This morning I thought I'd take Caitlyn out to the local Chipmunks in Albany. It is an indoor play area for kids. We used to go to the Junglerama indoor play area in Wellington and really enjoyed it a lot.
We got to the counter and paid the $5 entry for Caitlyn (it is $5 for 1 year olds) and stepped inside, just to notice that for our $5 entry the toddler area (the area for kids up to 5) consisted of a few, old, pale, faded pastel coloured toys in doubtful condition - you know plastic toys that resemble a stove, a little house and so on. Some parts were missing, certainly there were no interesting buttons doing anything, and they were just downright boring. There was also a little slide, but that was pretty much it. Oh and I did discover a little lawnmower push toy that was pretty dirty and also one of those little cars that kids push with their feet while they sit inside minus the steering wheel.
Now I don't know about any other 1 year olds, but my 1 year old hasn't quite reached the age of pretending to play house or cook a meal. So Caitlyn very quickly lost interest and ventured to the side that was for older kids. Now this side had a few large play structures and 2 bouncy castles. It was brightly coloured and padded, but not really suitable for a 1 year old. But from the bite marks in parts of the foam that they wrapped around the poles of the structures, I'm guessing a number of bored 1 year olds must have ventured to this side.
Of course if I wanted to I could have forked out $1 / $2 per ride on some of the electronic rides that they strategically placed all over.
So they quite happily took our $5, but the venue absolutely did not cater for a 1 year old - what a rip-off!!!
Afterwards we went to the Albany Westfield Mall and they have a little play area there which was in way better condition, way better suited and best of all - didn't cost me anything. So note to self, rather take the kids to play at the shopping centre when it rains...
We got to the counter and paid the $5 entry for Caitlyn (it is $5 for 1 year olds) and stepped inside, just to notice that for our $5 entry the toddler area (the area for kids up to 5) consisted of a few, old, pale, faded pastel coloured toys in doubtful condition - you know plastic toys that resemble a stove, a little house and so on. Some parts were missing, certainly there were no interesting buttons doing anything, and they were just downright boring. There was also a little slide, but that was pretty much it. Oh and I did discover a little lawnmower push toy that was pretty dirty and also one of those little cars that kids push with their feet while they sit inside minus the steering wheel.
Now I don't know about any other 1 year olds, but my 1 year old hasn't quite reached the age of pretending to play house or cook a meal. So Caitlyn very quickly lost interest and ventured to the side that was for older kids. Now this side had a few large play structures and 2 bouncy castles. It was brightly coloured and padded, but not really suitable for a 1 year old. But from the bite marks in parts of the foam that they wrapped around the poles of the structures, I'm guessing a number of bored 1 year olds must have ventured to this side.
Of course if I wanted to I could have forked out $1 / $2 per ride on some of the electronic rides that they strategically placed all over.
So they quite happily took our $5, but the venue absolutely did not cater for a 1 year old - what a rip-off!!!
Afterwards we went to the Albany Westfield Mall and they have a little play area there which was in way better condition, way better suited and best of all - didn't cost me anything. So note to self, rather take the kids to play at the shopping centre when it rains...
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