Converted church makes novelty play centre. (Playtime (Sheffield))

Member Name: Happyjaw

Product:	Playtime (Sheffield)
Date:	03/10/08 (93 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Very low price compared to many.

Disadvantages: Hard work to climb up the 3 floors, lacking floorspace

Playtime is a playcentre which has taken up conversion residence in an old church, which should be perfect, though in this instance it was a small local church, so the floorspace is limited which called for a little ingenuity in design and they did a good job. The play area is over 3 floors, though that presents a new challenge, you need to be able to climb to take full advantage of the facilities, so it isn't perfect for toddlers.
There's a cut off age of 7 though which means it's very child friendly. Your toddlers won't be mown down by giddy pre-teens bent on destruction.
There's a seating area with those white plastic garden chairs and tables and a little counter where the chap in charge will serve tea, coffee and juice, heat milk and baby food and cook meals.
There are party opportunities which brings me to the next point, it used to be open Monday to Friday for the public but weekends were for parties only. Now it's closed Tuesdays, Fridays and weekends and might be closed from 3pm the other days if there is a private party booked. £2.00 each child during school hours, slightly more after that I beleive but we are never there by then.
So it's no longer a nice possibility for weekdays and it was never possible for weekends, which half defeats the purpose in my view.

Our twins second birthday party last year at Playtime, a huge success, great venue, very relaxed and chilled out but the catering was very average 1970's cold buffet stuff and there was no catering for adults, so we'd covered the cost of extra food so everyone could eat together. A big thumbs up otherwise !

It's the cleanest play centre I've ever seen, rumour has it that the owner has an OCD for cleanliness and frankly that's a good thing in this business. It is especially clean.

Playtime is not easy to find, so much so that 2 guests didn't turn up as they couldn't find it and one almost gave up but did find it in the end.
Signposting might be a big help.
Not great for teeny tinies but the staff don't mind you getting in to assist. It's a hell of a workout even for adults.

I'd say if you have toddlers under 2 or toddlers older who are not proficient climbers, this is probably not not the best place, there are no easy routes to get up the 3 floors. It takes me nearly five minutes to get up there as you have to get into some interesting contorted positions to get up the spaces designed for kids.

Summary: Cheap but steep