Alternative Title: Will COVID-19 Have a Permanent Impact on the Indoor Playground and Family Entertainment Center Industry?

I’m writing this on March 24, 2020- while we are smack in the middle of a global health crisis. I live in New York so we have been quarantined for just over a week, and indoor playgrounds around the country have been mandated to close until further notice.

While “social distancing” seems to (so far) be “flattening the curve”, so to speak (with the main aim of “flattening the curve” being to prevent a sharp peak of cases and spread out the infection over a longer period of time so that the healthcare system will not be overwhelmed), this crisis DOES bring up questions about “non-essential” businesses, especially those intended to host gatherings of people.

• Will we ever feel comfortable being in large groups again?

• Will close contact ever be allowed?

• What policies will be enacted to combat future instances of disease?

With so many unknowns, many of my members inside my group coaching program, Play Makers Society, have questions about how they should proceed with their plans.

I already addressed how I’m encouraging currently operating businesses to brace for the impact of the effect COVID-19 will have here, but what about those of us who are still in the planning phases?

Someone specifically asked me,

“ARE YOU STILL ENCOURAGING NEW FOLKS TO START THE PROCESS AND CONSIDER OPENING PLAY CAFES? DO YOU SEE THE INDUSTRY BOUNCING BACK AFTER THE WORST OF THIS IS OVER?”

While this question certainly gave me pause, especially with all of the uncertainty both related to health AND the impact of a global lockdown on the economy and personal finances, but after much consideration and listening to the opinions of other group members-- I found myself continually coming back to the same conclusion--

YES!

The quote that was replaying over and over again in my head was “Play is not a luxury. Play is a necessity.” by Kay Redfield Jamison.

Because that sentiment is SO true.

Families will always be looking for a sense of connection. Children will always need changes of scenery and social interaction.

After all, indoor playgrounds and play cafes are NOT just recreational. We also serve as a place to celebrate birthday milestones and visit with family and friends.

Indoor play spaces also serve the community through educational classes and important resources like breastfeeding support, and act as donation collection centers for those in need.

Countless studies have shown just how important play and social interaction are to early childhood development, and parents all over the globe will be looking for safe, clean spaces to provide these essentials for their children now more than ever.

Humans are social beings, and while our procedures will need an overhaul in order to best protect our staff and customers-- we will always seek to gather together.

SO, THE INDUSTRY ISN’T GOING ANYWHERE-- BUT WHAT WILL NEED TO CHANGE?

This was the next question that entered my mind.

While we won’t know for sure what the global impact of this epidemic will be for quite some time, it IS clear that changes will be needed.

FOR EXAMPLE, AS WE LEARN HOW TO BEST COMBAT AND PREVENT THE SPREAD OF THIS VIRUS, WE NEED TO ADAPT OUR CLEANING AND SANITIZING PROCEDURES ACCORDINGLY AND BE MORE STRINGENT THAN EVER.

And while I wholeheartedly believe that indoor play spaces are NOT a trendy business and are here to stay-- I do believe we may also need to make some adaptations to our spaces and offerings.

For example, smaller toys that children often put in their mouths may be a thing of the past in play spaces. While fine motor play and imaginative play is crucial, we may need to be agile and find new ways to offer these for our clients.

For example, instead of having a pretend farmers stand with loose plastic or wooden play food, we may need to start securing these toys to fixtures to prevent children from placing them in their mouths.

We already have a great deal of equipment on our walls that also offers fine motor development and practice without having to worry about children handling loose pieces.

Ball pits may also be done away with when all of this is said and done.

Again, I hate to speculate too much as we are still in the middle of the WORST of the virus, but ball pits have long been linked to germs and bacteria and can be more difficult to clean than other fixtures and equipment.

While parents are still going to bring their children places to play, I can definitely see how they would be reluctant to allow their children to use the large ball or foam pits any time in the near future for those reasons, so I predict that indoor play spaces will begin having to replace them with new equipment that’s easier to keep clean.

AND WHILE EACH INDOOR PLAYGROUND IS TYPICALLY FREE TO COME UP WITH THEIR OWN TOY CLEANING AND SANITATION PROCEDURES, ONE THING I HOPE TO COME OUT OF THIS CRISIS IS REGULATION AND GUIDANCE AROUND CLEANLINESS.

Unless an indoor playground also operates as a licensed daycare, there are SHOCKINGLY few (if any) regulations in terms of toy cleaning (the health department typically ONLY focuses on food related items).

In New York State and most other states, there is absolutely NO standard that indoor playgrounds need to adhere to and therefore no guarantee for consumers that play equipment gets cleaned or sanitized at all.

Yes, of course, owners can list our their policies and procedures-- but if there’s no governing body or system to ensure these are being followed-- does it even MATTER what we claim?

My hope is that increased regulation and scrutinization of the indoor playground industry will put our customers’ minds at ease a bit and further encourage them to continue patronizing indoor play spaces.

I will be continuing to follow the news and the spread (and hopeful containment!) of the COVID-19 virus and posting updates as often as possible, so be sure to follow me here on my blog AND on my YouTube channel!

In addition to updates, I will also be posting resources and guidance for both those indoor playground owners who are currently operating AND those who are still in the planning phases.

In particular, I am interested to see how this health crisis will affect the housing/ real estate market (which could drastically affect rent/ mortgage rates!) and our personal finances around the world.

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Michele Caruana, Indoor Playground Owner and Creator of Play Cafe Academy