What Karen is describing sounds a bit like the City Museum in St Louis (citymuseum.org). It's a mishmash of playgrounds, art demonstrations (plus classes) and carnival and circus stuff, mixed in with historical and art exhibits. I always wished it had opened when I was still a little kid, but it's a lot of fun for big kids too-- they actually started opening it up to adults at night, so we could crawl through all the tunnels ourselves. Way more fun than just glass!

I'm a parent, but I think it should be something cool for people of all ages, and locals as well as tourists. Something active would be good... there are a lot of arts activities at the center already.

This non-kid-having adult would totally support building a permanent ice rink at Seattle center!

Seattle Center is crying out for a real amusement park.

Seattle could definitely use an ice rink! I would use it!

Just make Chihuly create a huge pool of glass balls that kids that jump into.

er, "can jump into."

Wow, a museum where you can watch glass blowers working! That's an awesome idea! Too bad there isn't that exact sort of thing just 30 miles south of the little isolated island they called Seattle... say in that vast empty space called Tacoma...

Um, that's great @8, but I gather, from the inclusion of other activities noted by the parent (e.g. welding, pottery, stage set construction) that they envision something a little more comprehensive than JUST glass blowers working.

And I don't think MoG offers up any examples of from other disciplines, so - your point would be, what exactly?

Just to be clear, an adventure playground can be for all ages. I've seen huge climbing ropes structures all over Europe (ever seen the little rope one at the play area at the zoo?). It's a lot of fun. There's a great one in Fairfax County, Virginia that was built so kids with disabilities could also access activities. This is NOT just a simple playground with swings and a slide. It would be great for natives and tourists alike.

Here's a link from Mental Floss with 10 great ones:

http://www.mentalfloss.com/blogs/archive…

How about a trampoline park. The inventor of the trampoline recently died, we could make it a Memorial Park next to Memorial Stadium.

How can they say that a museum filled with extremely expensive, highly breakable objects surrounded by velvet ropes and "Don't Touch!" signs isn't kid-friendly?

@1 I just went to the city museum last year. It was excellent (even for my aged 26 y/o self). Seattle is so damn liability averse that I can't see something like that ever happening there, but it would be great. They have a ball pit adjacent to a bar for god's sake.

I also have trouble seeing an ice rink in seattle center be anything but an expensive, poorly patroned, soon-to-be-rickety affair.

Ever been to the Tivoli in Copenhagen?

@16 - not that I recall. I mean, I have been to Copenhagen, but ...

how about a chihuly ice rink?

@18 - Even better... a Chihuly obstacle course ice rink. Now that is something the whole family can get behind.