S is for soft play (and socks) – at the Krazy Kidz Cafe in Ongar

As mother of two small children, I’ve become a bit of a soft play connoisseur. The Wee Man loves the chance to crawl through numerous small tunnels and launch himself down various slides – and whilst I don’t enjoy it quite as much its far better than sitting at home letting him use my own head as a trampoline.

Having been to many, many soft play establishments, I have come up with a bit of a ‘wants’ list for my ideal soft play – and this is it.

• Big enough to hold their attention, small enough that they can’t get lost.
• Tall enough that I can walk around without resorting to all fours – inevitably I will end up in the play frame myself and it’s great if it’s adult friendly.
• But it must also have small enough steps upwards that a 20 month old can negotiate it without needing too much assistance.
• Clean and safe. That goes without saying really but you’d be surprised (or perhaps not) at some of the filthy and ripped play centres I’ve seen.
• A food and drink source which has reasonably priced, edible offerings.
• Affordable entry, preferably free to adults.
• Not so rammed full of children that they spend more time knocked over on the floor than actually enjoying the equipment.
• Toilets that a) work and b) are clean.

I don’t think that’s too much to ask.

But until recently, it appeared it is.

Then, one afternoon, having been convinced by Bubby D that she really, really wasn’t planning on napping, I decided spontaneously to drive us to Ongar and check out the Krazy Kidz Café. Taking her on her own to soft play is a bit of a novelty – for me as well as her – as she’s normally just tagging along after the Wee Man, getting frustrated that she can’t do all the clambering around that he can do; and I’m left with one increasingly hyped up three year old hollering for my attention and one tearful 20 month old crawling around grumpily, pointing at the door.

Plus, since she’s only recently started walking, it was a whole new soft play perspective for her from that point of view too.

And she loved it!

The equipment was clean, well looked after, interesting, and easy for her to climb (aided by her Funky Giraffe socks, which have clever little rubber bits on the soles which gave her the grip she needed to propel herself up the ramp to the top floor – with no shoes allowed on the play frame I can’t recommend them enough for a stress free soft play experience!).

The play frame was large enough to be interesting, yet small enough I could see it all from my vantage point at one of the copious tables set out for parents to relax in as their little ones enjoyed their run around.

And I was able to get around it with relative ease too, as I went around it with her for the first exploratory journey which gave her the confidence to try it out alone on subsequent journeys.

The café had a very reasonably priced kids lunchbox, and a selection of tasty adult offerings too.

And the toilets were perhaps the cleanest and nicest I have ever experienced at such an establishment. In fact, they even had little baskets stocked with wipes and nappy sacks at each of the two change stations – little touches that made a real difference since I’d managed to leave my wipes in the car.

And it didn’t break the bank, either! I only had to pay £2.50 for Bubby D, and nothing for me.

I was convinced it wasn’t possible…but it’s ticked off every requirement on my list!

Which is why, a week later, I decided it was worth the risk of taking both.

And it turns out, it was still just as good. Friendly, reasonably priced, and clean – and no tantrums, no squealing, and even though it was the school holidays, no bursting at the seams with hundreds of rowdy little ones.

Soft play heaven – for parents and for kids. I think they’ll be seeing a bit more of us in the future!