What are the Best Things about Soft Play?

There are so many excellent things about soft play centres and there are a multitude of reasons why both parents and children love going to visit them. There is so much to see and do and it can be great to see the kiddos run around, have fun and make new friends. Some of our favourite things about soft play areas are listed below.  

Soft play is a great way for children to explore and have fun

One of the things that children love most is to explore new environments or become more familiar with places that they already know. They will happily find all of the nooks and hiding spots where they can play hide and seek. The colourful play equipment is custom designed for young children as their eyes are attuned to the bright primary and secondary colours and they will find them appealing.  

It's a safe environment for children to play in

Soft play is generally pretty safe due to the nature of the equipment that is used. Most of the flooring and many of the pieces of equipment tend to be soft and padded. Even if a child falls from an upper storey of some equipment, they don’t tend to be as high as equipment tailored to adults and the landing should be soft so any impacts should be minimal.

In the event that an accident does happen, most reputable soft play areas will have staff on-site who are trained in first aid. They will also have the added benefit of having seen the kind of accidents that can happen on their equipment several times before so will know what kind of severity to expect and how to react.  

Soft play promotes physical activity and helps children develop their motor skills

The promotion of physical activity can be hard these days when kids have so much screen time from an early age. Making exercise fun is a huge benefit offered by soft play centres as children are encouraged to run around and explore to their heart’s content.  It can also help them to understand that exercise doesn’t have to be boring and can be achieved through fun and play.

Enhanced motor skills are another benefit of soft play centres as they can help children to figure out how best to use their arms and legs to achieve their goals. This can take a variety of forms from climbing cargo nets to sliding down poles or chutes, it is good for them to be able to figure these things out by themselves and they will begin to understand better how their bodies work and improve their coordination.  

Allowing children to socialise and make new friends

It is especially important following on from the two years of the Covid pandemic that children are encouraged to socialise and make friends with other children as many of them will have been restricted in doing this. It is vital that they are allowed to expand their social skills naturally among children of their own age, and soft play areas can be ideal for allowing this to happen.

They are a great way for children to burn off energy

Sometimes it can feel like children have a limitless supply of energy and soft play centres can lead to them burning off all of their excess energy and having a great night of sleep. This will usually make for a much less grumpy child and as a result, a much less stressed adult as well!