Tiny Town
We all know role play builds creativity, communication, physical development, and problem solving skills in young children but it can be hard to come up with all the props for a broad range of activities, not to mention child-sized playhouses to accompany said props. Wouldn’t it be great if there was a whole room full of these playhouses? Lancaster is now home to such a place, aptly named “Tiny Town,” this indoor play space boasts 9 luxury playhouses geared for role-playing exploration for your little ones. The kids won’t be the only ones having fun though, this innovative destination is a moms meet-up dream come true! Complete with coffee/snack bar, café-style seating, well-stocked restrooms (seriously—they thought of everything!), and a breastfeeding-friendly atmosphere, you can get caught up on the chit chat while the kids are entertained…screen-free.
I had been meaning to check this place out since it opened about a year ago, and finally the other week a friend suggested we meet there and I took my youngest child who at four years old is the perfect age for it. We went on a day off school so unfortunately it was pretty crowded which definitely detracted from the experience. My daughter is fairly shy and she needed a lot of prompting from me to participate in activities. I wasn’t able to sit and chat like I’d hoped. However, the attraction is super cute with everything built for little ones in mind. The playhouses cover a wide range of community helper categories with accessories to touch and role play with. Sit and read in the library, bake a cake at grandma’s house, put out a fire at the fire station, order a sundae at the ice cream shop, and the list goes on. Lilah couldn’t get enough sliding down the fireman’s pole at the station, along with delivering “mail” to all the playhouses’ mailboxes. For more active kids, many of the houses have some kind of climbing/sliding apparatus. At one point, the staff made an announcement over the loudspeaker and brought out a bubble machine and played kid dance music for everyone to enjoy a “Bubble Dance Party” in the center open space! Hordes of squealing kids delightedly popped bubbles and jumped up and down.
If you bring a child along outside of the targeted age range (toddler through age 7), there is small spaces dedicated for them. Babies can safely crawl in “Teeny Town,” and an out of the way section called “Tween Town” is for 8-12 year olds, but this destination is not marketed to these age groups so I wouldn’t go out of the way to bring babies or pre-teens.
This attraction is the sort of place I dreamed up years ago when my older children were toddlers, too bad someone beat me to the idea. Fortunately the little kid stage is dragging out for me and my youngest now fits the genre perfectly. Grab a girlfriend and set up your next playdate today!
Admission: $8/adult ages 13 and up, $10/children ages 13 months and up, FREE/children 12 months and under.
Hours: Monday-Saturday 9AM-4PM, Sunday closed for private parties
Tiny Town
533 Janet Avenue
Lancaster, PA 17601
(717) 947-7350
See www.tinytownpa.com for more details!
