Mom with two children ages 6 and 4 is told to visit indoor playgrounds and write a story about it. It’s a dirty job, but somebody’s got to do it.

Actually, it’s not dirty at all. It’s clean, it’s air-conditioned and it’s a perfect antidote for hot, wet and buggy summer afternoons.

South Florida, it appears, is an incubator for this type of entertainment center. Four companies have started their efforts here, creating the first of what they hope to be franchise centers.

“You’ve got the weather, the economy, a well-educated consumer and a large influx of tourists,” said Randy Grinter, co-owner of Fun Fair, a 30,000- square-foot entertainment center in Sunrise. Plus, the influence of Blockbuster Entertainment and the availability of investment dollars have made the industry thrive here.

Here’s a guide to the major indoor playgrounds in Broward and Palm Beach counties, with the age range they’re geared to serve and what they have to offer. So grab your kids and some socks and head out for some family fun.

Discovery Zone

Plaza at Coral Springs, 7151 Riverside Drive, Coral Springs, 345-7500

Fountains of Plantation, 801 S. University Drive, Plantation, 452-9010

Riverbridge Centre, 6832 Forest Hill Blvd., West Palm Beach, 641-5437

Summer hours: noon to 9 p.m. Monday, 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. Tuesday through Thursday, 9 a.m. to 10 p.m. Friday and Saturday, 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. Sunday.

Discovery Zone has the largest presence in South Florida. There are 10,000- square-foot centers in Plantation, Coral Springs and West Palm Beach, plus two more in Dade County.

The big news is that the old price of $4.99 for two hours of play is out. It’s $4.99 for unlimited play. With the purchase of the annual Discovery Zone Club card for $14.99, the price goes down to $3.99 per visit. Parents play free. When you buy the club card, you get a free gift pack that includes a T- shirt, toy or gift and one free admission, plus discounts at area businesses and a subscription to a bimonthly calendar of events.

Centers are geared to children ages 2-12, and feature a MegaZone, a giant playground with climbing ropes, ball pits, slides and mazes. There’s a separate area for little ones, and a game room for older kids. Snacks and drinks are available.

“We’re the first; we originated the concept,” said Steven Horowitz, southeast regional director. “We manufacture our own equipment, so we can keep the concept fresh. We’re going to be remodeling the Coral Springs center in September after the kids go back to school. We’ll be bringing in the first wave of new equipment into the MegaZone … My kids aren’t bored yet. They still ask if they can go, so I know I’m doing something right.”

Mega Maze

3445 Hiatus Road, Shoppes of Sawgrass, Sunrise

746-7744

Hours: 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Sunday through Thursday, 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday.

Broward’s newest indoor playground opened just in time for summer vacation at Oakland Park Boulevard and Hiatus Road in Sunrise. The center combines the concept of a Discovery Zone and a Chuck E. Cheese, offering both a play area and an animation show. For birthday parties, children can program the songs they want the characters to sing.

Admission is $4.99 for two hours; parents play free. With a Megaplay Club Membership, currently offered for $10.99, you receive one free admission, a T- shirt and 25 percent discount admission for each child in the family for a year.

There’s a toddler area and a parent’s lounge with a big-screen television.

The snack bar features hot dogs, pizza, popcorn, chips, muffins and fruit.

Funtastics

8160 W. Broward Blvd., Plantation

370-5009

Hours: 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. daily.

There’s probably as much going on here as there is on a weekend cruise, all geared to kids ages 2-12.

Look for more of these centers coming on-line in the coming months. General manager Susan Mannheimer said the company is looking at sites in Boca Raton and West Palm Beach to add to its debut center in Plantation.

“They put a lot of care into this first one,” she said. “Everything was done with a lot of care. The playground was built with light colors going down to darker colors because, psychologically, it’s more stimulating to the children.”

Besides the play area, there’s a game room, art room, science room, stage area, gym area and restaurant. The center features live entertainment on Friday nights, workshops and classes in mime, dramatics, dance, aerobics and parent-child programs.

“We looked at every kind of successful children’s business and rolled it into one,” Mannheimer said.

Cost is $4.99 for unlimited play in the Fantasy Park, a gigantic series of ball pits, ramps, mazes and what-not that make your kids look like they’re in a futuristic ant farm. You never know which slide they’ll emerge from.

Since there’s so much to do, pricing can be confusing. A pay-one-price wristband entitles you to play in the Fantasy Park, two free tokens for the game room, an art project or gym time, and special events such as the basketball contest. Summer camp is $120 a week.

