Exploring Play Spaces: The NEW Badlands Center
When you’re a parent of young children, you openly welcome as many places to play as the universe will allow! So when a brand new, highly anticipated and acclaimed indoor play center opens, you jump on the chance to go out and review it!
Enter Badlands, an indoor activity and recreation center in Rockville, Maryland. Easy to find nestled in Lehmann’s plaza close to the I-495 corridor, when you wander inside the front doors for play, an eye catching display of soft, padded grass, hills, and a play mountain complete with slides, walkways and climb zones (assisted by Badlands employees who are there to help younger and less experienced players) is laid out before you!
TIP: Register and buy your tickets before you arrive; your kiddos will lock eyes on all of the fun things do to when you walk in the door and it’ll speed up their access to all the fun!
When the center was opening, one of the hesitations I had was the price. At $22.50 for 3 and up and $12.50 for children under 3, it is one of the pricier entrance fees. However, there is no time limit for your fun, and adults are free! For adding to the playground rotation, this is a fun departure from the everyday playground.
Inside, there is plenty of room to run, play, and enjoy the ‘outdoors’. The entire center of the facility is set up like the great outdoors, so if you’re needing to enjoy some space to get energy out when the weather is rough, this is a great space. There’s also a separate, gated area for new crawlers and walkers, so that when it’s busy, they won’t get trampled but also get to enjoy the experience.
Separate party and activity rooms border the front of the play area, set up like camp cabins, which is a cute feature. They’re quite spacious and include decorations, a fridge, microwave and sink for storing party food, and with the large open glass walls, allow you to monitor kids if you need a little break in the room from all of the fun. Parties include your own staff members, activities, and access to all of the fun and relatively affordable at $339.00 for a party size of 12 for two hours of play and customizable options.
I was impressed to see that in addition to the climbing and recreation play zone, there are a few other activity rooms as well! One had an area for creating, with assistance, parachutes to let loose in some constructed wind tunnels. There’s also a table for playing with clay, drilling and constructing with real tools for older children, and a butterfly room that opens for educational exploration on the hour during the day.
Another full room has a lego bin and several soft mats for creating, and two more building rooms in the back offer areas for building life-size k’nex type cars and transportation to sit in, as well as a movie theater with plush bean bag chairs to discover the lifecycle of a butterfly. There are plans in the works for Badlands to offer STEM-based classes and daytime activities as they progress, which is very exciting!
What has be thrilled about the space most is that it caters to parents who want to both get their children a fun, interactive playtime with many activities that are both hands on and educational, and also spend some time answering work emails or sipping a coffee, tea, or wine and beer with a fellow Mom or Dad. There’s a cafe’ bordering the play area for full view of kiddos with reasonably priced drinks, sandwiches, salads, and meals and snacks for the kids. While you may choose to enjoy the facility with your kids, if you need to sit aside and nurse baby, check your Facebook or email, or simply take a ‘Mommy Time Out’, you can do so while keeping an eye on your kids having a blast. I was also heavily impressed by the number of enthusiastic staff members on hand to assist kiddos. Obviously you’re signing a waiver removing liability for them being fully responsible for your kids, but every one that I saw was engrossed answering questions or assisting children while I was there!
All in all, if you’re looking for a departure from the normal play, check out Badlands with your adventurous youngsters. Children of all ages will become enchanted with the ‘outdoors’ indoors and you’ll find time for a welcome breather from your daily routine! For more info and to plan your trip, visit Badlands on the web.
One other important fact: Badlands is CLOSED on Mondays. Save yourself tears and strife on your Monday morning trip and plan for one of the other days of the week. We were there on a Friday and, while crowded, it was still manageable and not at all overwhelming for my 5 and 3 year olds while they played.
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