This is a question I have asked very frequently when I tell folks that I own a drama café. "Is that like an indoor play gym with both slides and rock climbing structures and trampolines?" I guess that's what happens when you introduce a totally new idea to your town.
Indoor playgrounds have been around for a little while, and there are many of them in our city of Burlington and neighbouring cities of Oakville and Hamilton. They are the places that you take your children to when they want to burn off their energy if it is too cold outside to visit the playground, or whenever you don't need them to tear your house apart. They are the places where your kids can run throughout mazes, climb ropes, and slide down slides and let out all of the crazy!
It was really at an indoor playground that the idea of Chickadee Family Cafe was born within my head. I had taken my afterward two-and-a-half year old to a favorite indoor play space in our hometown Burlington and strove to keep him up as he raced down slides and through mazes. I crouched into miniature corners chasing my little guy around and came out utterly exhausted (go ahead, insert jokes about just how out of shape I'm here).
When I arose in the drama structures, I looked around me at the other parents. Many were standing about trying to keep a visual in their own kids' whereabouts. Some were calling their kids' titles, trusting that they weren't stuck in a maze...'cause c am on, most of us know no adult wants to have to climb all the way up those structures to regain a crying child. Mostly, they seemed bored and exhausted. Maybe their kids awakened at 6am too.
Do not get me wrong, there was lots of laughter and giggles. I had fun with my son, that was the major purpose of visiting the indoor playground, but at a place filled with other moms and dads around my age with kids around my son's age, there was a huge opportunity for building connection with my community that I felt was completely overlooked. As a new resident of Burlington I wanted to connect with other parents. But the air didn't actually lend itself to using an actual conversation.
I started to research what was out there for a few quality mother -- son time which didn't require me to crawl on my hands and knees and squeeze my buttocks through a tunnel fit for a toddler. I discovered play cafes. Play cafes are comparatively new to Canada, but have been around the UK, Australia and the US for several years. A drama café blends the needs of both parents and kids, fueling parents with carbonated drinks while providing ample play area for children to explore and have fun.
Play cafes take the community-focused approach of a café and include a play area for children. At Chickadee Family Caféwe supply that coffee shop atmosphere that you're utilized to sipping your latte in as well as a fun child-friendly environment full of creative and toys based play activities. When the play space is closed along with the kiddos are in bed, our distance can quickly transform in an evening assembly area for parent workshops, a couples' date night or a meeting place for mompreneurs.
While most indoor playgrounds either don't provide food or serve up fast food options or vending machine snacks, a drama café is a full-service café with espresso based drinks along with a hearty menu of healthy snacks and lunch items.
A drama café is a bridge between an early years' center and your local trendy café.
I expect that helped to explain the gap between an indoor playground equipment park and a play café.