I’ve heard nothing but great things about the indoor play cafe in Montgomery, OZO Play Cafe, so we had to try it out for ourselves. The location is extremely convenient, the play cafe is located on Montgomery Road in Montgomery across the street from Kroger. It is nestled in a plaza with Salon Lofts and Jet Pizza.

When you first walk in there are Ikea cubbies for the whole family to store shoes/purse/diaper bag so that you can enter the play area without tracking in dirt from your shoes. Mom’s you’ll want to make sure everyone is wearing socks (and maybe the socks with the rubber on the bottom for those that could easily fall) because part of the floor is concrete and cold this time of year. You then go to the back of the cafe to pay for your child to play, $8 for an all-day pass for the first child and $6 for the second child. Note – this is geared for children 6 and younger, they had a special area for 12 month and younger to play.

We arrived just before 11am and were there until about 12:30p and that was plenty of time for Ab to play but she of course wanted to stay longer. We first hung out playing with the train and wood track, but then we were off exploring the rest of the center. The slide and mini jungle gym, tumbling on the colorful mats, riding on a scooter, pushing the shopping cart full of food, playing with the animals (Ab was loving the lion and was yelling ROAR while chasing me), building with the blocks, more tumbling and then making everyone dinner in the kitchen area. Whew! I was a bit wore out but really there is so much for a toddler to do. We didn’t even get to the large chalkboard but I’m sure she would have loved that area too.

Definitely a place I would recommend and a place I would bring Ab back to play. Actually, I did find out that they will be selling day pass gift cards as we get closer to the holidays. This is going to be a fun treat for both of my nephews for Christmas! *Side note, I really wanted to take half of these toys home especially the tumbling mats. So fun!

Another great idea is to host your kid’s birthday party at ozo. There are a few party packages and both seem reasonable enough plus you don’t have to clean your house or pick up when everyone leaves. You can go to the website for more information http://ozoplaycafe.com/

The only cons from our experience is more a “me” problem but here it goes:

• Parents that don’t follow the rules – arg! It says no shoes, so don’t come back in the play area with your shoes on. It says to put the toys that your child puts in their mouth in this separate bin, so DO IT!
• Parents that don’t watch their kids – there was a little boy (probably around 5) that was riding the scooter at excessive speeds. One other parent that was standing near me actually said, “it is pretty funny to watch all of the other parents physically get tense when this little boy almost knocks down their own kid” PRETTY MUCH!
• Self policing if your kid is sick – I made sure that we washed our hands right before we left and kept Ab from sticking her hands in her mouth just in case.

All-in-all I’m excited about the cafe as an indoor option during the winter months! And a MAJOR plus…. it really wore both her and George out!