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As we’ve only recently become parents, we’ve only recently became aware of a wonderful feature known as the mall playground. We first encountered these in Des Moines, when I happened to spot an area for children in a local mall known as South Ridge. I considered it then to be quite a savvy development, especially for the frigid winters of the American Midwest. The malls engender a fair amount of good will, at least from me, in giving us space to keep the kids happy. And when kids are happy, I’m happy.
Since then, we’ve researched the malls along our regular route between Kitchener and Des Moines. We know of free indoor playground spaces in Flint, Battle Creek and Iowa City, and we may look up additional places to play in Des Moines, Omaha and Lincoln. These spaces give Vivian and Nora a chance to run around, and some even offer complementary wifi service for parents, giving me a chance to do a little work while keeping an eye on our energetic tykes.
Strangely enough, I haven’t found these facilities in Canada, though it may be a case that I haven’t been looking very hard. However, I am familiar with Fairview Mall and Conestoga Mall in Kitchener, the Eaton Centre and Yorkdale Mall in Toronto, the Galleria in London and a few other places in the area. No such playgrounds exist. If I wanted to take Vivian and Nora someplace to be a little active, and if it was winter, and no Early Years facilities are available, I’m generally limited to using the local big box bookstores.
Mind you, the malls I’ve described, with the exception of the Galleria in London, are fairly prosperous, and plenty of malls in the United States are not. I’ve already talked about the emergence of “greyfields” to go with greenfield and brownfield developments in urban planning discussions. The malls that used to threaten the economic viability of urban cores have themselves been usurped by big box developments, while the urban cores themselves are making a comeback by focusing on their unique history, culture, diversity, walkability, and so on.
So, perhaps the emergence of mall playgrounds is a self-defense mechanism in response to the pressure of the big outdoor power centre. Our vibrant downtowns remain secure in their survival by playing to their urban strengths, and so to are the indoor malls, reminding parents at the end of the day that: hey, we’re climate controlled.
For this parent, anyway, it’s a brilliant strategy.
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January 18, 2010 1:27 AM | Reply
I know that growing up, some of the malls in Edmonton had those play areas and my parents would drop me and my siblings off at them. I don’t remember which malls have them, but there were certainly one or two.
January 18, 2010 8:03 AM | Reply
Scarborough Town Centre has (had?) such a play area. I’m not sure it’s still there given the recent renovation blitz, but there was a nice little daycare-esque area where you could leave your kids for a while while you shopped.
January 18, 2010 1:34 PM | Reply
West Edmonton Mall has had a variety of kid playgrounds, and still has the waterpark, indoor glow-in-the-dark golf as well as a mini-golf place. Other malls in the city have variations, some in which you stay to play and others you pay $x/hour to a maximum of usually 4 hours so you can go shop or whatever.
All the IKEAs I’ve been to have them (kid drop-off vs. parental participation though).
The mall in Surrey we lived by when Nic was a toddler had a playground/babysitting service that was perfect for rainy days. I’d drop her off (I think it was around $4 or $5/hour) and go grab a coffee & read. It was also handy when she tried running and hiding in a dept store, and became her punishment when I needed to shop (as in, until you show me you won’t do that again, you can’t shop with me anymore) - I only needed to do that for a few trips to get the message across, and I didn’t want it TRULY to become a punishment, as I found it invaluable for a single, stay-at-home-while-working-from-home mom who occasionally needed a few clear hours during the day to get some projects out the door.
January 18, 2010 1:45 PM | Reply
West Edmonton Mall is West Edmonton Mall. I think at one point they had more submarines than the Canadian Armed Forces. What they have certainly goes beyond what most malls have. The areas I’m talking about are smaller, and often have these neat art installations that are made of some special foam rubber with no hard edges on anything. Kids can climb and slide.
Similarly, Ikea is Ikea. Erin and I have certainly used this facility to keep Vivian happy while we shopped. The company is so enlightened that they even offer free marriage counseling in some of their stores in Europe.
January 18, 2010 1:50 PM | Reply
P.S. Your Surrey experience sounds like something I’m hearing about here called Kidzone. I’ll be checking it out when Vivian pays a visit to attend a classmate’s fifth birthday party. Could be useful.
For me, the Early Years Centres has been the best. Nora gets two hours of playing with kids her age, and I retire to the kitchen for coffee and a chance to write.
January 18, 2010 7:13 PM | Reply
When my kidlets were small, we joined Gymboree every winter. It was relatively expensive, but you could go an unlimited number of classes a week. It was active, age-appropriate, creative and led by someone else, with parent participation. The other thing we did when they were just a bit older - Viv is perfect age - was gymnastics at the KW Gymnastics club on Victoria.
January 18, 2010 8:56 PM | Reply
I’ve seen Kidzones in Edmonton & Calgary, but the ones I’ve seen were for older (5ish/6ish) than toddlers (although, come to think of it, that was Nic’s age by then so maybe I just wasn’t paying attention).
January 26, 2010 5:45 PM | Reply
I lived in Malton during the 90’s, when my children were born and about 96 or so The Westwood mall, Derry and Goreway-ish they opened a little play area for the kids, a climbing gym and a ball pool. Greatest thing in the winter. My wife and I would pick up a coffee sit on a bench and the kids could play.