When the rain hits Sonoma County, you’ve got two options: embrace the chaos or find somewhere dry to burn off energy. We’ve done both. Here’s what actually works for our family of five.
The Best Indoor Spots
Children’s Museum of Sonoma County
Best for: Ages 2-6 (though older kids still find fun)
This is the gold standard for young kids in Sonoma County. We had a membership for our first few years here and visited constantly.
What makes it great:
- The tricycle area (huge hit for younger ones)
- The apple sorting game
- The art room
- That giant cylinder tube (our older kids still go wild with imaginative games in there)
- The blue blocks area
Special events worth checking:
- Halloween with the legendary pumpkin drop
- Train Day
- The museum’s anniversary celebration
The honest take: After a while, visits got repetitive. Now we go for special events, when they open something new, or when we have a free morning without a plan. We recently visited over Thanksgiving with younger cousins in town and our kids (ages 6-10) still had fun. I have a friend in Napa who makes the long drive regularly for his son - it’s that good for the younger set.
Pump It Up
Best for: Younger kids, though all ages welcome
Giant inflatables in a warehouse. Simple concept, perfectly executed for rainy days.
Pro tips:
- They have a weekday special that’s great for homeschoolers
- The parking lot floods badly in heavy rain - the kids actually love seeing this
- Save your socks! Pump It Up, Rebounderz, and the Epicenter trampoline park all require special grip socks. We learned the hard way after buying replacements multiple times. Now they go in a dedicated drawer so they don’t get lost with regular socks.
Rebounderz
Best for: Older kids ready for physical challenges
This is the more intense trampoline experience. Better once kids are ready for real physical activity and can handle themselves.
Flying Frog (Rohnert Park)
Best for: All ages
Awesome experience. Great for burning energy. The gymnastics place right nearby is also solid, especially for summer camps.
Epicenter
Best for: All ages (different attractions for different ages)
A whole complex of indoor activities:
- Laser tag - Feels like stepping into another world. The kids love it.
- Trampoline park - Middle tier between Pump It Up and Rebounderz
- Arcade - Probably the best arcade in the area (though we haven’t tried the one in Sebastopol yet)
- Indoor soccer - They’re pretty active here
- Bowling - Fine, nothing special
We’ve been to birthday parties here and they work well.
Skip: The restaurant isn’t good.
Windsor Lanes
Best for: Birthday parties, ages 7+
We’ve only been once, for a birthday party, but it was perfect for that:
- Three lanes for the group
- Dedicated room upstairs for pizza and sodas
- Cool indoor mini golf course
- Arcade games
Bowling is surprisingly expensive now compared to what I remember as a kid. Look for discounts when available.
Snoopy’s Home Ice
Best for: All ages, skating experience helps
We’ve been ice skating here a few times, usually through homeschool events with the Schulz Museum that offered better rates.
Good to know:
- They’re great with rentals and have equipment to help newer skaters
- Kids love watching the experienced skaters do their thing
- The Zamboni is always a hit
- Dress warmer than you think - it’s colder in there than you’d expect
Birthday parties here work well too.
Charles M. Schulz Museum
Best for: A single visit, or special events
Worth going once. After that, it’s hard to find a reason to return - and we’ve tried.
When it works:
- Special events, especially homeschool-focused ones
- New Year’s Eve event for younger kids
- Camps are pretty good (not great)
- We saw Mo Willems speak there once - that was awesome
Honest take: We weren’t big Peanuts fans growing up, and that hasn’t changed. Glad it exists, but not a regular spot for us.
Libraries
Best for: All ages, every rainy day
We’ve been going to the library pretty much weekly since our oldest was 1. He’s 10 and a half now. We’ve read most of the kids’ books across multiple branches at this point.
Our regular spots:
- Rincon Valley - Our local branch
- Windsor - Good alternative
- Healdsburg - Recently renovated, worth checking out
Programs we’ve loved:
- Magic shows (we’ve been twice at different locations - great every time)
- Bubble show at the Petaluma Library
- Read to a Dog program (fun and different)
Don’t sleep on the digital resources:
- sonomalibrary.org is solid for putting books on hold
- Libby is incredible for Kindle/tablet reading and audiobooks
Why we keep going: There’s this amazing feedback loop once kids find their interests. They read about something, want to learn more, we put books on hold, they discover something new in those books, and the cycle continues. It’s one of the best traditions we’ve built as a family.
Movie Theaters
Our pick: Airport Stadium theater
Easier parking, cleaner, better overall experience. We hosted a birthday party there for Inside Out 2 and it was great.
The downtown Santa Rosa theater is fine, but the parking garage and general experience is rough around the edges.
Summer movie programs: Worth watching for, though the selection last year didn’t work great for our schedule.
Reality check: With Disney+, streaming services, and good home TVs, we just don’t go to theaters as often as when we were kids. But for the big releases - Mario Movie, Inside Out 2, Zootopia 2 - it’s still an event worth making.
Kid-Friendly Restaurants
When you need to get out but want somewhere the kids can be kids:
- Acme Burger - Great almost anytime. Foosball table, TVs if there’s a game on.
- Acre Pizza - Kids can play pinball games.
- Mombo’s Pizza - Good for watching sports on TV.
- Machado Burgers - Tasty food. One visit they had some Red Bull extreme sports competition on (think ESPN the Ocho). When they messed up one kid’s order, they remade it AND gave all the kids ice cream. Super nice service.
The Mall
Yes, the mall. Downtown Santa Rosa.
It’s not full anymore - like many malls dealing with e-commerce reality - but walking through on a rainy day still works. Just set expectations beforehand: we’re looking, maybe getting a meal, maybe noting things for birthday or Christmas lists. Not buying everything in sight.
Embrace the Rain
Sometimes the best rainy day activity is… going outside in the rain.
- Rain boots for stomping in puddles
- Umbrellas (kids love umbrellas)
- Accept that pants will get wet
So what? That’s what dryers are for.
Stay Home
Not every rainy day needs a destination:
- Board games and card games
- Video games
- Movies
- Craft projects
We play games constantly. No need to fight traffic in the rain if you’ve got a good game shelf.
Worth the Drive
The Exploratorium (San Francisco)
The ultimate rainy day destination. The long drive actually helps - it chews up some of the rainy time. Just check traffic first; if it’s brutal because of the rain, maybe save it for another day.
Quick Reference
| Place | Best Ages | Rainy Day Rating | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Children’s Museum | 2-6 | ★★★★★ | The best for young kids |
| Pump It Up | 3-8 | ★★★★★ | Save those socks! |
| Rebounderz | 7+ | ★★★★ | More physical |
| Flying Frog | All | ★★★★ | Great energy burn |
| Epicenter | All | ★★★★ | Multiple activities |
| Libraries | All | ★★★★★ | Free! Programs! Books! |
| Snoopy’s Ice | 5+ | ★★★ | Dress warm |
| Schulz Museum | All | ★★★ | Once, or for events |
| Windsor Lanes | 7+ | ★★★ | Great for parties |
Have a rainy day spot we should check out? Let us know.
When the sun comes out: Check out our guide to the best playgrounds in Sonoma County.