76. Creative Kidstuff
City: Minneapolis, MN
Category: Tours & Attractions
Telephone: (612) 927-0653
Address: 4313 Upton Ave. South
Description: This neat little local toyshop chain offers educational and creative toys for both kids and parents to salivate over. Hands-on is the motto here. Lots of toys have been removed from their packaging and scattered about the store for kids to try out. There are three big sales a year—a storewide event in June and clearance sales in July and after Christmas. Creative Kidstuff holds in-store kids’ events throughout the year, too.
77. Pacifier
City: Minneapolis, MN
Category: Tours & Attractions
Telephone: (612) 623-8123
Address: 310 East Hennepin Ave.
Description: Pacifier stocks an offbeat and artistic collection of clothes, wooden toys, diaper bags, gifts, and much more for the baby of the family and the baby’s parents. The store features clothing from Global Mamas, high-quality handmade dresses and onesies made by Ghanan women who are guaranteed a fair wage for their work.
78. Wild Rumpus Books For Young Readers
City: Minneapolis, MN
Category: Tours & Attractions
Telephone: (612) 920-5005
Address: 2720 West 43rd St.
Description: The front door of this 2,000-square-foot bookstore hints at what’s to come. It actually holds a door within a door, giving kids an entrance that’s their own size rather than the same old adult-height doorway. This place is definitely designed for kids. The name, plucked from Maurice Sendak’s Where the Wild Things Are, fits. Animals are everywhere—chickens, cats, birds, ferrets, tarantulas, geckos, fish, and even a rat, whose cage is appropriately placed in the floor of the scary books reading shack. You’ll find old and new favorites as well as books from smaller presses that you simply can’t find at your local chain bookstore—one of many refreshing ways this bookshop differentiates itself from the big guys.