Children’s role play village expected you to spend last 15 mins of session tidying up

[L3tti316]

Now I’ve only ever been to one other role play village and this didn’t happen so unsure if it’s the norm or not? But we paid for an hour and a half session and after an hour and 15 minutes they, and this is no exaggeration, blasted a tidy up song and parents and children I’m assuming felt obliged to stop playing and to tidy up. The man who owned it (I think) started tidying up and putting things back too.

I don’t know if it’s just me but I really feel like those extra 15 minutes should be spent playing and not tidying, especially as we’ve already paid for an allocated ‘play’ session. I understand teaching kids to tidy up but we do this at home, we go to these places to have fun. My youngest didn’t understand why the trike he was going up and down on kept getting removed and my eldest has autism and was getting upset at children/parents removing everything he was trying to play with.

He’s very good at being told ‘let’s get our shoes on and go to the car’ he will immediately stop and do so but he does not understand why things are being removed and why everybody is suddenly running around like headless chickens.

I kind of walked out thinking well that was all a bit weird. There’s no right or wrong answer really but I’m just wondering if anybody else has encountered this before as I hadn’t?

Unfortunately my eldest with additional needs does not grasp the concept despite how much we’ve tried and my youngest is only 15 months so again doesn’t particularly understand! We definitely practise a lot at home though!

The ones round here don't have this. There is a gap between sessions and the owners tidy up

Thank you, this was my point. We did also spend a good £15/20 on food and drinks whilst there so all in all spent over £30. I hope all these people also spend time cleaning their hotel rooms before leaving and facing up supermarket shelves after doing their shopping. 😂🤷🏻‍♀️

That seems pretty cheap to me (London).

How many customers were there?

This is generally what I have come across too!

There were probably another 10-12 families there. I just want to add we did also pay for lunch too so all in all spent about £35 if you include this. Granted I’m not in London, I’m a lot further north.

A sixth of playtime cleaning up seems a bit nuts, just to me- last five minutes I can understand but 15 minutes sounds nuts. And I’d get my kids to put back things they’d played with etc but I would be muttering in my head at a tidy up song coming on 15 minutes before the end!!!

I think it's important to remember that it's a business that might only have certain days to turn a profit (e.g. Saturday & Sunday).

By incorporating the cleaning into a 90 minute session, it allows them to have one extra session per day.

After all their expenses, that session is probably their profit for the day/week.

The alternative is employing more people and having less sessions, which would mean higher prices.

YANBU. The last place that I went to was nearly £15 for one child and an adult, and was the same - the last 15 mins of 1.5 hour session was everyone manically tidying up! I tried to put things back as we went from room to room, but the place was trashed (obviously). It really annoyed me as the staff could so easily be tidying up during the session, but were standing around the cafe. I also found the place really messy when we got there, because the kids and parents don't tidy it properly, like the staff should.
I used to volunteer at a playgroup, and then everybody helped to tidy up, but if I'm paying (through the nose), it's not fair!

The only place like that we go to is the Play Base in the Army Museum in Chelsea which is £6.50 per child, adults free and 30 minutes between sessions where the staff tidy. Your place sounds like a complete rip off and the owner sounds lazy. I’m all for tidy up time at a church hall playgroup but he’s running a business and I think it’s just unprofessional to ask that of your customers.

It’s the norm for the ones around me, the kids like trying to tidy up

Yeah I agree with you - the one near us charges £10 per child but employs two staff who tidy throughout the session (e.g. moving shopping stuff back into the shop if it's gone rogue) and do a full reset at the end - they actually sometimes video themselves doing this and it's so satisfying to watch! But by doing it themselves they also make sure everything is in the right place for the next session. I totally agree - at the more informal playgroups we go to I always help tidy, but I wouldn't expect to somewhere like this!

The one in my town leaves time between sessions for the staff to tidy up.

I imagine it doesn't take very long once the children are out of the way.

I also agree with the PP who said this sort of thing is expected at the volunteer run stay and play type groups so I wouldn't mind in that context but if I'm paying for a business that makes a profit I'm not expecting to devote the last of my paid session to tidy up, that is surely the job of the staff.

We’re the initials LL? I had this with my grandson, I thought it was cheeky too, I’d paid for the full session and didn’t expect to have to clear up after us!

The one near me closes for half an hour between sessions so the staff can clean and tidy. I don't mind spending 5 mins at a church hall type place picking up the toys but when I'm paying £15+ for all of us I'd be miffed if I'm paying to tidy up!

Absolutely. We’ve been to small play groups before that are literally £1 for 40 minutes play and that did not bother me one bit to help tidy up.

At Warwick Play Village they tidy in the last 10 mins and then sit the children down for a final story. When the children are sat down, 2 staff members go round and tidy, and then there is 30 mins between sessions to finalise everything and reset.

It works so well but it's £14.95 for 2.5 hours

No they weren’t but judging by some comments it seems a lot more common than I thought it was. Seems very 50/50 which places expect it and which don’t. I would be more than happy to tidy up after my paid session, but during it I find a bit odd to ask of people.

OP literally addressed this in her post? And gave the reasons why she was confused

a) never seen this before
b) her child wasn’t comfortable and she wasn’t prepared to manage it

I think this is cheeky AF to be honest - you pay for a play session so yes I would expect the staff to tidy up! The same as I don’t nip behind the counter at a cafe and start doing the washing up - it’s included in the cost and an implied service surely?

My kids would be happy to do this but I would not judge any children or parents who didn’t want to (for what whatever reason - it’s not my business to judge) however I do find it a strange and cheeky

Role play café?

ive never heard of this!

I've never had that at the ones I've been to

It’s a learning experience for the kids, you are paying someone to teach your kids to tidy up.
15 minutes seems excessive though, you’d think 5 minutes would be enough.

I have done some before and veritably didn't have to tidy up. My children are taught about tidying plenty but when I pay to go to an activity I assume the time allocated will be for them to play and I prepare my children accordingly especially as one has additional needs. Also to a point some of the advantage of going to these activities is so I don't have to tidy up and feel that's part of what you pay for.

There are 2 of these play centres near me and both have this rule. I don’t mind particularly, although my youngest also has additional needs and struggled with the transition between playing and tidying. The owner could do it all themselves but it’s far quicker if everyone chips in, plus tidying up after playing is a concept that children should learn anyway.

It’s not a role play cafe sorry it’s a cafe specifically aimed at families with a small soft play area, garden and another room that has role play type toys for example kitchen, cafe, vets, book corner.