11 November,2016 10:29 AM IST | | Vinitha
Every time I took the Linking Road route in Santacruz, an attractive billboard had been catching my eye and hooking me enough to take the name down to look it up online
Skipperty Hopperty is a 4,000-sq ft indoor kids space. Pics/Sneha Kharabe
Skipperty Hopperty, Santacruz (W)
Every time I took the Linking Road route in Santacruz, an attractive billboard had been catching my eye and hooking me enough to take the name down to look it up online. Strangely enough, innumerable online searches later, I drew a blank. So, l finally decided to walk into Skipperty Hopperty (SH), Mumbai's latest play space for kids, and explore it.
What! Another play space? SH has not even had a formal launch and it is nearly packed! So what does this new entrant have that other similar places don't?
Actually, only a train. But SH is a pretty place that simply lures you into it. The one-level, 4,000-sq ft of flat space has a perfect balance of colour and optimisation, without compromising on free space by cramming it up with gadgets.
So, it has a zipline, a trampoline, a ball pool and a slide that dips into another ball pool, a ball shower, a 30-feet tunnel with transparent zones to look out of, toy houses of different sizes to play with and play inside, soft bricks to work with, loads of soft places to swing from, clamber through, slide off and crawl. Phew!
The whole floor of the sixth floor of the building where SH is, has been divided. At the reception, you can choose to head either left or right. The left is where the play space and cafeteria, and to your right is where you move to dedicated sections - one room is an activity area where cookery and other hobby classes will be curated for kids. Another is a room filled with toys.
In the works is a room for toddlers. As owner Rishikesh says, "Little kids are intimidated when they have to share space with older ones."
Kids tumble and play around, with the SH staff and their maids follow them. The parents and caregivers watch and order French fries, beverages and other snacks from the cafeteria.
The music is nursery-rhymey, and played without it getting on your nerves. We love the many toy cars and toy tricycles that kids can steer around in the non-play areas.
