March 15, 2018

Kids can play indoors while parents watch from a cafe at Monkey Bizness, which opens today.

The business is a Colorado-based concept owned by USD graduate Matt Krieger and his wife, Kristen, a Miller native and former elementary teacher.

It has grown to five locations. The Sioux Falls location is at 57th Street and Louise Avenue near Spezia and designed for kids age 2 through 8.

“We have a dedicated toddler area for crawlers and early walkers to crawl around and explore,” director of marketing Ashley Myers said. “And then we’ll have the treehouse with the foam pit, and a horizontal rock wall, so instead of going really high they climb across the wall, and we’ll have an interactive game floor where a game is projected onto the floor, and they can interact with it like play soccer and stomp on bugs.”

Other features include a bounce house, an interactive light game and a large climbing structure like a jungle gym. Crafts and coloring are offered near the cafe, where “families can sit down and have snacks, parents can have coffee, and we have designated large tables for birthday parties,” Myers said.

“You can come in and pay per child and pay as long as you want. Parents and babies are free,” Myers said. “And we have memberships for a monthly rate. It gets charged like a gym membership and you can play as often as you like, and there are other perks as well.”

Hours are 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Thursday, 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. Friday, with family discounts after 5 p.m. On weekends, hours are 9 a.m. to noon Saturday with semi-private parties afterward and 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday with open play parties all day.