Kids & Family
Editors’ Picks
Best way to make your East Coast relatives jealous
This summer, it’s easy to remember there’s snow nearby—you can still see it on Mt. Rose as you swelter in the city. But don’t forget that just about every summer, when the skies fill with wildfire smoke, and you start to think that maybe some sadistic voodoo meteorologist from hell is toying with your soul, you can magically alleviate that feeling by driving the kids to a frosty patch of snow so they—and you—can ball it up and chuck it at each other. A lot of the time, you can get from the city to snow in under an hour. Some years it’s packed too hard and a little trickier to find. But this year, the ski season only just closed in mid-July. Snow patches on Mt. Rose or near Squaw Valley’s High Camp are easy to access, and an afternoon snowball fight is eminently doable. Out there in Massachusetts and Florida, they have many wonderful marvels of nature—but they do not have this.
Best families to give some extra love
Every year, we watch as they try to survive the road construction season, the little businesses that lose customers while their streets are torn up in the name of progress, which often is only change. In most cases, there is a family or two behind each business whose fate and future may not be the same at the far end of the project as it was at the near end. They put out signs saying things like “Businesses still open” and hang on, plugging away as the weeks and months pass. Some, such as those along this year’s Glendale Street project, get a break when the work runs ahead of schedule and others, not so much, as with this year’s Fourth Street project—three weeks behind. Communities cannot survive without those who take the chances they take, and we thank them.
Readers’ Picks
Best arcade games
1. Fun Quest
Grand Sierra Resort, 2500 E. Second St., 789-1127
2. Game Lab
Peppermill, 2707 S. Virginia St., 689-7124
3. Beach Hut Deli
5030 Las Brisas Blvd., 747-7873
Best charter school
1. Coral Academy of Science Elementary School
1701 Valley Road, 322-8274
2. High Desert Montessori
2590 Oravada St., 624-2800
2. Sierra Nevada Academy Charter School
13880 Stead Blvd., 677-4500
Best elementary school
1. Mount Rose School
915 Lander St., 333-5030
Best family outing
1. Terry Lee Wells Discovery Museum
490 S. Center St., 786-1000
2. Lake Tahoe
3. Animal Ark
1265 Deerlodge Rd., 970-3111
Best high school
1. Reno High School
395 Booth St., 333-5050
2. Robert McQueen High School
6055 Lancer St., 746-5880
3. Sparks High School
820 15th St., Sparks, 321-3130
Best indoor activity for kids
1. Terry Lee Wells Discovery Museum
490 S. Center St., 786-1000
2. Coconut Bowl
1855 E. Lincoln Way, Sparks, 359-2927
3. Fly High Trampoline Park
10 Greg St., Sparks, 856-8131
Best local library
1. Downtown Reno Library
301 S. Center St., 327-8300
2. South Valleys Library
15650 Wedge Pkwy., 851-5190
3. Northwest Reno Library
2325 Robb Drive, 787-4100
Best middle school
1. Swope Middle School
901 Keele Drive, 333-5330
2. Billinghurst Middle School
6685 Chesterfield Lane, 746-5870
3. Mendive Middle School
1900 Whitewood Drive, Sparks, 353-5990
Best park
1. Rancho San Rafael Regional Park
1595 N. Sierra St., 785-4512
2. Idlewild Park
2055 Idlewild Drive, 334-2270
3. Pah Rah Mountain Park
175 Shadow Lane, Sparks, 353-2376
Best picnic spot
1. Rancho San Rafael Regional Park
1595 N. Sierra St., 785-4512
2. Idlewild Park
2055 Idlewild Drive, 334-2270
3. Lake Tahoe
Best place to introduce kids to nature
1. Rancho San Rafael Regional Park
1595 N. Sierra St., 785-4512
2. Lake Tahoe
3. Oxbow Nature Study
3100 Dickerson Road, 334-3808
Best toy store
1. Toys “R” US
5000 Smithridge Drive, 827-8697
2. Learning Express Toys
197 Damonte Ranch Pkwy., 853-7884
2. Happy Happy Joy Joy
23 Martin St., 448-6723
Best weekend activity
1. Lake Tahoe
2. Terry Lee Wells Discovery Museum
490 S. Center St., 786-1000
2. Fun Quest
Grand Sierra Resort, 2500 E. Second St., 789-1127
Best weeknight activity
1. Fun Quest
Grand Sierra Resort, 2500 E. Second St., 789-1127
2. Movies
2. Chuck E. Cheese’s
5000 Smithridge Drive, 827-5100
Most kid-friendly restaurant
1. Red Robin Gourmet Burgers
4999 Kietzke Lane, 825-7246
2. Chuck E. Cheese’s
5000 Smithridge Drive, 827-5100
3. Laughing Planet Café
650 Tahoe St., 360-2592