Indoor Playground Reviews & Tips

This is a question that I get asked quite often when I tell folks that I own a drama 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 an entirely new idea to your city.
Indoor playgrounds have been around for a while, and there are many of them in our city of Burlington and neighbouring cities of Oakville and Hamilton. They are the places you take your children to when they want to burn off their energy when it's too cold out to visit the playground, or whenever you do not want them to tear your house apart. They are the places where your kids can run throughout mazes, climb ropes, and slide down slides and let out all of the mad!
It was actually at an indoor playground equipment playground that the idea of Chickadee Family Cafe was born within my head. I had taken my afterward two-and-a-half year old into a favorite indoor play space within our hometown Burlington and strove to keep up with him as he ran down slides and through mazes. I crouched into tiny corners pursuing my little man around and came out utterly exhausted (go ahead, insert jokes about how out of shape I am here).
As soon as I arose in the drama structures, I looked around me at the other parents. Many were standing about trying to maintain a visual on their kids' whereabouts. Some were phoning their kids' titles, trusting that they weren't stuck in a maze...'cause c am on, we all know no grownup wants to need to climb all of the way up those structures to regain a crying kid. Mostly, they seemed bored and exhausted. Perhaps their children awakened at 6am too.
I had fun with my son, that was the main purpose of visiting 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 huge chance for building relationship with my community that I believed was completely overlooked. But the air didn't actually lend itself to having an actual conversation.
I began to research what was out there for a few quality mommy -- son time that didn't require me to crawl on my hands and knees and squeeze my buttocks through a tunnel fit 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 play café blends the needs of both parents and kids, fueling parents with carbonated drinks while providing ample play area for kids to explore and have fun.
Play cafes accept the community-focused approach of a café and incorporate a play space for kids. At Chickadee Family Café, we supply that coffee shop atmosphere that you are utilized to sipping your latte in as well as a fun child-friendly environment full of creative and toys based drama activities. Once the play area is closed along with the kiddos are in bed, our space can quickly transform into a day meeting space for parent workshops, a couples' date night or a meeting location for mompreneurs.
While most indoor playgrounds either do not offer food or serve up fast food options or vending machine snacks, a drama café is a full sized café with espresso based drinks and a hearty menu of healthy snacks and lunch items.
A drama café is a bridge between an early years' center and your local trendy café.
I hope that helped to clarify the gap between an indoor playground and a drama café.