Café with indoor playground for children, coffee bar for adults opening in Tea
Tea Play Place is opening in Tea next month, following a global trend of “play cafés.” Play cafés combine an indoor playground for kids with a coffee shop for adults.
Beth Hintz and her husband, Jeremiah, moved from Wisconsin to Tea in December with their two young daughters. Hintz was a full-time nanny for eight years and also had an in-home daycare, but she always wanted to open a play place; it just never made sense where she lived, she said.
“When we lived in Wisconsin, there would be nine or 10 within a 30-minute drive," she said. "The market was really saturated."
After moving, Hintz immediately noticed there weren’t as many places around Sioux Falls and saw the perfect opportunity to open her own.
What the play space in Tea includes
The new play space at 910 N. Main Avenue in Tea is meant for newborns to children 8 years old, along with their parents or caregivers.
Unlike a regular daycare, the parent/caregiver has to stay with their child for the whole time.
Tea Play Place will feature gated-off areas for kids complete with tunnels, slides, pretend-play stations and toys. Toys will be rotated out every four months so the kids don’t get bored, and they’ll also be sanitized on a regular basis.
Another section will be just for babies to crawl around safely from older children.
A kitchen with a coffee bar will include a Keurig and drip coffee with the option of ordering specialty drinks like lattes from Central Dakota Perk coffee shop, just down the road, where members will get their drinks delivered for free.
People can order on the app or tell Hintz their order and she will send them all in at once.
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“As a mother of two, I can say it’s really nice to be able to go somewhere you know your child is safe and still having fun while you yourself can relax but still look after them,” Hintz said.
Hintz also plans to host music classes, arts and crafts classes and storytimes for kids as well as yoga classes for parents and their children for an additional cost.
Adults can pay to attend monthly workshops, which will feature experts such as a dietitian, baby-led weaning instructor, chiropractor, health coach and doula. There will also be a lactation consultant on site two times a week, Hintz said.
What are the play café hours, prices?
A day pass is $12 per kid with children under 1 being free. People can purchase a punch pass with five or 10 punches on it, which averages out to $10 a visit.
Party rooms will also be available to rent, or people can rent out the full facility.
Tea Play Place will be open Monday, Wednesday and Friday from 9 a.m. to noon and 3-6 p.m., Thursday 9-10:50 a.m. and 2-6 p.m., Saturday 9 a.m. to noon, and Sunday 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.
“I’m excited to finally get it up and running,” Hintz said. “I saw a need in the community, and I really think it’s something the community will enjoy.”
People can find Tea Play Place on their website and Facebook page.
This article originally appeared on Sioux Falls Argus Leader: Tea Play Place to have indoor kids' playground, coffee shop for adults
