Playgarden – Clean and Green Fun for Kids, Parents Alike

The NYC Dads Group enjoyed an awesome venue set in Tribeca: Playgarden.

We showed up around 1 p.m. at Playgarden’s 4,000-square-foot indoor playground which includes slides, ball pits, trampolines, fun mats, tunnels, ladders, bridges, and monkey bars. I loved the fact that they shut down the playspace every day from noon to 1 p.m. to clean and sterilize the entire playspace. When we arrived at 1, the place was immaculate.

Our dads enjoyed some quality time to talk shop and catch up during our hour in the playspace, which makes you feel like you are in a garden with all of the green (the space is green in color and in design with recycled playground equipment and organic products) or a Soho loft space because of the open space with bright skylights. More importantly, our kids seemed to be completely satisfied testing out the ball pit, practicing crawling on the carpet, gripping the Nerf footballs, and interacting with each other.

When I had to change my son’s diaper, I found a pleasant surprise in their bathroom – not that kind of surprise! Actually, the bathroom was equipped with eco-natural products including sanitizer, wipes, a changing table and diapers organized by size! Bathrooms used to never be something I cared much for before being a parent, but now I seek out clean and roomy bathrooms that fit a stroller and are equipped with changing tables.

Next, we were welcomed by a friendly and energetic “coaching” staff as we took a trial sports class. The focus was on body movement and the sport of the month, volleyball. A positive experience in the fast-paced gym class with circle time, a friendly game of volleyball using balloons, flying through the air on a 30-foot zipline, and walking/crawling/cruising through an obstacle course. I was only disappointed that I was too big to fly down the zip line.

Overall, Playgarden made me wish (at least for a couple of hours) that I was under 5 years old!