As much as shopping may interest moms, the kids aren’t exactly jumping at the chance to go to every store with me. The first question they always ask me is, “Do they have a play place there?” This time, I was thrilled to be able to say, “Yes, and it’s brand new!” On Saturday, Cumberland Mall had a grand opening of their Inspira Health Network Play Zone.
Cumberland Mall celebrated this event with activities and prizes to go around! The first 100 children were awarded with a party favor bag and at the end there was a raffle for a Cumberland Mall gift card! Busy Bees Pottery & Arts Studio provided some painting and coloring activities for the kids. Inspira Health Network, the proud sponsor of this new wonderful play zone, was there to provide information and even a teddy bear medical clinic with real RNs to help your little one give these teddy bears a check-up!
We met Cumberland County police officers with the Explorer program and they gave the kids their own personal sheriff badge stickers!
With the instructor booming the directions to help them participate, “Left, left, right!”, everyone got into the line dancing! It was so cute to watch all of the kids try to learn. When some of their favorite songs came on, you could hear the children singing along all throughout the mall!
That’s not all, we must not forget the star of the party, the Inspira Play Zone! My children had an absolute ball in this new play place! One thing that sets it apart from the others is the healthy theme, which I absolutely love! We need to encourage our children to eat healthy and I think that the Inspira Play Zone does such a nice job of making these snack foods FUN for everyone!
Enter underneath mixed berries and tuck away your shoes in the little cubby off to the side. My four year old daughter’s favorite slide is the first to be seen, it’s a grouping of healthy snacks! Grapes and a banana hold up the celery slide! Then there are slices of apples and bananas to climb upon. Crawl through an apple on your way to the tomato slide at the other end and don’t forget to scoot along on the carrot on your way back to the other side!
I love the entire layout of the Inspira Play Zone, the way that each fruit and vegetable is posed to make for the most entertaining play! Each piece is smooth and lighter than outdoor playgrounds and the floor is carpeted, so if your child is as clumsy as ours (hey, they get it from their mom!), it’s not so bad! The space itself is enclosed with benches on the inside, as well as a charging station just along the outside. I imagine that the charging station will be especially beneficial for those Christmas shopping days where you’ve been at the mall for hours!
Making their way through the apple, my son’s favorite, and climbing all along everything like little monkeys really got their pent-up energy out on a spring day where it was snowing. I think they really enjoyed making friends all over. I’ve been teaching my kids to introduce themselves to other children so they kept coming up to me, “This is my friend, her name is…” and it was adorable. Many of the children flocked over to our little baby to tell me how much they loved babies. The bonding between all of these children was undeniably sweet.
My children and I are really happy that the Cumberland Mall put in the Inspira Play Zone. I think that play places like this are awesome places to give them a reward for coming along with you while you do all of your shopping or even to go to get the kids out in the winter, whether you had shopping to do or not. They help develop motor, perceptual, and social skills. This play zone in particular is safe, it’s enjoyable, and it promotes healthy eating for your kids! A++!
Be sure to check out the new Inspira Play Zone at the Cumberland Mall and keep an eye out for future family-friendly events by checking out their calendar!
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*The Crunchy Mom Next Door received compensation in exchange for her honest coverage of this event. All opinions and experiences are her own only.