to hate..

[sexypantsformum]

Soft fucking play places??

We go out in our wellies for walks in the rain and jump in puddles etc but going down a slide and landing on your bum in a muddy puddle at the end or sitting on a wet swing or trying to climb up a climbing frame made slippy by rain and muddy boots just isn't fun!

From what I can remember. there are slides and ball pits, and stuff, all padded with foam and wipe clean PVC, slightly claustrophobic for an adult.

i dunno i think kids enjoy a bit of rain, are they in soft play all day then? that would be boring for them surely and for parents

have worked in soft play so agree that they are hellish.

I think 2 hours in soft play would just be ok, nobody spends the day there do they? I imagine they are hellish when it's raining as well.

Not all day, no. The one we go to is attached to a farm park so we go out to see the animals in the rain ,go on the play equipment they have outside in the rain then go into the soft play for about an hour.

The most I've managed in soft play so far is an hour. I imagine as DD gets older I won't get away with this for much longer.

We string it out by going to Asda on the way home and having a coffee and cake.

The devils invention

We used to pop into Pets at Home and look at the fish on the way home not, or to the Garden Centre. Happy days.

We have a fantastic farm near with a 'play barn' which is great. A huge old barn with a noisy tin roof ....bails of hay....outdoor and indoor bouncy things and slides etc. love it there.

The plastic jungle down the road which stinks to high heaven ....has bogies in the ball pool and taped on bits of plastic to cover wear is not so good. And got a recent 'below par' on food hygiene rating apparently eeeeuuuuu

I try to only go first thing in the morning, partly because DD2 has food allergies and the crumb to floor ratio gets a bit high for my comfort after a while. We usually stay about an hour or so. When DD2 was tiny I used to time it for nap time. She'd nap, DD1 (then 4.5) would work off some of her excessive energy and I'd actually get to drink a hot coffee and read a book.

They are really useful in very bad weather or very hot weather (got into 30s here in NZ this summer and sometimes I just needed them to work off energy in an air conditioned spot instead of the scorching sun and there's really only so much time on the beach this pasty Irish girl can take). The kids get loads of outdoor time, but like everything, soft play has it's place.

I don't get the soft play hate....

It's just an indoor play area, kids run round and get tired, i get to play on the big slide if I want, have a coffee and a snack. What's not to like?

I love our local soft play, it's vast and free for children under 2. We only go midweek when all the older kids are at school, it's very peaceful, usually just 3 or 4 toddlers.

We do plenty of outside play regardless of the weather but I don't like wondering about in the rain all day!

Me neither Zame - it's one of those Mumsnet things which seems to bring out the rage in people. Our local one is great (although I never go during school holidays or at weekends) and much better than being cooped up inside when it's raining.

YABU. Soft plays are great for kids to burn off energy in the winter, DD loved them she was younger.

But ours had a drop off service, where you can drop them off if they're over the age 5 and come back for them later- costed a bit extra, but was all worth it.

Also had a holiday programme too, so DD would go there most holidays from 8.30-5 when I'm at work (they did other activities too and they didn't just run round the soft play all day e.g arts and crafts, movies, park). It also meant I hardly had to sit around in a noisy, stuffy area all day. Best of both worlds

I think it very much depends on what soft play places you have experienced. It was generally a mixed bag, with one that was spotlessly clean throughout , had comfy settees for parents and fantastic food, but others that were a bit 'sticky' had grumpy staff and disgusting toilets.