If you’re looking for a great soft play experience in the St Neots area, should you consider Mini Monsters Buckden?
Buckden, St Neots, is a village situated just off the A1 and to the south of Huntingdon. In recent years the population has grown significantly due to a new housing estate, which means more children in need of entertainment.
So it poses the question; where can we take the children this weekend?
Who Are Mini Monsters?
Mini Monsters is a small family business that was established in late 2021. They offer soft play and catering facilities.
Their mission statement (published on their website):
“We believe in inclusivity for everyone, which is why our amazing venue is full of fun-filled things which we want to share with your children, we strive to entertain and fit the interests of each and every one of our guests”.
Where To Find Mini Monsters?
Positioned at the very Eastern end of Buckden near Offord Cluny.
To find Mini Monsters, you must enter the Marina complex and drive to the very end of the lane, being careful of the ducks and other wildlife you will inevitably encounter there.
What You’ll Find When You Arrive
Upon arrival, you will find generous parking where you shouldn’t have any trouble parking just about any family car. It does get busy, so as with any child centred activity; try to arrive as close to the start time as possible (if not before).
The extremely friendly staff greet you, whom we have gotten to know over the years. If you have booked in advance, you’ll provide your name and they will usher you into the soft play area.
Tables separate a cafe area from the soft play where you can store your coats, bags etc and watch your children play. They also have wonderfully clean toilets, complete with baby changing facilities that include some nappies, wipes and nappy sacks (for those of us who sometimes come unprepared).
They also reserve an upstairs area for parties; I’ll post separately about their parties soon.
The Soft Play Equipment
To the main event, the soft play.
The entire back wall is filled with an engaging soft play experience, I know this first hand because my son often summons me to join him. Both of my children are under 6 and they absolutely love going to Mini Monsters.
Top Tip – I highly recommend wearing chinos if you wish to achieve the highest speeds possible on the big slide in the main soft play area, jeans just don’t cut it.
The staff are relaxed with you joining your children, which I think would be the case with any reasonable establishment, a category that Mini Monsters falls comfortably within.
In addition to two slides, the main section has a whole host of climbing, spinning, swinging, crawling and jumping activities for the children (and parents) to participate in.
Younger Children
They also have an area aimed at younger children/pre-toddlers, which is quite nice. This area offers more climbing and crawling activities as well as another slide.
They also have a small ball pit, which is slightly concealed. Beware that you sometimes get the odd overly enthusiastic child throwing balls around, which can sometimes result in some upset children. This is not normally a problem as there is often an adult in there with their younger child (sometimes me!).
In addition to the ball pit, there are free-standing toys available for all the children to use. Staff appear to rotate them to keep things interesting for the children. These items include things like space hoppers, educational/music themed toys and much more.
They often bring out the ever-popular bubble machine, and I’ve even seen a not-so-mini monster roaming around, so be warned!
The soft play has to be among the cleanest I have ever experienced. They clean down and sanitise everything thoroughly between the two play sessions.
Food & Drink
As with any self respecting soft play, you will find there is a café at Mini Monsters.
They serve a range of hot food and the usual snacks you would expect to find.
They publish their menu on their website.
I confess I haven’t tried the hot food, but find the range of snacks is more than satisfactory for both adults and children.
If the café had one weakness, I’d say it is the tea and coffee. I find the coffee quite drinkable, but others in our wider family are not fans, with the tea being a particular disappointment. So if you are particular about your tea and coffee maybe consider an alternative beverage.
Some of the snacks are within reach of children, which can be a slight frustration. Especially if you have mischievous children like mine, who lure you into a false sense of security by pretending to play, only to discover they have somehow managed to evade your attention for a few moments, to grab a packet of pom bears that you then feel obligated to purchase. It’s a minor annoyance, which may be potentially unavoidable due to the limited space, etc.
What Does It All Cost?
Currently they run two sessions daily 09:30 until 11:45 and 12:15 until 14:30.
In addition to these sessions they run a session on the first Friday of every month 15:15 until 17:00.
Off Peak Pricing (correct March 2024):
Adults (£3.00)
Babies 0 – 6 months (Free)
Babies 6 months – 1 year (£2.50)
Children 1 – 3 years (£7.50)
Children 4 – 12 years (£8.50)
Peak Pricing – Weekend / School Holidays (correct March 2024):
Adults (£4.00)
Babies 0 – 6 months (Free)
Babies 6 months – 1 year (£3.50)
Children 1 – 3 years (£8.50)
Children 4 – 12 years (£9.50)
For us this does get a bit pricey, with two adults and two children attending, especially as we are big in to the café scene. As a family of 4, we would easily spend between £30 – £50 a time in all.
I always feel a bit frustrated when they charge adults for soft play, and I think it creates a false economy. Times are tough for everyone right now, we often sub out an adult, which results in less spend in the café too.
That being said, I actually believe that the whole experience provides great value. We just can’t afford to go as often as we (and more importantly the children) would like to.
Mini Monsters often give out a little balloon animal to the children when they leave, which is a nice touch of added value.
I know my children love them, it is also the evidence that Mummy has taken them there at some point during the day whilst I’ve been at work.
Final Thoughts
Mini Monsters Buckden is a fun, clean and positive experience all round.
For me they deliver on the promises they make on their website and the staff are very welcoming. I know that the facilities they offer back me up, I often forget to check the changing bag, which will inevitably be missing something. Fortunately, Mini Monsters always caters for this need.
The parking has never stressed me out (although it does in many other places), which is a huge positive for me personally and thus adds to Mini Monsters’ reputation in my books.
As I outlined above, it can get expensive if you attend regularly. This isn’t in any way out of line with similar establishments & they do need to make a profit and pay their staff, who in turn have the same bills to pay that we do. It also in no way overshadows the family experience, which is great.
The main thing for me though, is my children love Mini Monsters and always suggest it if given the opportunity to choose somewhere to go.
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