Research into opening a soft play centre

[Jaysfinished]

OK i have had my three kids and have visited various soft play centre's and i think i could do it myself....so i am hoping to open indoor adventure play centre/ softplay in Nottingham.

I am right at the start of my venture and would like some help with research.
I would like to hear from anyone who has comments or ideas about what they would like to see in a softplay center.

Things like;
What times would you like it to open and close?

What would you like to see in the cafe?

How much would you expect to pay and for how long?

How would you like to see the ages segregated?

thanks ladies , i know you will come up with the goods!

[bogwobbit]

Make sure it's clean and well supervised and if you have rules about segregating ages make sure they're enforced. I nearly came to blows with a woman in Noahs Ark in Perth when her hulking great children (aged about 7 or 8) started throwing balls from the ball pool about in the under 1s area . I was even angrier when one hit dd, then aged 11 months.
Food - wholesome and healthy (but not too healthy ) with decent cakes and coffee for the parents. Fair trade would be nice too.

[PuppyDogTails]

Our local ones open at 10:30 which I don't think is early enough - DS has his dinner at 11:00-11:30 so it doesn't work. A 9:00 start would be good for me.

Nice teas and coffees, newspapers to read. Comfy sofas.

I pay £2 for unlimited play at off peak times. It goes up to £5 at weekend which is too steep for me.

I think it's good to have an area for younger babies - an area just for pre-walkers would be great but perhaps not wholly practical from your perspective.

[conniedescending]

I loathe soft play but mainly because they stink, are dirty, too many kids piled in and too many parents not supervising their kids. If you could solve all that then it would be fabulous!

Soft play equipement is hideously expensive btw

[bogwobbit]

What about something for older children to do - playsstations perhaps?

[lilyloo]

The earlier the better , just after the school run.

I think reasonably priced food so include snacks i.e raisins , fruit etc. then small meals jacket potatoes , beans on toast etc

I think £2.50 is enough and no restrictions on length of time if during school hours.

My bugbear on these is when they restrict you time without taking into account if you have eat there , also te massive price hike at weekends, school hols.

[Jaysfinished]

thanks for your thoughts ladies. Market research is all about finding out what people want/dont want, like/dont like, need/dont need.
What do you hate about these centers? whats a good idea?

As with any big city there is bound to be more than one of anything...i want my soft play to, amongst other things, give the right vibe, play and atmosphere. If i can collate enough information and get together real ideas from real Mums then i know i can make this work and deliver what parents want.

I am in touch with a couple of suppliers re, the 'frames' and have others to talk to.

I am currently putting together a questionaire for further input, and will then have to search for premisies - which is proving hard at the moment, but i will keep looking!

Once i know what people want, a business plan goes down and a visit to the bank manager!

Keep those thoughts ideas coming!

[bogwobbit]

Nice toilets - I hate grotty toilets in kids places.

[pinkypurple]

a play area for little ones is essential imo. But one I used to go to the toys in it were broken/needed batteries/dirty and just really not nice. So if you are going to have toys for babies make sure they're nice you can pick up barely used toys at boot fairs etc so really no excuse for it. And for that reason alone I will not go back to that soft play.

Also, at the same place, the seating is rubbish. They have a few really uncomfortable/over used sofas that need chucking. Then they have picnic bench(but grubby and horrible) style seating and it's rubbish. When me and my friend were pg we couldn't squeeze the bumps in so moveable chairs are best IMO.

Another place I went to yesterday didn't serve children's portions of food which is odd to say the least.

Oh and another place i've been to if you pay a bit extra(about £2) the child gets a cup of squash and food(fish fingers, chips and beans for example) which i thought was a good idea.

That's all i can think of for now HTH

[ruddynorah]

main thing is keep it clean

i only go to soft play places that have recently opened for this reason

don't just have a play frame. if the place is big enough have some wendy houses, kitchens, ride on toys etc. sometimes kids don't want to be climbing they just want to play with toys they don't have at home iyswim.

the best soft play round here are the ones with two areas, one for under 2/3s with a smaller slide, small ball pool, easier frame. then for the bigger kids it's a maze of different things with bigger slides.

have a potty in the toilet or have a trainer seat

[lilyloo]

free hot drink for mum with paying entry
sofa's around small tables

[jingleyjen]

cheekymonkeys is my local one,
it is really clean
small = not many older children
baby area is separate but close to older children area so easy to watch children of different ages
great out door play area to let them get out when weather allows.
They have a quieter area with sofas for those with small babies.

the home made food is lovely, brilliant cakes, lovely basic food offered, really nice coffee.
Nice offering of magazines.

Downside they are often very busy and dont seem to turn people away at busy times meaning that there is nowhere to put your stuff or sit.

