Sunrise Play Café reopened its doors at 204 St. Helens Ave. on Oct. 17, almost three months after a flood closed it. For families in the North End with children under six, the timing is what matters. Rainy season has started, and the café is the one indoor play space nearby that keeps the same hours every day. The free options and the museum each cover only part of the week, so the café fills in around them.
Lay the options out by day and a pattern shows up. Monday is the thin day. The free library programs fall on Wednesday and Thursday. The Children's Museum of Tacoma is open to the public only Friday through Sunday. Sunrise is the only option open every day.
What the café lost over the summer
Sunrise opened in the Stadium District this spring. It has a climbing wall, a custom 1,400-square-foot play structure and a café menu designed with kids and working parents in mind. On July 21, according to The News Tribune, a large leak from a neighboring business flooded the café and ruined the play equipment, walls and flooring. Repairing the play structure alone cost $47,000, and the café canceled every birthday party booked for July and August, the paper reported.
That gap ran from late July into mid-October, which meant the warm months went without the one North End indoor option open every day. Its return in October lines up with the wet months.
The week, laid out
Here is how the North End's indoor options for young children line up across a week this fall, using each venue's posted hours.
| Day | Sunrise Play Café | Swasey & Wheelock libraries | Children's Museum of Tacoma |
|---|---|---|---|
| Monday | 9 a.m.–3 p.m. | No hours listed | Members 10 a.m.–2:30 p.m.; low-sensory 3–5 p.m. |
| Tuesday | 9 a.m.–3 p.m. | Noon–8 p.m. | No public hours |
| Wednesday | 9 a.m.–3 p.m. | Noon–8 p.m.; Swasey Baby Storytime 1–1:45 p.m. | No public hours |
| Thursday | 9 a.m.–3 p.m. | 10 a.m.–6 p.m.; Swasey Play to Learn 10–11:30 a.m.; Wheelock Baby Storytime 11:30 a.m.–12:15 p.m. | No public hours |
| Friday | 9 a.m.–3 p.m. | 10 a.m.–6 p.m. | 10 a.m.–5 p.m. |
| Saturday | 9 a.m.–3 p.m. | 10 a.m.–6 p.m. | 10 a.m.–5 p.m.; members 9–10 a.m. |
| Sunday | 9 a.m.–3 p.m. | No hours listed | 10 a.m.–5 p.m. |
Monday has the fewest choices
Swasey Branch at 7001 Sixth Ave. and Wheelock Branch at 3722 N. 26th St. both post hours Tuesday through Saturday only. That leaves the library column empty on Sunday and Monday. On Monday the Children's Museum of Tacoma opens 10 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. for members only, then holds low-sensory hours from 3 to 5 p.m.
Unless you're a museum member, Sunrise is the only all-ages indoor play space on the North End list open Monday morning. That makes the café's Play Date reservation most useful on Mondays. Open Play holds just six walk-in spots per session, first come, first served. A Play Date has its own capacity and guarantees your spot if you book ahead. Both cost $20 for the first child and $10 for each sibling, for up to two hours of play for ages 0 to 6.
Wednesday and Thursday belong to the libraries
The free programs cluster in the middle of the week. Swasey hosts Baby Storytime on Wednesdays from 1 to 1:45 p.m., for babies from birth to 18 months. Sunrise starts a new session every two hours from its 9 a.m. opening, so its third session of the day begins at the same time as Swasey's storytime. On a Wednesday, the café makes the most sense in the morning and the library after lunch.
Thursday has the most going on. Swasey runs Play to Learn from 10 to 11:30 a.m., a free program for children six and under with a parent, grandparent or other caregiver. Each session mixes individual play, group activities, songs and a whole-group circle time. Greentrike presents it, Tacoma Public Library hosts it, and Tacoma Creates, a City of Tacoma program, funds it. Upcoming dates are listed for Oct. 29, Nov. 5, Nov. 12, Nov. 19 and Dec. 3. Nov. 26, Thanksgiving Day, is not on the list.
Across the neighborhood, Wheelock's Baby Storytime starts at 11:30 a.m. Thursdays and ends at 12:15 p.m., also for birth to 18 months. Play to Learn ends at 11:30, the minute Wheelock's storytime begins at a different branch, so a family with a toddler and a baby will usually pick one per Thursday. The two branches split the North End between them. Swasey sits out on Sixth Avenue, and Wheelock is on North 26th near the Proctor District.
Greentrike also runs the Children's Museum, so the same organization is behind Thursday's free program at Swasey and the museum's weekend public hours.
Friday through Sunday, the museum opens
The museum's public hours run Friday through Sunday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Admission is pay-as-you-will. Members also get an extra hour on Saturday from 9 to 10 a.m. For families who aren't members, the museum belongs to the weekend.
Weekends are also when Sunrise is busiest. The café notes that weekend birthday parties can limit play availability. A practical split, then, is the museum on Saturday and Sunday and the café on the weekdays when there's nothing else on the calendar.
How the café's pricing fits a rotation
If you plan to use Sunrise as the fill-in on Mondays and other open days, the café's reopening announcement spells out the options:
- 10-session pass: $150, with no expiration date.
- Monthly plan: $100 for up to four children, plus 15% off café purchases.
- Annual plan: $800 for up to four children, with two more children at $100 each, plus 20% off café purchases.
- Founding Family membership: $1,000 a year for up to six children, plus 25% off café purchases.
All memberships can book member play dates. A visit at the standard rate costs $20 for one child, so the 10-session pass works out to $15 a visit and doesn't expire, which suits families who only drop in on rainy days. The café side serves breakfast and lunch, coffee and tea, and beer and wine, and there's a kids' meal with one main, three sides and a drink. That means a two-hour session can double as lunch.
A Proctor stop between storytimes
On a Thursday at Wheelock, Teaching Toys and Books at 2624 N. Proctor St. is in the same part of the neighborhood. The shop carries picture books, board books, early readers and toys. Check the store directly for current hours before you plan around it.
For a stretch of wet weeks, the rotation looks like this. Monday at Sunrise with a reserved Play Date. Wednesday morning at the café and an afternoon storytime at Swasey. Thursday at Play to Learn or Wheelock's Baby Storytime. The weekend at the Children's Museum during its public hours. Library programs can change with the season, so check each event page before you head out, especially around the holidays.
How close you are to a library branch or a play café can shape a household's week. If you'd like to talk through what daily life looks like near Swasey, Wheelock or the Stadium District with young children, Stephanie Patrick is glad to help. Let's Connect.
