That is a question I have asked very often when I tell people that I own a play café. "Is that like a indoor play gym with both slides and rock climbing structures and trampolines?" I guess that's what happens when you introduce a totally new concept to your city.
Indoor playgrounds have existed for a while, and there are lots of of these in our city of Burlington and neighbouring cities of Oakville and Hamilton. They are the places you take your children to when they wish to burn off their energy if it is too cold out to visit the park, or whenever you don't need them to tear your house apart. They're the places where your children can run throughout mazes, climb ropes, and slide down slides and let out all the mad!
It was actually at an indoor playground that the idea of Chickadee Family Cafe was born in my mind. I'd taken my afterward two-and-a-half year old to a popular indoor play area in our hometown Burlington and tried to keep up with him as he raced down slides and throughout mazes. I crouched into miniature corners chasing my little guy around and came out utterly exhausted (proceed, insert jokes about how out of shape I am here).
As soon as I arose in the play structures, I looked around me at the other parents. Many were standing around trying to keep a visual in their own kids' whereabouts. Some were calling their kids' names, hoping that they were not stuck in a maze...'trigger c'mon, most of us know no adult really wants to have to climb all of the way up those arrangements to regain a crying kid. Mostly, they seemed exhausted and tired. Perhaps their children awakened at 6am too.
Don't get me wrong, there was lots of laughter and giggles. I had fun with my son, that was the major aim of going to the indoor playground, but in a place filled with other moms and dads around my age with children around my son's age, there was a huge opportunity for building relationship with my community that I felt was completely overlooked. But the atmosphere did not really lend itself to using a real conversation.
I started to research what was out there to get a few quality mother -- son time which didn't need me to crawl on my hands and knees and then squeeze my butt through a tunnel match for a toddler. I discovered play cafes. Play cafes are comparatively new to Canada, but have been around the UK, Australia and the US for years. A play café combines the requirements of both parents and kids, fueling parents with caffeinated beverages while providing ample play area for kids to explore and have fun.
Play cafes take the community-focused approach of a café and include a play space for children. In Chickadee Family Caféwe provide that coffee shop atmosphere that you're used to sipping your latte in as well as an enjoyable child-friendly environment full of creative and toys based drama activities. Once the play space is closed along with the kiddos are in bed, our distance can easily transform into an evening meeting space for parent workshops, a couples' date night or a meeting place for mompreneurs.
While most indoor playground equipment playgrounds either don't provide meals or function 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 expect that helped to explain the difference between an indoor playground and a play café. We can not wait to start our doors and invite you to experience the difference for yourself.