"Due to the current economic challenges, The Kid Company is sad to announce that our Northway store will be closing on Monday September 29th. Please call our West Mifflin location with questions."

With that posting on its Web site, The Kid Company joined several other indoor play areas that have shut down in the past year. Also closing in the northern suburbs were Safari Sam's in Cranberry and Rainy Day in Pine.

The nonprofit Center for Creative Play in Swissvale, which drew 45,000 visits in its last year, closed abruptly in March, ending its 14-year run. And in the eastern suburbs, Pittsburgh Mills in Frazer used to have three play areas; now it has one, Giggles & Smiles.

"I keep hearing the same thing from parents wherever I go," said Mara Kaplan, co-founder and ex-director of the Center for Creative Play. "Where are we going to take our kids to play this winter? Parents are going to go stir crazy."

Alternative indoor spaces do exist, although some may cost more, offer less or be less conveniently located than those that have closed.

The Children's Museum of Pittsburgh costs $95 for a one-year family membership, and the Carnegie Science Center costs $130. Both are on the North Side. Families can easily spend a whole afternoon at either one, and changing attractions make for a varied menu.

On the smaller, more intimate end, there are the Toy Lending Library in Shadyside ($35 a year for volunteers who put in four hours a month) and Seesaw Center in Castle Shannon ($75). Both are member-supported nonprofits located in churches.

In addition, The Kid Company in West Mifflin is still operating, as is Giggle & Smiles in Robinson and the big commercial chains such as McDonald's Playland, Chuck E. Cheese and Gymboree Play & Music (primarily paid classes). And some of the region's malls have public play areas.

Not all of these places offer a variety of activities and materials. Some cater only to gross motor play like running, climbing and jumping.

"That's fine if you want a child to burn off some steam, but how many people can spend three hours doing that?" said Ms. Kaplan, who now consults on building and improving children's play environments through her firm, Playful Solutions.

"Play centers run on a very thin margin," she said. To succeed, they need good location, parking and a reliable stream of income from members, donors and/or paying customers. It also helps if they have enough variety to satisfy kids of different ages and keep families coming back.

That's a tall order in the best of times, and the national financial crisis isn't helping. On the other hand, parents can always do what their own parents did during the winter months: bundle up the kids and take them outside to make snowmen and snow angels, sled ride and ice skate.