Theme & Amusement Parks in Jenison

In 1976, busy California mother Joan Barnes wanted nothing more than to find a play place where she and her kids could enjoy age-appropriate, educational activities. Finding none, she developed her own innovative play environment within a developmental-based program structure now known as Gymboree Play & Music. Today, kids tumble and learn in more than 650 locations in 33 countries around the world, engaging in open play and classes designed to build cognitive and motor skills. As parents participate in their children's development, their kids learn to paint, play music, and interact socially outside of their preschool knitting circles.

In Gymboree Play & Music's most popular class, Play & Learn, tots master skills such as cause and effect, problem solving, and good communication through games and play. The notion that learning should be fun for the under-five set permeates all of Gymboree's classes. From music and art to sports activities, most classes are calibrated for development at six-month age intervals. Mixed-age classes teach cooperation, as kids play movement games or perform songs on musical instruments. Older children take the school-skills class to learn skills that will help them in school and during conference calls with the president. All of this takes place in a well-padded indoor playground with tunnels, slides, and bridges designed by nationally renowned playground designer Jay Beckwith to withstand tiny bare feet and the wrath of resident trolls.

What began over 40 years ago as a bowling alley built in an old schoolhouse has since expanded into multi-level entertainment enclave known as RollAway Family Fun Center. In the second-floor roller skating rink, skaters glide across a glossy hardwood floor, cast in lights that flash to the beat of tunes spun by an on-site DJ. Below, on the first floor, players honor the center’s original purpose, sending pins a-clattering in the updated bowling alley. Guests can also settle scores or start fun, new blood feuds with games of laser tag and outdoor mini golf.

Multiple rows of pinball machines manufactured from the early 1960s through today shelter plungers and flippers as they fling the silver spheres toward illumined targets. Entertaining guests between bouts of pinball, air hockey, and abundant arcade classics—such as Centipede, Ms. Pac-Man, and Asteroids —await with flashing lights infused with friendly competition. Klassic Arcade celebrates its impressive stock of more than 100 different varieties of glass-bottled soda pop during its annual Midwest Soda Pop Festival, which combines pop tastings and judging with live music and games. The arcade also spearheads the annual Pinball at the 'Zoo festival, at which attendees can play more than 100 arcade and pinball games for free in between tournaments, auctions, and seminars with the original 8-bit Mario and Luigi. Completing the lineup of exciting diversions is the outdoor M-40 Raceway track, which hosts off-road RC racers.

At the Blast Factory, inflatables cushion the tumbles of sock-clad youngsters as parents and trained supervisors look on. Kids climb up and glide down multicolored slides or crawl through the mouth of a tall inflatable dragon in search of cavities. Along with open play, The Blast Factory hosts two-hour private parties, during which up to 25 kids can enjoy 90 minutes of private inflatable fun and 30 minutes in a private celebration room. Each party also can include add-ons such as pizza, popcorn, cotton candy, and soda.

For their willingness to brave the winter waters of Lake Michigan, the hosts of NBC’s Today Show called the crew at Third Coast Surf Shop a “philosophical group of hardy souls.” The surfers have accepted their lot in life with cheer, working with what they have by pioneering the art of lake surfing. They’ve also shown up on the CBS's The Early Show, National Public Radio, and Newsweek in their effort to expose Midwesterners to surfing and paddleboarding and expound upon the advantages of the Great Lakes as a surfing venue. Along the sweeping shorelines, six quadrillion gallons of fresh water rise up in wind-generated waves, which are more manageable for beginners than the larger swells in the ocean and less likely to contain depressing submarines tangled in plastic bags. When not fitting patrons with paddleboards, the team of instructors leads camps, where young surfers find their sea legs, construct sand castles, and play soccer while building social skills.: