As a toddler mom myself, soft play rental is an incredible concept for parties from a hygiene, security, and entertainment perspective. I'll share more of my experience working with soft play rentals as a business owner in the party industry below.
The basics: what are soft play rentals?
Think a nugget couch on a much larger scale. Soft play is a safe space created for toddler birthday parties so that babies can explore freely, and mama's can rest easy at a party. Moms of little ones know, the hardest part about going to anyone else's home is keeping your eyes glued to your little one. Baby and toddler proofing is simply impossible to do 100%- even if you're an excellent mama who did great with 90% of your home... kiddos get into things! It's how they learn!
The groundwork
Most soft play rental setups start at the bottom and work up. Babies and toddlers, after all, are typically crawling on the floor. When booking a soft play rental you can expect them to lay a tarp down on the designated area to ensure that there's an excellent barrier between the floor mats and the ground or flooring below.
Floor mats! This is where the "soft" comes in. Once a barrier is created to ensure babies and toddlers are completely safe, a soft flooring system is set up for kiddos to safely play in an interactive way on the toys provided. It's a soft place to land, which is really comforting for both littles and their parents.
The Boundary
After the soft place to land is securely installed, soft play rentals place a small toddler fence around the area. This is to ensure everyone's safety in keeping older kids, animals, whomever out and little ones in.
The Toys
This portion varies from company to company. It also has a bit of flexibility depending on the age of the children the soft play area is intended for. While many soft play companies focus on babies and toddlers, some branch out with ninja warrior type obstacles for older kids. After all, the concept is a soft place to land, but you can always build in a bit of adventure!
Most soft play rentals include:
- Ball pit
- Climbing area
- Rocking horse or seesaw
- Slide
- Place to jump: think trampoline, bounce house, or inflatable
Extra Perks
What I really love most about soft play rentals is that it's a one-on-one, personalized approach to my children. I'm working directly with a company that's essentially delivering a playground, or small rental venue to my home. This means that there's extra cleaning involved, personalization around my little one's needs, and security that helps ME enjoy my kiddo's party even more!
It's a really great concept if you're considering opening an equipment rental business, too!
Leave a Reply