Plant City, FL Indoor Activities

A 200-foot man-made alligator flashes his brace-free grin as visitors pass through the gates of Jungle Adventures' lush wilderness to meet the myriad creatures that call it home. From exhibit to exhibit, rare beasts including Florida panthers, black bears, tropical birds, and wolves exchange salutations with their visitors. Knowledgeable experts navigate jungle terrain during guided tours and VIP adventure tours, and at live exhibitions, such as the Gator Jamboree Feeding Adventure, experienced handlers coax shy critters from their hiding places. The park also explores the area's human history in replicas of a 16th-century Spanish fort and Native American village, where authentic recreations of ancient artifacts, decorations, and brick-sized cell phones shed light on lifestyles from centuries ago.

The sound of basketballs bouncing across hardwood floors and splashing through nets charges the air at the NBA All-Star Jam Session. There, young hoops fans dribble and dunk their way through 40 interactive NBA-themed attractions. Players can showcase their shooting, dribbling, and passing abilities in the skills challenges, and a Kids Zone gives tykes the ability to rattle rims with windmill dunks and get in the All-Star spirit. NBA legends past and present also will make regular appearances throughout Jam Session to mingle with fans, sign autographs, and trade soufflé recipes.

Yolonda Tyler loved spending time with her daughter Amaya, but she found it near impossible to find a place with age-appropriate equipment and an inviting atmosphere for grownups. Undeterred, Yolonda took matters into her own finger-paint-covered hands and opened Amaya Papaya, a business dedicated to and named after her daughter. Here, she and her staff help kids from birth to 5 years old bond with their parents, interact socially, and build cognitive skills.

Wrapped in bright-green walls, the play lounge sets the stage for laughter and fun activities. Seven themed areas fend off boredom, with a creativity corner allowing kids to color and a construction corner letting them design cost-effective skyscrapers out of wooden blocks. Comfy seats relax parents as their children play with toys that help build skills such as spatial awareness.

Yolonda's staff also leads classes for both parents and adults, such as story time and CPR training. To keep things fresh, they constantly rotate toys and pull out their etch-a-sketches to plan special events such as meetings with children's authors.