Things to do with a toddler in Dakar
Are you planning a trip to Dakar with a toddler and wonder how to keep them entertained? After having visited Dakar with our first born when she was only 2.5 months old (see How to Travel to Senegal with a 2.5 months old baby), CoVid had kept us from going back until she was well in her toddler years and I was wondering the same.
When you look up ‘things to do in Dakar with a toddler’ many sites will give you the main attractions and sight seeing spots that are recommended as activities for grown ups. Suggestions are to visit Goree Island (Ile de Goree), the Renaissance Museum (Monument de la Renaissance africaine a Dakar) , the Pink Lake (Lac Rose or Lac Retba), Dakar’s Light House (Phare des Mamelles).
While all of these activities can really be done with a toddler I was hoping to find something more toddler friendly and really suited for my kids ages during our last visit when they were 3 and 1 years old. Luckily, we have family in Dakar who introduced us to some great toddler friendly activities.
Before I share the list of what we actually ended up doing, let me share the articles I found during my research here:
Here is a quick overview of the activities I can recommend. Click on the items or scroll down to find out more details for each as well as some picture or video impressions.
Spend time at the beach
Along the Cor des Almadies there are many cafes and bars with direct access to the beach. The beach is not a long and wide strip of white sand but small and lined by rocks. However, there are many smaller spots where you can enjoy the splashing of the waves, watch surfers and find enough spots to play in the sand for a toddler while you can enjoy nice drinks, good food and the view.
If you continue along the Cor des Almadies you will also reach the furthest point west on African mainland.
Use Facilities of Hotels
If you are staying at a hotel then it is a no brainer that you can use the hotels facilities such as the pool, play area etc. Why not simply venture out to a different hotel for a day or afternoon if you’ve explored your own hotel enough?
We spent one afternoon at the pool of the Pullman. Swimming in the pool, playing in the pirogues that are lining the pool and restaurant area, looking at the waves of the sea, the little beach and the play area kept our little ones content and entertained.
Sun Park Amusement Park
This is a little amusement park right next to the big Cathedral in Dakar. From bumper cars, floating rides, a carousel, video and arcade games to a large trampoline there are many activities to keep the little ones busy.
There are also snacks available such as fries, hot dogs, crepe, ice cream, pop corn and drinks.
The entrance to the park itself is free. The attractions all require a small fee ranging from 500f to 1,500 CFA. The price for snacks is in the same price range. You can purchase the tickets on site.
Sea Plaza Shopping Mall
Sea Plaza is a small shopping mall next to Hotel Radisson Blue. There are some restaurants, kids stores and activities like a carousel and little rides.
Playtorium
Within Seaplaza you can also find Playtorium. It opened up in spring/summer 2023 and it located right behind the main escalator on the second floor down. It is a small indoor playground with different play stations (house, hospital, supermarket, kitchen, work bench, ice cream and beauty salon), a jungle gym and also a space for coloring. Whether you need to run an errand or just want to enjoy a drink by yourself, this space is great.
There are usually 1-2 care staff so that you can leave your child and do not have to stay with them. Children have to be 2 years or older or a guardian has to stay with them. The care staff were really good in how they approached my two older girls when we went there for the first time. I stayed to play with them, sat on the side to check some
messages and in the end left to run some errands at sea plaza while they continued playing. They were giggling and laughing with the care staff when I returned.
The pricing is 5,000 CFA per hour, 10,000 CFA for a half day and 20,000 CFA for a full day. There are one or two snacks offered when you stay for a half or full day.
The only downsides of the place I see is that it is a little bit small and some of the toys are already a bit run down. Other than that I a, pretty sure that we will go back for some more playtime.
You can find more information about Playtorium on Facebook and Instagram.
Mikado
We visited Mikado in December 2023 as part of a 5th birthday party. Here are some impressions of the visit. They had more activities, snacks and a cake to celebrate with each party and a birthday song at the end.
Poney Club de Hann
This is a stable with 2 main areas for the horses and ponys to run and stables just behind them. I was surprised to see how many there were. We were able to walk around, to see the horses as they were washed and brought back to their stables or fed. We didn’t do any riding but the little ones had fund watching the horses and feeding them with straw.
Playground in Parc Hann
After visiting the Pony Club in Parc Hann, I was so curious about visiting the park as well which has lots of other activities like a zoo, an aquarium, a pond, paintball and a playground.
After I missed going to the playground with a group of other families and kids we finally made it on a Monday around lunch time. The playground was officially closed but they were kind enough to let us go in, explore and play a little bit.
You can best find the park by looking up “Les nuages perdent leurs plumes” in Google Maps. It is best accessed from the north side of the park. You can look for “Pharmacie Plusss…” for directions. When parking your car outside it’s a 5-10 minute walk to the playground.
There are many activities at the playground like swings, slides, trampolines, old cars to sit in, a boxing ring, archery, a climbing wall, a slack line, bowling, etc. All of the facilities are a bit run down so that I was a little worried whether they would e.g. scratch their hands somewhere but there was no problem.
While my 2 year old did do some of the activities, this playground seems better suited for kids 3 to 4 years and up.
The restaurant “Les nuages pendent leurs plumes” was unfortunately closed when we were there and desperate for lunch. Thankfully we had some snacks. I can imagine spending a good few hours there with more kids running around and the restaurant being open on a day on the weekend.
The parc has a website with more information at http://www.lesnuagesperdentleursplumes.com
Brunch and Explore – Dakar’s Lighthouse
I wasn’t going to mention the Phare des Mamelles but after spending almost our entire Sunday there with #3under4 and having a just lovely day, I do want to add it to my list of things to do in Dakar with a toddler and kids.
See my Mini Vlog here.
STEAMtastic
STEAM stands for Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Mathematics. It became an acronym of first STEM when governments were trying to address shortage in technology workers in the late 20th century. Later, Arts was added later to not forget about education in the field of arts and humanities.
You can find more information here: STEM Cafe/STEAMtastic
All their activities have an educational aspect connected to one of these fields. We went there on a Monday around lunch time. It was completely empty as kids were in school and only go there after. They were kind enough to show us around, tell us a lot about the project and then entertain our two older ones.
I could see how they discussed shapes while building a pen holder, they looked at robots and a toy that helps to understand what coding and programming is about.
They accept kids from 5 years on usually and given the focus and activities this makes sense to me.
Other activities
If we had had more time and/or for when the kids are a little older, these are the other activities I would have liked to explore.
- Library of the French Institute of Dakar
- Park Hann
- Magic Land
- Mikado
- Central Park – I drove by there today and it by accident. It looks like a small fun fair similar to Sun Park (mentioned above).
Have you travelled to Dakar with a toddler? Let me know about your experience and the activities you engaged in with them.
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