Love the City of Hayward: Indoor Play Places

If you’ve read anything else I’ve written, or if you know me at all, you know I homeschool. It is one of the first things that comes up in almost any conversation I have. Often it is because I have a five year old with me in the middle of the day. Which is odd. As a homeschooling mom, I need indoor play places. I would go insane if I had to spend weeks of rain or extreme heat locked inside with a cabin fever kid. So here is yet another reason I love the city of Hayward: we have great indoor play places.

City of Hayward

Why am I writing a piece on indoor play places in the city of Hayward in the fall, you ask? It is neither raining nor extremely hot. To be quite honest, I have a ton of other essays on my list to write, but two things happened. First, I was recently inspired to write about my city. I feel like it has gotten a bad reputation over the years.

When I was a kid growing up in Fremont just a few miles south, Hayward was “that scary place where the rougher kids lived.” What did I know? We were working class, usually broke, but we still lived in a house in the suburbs. Hayward and Oakland were the scary places. Now, I’ve lived here for 20 years, and I never want to leave.

Don’t get me wrong, we have our share of scary city stuff happen.

Just a few weeks ago a girl in a hoodie with a gun was apparently holding people up at gunpoint, right outside my building! She attacked two people who live in my building. No one was hurt. It was obviously terrifying (one incident happened in the middle of the day), but everyone survived, and one of the girls who was held up managed to pick the girl out of a lineup. I believe the police will take care of it.

Not Afraid

I’m not afraid to live here. I am actually glad I live in an urban area. I prefer it to the suburbs. I don’t want my kids to grow up thinking of “those cities” as “the scary places.” The reality is that when you live in a highly populated area with a diverse group of people in a highly capitalistic society, you are going to see an increase in crime.

We can fix it. I genuinely believe we can, but it will take time, kindness, empathy, and patience. I don’t think fleeing over the hill to the suburbs is the answer. So, I stay. I love it here. I will still walk my streets freely. I will still wander downtown to the ice cream shop or the farmer’s market. I will raise my children here, and on too hot, too rainy, or too smoky days, I will take them to the local indoor play places.

Santa Rosa Fires

The other reason for this piece is the fires. We recently had a series of wildfires just north of us, in Santa Rosa. The air quality shot down, and everyone was worried about going outside. The workers at the door of my local Costco all had masks on when we went that week. It was bad. I typically do not worry about air quality, colds, or flus. I get all our shots, and I figure our immune systems will fight off everything else. I come from pretty sturdy stock.

But my girlfriend’s kids, Celaya’s best friends, have asthma, and it’s pretty bad. The poor kids got fevers, nausea, dizziness, all kinds of atrocities from the smoke in the air. We’re easily 60 miles south of Santa Rosa, and it still looked like sunset all day long because of how thick the smoke was that traveled over the air to us.

So, instead of a regular park play date during the week, we decided to meet at our local play places. First, we hit Mel’s Place, which is “technically” Castro Valley, but my fondest hope for my city is that we will annex that adorable side pocket of a town just north of us and be done with it soon. So anything that is “Castro Valley” I just lump in with Hayward.

The second place we met later that week, because air quality was still poor, was Jumpity Bumpity, a much larger play area to the south. Both places are spectacular, but they are quite different from each other, so I want to do justice to them both here.

Mel’s Place

Mel’s Place moved in a couple of years ago right when I was whining that we had no good play places close to home. I had been driving up to Oakland or Berkeley on rainy days. I even headed over the San Mateo bridge once!

When Mel’s opened it was a dream come true. Mel’s is like a kid’s birthday party at your friend’s house, times ten. It is right across the Hayward/Castro Valley border, next to Castro Valley BART, tucked away in an office complex.

You walk into Mel’s and a section with tables and chairs is immediately to the right. Kids and their parents can sit and eat while they take a break from playing. This area is also used to host birthday parties.

To the Left, To the Left

Everything else is to the left.

I stop at the front desk to pay entrance for her. The price is around $8, give or take, depending on the day and the discount. Check the site to be sure. My infant is still free.

My kid runs right in and take her shoes off and puts them in a cubby but leaves her socks on. (Someday, someone will have to explain to me how this became a universal thing in play places. Why socks on? Seems like socks would get much dirtier and hold onto dirt than bare feet. I also think bare feet provide better grip for jumping, climbing and bouncing. But I digress.)

She typically shoots straight for the play house section. A row of pretty little, kid sized, wooden houses with doors, windows, plastic food, shopping carts, plates and utensils line up along a picket fence. It is adorable, and the kids love playing house, talking to each other through the windows, and “shopping” or “cooking.”

After that she’ll usually ride around in those little Flintstone cars that are way too small for a five year old, which is probably why she likes them so much. Usually around that time she takes off for one of the two big bouncy houses. One of the bouncy houses is so big you can’t see your kid for a few minutes as she climbs up a bouncy ladder into a bouncy tunnel and then slides down a bouncy tunnel slide. It freaked me out when she was smaller. Now I blow her a kiss as she ditches me.

