infant soft play and a large play town with a garden, trikes, a balance bridge, a climbing wall and slides. There will also be party rooms, a small sports court, a sensory room and a dance room. The café plans to serve Curious Joe Coffee and allergy-sensitive foods. Families will be able to reserve, drop in, or buy passes or memberships. The FAQ recommends the space for children 6 months to 10 years and welcomes all ages.
The dates are still tentative. The Ankeny Area Chamber lists a ribbon cutting for Friday, Oct. 30, from 1 to 1:30 p.m. The business's site still says "Coming Late October 2026!" and calls Oct. 31 a tentative soft opening, depending on finishing work and inspections. Party bookings won't open until the business is confident in the opening date. Admission prices, membership rates and daily hours haven't been posted yet.
Its age range and café focus line up with the mornings the library already serves. It also sits on SW State Street, a short drive from FOSS Swim School at 2455 SW State Street. Families with a swimmer and a younger sibling could find themselves going between the two. Its hours will show where it fits on the grid. Watch its site in the last week of October for that schedule.
How the week fills in
Put together, here's how a winter weekday can run. Start with a library session at 10 a.m. on the days one is scheduled. Spend the late morning and afternoon at The Playground For Kids, which now runs until 8 p.m. every weekday. Switch to Urban Air or Ninja U once school lets out and older siblings join. Trail Point has pool time on either end of the day, early morning or evening.
Saturday is shorter. The Playground closes at noon, FOSS Swim School at 2:30 p.m., and Trail Point at 3 p.m. After about 3 p.m., Urban Air is the one spot on the grid with posted hours until 9 p.m. The library's Oct. 3 Treasure Hunt, from 10 to 11:30 a.m., is the weekend's lone library option in that first week of October.
The dates to put on the calendar now are Oct. 1 for The Playground's winter hours, Oct. 27 for FOSS winter enrollment, and Oct. 30 for the Whimsy & Wonder ribbon cutting.
Where you live decides which of these spots are a quick drive on a cold Tuesday and which are a trek. If you're weighing a move within Ankeny or just want to talk through how a neighborhood fits your family's week, Jill Budden is happy to help. Live somewhere you love — let's get started.
