Working Parents Guide to Greenville

Are you one of the working parents out there who feels like they are missing out on the fun events in Greenville with their children due to long work hours or a full-time job? Our Working Parents Guide includes a variety of activities and ideas to maximize your time away from work, so you can have more worry-free fun with your kids.

This guide is written for working parents who can’t do things with their kids during the typical 9 am – 5 pm workday. We recognize your struggle and we want to help! Below you will find events, activities, childcare, services, and ideas to maximize the time you do have with your children outside of work.

This article includes:
Things to Do With Kids After Work in Greenville
Childcare in Greenville
Quick Meals
Cleaning Services in Greenville, SC
Grocery Delivery in Greenville, SC
Recharge and Relax in Greenville, SC

Things to do with Your Kids After Work

You may be tired and spent after working all day, but your kids are happy to see you and you’ve only got a few hours before bedtime. So what do you do?

Parks and playgrounds

Most parks are open till dark during the summer and are free of charge. Here is our guide to parks and playgrounds in the Greenville area. Warning: Choosing a favorite may be difficult. Greenville County is home to more than 6 dozen parks!

The library

The Greenville County Library System is pretty awesome. They are open till 9 pm Monday through Thursday and until 6 pm on Fridays and Saturdays. Don’t overlook the library – it’s free, it’s indoors for hot and cold weather, and many branches have kid-friendly events during the week after typical working hours. There are also plenty of virtual events to do with your kids through the library, so you do not even have to change out of those cozy pj’s!

Date Ideas with mom/dad + kid

We did a big list of date ideas you can do with your child and there is a good portion that are working-parent-friendly, like grabbing ice cream during the summer, going to a planetarium show at the Roper Mountain Science Center, and grabbing a free craft kit at the free Kids Workshop at Home Depot once a month.

Create some art

One of my favorite discoveries this year was of all the great places where kids can do art, and almost all of them are fantastic ideas for working parents.

Get Outside

With an abundance of hiking trails, waterfalls, and water activities, spending time with your kids outdoors on off-hours can be so rewarding. Here are our favorite hikes in the area, best hikes with smaller kids, places to cool off during the summer, and places to swim like lakes and waterfall pools. Don’t forget skiing, kite-flying, and camping as well. Those are great activities that get everyone away from the screen and into nature, where it’s easier to connect. Seeking adventure? Check out this local high ropes and zip line course with your kids!

Or Stay Inside

Bounce houses are usually open later than other entertainment places. Roller skating rinks, ice skating rinks (during the winter, the rink in downtown Greenville is open late), and bowling alleys are all open after typical working hours and fun places to take kids. Our giant Guide of Things to do Indoors has all of these places. If you and your child like to get your nails done, these places have chairs designed for kids and are really cute. Maybe you have a gamer family, then you may want to try this awesome 80’s arcade!

Get out energy

Trampoline parks are open past normal working hours and they are a great place to have fun with the kids and get out some energy before bedtime. Big Air Greenville even has an entire climbing section of their park, which is pretty awesome for kids of any age and a fun bonding experience for kids and their parents. Defy Urban Air, and SkyZone are also open late.

Places to Get Some Work Done and Bring the Kids

This option isn’t for everyone but for those working parents that can bring along a laptop or whatever they need that is mobile, it is possible to get work done and bring children with them to one of these places.

Swamp Rabbit Cafe & Grocery

Sit outside on a nice day in the shade and let your kid run around in the enclosed play area. Located right outside downtown Greenville, the Swamp Rabbit Cafe is easy to get to and even more fun for your kids to play at.

TReehouse Cafe

This art studio and cafe in Travelers Rest is ideal for keeping kids entertained with art projects like coloring, painting or chalk, while you drink coffee and catch up on work projects. Here’s our review for TRee House Cafe.

Palmetto Proper

With an indoor playground, wi-fi, coffee, and snacks, you’re pretty much set for at least a couple of hours to get some work done and let the kids get out energy. Read our review here.

Village Play

Designed for smaller kids, Village Play in Fountain Inn has coffee and wi-fi plus a play area for kids. Read about them here.

Library

The branch in Five Forks is incredible for working parents because it has an enormous kid’s area with an enclosed, outdoor play porch and comfortable couches that make for a great place to work while the kids read or play. The other library branches also have free WiFi and spacious room for kids to stay entertained while you work.

Drop Off Childcare and Full-Time Childcare

Giggles

This drop-in childcare center is located on Pelham Road and offers drop-in childcare. They accept kids 12 months through 12 years old.