Infant Area

My favorite thing about Mel’s now that I have a baby is the infant area. Mel’s does this way better than Jumpity Bumpity. The infant area is filled with soft plush mats that will protect any falling baby. In addition to the mats, soft plush climbing structures made specifically for crawlers and early walkers abound. There are at least four separate structures for babies.

This area also has tiny rocking animals, a caterpillar, a horse, and an alligator that are close to the ground and soft. Matilda spent hours just exploring. If you are a parent of a baby, this is heaven.

Big Kid Climbing Structures

My favorite part of Mel’s for Celaya is the bigger climbing structures. There are two rather large wooden structures that have wooden ladders, rope ladders, tunnels, and steep slides. They are challenging and fast enough for a five year old to still climb and slide to her heart’s content, screaming all the while. (If only I could get away with earplugs.)

By the time we leave, Celaya is always red cheeked and tuckered out. Mel’s also has table hockey, a train table, a basketball hoop, and a chalkboard and chalk. Plenty to keep my kids amused on a rainy, hot, or smoky day. You can also buy a pass that ends up giving you a pretty good discount in the long run. I’m grateful that “Mel” was inspired to open a place up for our kids.

Jumpity Bumpity

Jumpity Bumpity has been open for just over a year, and it brought a great adventure to our area. If my favorite thing about Mel’s is the baby area, my favorite thing about Jumpity Bumpity is everything “big kid.” This place has tunnels and rope bridges and giant slides galore. Mel rented out a space and  bought a bunch of play equipment for kids to play on. Jumpity Bumpity built a play place into the space they rent. The structures are part of the space.

Again, Celaya runs right in and takes her shoes off, socks on. One tough thing at Jumpity Bumpity is how easily you lose your kid. It is a kid’s dream and a helicopter parent’s nightmare.

Unclench

I actually think these hidden spaces are good for kids. Jumpity Bumpity has made me realize that I have a five year old who can handle herself. I can unclench for a couple of hours and let her play. I will see her run past. I am always scanning for her, and if a few scans don’t bring her into my vision, I will start wandering around looking for her, but I know she’s safe. She’s usually in a tunnel somewhere.

Slides

The slides in this place are amazing. There is not a ton of climbing involved here. Steps and platforms take the kids to higher ground, but you won’t find wooden ladders or rope ladders here. What you will find are huge, slick plastic slides that the kids can race down side by side. You will find a very fast tunnel slide. The slides in this places are a hit.

Higher ground

And speaking of higher ground, you will also see your kids racing overhead through mesh screen as they can climb up on one side of the room, and then run above you to the other side. On that higher level the kids can rock on giant rocking bean bags, climb through tunnels, step over shaky bridges, and then slide down the slides.

Ground Floor

On the ground, kids can whirl around in a teacup like saucer that gave my kid a stomach and headache last time she rode in it because she refused to get out when she should have. Lesson learned. The kids also play with kitchen equipment and dolls in a small out of the way area.

The ground floor does have an under five area that is segmented off from the rest of the play place, but it is really designed for pretty sturdy walkers. There are a couple of courtesy toys for babies, but I really had to hover over Matilda the entire time we were there because the structures are too big for her, and the two merry go rounds are too fast; she is still too unstable. Also, the big five year olds, like mine, still wander in to this area and go crazy. The big boat in the center is probably my favorite structure in this area, but I still had to climb my big butt in there to make sure she didn’t tumble herself out.

A year from now, that area will be great for my one and a half year old.

In the back, you will find a table and chairs for dining. The fees are similar to those at Mel’s, with different discounts on different days as well. Check the calendar for details.

Mel’s Place or Jumpity Bumpity?

No, I can’t make a blanket recommendation. I like both places for Celaya. I love both indoor play places for what they are. Mel’s is typically calmer (not to say it doesn’t get insane on a rainy day that also happens to be school holiday or break. It does.), and it feels more intimate. Jumpity Bumpity is a more classic indoor jumping, bouncing, screaming burn off energy play place.

If I was deciding just for Matilda, I would obviously pick Mel’s Place, but I would never just take my nine month old alone to a play place. These infant areas have to have been designed for siblings, and I am grateful for that.

Check Us Out!

In the end, if you are thinking of where to take your kid in Hayward/Castro Valley on a rainy day, an extremely hot day, or a smoky day, you can’t go wrong with either one. Hayward is really coming together. We’ve got great restaurants, great parks, great downtown life, and great residents.

We are welcoming to all people, and we love to get our kids together on the playground or at our play places. I love living in the City of Hayward, random crazed robber or no. So if you happen to come jump, bounce, or climb at one of our indoor spaces, look around. You might see me, and my two little monsters, there. If you do, come say hi!