Getting in Touch With Our Inner Children

Every time I take my kids to one of their birthday parties, I have the same thought.

And that thought is…why is this stuff not available for adults? It’s great that you can find all kids party venue places in Melbourne and they’re plentiful enough that you don’t have to travel an hour or more to get there. That’s decent. Not quite like when I was younger. That’s great, and all the stuff that comes with them is great. The equipment is fun, it’s safe, I like how there’s a cafe (that part is mean for the adults, I suppose) and they even do parties with catering and everything.

But…remind me why it’s just a ‘child’ thing? At what age does the part of your brain hat loves sliding down a slide just close itself off? I’m approaching forty, and I’ve been down slides recently. It was great fun. Which morose, dour person made the decree that climbing frames, imaginary wooden pirate ships and ball pits were just for kids? Ball pits are great fun. You can sit in them however you like, so it’s great for people with back problems. You can play catch with the balls. It’s great fun, and yet as soon as an adult gets in a ballpit it’s battle stations. Don’t get it.

Of course, kids party venues and indoor play centres should be for kids, absolutely. I just think that we ALSO need ones for adults that offer basically the same stuff. If we can tear down some of the ageist stigma, I reckon they’d go down a treat in a supressed and bored population. And even loads of people who didn’t KNOW they wanted to slide down slides and climb on climbing frames- because they’re been conditioned to believe that they’re supposed grow out of stuff. Well…I want to upend that.

We’ll see if that ever happens. Maybe some of the indoor play centres in the Campbelltown area are hiring a safety inspector. So I could…’try it all out’ in the name of making it safer for everyone.

-Mark