In quite a few Estonian sports clubs, theatres and concert halls, people are able to drop their kids in playroom for the evening.
Child care offered by theatres, sports clubs
13th April 2015, 17:49
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On the second floor of Tartu Vanemuine Theatre, in a kids-room Yellow Cat, a night will set parents back €5. «Desiring to use the kids-room, theatre ticket office should be notified at least one day in advance by phone or e-mail,» related Vanemuine press rep Krista Leipsig. According to her, the room is opened an hour before the show begins.
Till today, the service offered by the theatre hasn’t been too popular. Therefore, numbers of users have not been limited. Also, the room is opened if for a single child. The room, featuring glove dolls, drawing kits, costumes, books and toys, welcomes kids starting three years of age. During the show, a theatre worker tends the little ones.
In Jõhvi Concert Hall, in Ida-Virumaa, a kid at least three years old may be left in a kids-room, for €1.60. «Our playroom has no TV-set,» underlined Jõhvi Concert Hall head Piia Tamm.
According to her, number of visitors depends on the concert. «The kids-room is on ground floor, near the lobby, so at times the play ends up there,» explained Ms Tamm, specifying that the maximum is seven kids at a time.
Like the theatre in Tartu, the Concert Hall asks to be informed before arrival, to the ticket office. One may arrive an hour before the concert begins and the kids may stay in the room till it’s over. Extra footwear is to be provided for the little one.
Hour or two a limit
Sports clubs follow suit. According to Tallinn’s Sparta sports club services manager Sirli Huul, for members and 30-day membership card holders the playroom is included in the price. Other clients will have to pay €4. The time limit is two hours.
According to Ms Huul, bookings show they have about ten kids a day in the room. Four to eight hours a day, during the «hot hours», they have attendants present. That’s the time when the room has more kids in it. At other times, it’s at parents’ liability.
«At first glance, one may think the room is little used. However, this totally corresponds to the size of it,» said Ms Huul.
While theatre and concert hall have set a 3-years-ol age floor, Sparta sports club will take even babies two month old. They will take up to two babes in arms, and the maximum capacity is ten. But they do have an age ceiling: seven. The sports club asks that the kids who come be fed and rested, and the arrival also has to be pre-registered.
MyFitness sports halls are in many cities, but only two have children’s rooms – at Rocca al Mare and Kristiine, in Tallinn. In Kristiine, club-member’s kids will be tended for free, others are asked to pay €1.60.
The child care has set time limits and for time spent outside of open hours, it is €1.60 extra for every 15 minutes. Upon arrival, a parent will need to submit the child’s name and his/her telephone number.
MyFitness marketing director Marika Mäsak said the rooms are very popular, filled with five to ten kids daily. The occupancy depends on popularity of trainings; evenings are fuller than daytime.
To MyFitness sports club playrooms, kids may not come equipped with sweets, drinks or personal toys. The marketing manager said there’d be no need for personal stud as there are plenty of toys there. Also, the club assumes no responsibility for loss or destruction of personal items.
«But should some kid have the favourite teddy-bear never to be departed from, it may naturally come too,» said Ms Mäsak, adding that the food/drink ban is because others would then want some as well. While in the playroom, the kids can ask the attendant for water.
Popularity depends on day
As for Estonian University of Life Sciences (EMÜ) sports club, in Tartu, they have a children’s corner – two euros for two hours from a client who goes to train. A parent or custodian not going for a training, it’s €1.5 for a one hour ticket.
It is maximum three hours running for a toddler, attended by university staff. The capacity is ten kids, hence the requirement to pre-register.
According to EMÜ sports club CEO Rait Rodi, their children’s corner is from age two up, and mainly meant for the pre-schoolers.
As the kids enter the area with a slide, a ladder and a ball sea, all parents are asked for contact information so they can be addressed if need arises.
Mr Rodi said the EMÜ sports hall is first and foremost for sports club clients who are serviced first in line; even so, parents may bring their babies while they go to theatre, for instance.
He said the popularity depends on the day. «Some days, only two-three come. And then there are the nights when it’s packed to capacity,» said Mr Rodi.