こどものしろ こどもの城, Shibuya渋谷
The National Children’s Castle is 5 floors of activity areas for children of all ages. Children who can run and walk independently will probably enjoy more of the facilities, but there are some areas where young crawlers can also safely play.
The roof has a large jungle gym with a ball pit and a wide open space with many tricycles of various sizes. The 3rd floor has an art room where there’s a large white wall for children to paint on, as well as tables for making crafts, painting and drawing. Another room has a large jungle gym – a maze of tunnels, bridges and slides and also a carpeted area with wood toys, low tables, kitchen sets, etc. The 4th floor has a music room where they have performances and story-telling. The time we went there was a drumming show where all the kids could drum along with the staff singers.
There’s also a swimming pool, gymnasium and video room. Those were closed at the time we went so I didn’t get to check it out. If you plan to bring your own lunch, there are tables and benches on B1. There are also free coin lockers (you need to insert 100 yen but you get it back).
Traveling with a baby? Shibuya is a huge station with many exits and not all exits have an escalator or elevator to the street level. There is an exit which has an elevator from the platform to street level, but I don’t remember the exit name or number. I will check again and write an update. The walk towards kodomo no shiro from Shibuya station is a bit of an uphill slope. inside kodomo no shiro is a milk room for breastfeeding and changing diapers. Inside is pretty stroller friendly as well with ramps and a very large elevator which fits as many as 4 strollers at a time and I realize in Tokyo this is very rare.