Sprouts Play Barn — Attraction in Vale of White Horse

Absolutely fantastic. Well worth the money and time. I recommend booking a session online as it got really busy. We went at 9.15 on Sunday morning. We arrived and the staff were so polite and welcoming, as we had never been they were happy to run through the rules of the soft play and offered socks to those of us that didn't have any. It is so well thought out. Everything is at adult average height so going around with your kids is easy and you don't end up with neck pain from crouching over. It was organised and clean. It was so lovely to see the staff supervising the different areas, assisting children and adults. We saw a young boy kick a piece of soft play out of the area, the member of staff (a young lady) dealt with this so well as she didn't tell him off, she simply picked it up and explained.

We loved the role play areas. I wasn't sure what to expect before going. Everything there is soft play. So soft play apples, cheese and horses and letters and tins of food etc. I thought this was incredible. My 2yr old Loved this area.

They thought about the under 5 area too, there was a mini slide, ball pool, floor piano, soft play, sensory bits such as lights and a touch mat. My baby loved the lights.

The table areas were kept clean and tidy as staff were so efficient at tidying up. The Cafe was a little pricey but not too bad considering what you were paying for. You couldn't eat your own food or take your own drinks and this was made clear when we booked, however water was provided free of charge to everyone.

Only a couple of negative points.

1- The under 5's area was so full of parents chatting it was hard for my 2yr old to move around and play so she gave up in the end. Could this area have been monitored better?

2- There was a young man working there who was really quite inappropriate towards my husband. My husband went to take a picture of me and my daughter. He did nothing against the rules. However... this young lad decided to say rather loudly to my husband "You can't take pictures of other peoples children". He said it so loudly that people around were turning and looking at what was happening. My husband was so embarrassed. My husband turned to this young lad and had told him also loudly that he was taking pictures of his wife and daughter so that people didn't think he was doing anything else.

Now I appreciate that this setting has Safeguarding policies and procedures in place which i think is a huge asset and a credit to whoever created this venue, I also appreciate that this young lad was following these policies and procedures, but was there a need to say it so loudly that people turned to look. He could have spoken to my husband quietly or to one side to ensure that he was following these policies.

Enough moaning and one last major positive. When we were packing up to leave, I over heard a lady say to the young lad that they would do a sweep and sterilise everything between the sessions. This was so lovely to hear that they are so clearly thinking about the hygiene and cleanliness of their setting as well as for their customers.

We will definitely be returning even though it takes us over an hour to get there, we have said we would definitely make the drive to go there again as it...

I booked Sprout for my 5y old kid, and it went ok. Still, I won't make a party with them anymore. If you like the basic service and decoration, so that they take care of arranging everything and you just let kids play and collect them for a snack, then Sprout is ok. If you want to have something more special, bring your own cake and add part of your decoration, then is not good. They are not flexible with any requirement. Besides that, we paid for two siblings and they did not get cutlery or even a sit at the table for them. They are quick to charge and make sure you pay for everything, but on the service side there is always a "but". You cannot arrive earlier to arrange anything, even though they have 30mins in between partys to clean the whole place. I paid more than £200 upfront to reserve the party and because of missing payment for 2 siblings (around £20), which were originally on the list and they did not charge me for that, they were calling me 1 week before the party to get paid that very day. They could not wait until the date of the party to get the payment, nor could they take a simple money transfer. Ahh, but we had some invitees cancelling the day before and that they would not reimburse at all. It feels like they monopolize the party service, they know it, and then you have to simply accept all their conditions without any flexibility at all. I won't make a party with them anymore. Looking at other options for our next celebration...

We've been to Sprouts a few times now, I've always been really impressed with their cleaning routine, even before covid times they cleaned everything down between each session. We visited in summer holidays this time and the 3pm session, it was pretty busy, not enough tables inside near the equipment, people were queueing to get in a while before the session began.

They have a new outdoor play area which wasn't there last time we came, it has wooden bridges, things to balance on and a water play area. The water play was good, but take a change of clothes for the kids because they will get wet, also, it is not tall enough for a toddler to play but they desperately want to be involved, unsurprisingly! My son was spinning the water wheel and cut his finger, no, he probably shouldn't have been spinning it but he won't be the last so just be careful.

If you go in the outdoor area with the trikes, bikes and bouncy animals put shoes on you and the small folk, especially if it's been raining, otherwise you will all get wet socks.

Overall Sprouts has a lot to offer, a large soft play, with a great toddler area and also lovely role play area with a butchers shop, post office, ice cream parlour and more. There is a cafe for hot and cold drinks and food, cakes and snacks. You get a long session for the price, 2.5hrs. With Millets Farm right next door you can really make a day of it. We'll be back, but not in the...