Fun Fair

4545 N. Pine Island Road, Sunrise

Hours: 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. weekdays, 10 a.m. to midnight weekends.

also Joe Robbie Stadium, 100 level, Gate E

748-3520

Hours: During stadium events

“We’re a little different,” co-owner and general manager Randy Grinter said. “The other centers go up to age 10 or 12. Fun Fair is more along the lines of a true family entertainment center. We have a range of things designed to accommodate all ages.”

The largest indoor amusement center in the county, Fun Fair has a different pricing structure, too. Admission is free, and all the attractions are pay- for-play. The maze-playground area is $4.95 an hour, pricey compared to the other centers, with discounts for additional kids. Then there’s 75 or so redemption games where you win tickets you trade for prizes. There are batting cages, basketball courts, pingpong, pool tables, a golf simulator, inflatables like bounce houses, and a couple of things called a Spider Wall and a Bunjee Run.

“You have to go to greater lengths to entertain the same child who two years ago would have been happy with a bounce house or a small maze at a McDonald’s,” Grinter said. “We said, ‘Why do something just for the kids? Why can’t everybody come in and have a good time?”‘

Right now, Fun Fair is finishing a 100-seat theater that will present live shows and videos.

“There are other games we’re creating now, using inflatables,” Grinter said. “We’re constantly changing things around. If you haven’t been here in awhile, chances are we’ll have something new and different.”

At Joe Robbie, the activities are limited to the batting cage and an arcade room, and the center is open only during stadium events.

Explorations

23078 Sandalfoot Plaza, Boca Raton

451-3511

Hours: 9:30 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday through Thursday, 9:30 a.m. to 10 p.m. Friday and Saturday, 9:30 a.m. to 8 p.m. Sunday.

Explorations is designed to give kids a full aerobic workout without them ever realizing they’re exercising.

There are more than 40 activities in the 12,000-square-foot center, designer and owner Michelle Tucker said. The play area, the U.S.S. Explorer, is a nautical-theme maze that takes about an hour to get through. Cost is $4.99 for two hours of play for kids; adults play for free.

The fact that the maze has a definite start and finish is something that sets the center apart from other indoor playgrounds, Tucker said. By the time the kids get through, they’ve kept their heart rate up for about 20 minutes, a good aerobic workout.

The restaurant specializes in health foods with an unlimited salad bar, and there’s also a satellite TV room (“So there’s no excuses for dads to stay home,” Tucker said), a kiddie lounge that shows children’s videos, and more than 30 arcade games and kid’s rides.

Geared to children ages 1 to 12, Explorations also welcomes the young-at- heart, as long as they’re with a child. For security reasons, adults are not admitted without children, and children don’t leave without an adult.

“We encourage parents to go in,” Tucker said. “I had a 70-year-old lady ask to have her husband’s 75th birthday party there.”

Explorations is another outfit that’s begun franchising and expects to open centers in West Palm Beach, Pembroke Pines and Kendall.

Fun Factory

Pine Island Ridge Plaza

8908 State Road 84, Davie

473-6626

Hours: 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Monday and Tuesday, 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Wednesday through Saturday, closed Sunday.

If there’s one problem with the Discovery Zones and Funtastics of the world, it’s that there’s not much for the little ones. All the commotion can be daunting for preschoolers who are at elbow level for older kids, and frustrating for their parents, who feel they’ve spent a lot of money when most of the activities are geared to older kids.

Enter Fun Factory, which is designed for children from the time they start walking through age 6.

“It’s a more protected environment,” creator and owner Barbara Cohn said. “It was created exclusively for young children. I just opened this one last September, and if it works, we’ll open another one. It’s kind of becoming the in place for the preschool set.”

Cost is $5 for two hours of play time.

“It’s cool, it’s clean, it’s safe and it’s good exercise for the children,” Cohn said. Activities include a castle, penthouse with slide, an air-inflated space walk, obstacle course and inner tubes. Everything is well padded and low to the ground.

They also offer dance and gymnastics classes, parenting lectures, and are starting a “Get Fit to Grow Club,” a fitness-oriented parent-child program for ages 12 months to 3 1/2 years.

Amy Gilson of Plantation brings her two children about once a week. Sarah Rose, 3 1/2, plays with the other children while Gilson minds 8-month-old Jacob.

“I enjoy the friendly warm atmosphere,” she said. “The playthings are durable and the children have no risk of getting hurt here. There isn’t a piece of equipment my daughter is afraid to use. Everything’s easily in view and there’s a nice place for me to sit. It’s a good place to get together with friends.”

