Opening a play cafe, what would you want?

[teamaven]

I’m thinking of opening a play cafe in my local area, it really is a gap in the market here and I have confirmed interested.

To be honest I wouldn’t know where to start! But there are a few units available near me.

1st question - has anyone done this before and can provide some advice?

2nd. What would YOU like to see from a play cafe? Any unique ideas are a bonus

oh i love a play cafe!

Seating in view of play area so parents can watch their kids with a coffee

decent food

bonus but not essential- my favourite play cafe has a member of staff who interacts with the kids like a play co ordinator, guides play a bit, initiates games with the kids like hide and seek etc, will take the kids (still within view of parents) to do painting and crafts etc.

When mine were little the one I liked best had good food at a reasonable price and was clean (they had a handheld hoover and as soon as they spotted any food mess, someone was out cleaning it up).

What I would like to see now is something aimed at 9-12 year olds. This is where there is a big gap in the market. They are an age where they still need something structured/specific venue to go to, but nothing really exists for this group.

9-12 year olds really need a full on softplay centre.
The only other things I could think of would be some sort of gaming cafe but would parents really take that age group to a gaming cafe?

We have a cafe/restaurant near us that is really popular. It doesn’t market itself as a play cafe as such, but has a small area with a play kitchen, books and toys. It also has a large designated table with art and craft items. There’s a selection of board games available. It means that children are occupied and are not noisy, the place has a really nice ambiance and is always busy.
It stays open into the evening as a bar and has entertainment sometimes. If you’re doing cheap and cheerful then you need volume.

My thoughts:

• don't do set session times. Often the first session of the day is too early for us, the second session of the day you lose a lot of playtime to lunch, the third session of the day is when kids often nap, so after we wanted to go but none of them were convenient. I'm much prefer the ones where you have a set length of time but you can arrive when you want, even once for you just stay as long as you want because most people won't to stay more than a couple of hours anyway. With these, the staff need to tidy as they go along

• it's a good idea to have a bell to signify the session is nearly over, but I don't like it where kids are supposed to lose the last 10 minutes to the session tidying up. It's like going to a coffee shop and be expected to do your own washing up. Parents shouldn't let their kids deliberately wrecking the joint, but I'm not paying ££ for them to have an hour and 20 of play, rather than an hour and 30, and have to nag them like a would at home. Not having to stress about clearing it up should be one of the plus points of going to a play cafe. Unless of course your business model is that everybody cleans up as they go, and the parents and kids help, but you'll have to reduce the prices for that.

-sounds silly but I've seen play cafes having issues with this, make sure kids can't climb out of open windows upstairs.

-the toilet facilities need to be suitable. The one where kids tried to climb out of upstairs windows, had tiny toilet cubicles that you couldn't easily fit a parent and child in, on a open stairwell with gappy railings the toddlers could easily fall through! I'm not sure how anyone could safely take more than one child. They also had a baby change the opposite side of the centre, clearly a repurposed room, but it didn't even have a sink, and to wash your hands after changing your child's nappy, you need to go all through the cafe and to the dodgy stairwell, baby/toddler in tow.

• try to make sure they don't escape out onto the road (the same place I mentioned above, frequently had escapees). I mention had because of it no longer exists...

• I love it where they're relaxed on upper age limits, but that's because I have a older child (8) who absolutely loves play cafe still, especially with their younger sibling. I can appreciate six years ago I may have felt charitable about older kids attending.

• some places have a room upstairs where they can run baby sensory classes, baby massage, ballet etc, as well as birthday parties. This helps get the mums in when the babies are young which makes them more likely to attend when the babies grow.

• make sure there's car parking nearby if possible.

All the ones that used to operate when my DD was little have now closed (she's 13).

We had two that were basically cafes. One still operates but has no play area and one is now a tapas bar.

The two on farms have both closed completely.

I think it is VERY hard to break even with a business model that encourages adults who aren't well off to linger, with very messy patrons!

Food- simple but not total junk. Jackets spuds, home made fairy cakes, drinkable coffee.