KidsZone

Located right near Haywood Mall, KidsZone is also a drop-in childcare facility with licensed professionals who will take good care of your kids while you get work done. They accept children ages 12 weeks through 12 years old.

Upstate Kids Learning Center

This Moms Morning Out daycare center offers drop-in childcare hours Monday – Thursday. Check them out on Facebook to learn more.

Reader-Recommended Daycares

We asked our readers what childcare facilities they recommend and they came back with several great ones around town. These were the most recommended daycares:

Big Blue Marble Academy

Locations in Greenville and Mauldin

Legacy Academy

428 Woodruff Road, Greenville

Legacy Academy – Feaster Road

211 Feaster Road, Greenville

Primrose at Five Forks

2255 Woodruff Road, Simpsonville

Four Winds Child Development Center & Academy

1300 Boiling Springs Road, Greer

Abundant Life Child Development Center

630 Farrs Bridge Road, Greenville

Greenville Tech Child Development Center

Park Place Children’s Center

205 Batesville Road, Simpsonville

Need more suggestions? Check out Kidding Around’s Ultimate Guide to Daycare. You can also read about licensing and registration requirements, as well as search for their closest daycare, at the SC Child Care website here.

After School Care

Working parents of elementary and middle school-age kids often need good options for after-school care. We have a great After School Guide that contains facilities that offer daily after-school care with tons of bonuses, like local school pick-up, enrichment classes, and homework help. Check out the guide After School Guide to Greenville here.

Freeing up time with kids

Let’s be honest, balancing family and work can seem like a Herculean task. The hours you have with your kids are precious and finding that time is key to the balancing act. As mothers especially, we feel like we have to do it all – the cooking, the cleaning, the grocery shopping, the doctor appointments.

In this section you will find lots of wonderful, local companies that will clean your house and that are affordable. There are also options for having your groceries delivered or picked up curbside. There are lots of easy, quick dinners that don’t need a lot of planning or effort. Now, instead of planning your life away, you can go hiking or take your daughter for a manicure or go see the new exhibit at the museum – anything but staying at home and doing household chores.

Quick & Easy Dinners

These local restaurants can help you out on a busy day!

Restaurants near Greenville, SC with healthy kids meals
Family Meals to Go in Greenville, SC
Kids Eat Free (or Cheap) at These Greenville Restaurants
Grab an affordable family Kroc Pot meal from the Kroc Center

There are many wonderful recipe websites, so it shouldn’t take too long to find some go-to dinners on busy nights. Here are a few of our favorite recipes and websites, especially for families on a budget.

Order Out

If you’ve got the financial resources to order out often and have delicious food delivered, by all means, go for it! These are places that will pick up and deliver food from your favorite restaurants in town:

Or Make a Meal with Subscription Boxes

I’ve tried almost all of these below and really enjoy having all the ingredients on hand and learning to make quick and tasty dishes. This is a pretty good list of many others.

House cleaners

All of these cleaning companies have been recommended by readers. This is the one thing I wish I would have done earlier as a working mom. It is absolutely worth the cost to not have to clean my home after work so that I can spend time with my daughters.

Making Grocery Shopping Easier

Getting groceries delivered or bagged for you and ready for a quick pick-up at the store can make that chore much faster. Here’s our full Guide to Grocery Delivery Services in Upstate, SC. Below are a few popular delivery services in the Greenville, SC area.

Shipt: This is a company that will actually go and do your grocery shopping for you and then deliver said groceries right to your door. What a lifesaver. They currently shop and deliver from favorites like Harris Teeter, Lidl, Target, and Publix. Here is one mom’s review of her experience with Shipt and Lidl. Shipt has a yearly membership plan and delivery is free for orders over a certain amount.

Instacart: Like Shipt, Instacart offers same-day delivery of groceries that you choose online. They currently shop from Sprouts, Aldi, Publix, Lowe’s Foods, The Fresh Market, and Costco. Prices are a bit higher with this service but if you consider the nightmare of the Costco parking lot on a Saturday morning, it’s probably worth it.

Lowes Foods to Go: Lowes Foods has a service where you shop for your groceries online, choose a time, and then pick everything up right at the curbside. This is so easy that everyone, working parent or not, should use it. Lowes Foods To Go charges a service fee if you don’t have a yearly membership.

WalMart Curbside Pickup: Walmart offers online ordering and curbside pickup. Follow signs at the store for the exact pick-up location. Sometimes, a minimum of $30 must be ordered for this service so just double-check before you place your order.

Where to Recharge and Relax

Working parents need to relax and take some time for themselves. Here are a few places in Greenville that can help with that.

What’s your go-to activity for time off work with your kids?