Chuck E. Cheese

8515 Pines Blvd., Pembroke Pines, 437-8178

8099 W. Oakland Park Blvd., Sunrise, 741-4099

4646 Okeechobee Blvd., West Palm Beach, 478-9372

Hours: 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Monday through Thursday, 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. Friday, 8 a.m. to 11 p.m. Saturday, 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. Sunday.

This restaurant, with its combination of robotic, Disney-esque entertainers, rides and games, is tremendously popular for birthday parties. But you don’t have to get an invitation to check out the fun.

One nice thing about Chuck E. Cheese is that you don’t have to pay to walk in the door. The only free activity is the ball pit, but it’s nice to know it’s there when the tokens run out for the preschool-age rides and the games, which challenge kids of all ages as well as their less-coordinated parents. Tokens are a quarter each, and each activity takes one token. The center is geared to children from infants through about age 13.

The robotic characters put on shows all through the day, and are designed to be interactive. Kids are encouraged to jump up on stage for a dance and to sing along and clap their hands. In between show times, children’s music videos are played.

Beware of the weekends; it’s nonstop birthday parties from breakfast time on, and the noise can be deafening.

Billed as a pizza parlor, the menu also features sandwiches, hot dogs, salads and bread sticks.

Miami Subs

2190 S. University Drive, Davie

938-9400

6405 Nova Drive, Davie

476-0780

Hours: 9:30 a.m. to 3 a.m. daily

Groups of moms with preschoolers start gathering early at the two Miami Subs in Davie.

They also seem to be hot spots for Broward politicos who want to impress their most important constituents — their kids.

Owner Jerry McDonald said it’s not uncommon to see Davie Town Manager Irv Rosenbaum or County Commissioner Scott Cowan hanging out around the ball pit.

One of the few fast-food restaurants with an indoor playground, Miami Subs is a scaled-down alternative to the larger centers. There’s a ball pit for kids up to 48 inches tall, and a toddler play area as well. For older kids, there are video games. The ball pits are free; the video games run about 50 cents each.

McDonald built the restaurants with the play areas, which are glassed off from the seating areas to keep the noise level down, because he understands his target audience. He should know: he’s got three kids 7 and younger.

Adventure Zone Paintball City

6401 Sheridan St., Hollywood

986-9205

Hours: Wednesday through Friday, 4 to 8 p.m.; Saturday and Sunday, 9 a.m. to 8 p.m.

Lest you think all this activity is just for kids, Adventure Zone has opened Paintball City, an indoor version of its action adventure game.

Located in a 10,000-square-foot former warehouse, the playing field is for ages 18 and older. It’s filled with bunkers in a type of town maze and has special effects, such as flashing lights and music.

Paintball, if you’ve never heard of it, is a glorified game of capture the flag, in which teams splatter each other with nontoxic paint and try to steal each other’s flag. If you get hit, you’re out of the game.

Games start about every 15 minutes, and teams average 10 to 20 people per side. You can form your own team, or go as a single and join up.

This grown-up playground has a grown-up price tag to go with it. There’s three packages available — handgun for $26.50, rifle for $30 or semiautomatic for $37.50.

That pays your admission for three hours, and gets you a gun, 100 paint balls, a mask and goggles and the CO2 cartridge that fires the balls. Definitely wear your grubbies; the paint will come out in the wash.

The company has had an outdoor version of the game for about a year just across the parking lot from Paintball City, in case you want to add a little dirt and sweat to the fun.

Fort Lauderdale Swap Shop Circus

3121 W. Sunrise Blvd., Fort Lauderdale

791-7927

Show times: Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, 11 a.m. and 4 p.m.

Thursday, 10 a.m., 1:30 and 4 p.m.

Friday, 11 a.m., 2:30 and 5 p.m.

Saturday and Sunday 10 a.m., 2:30 and 6 p.m.

If you’d rather your kids wind down than wind up, the circus at the Swap Shop is an inexpensive outing. The cheap seats are free and the expensive ones are a buck. It’s air-conditioned, and is filled with aerialists, trained animal acts, live music, magic and even waltzing waters.

The walk from the parking lot can be a real trek, so if you have little ones, toss the stroller in the car just in case.

There’s bleacher, chair and table seating around the ring, easily accommodating families. Preferred seating in front of the ring is $1 a head, 50 cents for senior citizens.

Vendors wander through the crowd selling popcorn, cotton candy, programs and inflatables, and everything’s $1. A food court rings the performance area if you want something more substantial, or bring your own nibbles and drinks. Outside, there’s a small children’s ride area, where everything’s a buck, including the wonderful two-story carousel.

Now, to give away the best secret in town, these folks also do free birthday parties for up to six kids, plus two adults. Just give them a couple of days advance notice.

— Pat Curry is a free-lance writer based in Plantation.