New play center is open in The Grove

Parents and young children in Hoover now have another option for fun, safe play.

Let’s Play Party opened a new facility in The Grove shopping center in April.

An indoor soft-play center for children ages 0-12, Let’s Play promotes exercise and physical activity in a secure environment, according to the company’s website.

If you’re a parent concerned that your child is spending too much time on their smartphone, Let’s Play Director of Operations Jed Bohman said the new Let’s Play Hoover can help.

“We feel in this day and age, there is a lot less physical activity, and it's our goal to bring that back,” he said.

“And there’s the social aspect for smaller children,” Bohman said. “Being a father myself, it is incredibly important to for kids to interact with other kids.”

Let's Play also has a facility on U.S. 280, which owner Sonal Patni opened in 2015 and is being remodeled. There’s a Huntsville location, too.

The Hoover facility will have some features not found at Let’s Play Birmingham, including a Wild West-themed soft-play structure, a “kiddie island” and the Big Air Jump airbag, according to company management.

The equipment at Let’s Play is designed to promote activities ― including sliding, crawling, balancing and swinging ― that a developing child needs to exercise different muscles and maintain flexibility and agility, according to the company’s website.

Let’s Play isn’t a unique idea, Bohman said, citing chains going back decades such as Chuck E. Cheese’s and Discovery Zone. But Bohman said Let’s Play is different in that it offers parents and kids quality play, nice amenities and the chance for “interaction and family time.”

“The concept is that adults can come,” he said. “Some of these other places are just straight kids.”

“Parents are welcome on most play structures to assist their children,” he said.

Unlike many other facilities, Let’s Play uses a child’s height or weight ― not age ― as the main factor in determining which play structures the child can use.

“Every child is different,” Bohman said. “Some grow up faster than others. Some walk sooner than others. It is impossible to restrict kids just from age alone.”

Bohman said Let’s Play understands that security is important to parents.

“No child gets out without the same adult they came in with,” he said. “This puts the parents’ minds at ease. No one can run off with your child.”

Let’s Play provides a gated entry/exit system, as well as plenty of seating and good sight lines for parents, according to the website.