It's been five years since we've had a five year old, and, also being honest, the youngest of three doesn't usually get treated his age and instead has to grow up quickly to keep up with the older brothers. So, we had forgotten how to pace ourselves for a five year old.
There's a great blog for living in and visiting Tokyo (and Japan more broadly). I look things up here regularly and should have stolen ideas from it when planning this trip: https://bestlivingjapan.com/
In any case, after so much family time in Kyoto and over Christmas, my three kiddos needed a break from each other. So, when back home in Tokyo, we assigned each of them a day to spend with their cousin and pick an activity. Though this was a survival mode decision for me (trying to maintain happy spirits among the siblings), it turned out to be a great way to have individual time/conversation. Filing this away for future family visits!
Day 1: Middle Child Day. First stop was Heiwa No Mori (Peace Park) field athletics (aka obstacle) course. After all the temples in Kyoto, this was reportedly a blast. Kids can spend hours here if you go on a day that it isn't too crowded (which it wasn't) and you don't have to wait in line for each obstacle.
I'm not sure what lunch was, but then they took the train back into our neck of Tokyo to visit a favorite candy store. With most treats averaging Y10-Y20 (under a quarter), a little money can go a long way. It's not a fancy or glittery store, just a normal neighborhood shop with endless opportunities for browsing Japanese sweets.
Day 2: Solo day with the Oldest. In a true Tokyo experience, the 15 year old took his cousin out into Tokyo on his own. I can't really imagine another city where this would happen. Maybe somewhere in Europe with good public transportation networks, but I've never lived in those places, so I'm not really sure!
They visited the TeNQ Space Museum in Tokyo Dome City. All on one floor, when discussing options, I thought it looked manageable and within an appropriate attention span. Apparently it was super fun, because they didn't leave to find lunch until close to 1pm. By that time, all the noodle shops were full and with lines, so in order to avoid a hangry situation, the teenager made an executive decision McDonald's was in order. The parents joined after lunch for bowling, also in Tokyo Dome City, finishing up the afternoon.
Day 3: Out with a 10 year old. The youngest really doesn't like to travel far, preferring locations accessible by his scooter. This was just fine for his cousin, so they headed to "Robot Park" nearby our house. After playing their hearts content (and watching how Japanese parents meticulously train Japanese children from a very very young age to properly stand in line and wait their turns), they walked over to Roppongi Hills to choose a lunch. Given the noodle failure the day before, a fancy soba/udon shop was in order. They then stopped at a Tsutaya Roppongi bookstore, which has a good selection of kids books in English and also fun books like Where's Waldo in Japanese. Not to mention I hear there was also a Starbucks pit stop :).
Mostly, when we ate as a group, we ate at home -- it isn't easy to find places in Tokyo to seat 10 people without having to choose a course menu. With a request for some Tokyo craft brew, we ate one night at TY Harbor -- in addition to the beer and a view of the water, it's a great spot for visitors craving an American-style salad after lots of cooked foods. Plus they had a kids menu and coloring set, like a family restaurant back home.
Another day at lunch, I had planned to eat at City Bakery Brasserie Ruben (unlimited bread basket is great for the kids!), but it had filled up by the time we arrived. Instead, we headed next door to Ark Hills Cafe, which turned out to be an even better choice. In addition to being a touch more casual (always easier with kids), its lunch menu had both Western and Japanese options - so we could order chicken sandwiches and hamburgers as well as udon and ginger stirfry pork.
As a family on other days around Chrimstas, we had short outings to Tokyo Tower (also has a VR boat race in the basement and a ball pit for toddlers), a B League basketball game, and Kiddy Land + crepes in Harajuku (my favorite outing as a kid in Tokyo!).
We also considered a few of these itineraries, a day at Ueno Zoo, a day at Yomiuri Land amusement park, or day trips to Kamakura, Hakone or Nikko, but ultimately decided to take it easy and enjoy family time rather than sightseeing. Tokyo Disney and Tokyo Disney Sea were early candidates as well, but we collectively ruled those out even before visitors arrived with us not really being Disney people, and them realizing how exhausted the five year old might be the day after such a Disney adventure.
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