Masks in soft play and children’s activities

[Snailsetssail]

I just need a rant!

The only place it seems I can interact and play with my daughter properly over winter is going to be our own home. I was so looking forward to taking her to groups and activities but they all require face masks which I find difficult to wear, she gets distressed at, and they are bad for her communication development. I might as well go back to work and send her to nursery where she can enjoy more activities without adults in face-coverings!

Does this mean food can’t be served at soft play venues anymore? Or can I not wear a mask as long as I’m poking a chip into my mouth every few minutes? Or sipping a cup of tea for hours on end?

My 3 year old was so looking forward to being able to go to soft play again and my 1 year old is going to miss out on all the groups I did with her brother when he was younger.

The pandemic isn't fair. Why can't people accept this? Are we so used to nothing extraordinary happening in our lives that we can't comprehend something huge that disrupts routines?

Also I'm not being goady at all @Snailsetssail but I have to ask

they all require face masks which I find difficult to wear

What in particular do you find difficult?

she gets distressed at

Apologies if you've said elsewhere on here but does she have a SN? If not, have you tried to help her understand why masks are necessary? My DD is pre-school and she fully understands the implications of the outbreak of novel coronavirus this year. She knows her dad will have to wear a mask and we make faces at each other to reassure etc.

and they are bad for her communication development.

Jeez... so is losing a parent. I mean, isn't there a hierarchy of needs here? No one wants to wear a mask, and yeah child development and communication is paramount, but surely one need has to take precendent over another? And aren't there 90% of hours in your day when you're not wearing a mask, where you communicate with your child?!

I'm not even sure soft plays will be open. Cafe's within them even less likely. I can't see how they could make them very Covid secure given how much children share the toys, put everything in their mouths and so on.

Soft play doesn't exist in most places and hasn't been widespread in the UK for more than a couple of decades. It's actually a very strange phenomenon... It's pretty much guaranteed that children can survive the winter without going to soft play...

@UntilYourNextHairBrainedScheme the children can survive without soft play but soft play can’t survive without children. Awful times ahead for these business owners.

OP I get you, we just don’t be attending. Though that makes me sad for more than one reason

I get that it's frustrating, I do understand that it's a relief to get out of the house sometimes, but it will be fine. When I was a child there was no soft play, no toddler groups, the idea of running activities for small children and their mothers was unheard of. But entire generations of people grew up just fine, with good communication skills and good bonds with their parents.

Eugh here comes the child bashing- blah blah “my 2 year old totally understands covid and all the health benefits of masks”

Yes I feel your pain OP- my 3 yr old looks so confused when I put on a mask, I hate hate hate them. I long for soft play to reopen. May just have to go to parks even on crappy weather days. Swimming would be a good activity sans masks too.

The thought of soft play during a pandemic is just wrong.
However much they say they will clean down the equipment, I still wouldn't risk it.

Throw some cushions on the floor and fill a space with some plastic balls. Soft play at home.

@UntilYourNextHairBrainedScheme really? I must live in some sort of soft play hot spot because there are loads round here of varying sizes.

OP I hear you, it’s bloody shit. No masks aren’t good for communication or even basic natural interaction. Even understanding the logic behind them doesn’t make them easier when they’re so unnatural. I have no idea how parents of small children will cope over winter if restrictions continue, I guess it’s a case of getting as creative as possible at home or with small groups of friends.

@FluffyBandanna

The thought of soft play during a pandemic is just wrong. However much they say they will clean down the equipment, I still wouldn't risk it.

Throw some cushions on the floor and fill a space with some plastic balls. Soft play at home.

Ha! Hardly the same is it ? Sure my 3 &6 year old will be thrilled with this !

Apologies, I hadn't read the news that they've got the go ahead to open . I can not for the life of me think how they will be Covid secure.

OP, I'm sorry it's a struggle for you, but I guess it's about choices. If you want to go, how long will you be there? An hour? That won't affect her communication.

I don't think we'll be going. I don't know what we will do, but we never went much anyway and I suspect it will involve wrapping up in lots of layers and being outdoors!

Why can't you interact with her outside? I live in one of the wettest places in the country. We regularly go out in the rain. Full waterproofs + wellies + puddles / streams = fun.

I get it, this pandemic sucks, but there's no reason to spend every day stuck indoors. Being outside has so many benefits in terms of health and wellbeing.

I am absolutely not comparing my frustrations to that of my child losing a parent!!

Why can’t people be annoyed at something even though there are bigger things in the world. We are all entitled to our feelings and to be able to communicate them.

