Oct. 7, 2022

Tea Play Place, an indoor space for children to play and parents to relax, is opening Sunday.

The play space follows a nationwide trend of “play cafes,” connecting a coffee shop for parents and caregivers with an indoor playground created for toddlers and infants. It’s located at 910 N. Main Ave. in Tea in a renovated child care center.

It took owners Beth Hintz and her husband about a month and a half to renovate the space, knocking down walls and installing indoor windows, tunnels and a built-in slide.

Hintz moved to Sioux Falls with her husband and two toddlers in 2021 from Milwaukee. While the stay-at-home mom frequented indoor playgrounds in Wisconsin during the winter, she said she was stunned to find a lack of the resources when they moved.

The children’s area is about 1,000 square feet, offering a pretend station, building station, doll house and pizza kitchen area, train table and workbench in addition to the slide and tunnels. There is a gated baby area for waddlers and younger that is about 350 square feet.

A counter bar top and windows allow parents and caregivers to watch children play in a separate space where they can relax and drink locally provided coffee and drinks.

“We’re nervous and excited,” Hintz said. “We’re excited to offer all this to the community.”

Tea Play Place costs $12 for one-day general admission, or caregivers can use discount punch passes or purchase a monthly or yearly membership. Children younger than 1 are free, and a second child is discounted. Adults must be with a child to enter the facility.

Hintz is kicking off the grand-opening with free hot dogs from 11 a.m. to noon Sunday, or while supplies last, and face painting from noon to 2 p.m.

A discount $10 entry will be offered at the grand-opening, and Hintz will have 100 swag bags filled with coupons, goodies and toys from local businesses. Tea Play Place also will offer 10 percent off membership purchases that day.

The play space will have special events for parents and children each week, including “Music Mover Mondays” from 10 to 10:30 a.m., story time at 9 a.m. on Wednesdays, child-friendly yoga each Thursday from 5:30 to 6:15 p.m, and crafts each Sunday.

The business will be open on weekdays from 9 a.m. to noon and then from 3 to 6 p.m. It will be closed Tuesdays. Saturday hours will run from 9 a.m. to noon, and Sunday hours will be 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Hintz also wants to provide education and workshops for caregivers, which she said is needed outside of the hospital systems. She’ll have on-site lactation consultations two days a week with paid admission and will host baby-led weaning classes, baby-wearing classes and other classes led by dietitians and chiropractors.