We thought of doing something like this when I took redundancy and my dad died…. We couldn’t find anywhere with suitable parking that would make it usable!

But clean toilets and decent food and coffee is a must.

There’s since we gave up on the idea two opened in nearby towns one is fab clean, tidy lots of space the other is quite grim and the soft play and toys appears to not have been cleaned and left to fester!

Sorry meant to add that you need some actually profitable element. So:

Regular coffee/food business outside play times/play area.
Room hire.
Parties.
Occasion cakes.
Sandwiches for office workers.
The play cafe in the farm also had a farm shop and sold plants and compost etc.

Cleanliness would be my number 1, we avoid our local play cafe because although it's lovely, has great coffee and lots to play with etc my kids get ill every time we go, it's visibly dirty in places and although they have a lot of toys many of them are tired looking.
something for all ages would go down well, role play areas, sensory areas for younger kids but also things like Lego, board games, art supplies in an area just for older kids.
offers like unlimited play on off peak days where you can turn up anytime and play as long as you like.

I can't see how people make money with this. Wouldn't you get parents sitting for hours with one coffee, while bringing food and drink for their children?

We have a retro arcade type place which I guess is a similar thought of a gaming cafe, but agree most people want their children to burn off a bit of energy, not sit on screens. The only things available in my area for older children are this, the trampoline park (but it is quite basic), cinema and bowling. A large soft play would be amazing but I imagine it is hard to find somewhere big enough and then the cost of setting it up are high.

I think it is VERY hard to break even with a business model that encourages adults who aren't well off to linger, with very messy patrons!

Exactly this.

The biggest issue we have at our local soft play is not really thinking through the logistics of having enforced age limits. Parents have to go in the Under 3s bit with their little ones. But then the older ones are completely unsupervised in the big bit and can’t find their parent if they’re hurt, want a drink etc. And the parent obviously can’t step in if their older kid is misbehaving (every kid has their moments).

A SEND session if it’s affordable to do so.

Round here places like this don't last very long unfortunately, and even some well established ones have recently closed. The cost of minimum wage, rent, business rates and utilities makes it difficult to break even, funded childcare for younger children has also had an impact on footfall. I would think very, very carefully about going down this road, especially if you don't have much experience.

I would think this is an easy way to lose a lot of money. What if folk buy the cheapest drink and stay for 4 hours. Would you need time restrictions.

Quiet time sen sessions. My local does this on a sunday morning closed to general public.
Nice coffees. Alternative milks. Build a board for children - Fruit, rice cakes, crackers, cheese, raisins , muffins etc etc
Nice traybakes
cordon off an area for babies and have a gate or something similar.
Have a sign up for people to be mindful of children when carrying hot drinks to tables .
A child i know got badly burnt at a soft play- ran into a customer carrying coffee.

Quite often they have an no outside food policy. The only time it’s been allowed has been for allergies (but then the best one also catered for common allergies so you didn’t need to take food in)

Also offer childminders a discount to encourage them to come.

Healthy food!

The one that’s in my local area and that my SIL goes to is small but has a lot going on (small ball pit), decent coffee and food and does lots of activities eg Easter and hiring out for parties. It seems to do well. Even though it’s my idea of hell on earth! 🤣

Agree with healthy food, hummus with carrots and hard boiled eggs are my toddler nephew’s current faves.

Make sure it's not too hot and definitely not too cold. Cater for food intolerances - my two can't have gluten and that tends to rule out all sweet foods unless provisions are made.

A lovely clean and welcoming place with good food and drinks, especially not forgett8ng the adults. There is one near me and sadly my children are too old for it now. It is always very clean, has a role play area upstairs and soft play downstairs. The staff are lovely and remember you if you go regularly. The food is a good selection and good quality. I would say not to charge adults as if priced fairly adults will be happy to spend the money in food and drink. Enough seating and tables and space for prams and buggies. A lot of places have timed slots which seems to work well and then gives time for a good clean between sessions. Maintaining the play equipment is essential as it can quickly become tired looking and un appealing.