That is a question that I have asked very frequently when I tell people that I have a drama café. "Is that like a indoor play gym with both slides and rock climbing structures and trampolines?" I guess that is what happens if you introduce a totally new idea to your town.
Indoor playgrounds have been around for a while, and there are lots of of these in our city of Burlington and neighbouring cities of Oakville and Hamilton. They're the places you take your kids to when they wish to burn off their energy if it is too cold out to go to the playground, or when you don't want them to tear your house apart. They're the places where your children can run throughout mazes, climb ropes, slide down slides and let out all of the mad!
It was really at an indoor park the idea of Chickadee Family Cafe was born within my head. I'd taken my afterward two-and-a-half year old to a favorite indoor play space in our hometown Burlington and tried to keep him up as he raced down slides and through mazes. I crouched into tiny corners pursuing my little guy around and came out utterly exhausted (proceed, insert jokes about just how out of shape I am here).
When I emerged from the play structures, I looked at the other parents. Many were standing about trying to maintain a visual in their kids' whereabouts. Some were calling their kids' names, hoping that they weren't stuck in a maze...'cause c'mon, most of us know no adult really wants to need to climb all the way up those arrangements to retrieve a crying child. Mostly, they seemed exhausted and tired. Maybe their kids awakened at 6am too.
I had fun with my son, which was the major aim of visiting the indoor jungle gym equipment playground, but at a place full of other moms and dads around my age with kids around my son's age, there was a huge opportunity for building relationship with my community that I believed was completely overlooked. As a new resident of Burlington I wished to associate with other parents. However, the atmosphere didn't actually lend itself to having an actual conversation.
I started to research what was out there to get some quality mother -- son time which didn't need me to crawl on my hands and knees and then squeeze my buttocks through a tunnel fit for a toddler. I discovered drama cafes. Play cafes are relatively new to Canada, but have been around the UK, Australia and the US for years. A drama café combines the requirements of both parents and children, fueling parents with carbonated drinks while providing ample play area for children to explore and have fun.
Play cafes take the community-focused way of a café and incorporate a play space for children. In Chickadee Family Café, we supply that coffee shop atmosphere which you're used to sipping your latte in as well as a fun child-friendly environment filled with toys and imaginative based drama actions. When the play area is closed along with the kiddos are in bed, our space can easily transform in an evening assembly area for parent workshops, a couples' date night or a meeting location for mompreneurs.
While most indoor playgrounds either do not provide food or function up fast food choices or vending machine snacks, a drama café is a full-service café with espresso based drinks and a hearty menu of healthy snacks and lunch items.
A play café is a bridge between an early years' centre and your local trendy café. Most play cafes offer child and parent classes and parenting supports through workshops and support groups, many things you can look forward to in Chickadee Family Café.
I hope that helped to explain the gap between an indoor park and a play café.