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