I like it because it is small. We have another one near by but it is too big. Food is very average, distance between play areas is too large for me to watch both children.
They have computer games on the wall - I HATE this.. DS1 goes straight for them and doesn't run around and play with his friends.

HTH abit

[LynetteScavo]

there is aplace in Banbury, although I've never been to it has senosry equipment for little ones, which sounds great.

I like: healthy food, but as said earlier, no too healthy.Fresh smoothies are brilliant!(NO smell of chips cooking - so gross if you're pregnant)

A decent area for older children to stop them piling on younger children. Such as a small enclosed footballl/ basket ball area and climbing wall.

Lot's of sofas. I always feel the mums on the sofas are the "in" mummies, while I'm left on a hard chair. - and great magazines to read.

What I hate is loud music being palyed. Do people really want to listen to rap in these places? Dirty toilets. Burgers & chips. Masses of SCREAMING kids in a samll place.

Do make sure there is a market, as a great soft play in a local (very small) town has recently closed, which is a shame, as it was great (and never crowded )

[Jaysfinished]

I am planning on having a large warehouse which will accommodate, three sections, 0-2, 2-5 and then older children. IMO the youngest areas often get overlooked and not much thought goes into them, so thats going to be a focus point. I want to have various activities that are on offer so that people dont get bored when they come, as well as the usual fames and slides etc, i want to have a huge 'car track' that runs round the outside of the seating area for the kiddies to go round. Somewhere in the middle is going ot be a massive ball pit and there will be events and 'find the golden ball'(for example) That happen around it.

From my experience, the staff have to be observant and enforce the age restrictions on areas and have a hands on with the children although obviously they still remain the full responsibility of the parents!

I want to have toilets that are large enough for parent and toddler to use, small loos and sinks for the little ones. Hand towels have to be an option and these will have to be checked regularly.

Parking i feel is a point, it has to be free and there has to be a lot of it.

How about something/anything for Dads?

[ChippyMinton]

Small is good as it's easier to supervise your DC.
Spacious seating areas
Other activities - rides ons (eg little tykes cars) in a self-contained area; dressing up outfits (washable and kept clean); birthday parties.
Age-segregated areas must be enforced.
I used to go to one which did under-fives only every weekday morning, with a free coffee, squash & biscuits, £2.50 for adult and first child, £1 for each additional child.
Free newspapers & magazines, decent coffee. Not bothered about food tbh.

[LittleMissMuffett]

I think this is a brillant idea. Need a business Partner then let me know.

[Jaysfinished]

How about free Wi-Fi?

[lilyloo]

DP said newspapers and sky sports

[Jaysfinished]

Nice one lilly DH mentioned newspapers, but also added retro arcade games, frogger, pacman etc, till i asked him, who would be watching the kids while he was playing them??!!

[lilyloo]

their mum

[Frizbe]

Have you visited Chucklebutties at Belper? I'd recommend it, as this is one of the few play areas that has got it right (no I don't own it or work there) Be aware that keeping kids in certain areas is something that they often don't like, once they can climb, they want to move onto the biggest thing possible, trying to keep my 2 and 4 year olds in certain sections, would alienate them from a play centre, so whilst I agree there needs to be a seperate area for smaller ones, keeping kids in and out of them is another job entirely.
You seem to have your eye on parking which is good, a place in Stratford had to close down recently (near my sil) when the council changed the onstreet parking regs and left them with no parking for the parent That place had nice lcd tv's upstairs with squishy sofas for parents of older kids, and papers.

[Jaysfinished]

lol lilly....how true!

Will bear Chucklebutties in Frizbe, thanks!

The age segregations would have to be 'loose' i agree with you, you cant MAKE them stay somewhere when there is more fun to be had on the bigger things, i guess its more to keep the big ones out of the babies way, if the little ones want to venture out then the parents would have to be responsible i guess!

How about a subscription fee option, for those that cant be bothered to pay as you go...offering a small discount - say over a six month period?

[Jaysfinished]

*bear it in mind!

[Bectheneck]

Why are these places allowed to get so dirty? I liked taking DS (16 months) to ours, which only opened about 18 months ago, as he can climb and scamper about to his hearts content which he can't do (as safely) in our local park.

But I really don't want to take him any more as the soft play area/netting is always thick with dust on top, the toys are always broken and dirty and most need new batteries, they never clear the tables or wipe down and there is no supervision as far as I can see. There are only ever two members of staff on when I go in the day who spend most of their time serving drinks and food.

It seems that these places get set up and the people who run them then sit back and spend as little as possible on staffing and maintenance.

So, your ideas and all the suggestions given sound great all I would say is employ an adequate amount of staff and pay them decent money. Keep the equipment clean and checked regularly and maintain high standards!

[ruddynorah]

it's fine if the little ones want to go on the bigger stuff with the big kids, but you need to insist on no big kids going in the baby bit. otherwise there's no point.