Any Bozeman, MT, MeFites with kids out there?

November 15, 2012 10:46 AM

Any Bozeman, Montana, MeFites who can recommend play groups, parent groups and daycare in the area? (Also, appreciate advice from any SAHParents about entertaining children!)

I'll be in Bozeman over the winter with my 2-year-old. We will be going from three-days-per-week daycare to full-time mommy care. I'd love to get her in once or twice/week daycare as she is really social and thrives on interactions with other kids. (Plus, I'm nervous about being on my own with her full-time.) Since I'm only going to be there three months, daycare might be hard to get into but I'm looking for any recommendations or connections for info. Any co-op daycare groups or drop-in care?

I have a moms group here that I met through pre-natal yoga classes and they have been a lifesaver for me. So, getting into a play group would be awesome.

I also don't know the best places to go and hang out with a two-year-old in Bozeman.

And if you have advice from the trenches about full-time parenting, I'd love to hear that, too.

posted by amanda to Pets & Animals (3 answers total)

No idea about Bozeman, specifically, but my one piece of advice for people becoming full-time parents - 'Teach your children to play on their own'.
A lot of burn-out comes from being 'always on'. Not many adults can match the energy of a toddler for 8 hours straight.

So, do what you can to have them entertain themselves for part of the time.
Of course, this doesn't mean just drop them in a pack and play and leave the room, but if you've got the space, give her a selection of toys, games, etc and let her figure out how to play.
posted by madajb at 1:10 PM on November 15, 2012 [1 favorite]

I'm in Virginia, but I found a great play group through meetup.com.
posted by moosedogtoo at 8:20 PM on November 15, 2012

Response by poster: So, Bozeman was great and I thought I'd put a few resources here for anyone who stumbles across this. There's a group called Thrive which organizes parent/child meetups and playdates regularly in Bozeman and Belgrade. They also host an indoor playground type thing -- in Bozeman it's held at the Wilson High School gym -- all kinds of ride-on toys and run-around time. It's very popular and that's where I met some other parents.

We also got a membership to the Museum of the Rockies which has a couple weekly kids programs. We went to their Wednesday babies class for singing, playtime, stories, bubbles, clay play, etc. It was also very popular and when things got so crowded after the holidays we started skipping it in favor of the Yellowstone Room which is on the top floor of the museum -- an amazing kid playspace which has the world's most adorable and well-stocked pioneer play kitchen, a "fishing hole" with poles and fish you can catch with magnets, a tumble area of babies, a make-believe campout and a fire watchtower as well as exhibits including a couple of geysers (not popular with the youngest as they are loud and sudden just like Old Faithful). The rest of the museum has a truly tremendous dinosaur exhibit (their primary focus) and a native american room and more stuff related to Montana and pioneer life.

We also took a gymnastics class at Lone Mountain gym (expensive but really well-run and a great experience for our kid) and went sledding at the Dinosaur Park. We also took advantage of the daycare up at Bridger Bowl when we went skiing -- our kid really loved that place.

There was also a group called MOMS geared toward stay-at-home parents that had an annual fee to join the membership but looked like it had lots of different activities. Oh! And the library in town is awesome with regular baby classes and a wonderful kids area with huge magnet walls for endless play. And the Children's Museum is a great bargain and had some cool exhibits. For a small town, Bozeman had a lot to offer but there was a lot of demand, too.
posted by amanda at 7:41 AM on February 28, 2013