YMCA - Southdale Branch552

The Southdale YMCA offers free on-site childcare (for kids from six weeks to 10 years old) while parents work out, with both indoor and outdoor play areas. And like most Ys, it also provides a wide variety of programming for kids and teens, including lots of youth sports leagues and enrichment classes, before and after school care, and teen councils and leadership clubs. Enrollment is open to all for most programs, though fees will be higher for non-members.

Group and private swim lessons are offered in the six-lane Olympic-size pool, with a smaller - and quieter - warming pool available for parents to use with babies and toddlers. Men's and women's family locker rooms provide a spacious place to change and shower. Kids can also get a workout on large muscle equipment in a Kids Gym and give the facility's climbing wall a shot.

The Tri-City SkatePark behind the building is open each afternoon from mid-April throught August, weather-permitting. The innovative in-ground concrete bowl provides a safe environment for skateboarders, inline skaters, and freestyle bikers to tool around, with depths ranging from four to 12 feet, street course elements, and challenges for a variety of skill levels. Waivers and safey gear are required for all users. Call 952.897.5462 for information on lessons. Daily use rates: Members $5; Non-members $9. Punch cards and season passes are also available.

Summer camp: Full-day programming is offered on-site all summer for school age kids, but for a real day camp experience the Southdale Y uses Kici Yapi, a fairly primitive 80-acre wooded site with a lake located near Prior Lake. Weeklong programs for ages four to 13 include traditional lanyard-and-archery-type camps, as well as specialized offerings for horseback riding, climbing, camping, and crafts. Seventh and eighth graders can take a leaders-in-training camp and assist counselors with younger kids. Bus transportation for campers is provided to/from sites in Minneapolis and several southern suburbs; kids enrolled in extended care in addition to camp get dropped off and/or picked up at the Southdale Y.