How To Make Your Indoor Playground Look Like A Million Bucks

That is a question that I get asked quite frequently when I tell folks that I have a play café. "Is that like an indoor play gym with slides and rock climbing structures and trampolines?" I guess that is what happens if you introduce a totally new idea to your city.
Indoor playgrounds have been around for a little while, and there are many of them in our city of Burlington and neighbouring cities of Oakville and Hamilton. They are the places that you take your children to when they want to burn off their energy when it is too cold out to go to the playground, or whenever you do not want them to tear your house apart. They are the places where your kids can run around through mazes, climb ropes, slide down slides and let out all the crazy!
It was really at an indoor playground that the idea of Chickadee Family Cafe was born within my mind. I'd taken my afterward two-and-a-half year old into a popular indoor play area within our hometown Burlington and strove to keep up with him as he raced down slides and throughout mazes. I crouched into miniature corners pursuing my little man around and came out utterly exhausted (go ahead, insert jokes about how out of shape I'm here).
As soon as I arose in the play structures, I looked at the other parents. Many were standing around trying to keep a visual on their kids' whereabouts. Some were calling their kids' titles, trusting that they were not stuck in a maze...'cause c am on, we all know no adult wants to need to climb all of the way up those structures to retrieve a crying kid. Mostly, they looked exhausted and tired. Maybe their children awakened at 6am too.
Do not get me wrong, there was lots of laughter and giggles. I had fun with my son, that had been the major purpose of going to the indoor playground, but at a place full of other moms and dads around my age with kids around my son's age, there was a massive opportunity for building relationship with my community that I felt was completely overlooked. As a new resident of Burlington I wished to connect with other parents. But the air did not really lend itself to having a real conversation.
I started to research what else was out there to get a few superior mother -- son time which didn't need me to crawl on my hands and knees and squeeze my buttocks through a tunnel match for a toddler. I discovered play cafes. Play cafes are relatively new to Canada, but are around the united kingdom, Australia and the US for years. A drama café blends the requirements of both parents and children, fueling parents with carbonated drinks while providing ample play space for kids to explore and have fun.
Play cafes accept the community-focused way of a café and include a play area for kids. At Chickadee Family Café, we provide that coffee shop atmosphere which you are utilized to sipping your latte in as well as a fun child-friendly environment filled with creative and toys based drama actions. When the play space is closed and the kiddos are in bed, our space can easily transform in an evening assembly area for parent workshops, a couples' date night or a meeting place for mompreneurs.
While most indoor playground equipment playgrounds either don't provide food or function up fast food options or vending machine snacks, a play café is a full sized café with espresso based drinks along with a hearty menu of healthy snacks and lunch items.
A drama café is a bridge between a historical years' center and your regional trendy café. Most play cafes offer parent and child classes and parenting supports through workshops and support groups, many things you can anticipate in Chickadee Family Café.
I hope that helped to explain the difference between an indoor playground and a play café. We can not wait to open our doors and invite you to experience the difference for yourself.