What to Do in Pittsburgh!!

i agree with the earlier poster about trying different libraries. pleasant hills has a separate program room that all of their book programs are presented in, eliminating the chance of things being taken off of shelves by L. hands!

barnes & noble also offers a story time, i think usually on tuesdays. i used to go the one at the waterfront, but the village has it also.

bethel park has gymkana (sp?), it's on industrial boulevard. not sure how pricey it is, but it may be worth looking in to, especially if they have "open gym" hours.

Gymsport off Vanadium Rd. in Bridgeville has free play times on Mon/Tues/Sat for $5/hr per child. Mt. Lebanon Ice Skating rink offers Playdate on Ice Thurs. 9 - 11 with buckets, sleds and snacks available, $4.25 per person, skates included. It's great!

In Pittsburgh, memberships to the museums are the best deal going! I'd buy one or two memberships (maybe the Children's Museum and the Carnegie Museums) and use them all winter! You could even buy them for Christmas gifts or ask for money to put towards them as Christmas gifts. The other thing is to play outside-- kids need to be outside more and it won't hurt them to go out when it is cold-- just bundle them up real well.

I've heard really great things about Seesaw Center. I haven't tried it yet.

Freebie is just the South Hills village mall playground.

Money:
Gymboree - they do have one free class to try out
Kindermusik - in January will have a free class to try out
Rec department classes: http://www.mtlebanon.org/index.aspx?NID=173#Youth (I'm sure other places have them too)
YMCA classes www.ymcapgh.org

I don't know what's in your budget, but another option is to go for the combined museum membership for the aviary & children's museum - It's $154 for 2 adults & 3 kids, and it sounds like something you would use.

Other, farther away play spaces - Pittsburgh Toy Lending Library - very inexpensive, doesn't require a membership, and a place called My L. Outback opened in Squirrel Hill. I don't know much about it, but noticed it had a coffee shop for the parents if that's your thing.

Good luck!

If you are in the South Hills the SeeSaw Center in Castle Shannon would be perfect for you. It is an indoor play area that would be perfect for your kids. I believe the membership went up a L. this year but if you use it often it would be well worth it. Here is their website http://seesawcenter.org If I am not mistaken you can try it out before joining. I believe there is a $5 fee per family.

As for library storytimes, I would not give up on them. You may want to just check into another local library that holds their storytimes in a seperate program room.That way you don't have to worry about the distraction factor. Of course you could also take advantage of the other library's storytimes to fill up your week.

You may also want to join a mom's group such as Mothers and More. They hold playgroups and other Mom and Tot activities that you might be interested in (as well as some acitvities for just Mom too!!) Here's their website http://mandm164.tripod.com/

Hope this helps!

I also have a one year old and I just moved to Pittsburgh when my daughter was a week old so I didn't know many people. I work at the library pt and go to a bunch of storytimes and there are a bunch for toddlers (and you can bring the baby). I also go to the Toy lending library which is awesome and membership is cheap. I got a zoo membership which includes an aquarium so I try to get there once a month. South Hills Village does have a cool play area and it's warm in there! Feel free to send me an email--I live in Brookline (____@____.com).

K.