Nowadays, there are more and more cafes, and competition is getting fiercer. Relying only on tea and coffee can no longer attract customers. So more and more cafes have added new extra services. The most effective and popular one is adding children’s play facilities. With indoor play facilities inside, kids can play there, while parents can drink coffee and look after their children at the same time.
If you also want to open a play cafe, you need to do a lot of preliminary preparations. As long as you make full preparations, you can have a happy children’s play cafe.
What is a Children’s Play Cafe?
A children’s play cafe is first a cafe. It has tea, coffee and all kinds of desserts. Parents and kids can eat, drink and socialize here. At the same time, it has a small indoor playground. The indoor environment lets kids come to play no matter the weather, giving parents a choice to take kids out to play at any time. In ordinary cafes, parents can have a good time, but kids will be bored, and parents won’t feel at ease. The indoor play cafe solves this problem well and attracts kids to come and play. If you want to open one, you should first think about the age of the children you will serve, and equip different play facilities according to different ages.
The Benefits of a Children’s Play Cafe
This kind of cafe not only benefits business owners, but also brings many benefits to customers.
For business owners: First, the customer group is clear — children and their parents in a certain age group who want to find a place for afternoon tea. Customers can come at many times throughout the year. No matter what extreme weather it is, it’s very friendly to children. Kids can come to have a drink in cold or hot weather. Business owners can have a unique service in the cafe field and increase sales.
For kids: Here, they can not only eat snacks, but also socialize. They can meet other kids with the same hobbies to play together, develop social skills and become more independent. Even on rainy days, they won’t stay at home playing electronic devices. They can go out to exercise, making their lives healthier and always energetic.
For parents: Here, they can not only relax with a cup of coffee, but also let kids run freely. The store’s staff will take care of the kids, so parents can rest at ease.
Preparations for Opening a Children’s Play Cafe
(1) To open a children’s play cafe, you first need to observe the surrounding environment. Choose a place near a community with many families and kids, and where there are few similar cafes. This can attract target customers to the greatest extent.
(2) Make a business plan: Think about the age profile of target customers; decide the theme of the cafe — it can be related to a certain cartoon or a certain movie. The menu needs to be new and child-friendly. Calculate the budget and prepare enough money. While choosing the location, you also need to consider the store’s rent and whether you can afford to pay and maintain it. You should also learn about relevant laws and insurance.
(3) Buy materials and equipment. Besides common cafe equipment like coffee machines, tables and chairs, if it’s a high-end store, you need to buy ovens and other things to enrich the choices. Finding a company willing to cooperate is very important. You also need to buy all kinds of kitchen supplies and packaging tools.
(4) Hold activities. As a new store, holding activities to attract customers is very important. Hold interesting activities that kids are willing to join in, hand out leaflets and put ads on websites to attract customers and make them willing to come and try.
4. Play Equipment
As a children’s play cafe, buying play equipment is very important. For a small indoor playground area, you can customize a play zone and divide the small space into two floors to have more ways to play. For example, sponge mats, foam ball pools, climbing frames — you can customize them according to the specific structure of the space. You also need to consider the theme style of the cafe and customize play facilities with different features.
