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In the last two years, indoor playspaces have mushroomed in certain pockets of the city and the western-suburban mom is now spoilt for choice. Most of these spaces have the usual stuff to engage kids for an hour or so of tumble and play, with only a few design and ambience changes.
So I do not head to Koko Kids with much enthusiasm. A preschool in Santacruz that doubles up as a play area for kids post school hours, Koko Kids certainly has no surprises that way. The 4,000-sqft space has its slides, ball pool, trampoline and tunnels to crawl through, baby Zipline to zip through, corners to play and hone fine motor skills, punching bags to strengthen gross motor skills and tussle with, and well, the works. The ball pool has a toy face that kids are encouraged to throw a ball into &mdash; akin to a basketball ring &mdash; and a blower that you can place your ball on so that the ball bounces on its own mid-air.
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What is different is that Koko Kids allows a child to play in the outdoor space, too.
Laid with artificial turf, there is an animal dance mat, a tree house to climb up to, a sand table (not a sandpit) and water playspace. It is cordoned off by tall metal bars that are closely built &mdash; you can see through but cannot poke your head out of, and certainly can&rsquo;t climb over. This takes care of the safety while not cutting off the sense of the outdoors (and the view). Look up and you see the sky.
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The waterplay is a largish, square Syntex-tank-kind of shallow tub, which can hold three feet of water. The water is changed after every play. The sand table lets kids play with sand, sadly, without the messing up. If I were a kid I&rsquo;d love a sandpit where I can tumble in, build things after wetting the sand and dig around. But nobody&rsquo;s asking me. Ditto with the waterplay, which should be all about messing around with water and splashing about; adults and their keep-your-clothes-dry, be damned.
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The one thing that perked me up is that the in-house cafeteria whips up healthy food options: hummus with nachni khakra, fresh fruit milkshakes (seasonal), flavoured makhana, lemon sukha bhel, flavoured yogurt, a bowl of dry fruits, along with the usual kiddie foods. The other nice thing about the place is that every Saturday they have interesting workshops. I, for one, would enroll my kids for their finance workshop as well as their gardening one. Koko Kids is open for birthday parties, too. This would be a place I would certainly look up for a birthday party for children in the six to nine age group, because of the indoor-outdoor space option, as well as their unconventional party ideas.
Fact File:
Where: 101, Swati Building, North Avenue Road, Santacruz (W). Best for: Girls and boys aged six months to nine years (playspace); eight- to 12-year-olds (workshops) How to reach: Turn off the Santacruz Linking Road when you see Kotak Mahindra Bank. Timings: 1.30 pm to 8 pm (Monday to Friday); 1.30 pm to 8.30 pm (Saturday and Sunday) Budget: Rs 500 per child, per hour; Rs 600, for two hours; Rs 700 for day pass. Food: Parents can carry food for toddlers up to 18 months. No outside food otherwise. Water: Available Rest Room facilities: Yes Where else to go: Many indoor play-spaces nearby like Juhu Beach, Pushpa Narsee Cycling Park. Parent Poll: Loved the fact that kids could play in safe indoor and outdoor areas. Rating:&nbsp;**** Kids&rsquo; Poll: The sandpit and the tree house were enjoyable. Rating:&nbsp;**** What&rsquo;s Good: Thoughtfully designed. Good ratio of supervisors. What&rsquo;s Not So Good: No crash mats below the tree house. Toilets are not kid-sized.

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