Little Doodles Play Cafe — Local services in Raleigh

We had a great experience at Little Doodles! I took two of my kids (ages 2 and 5) last week and they didn't want to leave. It was our first time at a play cafe like this, but the experience had us all wanting to go back more often! The pros of this spot for me: The seating area - I had a clear view from my table of basically all of the play spaces so when my 2 year old was wandering around, I could be at my table but still have eyes on her. The selection of toys and activities. Between the play sets, the art center, and the discovery room - both of my kids were occupied for the 3+ hours we spent there, and we honestly could've spent many more. The ability to come and go, and stay as long as we wanted. The biggest perk of Little Doodles to me is that our day pass covered the whole day! We got there 20 minutes after they opened, left to run to a store about 2 hours in, and then came back for another hour before we had to head to school pick up. That flexibility is huge for me as we drove an hour from the Lillington area to visit this location.

We ate lunch here and the food was okay. It is standard cafeteria-esque food you'd expect from a small cafe and fit our needs, but I wouldn't come here just for the food or coffee. It is the safe, fun atmosphere for the kids while the parent/caretaker can work or just hang out that you really come for - and they do that exceptionally well! We will return! I wish we lived closer because I would have bought the year membership on the spot and we'd be there several days a week! Living an hour away, I haven't decided how often we'll be able to make it up that way to commit to a...

we enjoyed going to little doodles for over a year. at our last visit there were children there running around hurting other children. the parent did nothing, and Jen didn't notice. I watched these children for an hour, making numerous children cry. when they made the child I was with upset, I said something. the mother then got in my face and threatened me (Jen heard this threat). she is still there playing. this is the kind of people they allow there. I called to try to talk to Jen and she insisted their behavior was normal. it's not. I've been a parent and nanny for 30 years. sure, the kids behavior was normal, but the parent should have stopped it from happening. I will not be going back.

That's bc half the parents there don't watch their children. They didn't even know why their children were crying. It's a shame. When I worked at a play space we made sure parents were watching their children and did not allow children to hurt other children. You just sit in the back reading a book not caring...

Most of the toys that were battery operated must not have had batteries or the batteries were dead. Edit: Why have battery operated toys if you can’t have batteries? The worker was on her phone instead of cleaning the toys in the bin that needs to be sanitized. Lots of toys missing parts or broken. The busy board that was on the wall a piece was about to fall off and it was missing a piece already. Edit: I mean, it took me all of 5 seconds to see the busy board needed repair. Place definitely needs to be reorganized and cleaned. Edit: While it could have been busy before we got there at 12:30pm, it certainly was not when we were there. I was there for my child and still managed to find a put toys back where they should have been and I don’t even work there.

The concept is good, but for the price I don’t think I’d return. Felt chaotic with how messy it was (And there were only 2 other kids in another room). The worker should’ve been cleaning things and organizing. Maybe they...