BCPL Storyville (Rosedale) in Maryland

Storyville in Baltimore county public library (Rosedale Library) was a fantastic place to take children ages 6 months-5 years old and was absolutely FREE. Kids over the age of 5 are not admitted to this place. This place is small enough that you can sit and watch your child, but don't have to chase them. Additionally, they have a restriction on the number of children (I think 50 kids at one time) that are allowed in the room at once so that it is not too crowded and stays enjoyable. They use a sign in sheet and if you have to wait to go in, you also get a vibrating buzzer that will go off when it is your turn to enter. They had a person in the room sanitizing the toys throughout the day to make sure that everything was clean and that everything stayed in very good condition. The staff also walked through putting things away so that it remained orderly.
Storyville has many small rooms that are set up like small work spaces for the kids to play in. The rooms include the construction zone, supermarket, mail room, a kitchen, a tree house loft, a theatre, and many other rooms. Our kids enjoyed a puppet show that other children put on, and loved putting the mail back in the mail room (each room had a mailbox with a number so that kids could deliver the "mail"). Our 4 month old enjoyed sitting with my wife in the separate room for children that are not yet walking. They had many Bumbo chairs to sit in, mirrored cirlces on the floor for children to look at themselves in, and many other small things that made the gated in (white picket fence) area fun and safe for our baby. Our 2.5 year old played for hours with the trains, the canoe, the supermarket, and a variety of other rooms, and could have played for longer had we not had to drive back from Baltimore. This place is about 50 minutes from Silver Spring, MD and a great destination for fun.
Website: www.bcplstoryville.org
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