Little Land Pediatric Therapy & Play Gym of Waco — Local services in Waco

As a stay at home mom of a 4 year old and twin 2 year olds, I’ve come to little land many times to get my kids out of the house. While I’ve always considered little land to be a safe environment for my kids to run and play, I’ve come to realize that it’s not the friendly environment they present. A month and a half ago, my kids were playing with their cousins (3 and 5 year olds) in the baby area when we were the only occupants. A woman and her baby came in, and we tried relocating our kiddos to accommodate them. When two of our kiddos ran back into the area, the woman working the front desk went up to our kids and yelled at them for being in the baby area. She didn’t approach me or my cousin first to ask us to help. We left soon after because the yelling made us super uncomfortable. Today, we came to give little land another shot and celebrate my daughter’s birthday (which is today) because she really wanted to celebrate her day there. It was the five kids and two adults again. I brought a small cake that I made at home and candles for us to sing to my daughter. This wasn’t meant to be a party, but the owner assumed it was. She came up to us right after we sang, when the kids just started eating cake, and told me we weren’t allowed to sing happy birthday or host a birthday gathering in their cafe without paying for the birthday package. I told her that wasn’t my intent for this to be a party, and I truly didn’t know we couldn’t have that small celebration there. Then my precious daughter told the woman, “I’m four today!” and the woman gave her a small smile before asking if I was going to open presents and do more birthday things. I told her no because it wasn’t a party. We quickly cleaned up and left while the woman walked away seemingly mad. She also yelled at my cousin’s 3 year old when he quickly ran into the baby area while we were hurriedly trying to gather everyone to leave and get the heck out. The repeated pattern of the staff being unable to privately address matters with parents is alarming for this being a kid-centric place. Scolding parents in front of their children doesn’t lend to a safe-feeling environment. I also don’t feel safe letting my kids play here knowing they could be yelled at without my knowledge of why before the staff does so. For these reasons, we will not be returning to this...

I came to this play gym today with my two kids, my cousin, and her three kids to celebrate a low-key birthday for my 4-year-old cousin. We paid general admission and were simply there to play and enjoy time together. After playing for a while, we had lunch and brought out a small, homemade cake—no decorations, no presents, no big setup—just a few bites of cake to mark a special day.

Unfortunately, the owner approached us with a very rude and scolding attitude, saying we weren’t allowed to have cake or even a small acknowledgment of a birthday because it might upset others who book private parties on weekends. She asked if we had gifts and then told us to “dial it back,” even though we were simply enjoying a quiet moment with our kids.

We were shocked and hurt by how we were spoken to, especially in front of our children. There was no kindness, no courtesy—just harsh correction for what felt like a very innocent and joyful moment. We left immediately, upset and disappointed.

We understand businesses have policies, but there is a respectful and compassionate way to communicate them—especially in a space designed for kids and families. I have been coming to Little Land since 2022 right before we moved to Waco. There have been patterns of unprofessional behavior but I overlooked it because I wanted to give my children a great place to play. The employees constantly talk poorly of the children that attend private sessions there. They sit behind the desk on the floor on their phones. They yell often. Not the family friendly environment I was hoping for. Sadly, we won’t...

I took my son to Little land play gym for the first time recently. The facility is nice, and there is a lot to do! My son enjoyed playing with all the fun things! Our open play gym time was scheduled from 9-11 am, and we sat down in the cafe area to have a snack just before 10 am. 10 min later when we had finished our snack, we were told we could not go back in to play right then because they were sanitizing the play area. However, there were still families inside the play area that were not asked to step out while the employees sanitized. I finally left at 10:30 because my son was having a melt down that he could not go back in and play. I paid money for a two hour play time and spent a quarter of that time wrestling my kid and trying to keep him calm in the cafe area since we were not allowed to play (despite other kids still playing). The owner contacted me and apologized for a miscommunication and gave me a credit for a free play time. The second play time went much better and we were allowed to go back in after he had a snack. I still believe the employees need to be trained on when the play times begin and end and when the sanitizing times are so this does not repeat for...