Saitama with a toddler (2–3) 3 spots
Saitama is the only place in Japan where you can meet quokkas, often called the happiest animals in the world. Omiya's railway museum keeps 42 real train cars indoors, and the huge underground flood channel known as the 'Underground Temple' is here too. It suits animal- and train-loving kids, with plenty to do on rainy days.
A railway museum with 42 real train cars, most of which you can board.
Stroller OK · Nursing room · Changing table · checked Aug ’26
A 7.3-hectare theme park by a lake, built around the Moomin stories.
Stroller OK · Nursing room · Changing table · checked Aug ’26
A pork theme park where the producer's own hams have won European gold medals.
checked Aug ’26
Of the 42 cars on display, all but a few can be boarded and touched with your own hands. At Teppaku Hiroba there is a mini Hayabusa a child drives themselves. The 455 and 183 Lunch Trains are free spaces where you sit in a real train seat and eat the lunch you brought.Ticket pricing starts at age three: 200 yen in advance, 300 yen on the day, for preschoolers aged three and up. No eating in the exhibition rooms - the places to eat are the benches on the main building's rooftop Panorama Deck and the south building's Train Terrace outdoors, the 3F Shinkansen Lounge indoors, and the two Lunch Trains. The Mini Driving Train requires elementary school age to drive, but anyone may ride as a passenger. Re-entry is allowed, so lunch outside and back in afterwards works too - tell the entrance counter on your way out, though they may decline when the museum is busy.
The Moomin Valley Play Area is an indoor playground supervised by Bornelund, built on Nordic educational play. There are two kids' spaces inside Kokemus, behind the Moomin Valley shop and on the second floor. In summer, Water Play in Moomin Valley runs July 3 to September 6, 2026. At Emma's Theatre you can join the singing and dancing that Moomintroll and friends lead.Children 3 and under enter free; from age 4 a one-day pass is needed, 1,000 yen in advance or 1,300 on the day. Inside Moomin House the only way up and down is the stairs. Some indoor buildings with many stairs and steps do not allow strollers. You are asked not to bring food and drink into the paid area, though water bottles and PET bottles are fine and there are drink vending machines in the park. The free Metsa Village area does allow it, and you can spread a picnic sheet at the lakeside Nordic Square; there is no indoor space for eating your own food on a rainy day. Kick scooters, bicycles, tricycles and other wheeled toys may not be brought in. One family with a 4- and a 2-year-old stayed from 10:00 to 17:00 on a weekday.
Saiboku no Mori has a wooden mini athletic course for small children only, with a slide and rope climbing. You can go in and out as many times as you like on the same day, so play, eat lunch, and come back. The cafeteria has soft-serve ice cream and popcorn, a favourite with children.Preschool children are free at Saiboku no Mori; adults pay 300 yen on weekdays and 400 yen on weekends and holidays. Last entry to the lawn area is one hour before closing — 17:00 from March to November, 16:00 from December to February. Meat and ham bought at the shop need refrigeration, so bring a cooler bag (they sell one at the counter too). The hot spring Kachofugetsu does not admit anyone in diapers or training pants.