Parents know that the best thing you can do with kids is find them someplace you can launch them like rocks from a trebuchet so they can ricochet off objects and other kids until inertia slows them to a stop.

I sincerely hope that everyone knows I meant that figuratively. Do not put small children in the trebuchet you for whatever reason own.

Here's the issue... it's hot. The average temperature of Houston in the summer is infinity degrees Fahrenheit and the humidity is like being wrapped in towels straight from a pot of boiling hot dog water. The only solution is to find places indoors for your kids to run around. Here are the ten best in Houston.

10. McDonald's Find locations with Play Places

Sadly, the fast food/jungle gym combination is in the decline. Only Chick-Fil-A seems to still consider them standard add-ons, and that's a mixed bag at best. On the one hand the company seasons their food with the tears of bullied gay children, but on the other they give out cow hats and are apparently the only fast food restaurant that cleans their playground equipment with any real stringency.

I still prefer McDonald's myself for a good play stop, especially now that they offer stuff like apple slices for snacks. Their play places, especially the ones built in the last decade or so, are generally cool and most of all free to use. Speaking of big corporate managed play pens...