My DD doesn’t have SN but is only 1 years old. I’ve been putting the mask on to try and familiarise her with them but she gets very upset and just tries to pull it off my face constantly.

My 3 year old has accepted that at times (such as popping into shops) I have to wear on and is fine with it.

I find them very uncomfortable and they trigger my panic attacks. I can cope for a quick 5 minute pop into a shop or post office, but couldn’t sit in one for an hour.

@Allhallowseve it's better than nothing!

@PickACoolUserName I obviously can. But again it would just be me and her. I would have liked to take her to groups and activities to meet other children and talk to other adults.

@OnlyFoolsnMothers

Eugh here comes the child bashing- blah blah “my 2 year old totally understands covid and all the health benefits of masks”

Yes I feel your pain OP- my 3 yr old looks so confused when I put on a mask, I hate hate hate them. I long for soft play to reopen. May just have to go to parks even on crappy weather days. Swimming would be a good activity sans masks too.

I'm not bashing the child for goodness sake. I would never do that.

Read what I wrote please.

And just because your experience isn't the same as my experience, doesn't mean that I didn't experience it. HTH.

Mine don't seem bothered by the masks really but it's still a bit shit . My 3&6 yr olds love soft plays . It's good excercise cheap and easy to have a bit of fun for them !
Yes we go to the park (most days) we have done days out , zoo , nature trails even theme parks - before anyone tells me they are open ! Unfortunately I don't have and infinite amount of money to go to these all the time . Also with a 5 month old in tow it's not quite as easy to pop on the wellies and go and splash in puddles . I have spent many days recently feeding in tree stumps and changing nappies on my lap.
This pandemic has been bloody awful with three young kids - I understand OP .

I love the way we as a society are scrutinising the opening of schools, playgrounds and softplays, yet readily accepting and jumpI have at the idea of packed restaurants Monday- Wednesday, pubs, gyms....the difference being that one group is more at risk of developing and spreading covid and the other is...err children

BuffaloCauliflower I know they're everywhere in the UK now, but in most of Europe they don't really exist, or exist only as part of other attractions and are few and far between and certainly not part of most childhoods.

I moved from the UK with a toddler to somewhere with much colder winters and was initially dismayed by the lack of soft plays and groups, but having gone on to have two more children here I am now equally unsure why on earth they're a thing - they're just sticky unhygienic stale aired loud germ soup.

[quote FluffyBandanna]@Allhallowseve it's better than nothing! [/quote]
We have been making up activities at home since March !!

I know what you mean: so much of this is rubbish and it’s ok to feel sad about the small things. It doesn’t take anything away from the people experiencing the bigger losses. Life generally is hard and things like soft play and groups make it a little bit easier and it’s ok to feel frustrated and upset that they aren’t an option any more.

Masks in a soft play? Sounds hideous and I would definitely not be going there!!! What a shame...You are allowed to be annoyed and frustrated. It needn't be this way...

It’s also immensely frustrating that children (and parents by association) have been very much forgotten in this pandemic but we’ve made sure that people can go to the pub and get their hair cut (but women are limited with their beauty treatments). It’s almost like the government don’t care about women and children.....

Ooh I didn’t realise soft play was allowed to open again. There’s loads of them near us.
I wonder how they’re going to manage that safely (in terms of Covid, social distancing etc), normally the kids in the ones we go to are running about all over the place, even if they don’t bump into each other they’re all climbing on the same things.

We won’t be doing soft play this year, but because I don’t see how they can make it safe rather than because of face masks.

I’d keep on trying to familiarise her with masks at home though, I can’t see the requirement to wear them going away soon. If you can manage that then you’ll at least have more options when it comes to things like playgroups.

I really don't think tou wearing a mask in a soft play centre will hamper your child's learning and development as you are probably communicating with her at other times. Up till my sone was 3 I needed to go on with him but if you have a child that goes on their own how much communication and interactuon dors she need to go down a slide into a ball pool? We all just need to crack on

UntilYourNextHairBrainedScheme, agree totally, they're the child equivalent of a hot tub, filthy, germy, smelly, covered in bodily fluids and someone always ends up hurt/screaming. Not my idea of fun and really not a place I'd want to be taking children in the middle of a pandemic.

As to why not open them when gyms/restaurants etc are open, possibly because it's easier to explain to adults why the need for distancing/sanitising etc - and I wouldn't have opened pubs, or would have certainly kept the opening hours shorter, because like toddlers, drunk people don't get social distancing.