Just Kidding Playground (Forest Ave)

About

Reviewers keep coming back to the music, and they divide on it. Two find it loud and not always children's music — one father says his kids leave wound up rather than worn out — while two others call it a refreshing change of pace and a fun atmosphere that never tipped into overwhelming; another parent, otherwise complimentary, found that the noise on top of the color and a full room tipped over into overstimulating.

Set against that, this is the location parents of anxious and autistic children keep choosing, and one gives the reason: it is small enough to sit in one spot and watch them without worrying. The draw is pretend play rather than a big climber — a mock supermarket, a dress-up station, projectors, a pebble pit next to the ball pit.

Parties are where it clearly wins, because this is the one that will close a room off for you. One write-up is unusually detailed: food plated before the children sat down, the room stripped and reset between the meal and the cake, leftovers boxed and gifts carried out to the car. Best fit is walking toddlers to about six.