Soft Play Keeping Kids Active
Indoor Playgrounds from the ’80s Have Grown Up & Are Even More Vital
As weather brings families to head indoors during the winter and throughout the year, finding ways to keep kids active “becomes more important than ever,” says the team over at Soft Play, which builds indoor playgrounds and other play structures for kids.
Citing the CDC stat that reports childhood obesity now affects 21.2% of U.S. children and adolescents, a major increase from the past, Soft Play’s vice president Rich Albright wants to be a part of the solution.
He joined the company more than two years ago after a career in building materials. “Being able to build commercial playgrounds is an incredible opportunity,” he said. “There’s a great need for kids to be able to get off their iPads and mobile devices.”
Soft Play is perhaps best known for launching the McDonald’s PlayPlace back when the company started in the 1980s. For 25-30 years, it was the crux of what they did, working on McDonald’s locations and with other quick-serve restaurants like Chick-fil-A.
However, that began to evolve in the 2010s and even more in the 2020s. Today, such venues only represent about a quarter of the biz, Albright explained.
You can now find most of Soft Play’s playgrounds and attractions at airports, FECs, amusement parks and other location-based entertainment venues, churches, museums and malls.
One big recent project was at Thanksgiving Point, an indoor-outdoor farm, garden and museum complex in Lehi, Utah. Part of Thanksgiving Point is the Mountain America Museum of Ancient Life, where the nonprofit converted an old IMAX theater into a 6-story dinosaur-themed park called Jurassic Jungle with the help of Soft Play.
“We put in all kinds of really cool tunnels and climbs and ropes and really neat attractions for kids there,” Albright said. “This project was over a $5 million playground – an incredible investment in kids’ play. We’re finding that the payback period is more than worth the investment because there’s incredible demand.”
Among the custom play elements there are a 32-ft. spiral volcano slide, a 12-ft. spiral snake slide, three 16-ft. cargo net bridges, a 20-ft. Brontosaurus sculpture, a 16-ft. T. rex sculpture and a digital stomp projection interactive.
Climate-controlled play areas have become really important to parents in recent years, he added, noting it’s especially integral when it comes to “Dallas in summertime or Minneapolis in wintertime,” for example. “Getting kids moving all year-round is crucial.”
Another recent project for Soft Play was at Wild Oasis, part of the Jungala experience at Busch Gardens Tampa Bay. It’s an outdoor play structure with a section for 6-10-year-olds and another section for tweens and young teenagers. It features vertical, multi-level ropes courses and a brand-new toddler installation as well.
They also have a play area at Kennedy Space Center aimed at sparking the younger generation’s interest in interplanetary travel and space exploration. It includes a handcrafted solar system that represent accurate replicas of the planets and sun, ranging from 90” to 17 feet in diameter. (For those of you who failed astronomy, the sun is the largest of them!)
Their recent project at Fishers Community Center in Indiana added a sky course playground to that facility, which also has a gym, pool and daycare center. “It’s fun for the whole family,” Albright said of the playground.
Soft Play’s marketing manager Kelly Green added that their brand revolves around bringing families together through active, multi-generational play and a healthy integration of digital components. STEM and STEAM integration and inclusion of sensory play elements are hugely important to the company.
“We definitely see a tailwind,” Green said. “We see the industry continuing to grow.”
To that effect, the company noted, “For developers, facility operators and community leaders, meeting seasonal demand for safe, engaging play spaces can be a challenge. That is why ready-made indoor play solutions are gaining traction.”
If you think your venue would benefit from a custom playground attraction, contact them at www.softplay.com.