Kid's Cafe: Big Jump

Koreans really have some things figured out.  One of those are kid's cafes.  Kid's cafes are a moms saving grace and key to sanity.  There are a few of them within a half hour from the base.  The kid's cafe that we tried out is Big Jump  Big Jump is for kids 6 and under and is an indoor play area. I'm sure you are picturing an indoor McDonald's or Chick-Fil-A play place, right?  Oh no!  Think bigger, cleaner, so so cleaner, and add a million more options.

When you first get to Big Jump, you take off your shoes and place them in the shoe cubby outside the room, before you can even enter.

At the door, a little Korean women is there waiting with hand sanitizer in hand.  As the kids walk in, she personally sanitizes all their hands.  The kids immediately go in all different directions and start playing, while the moms go to the register to pay.  For me, since Little Monster is under 2, I just pay about 6000 won ($6) for an hour and a drink for me (Hence the cafe part).  All the moms sit at little tables with our drinks of coke, hot chocolate, cold chocolate or tea.

So let me tell you about all the amazing playing options for my Monster at Big Jump.  There are two trampoline areas.  One is designated for 2 and under, but of course, he prefers the big kid trampoline area.

That area has two tramps that are up on an incline, so it's like a big trampoline slide. About every half hour one of the Korean workers will go in the big kid trampoline room, turn off the lights, and turn on the projector where a sing along song will play and lights will flash dots everywhere.  During this time, the worker will put on a crazy headband with characters wobbling and stand in the middle of the trampoline dancing and singing to the projected song, image or sing-a-long.

Another area is a "sand" pit, but instead of messy sand, they use these tiny wood blocks.  I love the wood blocks.  They are so much cleaner and so fun to play with.  In the sand/block pit there are shovels, tractors, buckets and all the usual sand toys.  Monster loves this room!

Next to the tables for us moms is the toy area.  There are a few car tables filled with cars, trains, roads, tractors, people, and tracks.  Monster loves to play with the cars.

There are also cubbies after cubbies after cubbies of toys of all kinds.  Pretty much every toy you can think of you can find in a cubby.  There are balls, barbies, more cars, large legos, and many other toys.  The best part is that Koreans are extremely clean and organized.  Every time a kid finishes playing and runs to the next toy, before I can get over and pick up the mess, the workers have already swept in and reorganized the toys.  Everything stays so clean, even with 15 plus kids running crazy and messing up the joint.

There is indeed a little McDonald's slide and tunnel area, but it is spanking sparkling clean and much better!  Everything is surrounded by brand new looking colorful soft foam-like material.

At the bottom of this area is a ball pit.  It took a few tries to get Monster to go in there, but he finally went in and was in ball heaven.

The next area is the pretend play area with small kid kitchen stuff and vacuum, and food with shopping carts.  Monster likes to join the little girls and vacuum and shop in here.

The last area is for floor babies.  It's filled with exersaucers, floor mats, floor gyms, and large baby toys.  Monster is out of that stage, so I haven't gone over there.

Big Jump is the best place ever because it's perfect for babies, toddlers and preschool kids to play, interact with peers, practice large motor and fine motor skills, and have new toys to keep them occupied.  Big Jump is perfect for me because it gets me out of the house, I am able to enjoy a delicious hot chocolate, and most importantly, I am able to sit and just gab with friends!  It's the best atmosphere to catch up with friends, plan the next big trip, or just complain about the weather and horrible air quality.  The best money spent for sure!