Toys and play equipment bought by businesses are not just for use in professional childcare settings. Parents of preschoolers are often delighted to come across a dedicated children's play area or a waiting room toy box in the course of day to day life, for example, when waiting to see a dentist, stopping at a motorway service station, or suffering delays and lengthy connection times in an airport terminal. Whether it is a 20-minute or a two-hour stop, time passes so much easier if the children are entertained and catered for.
Looking After Customers With Young Children
Play equipment is made available to the children of the customers by a wide variety of businesses including restaurants, banks and car show rooms, in addition to waiting rooms. If the children are happy and parents are happy business may be able to count on increased revenue through the family staying longer and repeat customers.
Commercial play equipment should be a sound business investment which pays for itself and brings in increased revenue.
Good Quality Commercial Play Equipment for a Kids' Corner
Play equipment sold to businesses and intended to be used by many children should be:
- easy to clean
- easy, low maintenance
- safe
- extremely robust
- attractive in bright colours
- neither too easy nor too difficult
- ideally interesting and intriguing to children of many ages
Commercial play equipment must be built to last. Attractive equipment should be in almost continuous use and so should be far more hard wearing than toys for home. Alternatively, the entertainment could be inexpensive and disposable, such as crayons and a coloring and activity sheet.
Choosing the right sort of toys or equipment for any business setting will depend upon the space available, the type of business and the typical amount of time a family might be expected to stay. Are the children expected to stay with their parents? Preschoolers should be within view of their parents and only a short distance away.
Purpose Built Waiting Room Toys & Kids' Corner Play Equipment
On the whole a toy box with a selection of toys from the High Street is simply not going to work well as distraction toys for customers' children on a business premises. There are so many factors against choosing this option: toys will get broken and go missing; batteries will need replacing; the toys will get very dirty but be difficult and time consuming to clean. Only a few businesses will be able to put together and maintain a really good, clean toy box.
Most parents will be familiar with some of the play equipment used by commercial business. These include:
- drawing stations with crayons and paper provided
- wall toys which may involve turning cogs, moving levers, negotiating a maze
- beads tables and bead cubes, which will interest children for a short time
- building blocks tables.
Keeko & ISK Toys for Businesses
Some European based manufacturers who supply commercial play equipment for businesses world wide are:
- British based Keeko
- In Store Kids (ISK), based in the Netherlands
Both of these award-winning companies are associated with leading retail and restaurant chains such as Tesco, McDonalds and Marks & Spencer. They are also found at important locations such as airports and motorway service stations.
Deborah Percy - BSc. MA. Managing Director of a heating & plumbing business. Interest in maths, science & research. Mother of 3, including twins.
Join the Conversation