The Play Cafe

Last Friday we were invited to check out The Play Cafe in Bryn Mawr. It is a new indoor playspace for children 0-5. I had a few of my favorite indoor spaces in Boston but I hadn't found one yet in Philadelphia. The ones I have been awesome and huge with so much to do. But you can't really sit back too much in a big space. It also can be overwhelming for the younger ones.

The Play Cafe is 4000 square ft but has sections. There is a soft baby crawl space, a 9ft dry erase board, a dress up area (obviously a big hit), legos in the loft and more toys below. There is also a cafe with snacks as well as sandwiches. I assumed there wouldn't be much we would be able to have but I was surprised to see vegan snack options. There was a hummus sandwich but it has cheese on it. The big plus in my book was they serve coffee AND have soy milk. I was so happy since that morning I was rushing and hadn't made my coffee. I was able to get a soy latte and sit back talking to other moms while Elinor was right in front of me.

Elinor will not go potty unless we have her "pink potty" seat with us. So even if we are running in somewhere real fast, I have to lug the diaper bag in and around. There is a cute coat station with racks and benches for the kids to use to get shoes off and on. I could stash our bag there and when it was potty time I lugged it back with us. In the bathroom there was already a little seat to go on the big potty. This was awesome for me in the case she was in a rush, I wouldn't have to run to get the bag before heading to the potty. There is also a baby seat/high chair in there so you can put your child in and have your hands free while they are safe. Weird thing to write about the bathroom but they obviously tried to think of everything when designing it and I was impressed.

They opened up their back classroom area for us to check out. I didn't get her name but the lady that was running the craft time was so sweet and really into talking the kids and explain the activities. She made everything fun and Elinor really liked her. They said they are planning to have scheduled art and yoga classes in January.

 This is a perfect space especially with bad weather coming. They are having their grand opening Jan 4th but this Sunday Santa is will be there from 10-1 with a professional photographer. They posted on their facebook that there is no charge for the picture. The photographer will upload the photos to a site where you can buy them directly.