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The Toddler-Friendly Index (2026)

Every parent of a 2-year-old knows the fear: a "kids" venue that turns out to be big-kid chaos. So we measured it — the share of each state's indoor play venues with a proven dedicated toddler area or toddler-only times, confirmed on the venue's own website or in parent reviews. Nationally it's 57.1% of 6,688 venues. Updated July 2026.

The index, state by state

Arizona is America's toddler capital: at least 83 of its 113 venues (73.5%) have a confirmed toddler zone. Maine and Massachusetts round out the podium. The leaders share a pattern — big soft-play markets where venues compete for the under-5 crowd rather than defaulting to trampolines and big-kid courses.

#	State	Venues	With proven toddler area	Share
1	Arizona	113	83	73.5%
2	Maine	24	16	66.7%
3	Massachusetts	192	126	65.6%
4	Alaska	20	13	65%
5	Florida	388	251	64.7%
6	Virginia	152	98	64.5%
7	Nevada	50	32	64%
8	North Carolina	194	120	61.9%
9	Colorado	120	74	61.7%
10	Texas	593	364	61.4%
11	New Jersey	274	168	61.3%
12	Tennessee	141	86	61%
13	Oregon	84	51	60.7%
14	Washington	175	106	60.6%
15	South Carolina	90	53	58.9%
16	Illinois	314	182	58%
17	New Hampshire	45	26	57.8%
18	Oklahoma	71	41	57.7%
19	Rhode Island	26	15	57.7%
20	California	646	372	57.6%
21	New York	381	217	57%
22	Connecticut	107	61	57%
23	Wisconsin	116	66	56.9%
24	Maryland	92	52	56.5%
25	Michigan	201	113	56.2%
26	Pennsylvania	279	154	55.2%
27	Ohio	275	151	54.9%
28	Utah	101	55	54.5%
29	Kansas	68	37	54.4%
30	Indiana	138	74	53.6%
31	Louisiana	86	45	52.3%
32	West Virginia	27	14	51.9%
33	Idaho	57	29	50.9%
34	Georgia	215	108	50.2%
35	Missouri	139	69	49.6%
36	Nebraska	33	16	48.5%
37	Minnesota	121	58	47.9%
38	North Dakota	24	11	45.8%
39	Montana	22	10	45.5%
40	Iowa	89	39	43.8%
41	New Mexico	31	13	41.9%
42	Alabama	106	44	41.5%
43	Arkansas	65	27	41.5%
44	Kentucky	76	29	38.2%
45	South Dakota	24	8	33.3%
46	Mississippi	50	15	30%

These are floors, not ceilings: a venue only counts when we can point to the evidence, so "at least 73.5% in Arizona" is the honest phrasing. Lower-ranked states aren't hostile to toddlers — their venues just document it less.

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Source: IndoorPlaygrounds.net Toddler-Friendly Index (2026) — indoorplaygrounds.net/playground-stats/toddler-index/

Methodology

A venue earns its toddler flag only with evidence: a dedicated toddler/under-3 area or toddler-only sessions stated on its own website, or repeatedly described in customer reviews — mined across 6,688 US venues as of July 2026. States need at least 20 listed venues to get a row (46 of 51 qualify). Share = flagged venues ÷ all venues in the state. Find the venues themselves on our toddler-friendly playgrounds page, read the toddler play guide, or head back to the stats hub.