A good name for a kids activity centre?

S

shootingstar

Registered User
Messages
634
My friend is starting her own business in Kerry. Shes opening up an activity centre for children in a huge warehouse. The usual will be in there - climbing activity, football (softball) area, blown up slides / bouncing castles, and dining area for adults.

She`s be catering for birthday parties also.

any good ideas for a real catchy name? A few in my area are - monkey maze, little rascles, buddies & chuckies

SS
 
Re: A good name for a business

Your friend may not thank you if she chooses a name suggested here and someone else copies it. :)

If you need a few ideas, try some keywords (kids, fun, jungle etc) in the company/business name search facility on cro.ie and alter as desired.
 
Re: A good name for a business

There are a few of these already in Kerry- two in Tralee, one in Killarney and one in Castleisland. Those are just the ones I know of- could well be more. Whereabouts is she opening?

I'd suggest a name that is easy for parents to remember. Nothing worse than looking through the phonebook trying to remember some silly unconnected name ( from experience). Something simple like 'kids-zone'.

PS With two pre-schoolers, I'm the target market for the next few years. Can I humbly suggest that she invests in a good coffee machine and makes sure the parents have a place to sit and drink coffee from where one can keep an eye on the children. Also security is very very important. If the place doesnt have good security I wouldnt be comfortable at all.
 
Re: A good name for a business

i`ll say that to her. i honestly dont where exactly in kerry.

Can you divulge on the security bit?
 
Re: A good name for a business

Vanilla said:
Can I humbly suggest that she invests in a good coffee machine.
Click to expand...

Very, very important.

A few other tips:
- Don't sell the cheap sweets that drive kids crazy.
- Don't put in the little pay-as-you-go cars etc that you see in shopping centres.
- Design the area so that parents can see their kids most of the time when they are up on the climbing areas.
- If charging on a time basis, do so in units of 1.25 or 1.5 hours. Its not particularly nice having to pull a child away from such places after 55 minutes in order to avoid higher charges. Most kids are tired enough after 65-75 minutes to go home willingly anyway.
- Keep the place clean.
 
Re: A good name for a business

There's one in Nenagh that I like. Jumping Gyms is the name. It is just the right size to my mind. You can pretty much see the whole place at once from where the parents sit. The doors are locked and there is a camera outside and inside. There is someone at the desk the whole time and you cannot get in or out without them releasing the door. You have to sign in with children. You really get the impression they vet anyone particularly going out so no-one can abduct a child ( obviously unlikely but that's the whole premise). There are a couple of small rooms off the coffee area too where there are always staff doing painting/plasticine and they really make the effort to come out and get children involved. The one in Tralee in Manor is way too big for me although there are loads of toys etc. Crag cave is very good but not too keen on the security there IMO. Although they do a fantastic Santa at Christmas and are already pretty much booked out for Christmas already.
 
Re: A good name for a business

I sometimes bring my nephew to these type of places and I'm always disappointed by the poor quality coffee and selection of food available. It is all high fat stuff - chocolates, cakes with best before dates ten years from now, etc. So tell your friend to keep that in mind. For the birthday parties it shouldn't just be nuggets, chips and pizza - some reasonably healthy alternatives would be great.
 
Re: A good name for a business

hey shooting star in ref to security, monkey maze has the best thing i have seen yet, its clothes tags that they attach to the kids pants, (they take off jumpers) and you sign in and you have to get buzzed in and out, there are the same things that are at shop doors so if by anychance a child worms thier way out, the alarm will go off, then after that, there are two large doors and again, two other large doors outside.

ps i knwo of one in cork and they have automatic doors onto a car park. where is the logic in that!!
 
Re: A good name for a business

Blossy said:
hey shooting star in ref to security, monkey maze has the best thing i have seen yet, its clothes tags that they attach to the kids pants, (they take off jumpers) and you sign in and you have to get buzzed in and out, there are the same things that are at shop doors so if by anychance a child worms thier way out, the alarm will go off, then after that, there are two large doors and again, two other large doors outside.

ps i knwo of one in cork and they have automatic doors onto a car park. where is the logic in that!!
Click to expand...

Where is that one in cork? Yikes!!

I`ll also tell her to pop into monkey maze to look at that secuirty too...

I`m fully in agreement with the whole "get good decent food in" for the adults. She was talking about that last night and i said to her the money is in the deli dept. The parents are sitting around for 1.5 hours (or however long it is). i know i`d want a good decent cup of coffe and something nice t eat.

What suggestions would posters have in mind regards to this food? I personally would like a scone with a cup of tea to carry me through the period. What about selling magazines? Or should they be readily available to the customers? (Bearing in mind some people would probably (steal) I mean take them home with them without thinking.... ;)
 
Re: A good name for a business

Vanilla said:
There is someone at the desk the whole time and you cannot get in or out without them releasing the door. You have to sign in with children. You really get the impression they vet anyone particularly going out so no-one can abduct a child ( obviously unlikely but that's the whole premise).
Click to expand...

Sounds a bit OTT to be honest.

shootingstar said:
I`m fully in agreement with the whole "get good decent food in" for the adults. She was talking about that last night and i said to her the money is in the deli dept.
Click to expand...

I wouldn't think a deli (per se) would be viable. She will have plenty of quiet times, and some very, very busy times during the week. Handling a deli, and complying with the environmental health regulations, would be a major headache.

shootingstar said:
What about selling magazines? Or should they be readily available to the customers?
Click to expand...
The latter.
 
Re: A good name for a business

I'd just call it something really random, it will get people talking about it
 
Re: A good name for a business

KDZ.

(I'm reliably informed that this is the text translation of children and kids).

Gotta b dwn wit de kdz innit.

Nice and simple, logo would be easy to do in three different brights colours.
 
Last edited:
Re: A good name for a business

I've been thinking of bringing our little terror to one of these kiddies places. What is the youngest recommended age ?
 
Re: A good name for a business

Choose a name starting with an 'A' so that it comes first in the telphone book etc.
 
Re: A good name for a business

I looked into setting one up for my wife who has quite a number of years creche/teaching experience.

Checked out kiddies kingdom in kilkenny, quit impresssive.
Site we looked at would require 1000 kids per week to work, 400 per sat/sun, balance during the week

Was in kidzone on saturday and there were 2 kids in there and they were charging €3 per full day. Tough business Id imagine
 
Re: A good name for a business

Hop onto google.co.uk and check out some of the centres there, type in soft play
 
Re: A good name for a business

mooney76 said:
Site we looked at would require 1000 kids per week to work, 400 per sat/sun, balance during the week

Was in kidzone on saturday and there were 2 kids in there and they were charging €3 per full day. Tough business Id imagine
Click to expand...

Very good point. Its not exactly the type of business that one would expect to prosper in a recession.

Btw, could the OP or one of the mods please change the name of this thread to reflect better the discussion? Thx.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top