To think soft play is old school and not eco or progressive

[sheparo]

We have the v v exciting opportunity to make a building that will house some sort of large play/event/task zones for children, that will have to meet the council's loan interest of 100k a year. The building is part of a city-wide facelift on being more green, community focused and cheerful and is the only focus on making money in this venture. The rest is building bridges, creating community hubs, cycle paths and green spaces (yay!).

Thing is, I want this space to be eco friendly and an opportunity for kids to try new things like barefoot trails, climbing and bouldering, maybe a small skate park, small library area, sensory room, running and soft area, maybe even a circus bit, a little indoor garden... sort of where kids can develop skills, talk to each other, learn things, run around but also have it as somewhere to chill and have a milkshake.

My (kind but elder, male, grown up kids yada yada) colleague says he wants soft play. His wife is a childminder and wants soft play. I really think soft play would cheapen and degrade everything this building is meant to stand for... but I agree we need to make money... AIBU to want to push for something different? Or is there something about soft play that I am being snobby about? (I have three kids btw, they adore soft play tbh... but, but... garish and loud and plastic and aircon! And can be rough and not exactly community...)

Am just wondering if I am being a snob and really, soft play is fine and am just over it, personally, when others would really love it.

TIA ladies, I await judgement... !

I think a softplay place with things for older kids like climbing and bouldering is a great idea because when you have siblings of different ages it can be a nightmare to find somewhere to go that will keep them all happy - and if you have teens on the soft play then it's really not suitable for little ones. You could maybe have things like a ball pit with recycled plastic balls.

I must say though that the bouldering places I've seen have been uninspiring and underused because they're just too hard and you don't seem to get anywhere. They were just short walls that you got a couple of steps up and then fell off because it was so hard. I think they need to have some bigger and easier hand/foot holds and also some actual boulders that you can get onto the top of so you feel like you've achieved something. Kids love climbing onto the top of something.

We went somewhere kind of like this recently - massive barn with hay bales and tunnels running through it. The kids adored it and could climb and jump freely with an element of risk. Perfect imo! Tbh from a business sense you probably want to keep the childminders out anyway- they go on a reduced rate, buy one coffee, no food or drink for the kids and stay for bloody ages!

You want the punters who will spend their money!

Depends on lots of factors (as others said) but I suspect that for that kind of profit your standard (ish) soft play will be the answer, with a café inside and some party provision. (I’m going to one later which is tired, not brilliantly located, small and with zero added extras… and booked out basically a year in advance for parties at £200 a time.)

If you’re in an upmarket area then some of the “natural materials” / Montessori inspired stuff might appeal, but tbh as a parent of three kids with some disposable income if you give me a safe space at an ok price (so it doesn’t matter if we end up having to bail because reasons) which is clean and has a basic cafe on site, I’m there. Other things on top of that are lovely, but can be hard to pull off.

My son goes occasionally to a special needs soft play full of sensory equipment. It is for adults and children. Those without sn can book it too for limited sessions. It is safe and he loves it. I know it is not something you are looking at / going to do but a soft play type environment is fantastic for some kids and adults.

Soft play are quite simple, you know what you're getting but it's a bit shit, Kind of things. It sounds like your place calls for something a bit more.

Depending on size you could have a small softplay for young kids only in your cafe. You can use the cafe for baby and toddler groups, community support group type things. And then with the rest of the space do what you want to do. People will come to the sofplay and cafe, see the rest and want to pay for their kids to go in the bigger bit that has the things you want in it.

What age range are you talking about? Surely soft play is for younger children so they can play without very close supervision - you wouldn't want them climbing boulders. It also gives them space to let off steam and to play in a way they can't at home, like messy play does.

Don't be so focussed on being 'progressive' that you forget the purpose of a play centre, or who it will cater for. You aren't raising kids in a high rise.

Sensory room separate from the main event aren’t great in my experience. Better to incorporate quieter areas within the whole, ledges, culdesacs, caves. Zones for different ages are nice. Are adults allowed anywhere? Disabled children become disabled teens but often still need softplay like venues.
you choose colours themes and equipment so it doesn’t have to be garish or loud.

You also have to think about maintenance. Pastel colours would require a lot more regular repainting as they quickly become grubby looking. If you can't afford that extra cost you could end up with somewhere that just looks grubby and uninviting.

Soft play can be great and don't forget the health benefits - for many kids it's the only exercise they get.

Role play village would be good. Different shops and processions, pedal cars and trikes on the "roads" etc

Professions, not processions in my previous post.

If anyone has ever had the misfortune of watching Blipping, the only good thing on it is the amazing play areas he goes to. The Americans have soft play but also other cool zones the kids can enjoy. We have something similar where I live which is softplay and kids roleplay (e.g shops, vets, doctors) the kids love it. It sound like a combination of the 2 would be best. There’s a barefoot walk and climbing outdoors nature thing too but I have to be honest it’s a bit boring for the kids

Thank you so much guys! In the main, so helpful and my mind has been totally opened. I was being unreasonable and am delighted to know that barefoot stuff or too many ideas might be annoying/boring/inaccessible. Zones sound brilliant, and caves etc really fun and in keeping with where we live.

There are no soft play areas in our city. They close down, I don't think the committee have looked into why but from my experience they were shite and dirty or too small and expensive.

Anyway, I bow out now to research, thank you for your comments :)

Might be quite nice when it's lashing it down w rain? Or for those who don't live next to the Enchanted Forest?

End of the day OP it's going to come down to what it costs and what your user base wants. If you want to charge more thsn a big standard soft play you'll need to offer more than a bog standard soft play.

We have a centre near us which is awesome. Lovely cafe looking out over the older area (3-5 ish) which is built on soft flooring but is a large structure with climbing frame, slide, bridge etc. then to the side of the cafe is a soft play area for the under 3’s separate by a bench you can sit on and drink your coffee safely. There is also an area for older kids (up to 8) that gets used during term time by some of the more adventurous 4 year olds (it’s quite safe). They serve good coffee, great array of kid snacks (healthy or not healthy) and decent but small adult menu. No outside food allowed. They charge $5 entry per child (adults also charged but get free hot drink). I’d say they make their money off the food.

Soft play is for when you dont want to parent your kid and just wanna enjoy a cuppa. Nothing wrong with that.
But if you want something different then start an outdoor playgroup. Sensory playgroup
With sandpits where you can dig up stuff and where the kids can learn about insects and how plants grow etc.

Start with the business model, surely. Which depends on your target audience and what facilities you’ll be competing with locally. Are you a touristy city aiming at one-off visitors or are you depending on locals coming back every week? Is it a wealthy area or are people strapped for cash? These kind of things also determine offerings such as the cafe and party packages, which is where a lot of places make money.

I wouldn’t pay for a small skatepark or library or sandpits as there are plenty of free ones around. Soft play should be cheap but I’d take a little one regularly (maybe with a membership) in wet/cold months as an alternative to the playground, whereas I’d expect something like bewilderwood to be expensive but it would be a very occasional treat.

It’s better to do one or two things well than too many things badly, and think about what holds up well to repeat visits versus what’s interesting for novelty value. Soft play done well can be great and being able to explore independently without parents hovering around is great for little kids. Zip wires and climbing walls can be fab for older kids but will need more staff supervision and aren’t really worth it unless they’re a certain scale otherwise the novelty soon wears off. If soft plays or other facilities have closed locally I’d be trying to find out why - was it just the pandemic or were they too expensive/wrong fit for the area?