THE SHORT SET: FREE-TAIL

Nipper was barely toddling when I learned that kiddie thrills don’t come at expensive theme parks. Looking to buy a hummingbird feeder at Lowe’s, we emerged from a long aisle and Nipper’s head dropped back in awe. He pointed and shrieked at the dozens of shiny new ceiling fans spinning wa-a-a-a-ay above us. When he stayed enthralled for a full 15 minutes, I knew I was onto something.

One mom suggested the percussion section at Guitar Center, where Nipper went bonkers for bongos, tambourines, maracas, djembe drums, egg shakers, cowbells and more noisemakers than you can shake a seed rattle at.

Nobody at IKEA raised an eyebrow when Nipper played on the furniture in the kids’ section, or crawled through those colorful germ beds -- I mean, ball crawls.

“Petco,” (pictured) whispered another mom, who seemed to think it was illegal to roam stores without buying anything. The parakeets, not-terribly-exotic fish, hamsters, iguanas and gerbils make for a mini-trip to the zoo in under 20 minutes. And does anybody actually spend money at the Grove? Between the fountain, the free tram and the super-clean “alligators” (elevators) with their shiny buttons, no wonder the place is a stroller jam.

The big daddy of all free store offerings is the monthly kids’ workshop at Home Depot, where kids use nails, screws, glue and paint to make projects like birdhouses, pirate ships or pencil boxes.

And though hummingbird feeders aren’t free, those tiny flying sprites feeding from them are more entertaining than any show on TV.

Lowes, www.lowes.com; Guitar Center, www.guitarcenter.com; IKEA, www.ikea.com; Petco, www.petco.com; the Grove, www.thegrovela.com; Home Depot, www.homedepot.com

--YoMama@latimes.com