MINISOTA PLAY CAFE

MAPLE GROVE, MN
VISIT WEBSITE

Sometimes there are days when the thought of getting my toddler out of the house to go play at an indoor play area sounds completely overwhelming. There are days when I don’t feel like chasing him or jumping on an inflatable pillow or catching him on a slide or helping him through all.the.tunnels. There are days when I just want to follow him around and watch his imagination soar.

Those are the days when we head up to The Shoppes at Arbor Lakes in Maple Grove and go to the MiniSota Play Café. And – mom bonus – there’s unique and wonderful “Tired Parent”-sized coffee and lattes available! 

What is it?

MiniSota Play Café opened in November 2018 by a Minnesota mom of two and is geared toward young kids who appreciate the concept of make-believe. In February of 2021, she actually moved the cafe from their original spot in Champlin to The Shoppes of Arbor Lakes in Maple Grove, MN, for more space and accessibility.

This is not your classic play area. Instead of ropes and tunnels and slides there’s a row of miniature businesses where your kiddo can pretend they’re free-roaming the state of Minnesota. They can get their hair done at the salon, buy groceries, play at the hardware store, dance in the music room, deliver mail, play doctor, serve coffee (mmmm) and even go to (and escape from) jail! They can also play on the “lake” or enjoy some quiet in their very own cabin. It’s all just a matter of how well you can play pretend. As for me and my crew, we play pretend like absolute champs, so this was a huge win for us!

The space in Maple Grove is far larger than its previous location, and I was very grateful for that. More space means less crowding, and with small kids, that’s a good thing. It was actually a massive hit with our 5-year olds. They owned this town and managed to play pretend for almost our entire 2-hour time period, jumping from room to room with very little to get them into trouble or injure themselves, and everything is at their level and of their interest, so adult interaction honestly feels relatively optional compared to so many bigger play spaces. While my sister and I enjoyed being their doctor patients and their hair salon clients, we also enjoyed sitting and drinking our lattes on a bench where we could actually hold a full adult conversation…without…interruption!

The layout of the space is pretty cool. It’s separated into individual rooms for each pretend “business”, somewhat resembling a strip mall of play for kids to hop from activity to activity (very good for my short-attention-spanned preschooler). There is a cabin and bonfire and a lake with fishing boats and magnetic fish, and then there is an entire section closed off for dining with lots of small cafe tables. This is the only space food is to be consumed in the whole play area because it’s an allergy-sensitive space (also, no one likes to play in piles of crumbs). For this reason too, you are not allowed to bring in your own food or snacks. You CAN, however, bring your coffee beverages purchased from the cafe into the play area. 

So in summary: kids can, and most likely will, hold their own here. You won’t lose them. They stay busy. You can potentially sip coffee and converse with a friend (gasp!) or get down to their levels and embrace their little world of make-believe right alongside them. I recommend doing the latter for at least a portion of your visit.

The play area is remarkably clean and well cared for. The café serves coffee, smoothies, lattes, sodas, small snacks (healthy chips, bars, applesauces) and more. It was a lovely surprise and welcomed change of pace from our normal, everyday play area experiences. At Minisota Play Cafe, playing pretend is the name of the game. And I’m 100% here for it.

Fit for what ages?

Toddlers, preschoolers and maybe a little older. Our 5-year olds thought this place was the bees knees! They played pretend forEVER. Not sure I’d spend $12 to have my 9 and 11-year olds come and expect them to last as long as their brother did, but for the younger crowd, it’s simply lovely.

The floor is all concrete (so bring grippy socks), but not sure you’d want non-walkers roaming about. However there is a small rubber-floored space for babies to cruise around a bit. It’s small, but so are they, right? 

How much are we talkin’?

For Daily Admission, here’s the breakdown:

• 0-6 months is free
• 6-12 months is $5
• 1-9 years is $12
• 10+ years is $3 (includes adults)

You can also look into purchasing a Punch Card if you intend to frequently visit. 

Punch Cards 
10 child visits for ages 1-9 years is $89.99.
5 visits is $49.99.
And they NEVER expire. 

The café offers a number of small healthy snack options for kids including veggie chips, granola bars, applesauce packets, and more. They also have a decent-sized selection of kids drinks including their famous Whippler (basically a prettified cup of whipped cream, but kids love it) for only $1. They also offer $3 kids smoothies and hot cocoa, milk, soda and sparkling water for $2-3. The adult drink menu offers smoothies, specialty lattes, mochas and more. 

One of the unique elements of this cafe is their sensory bin products and their fun family-friendly events they offer. Sensory bins, from aqua beads to kinetic sand to putty to beans to rice and are themed in a way that kids will just extra enjoy them (think mermaids, dinosaurs, Blippi, Frozen, sea life, bugs, etc). These can also be purchased online – check out their full store here. 

Birthday parties are also offered here and start at $175 up to private rentals for much more. All birthday party options are listed on their website. 

MiniSota Play Cafe seems to be very involved in the good of their community and its members and does a lot of donation drives and special fundraisers so be sure to check out their website or social media to see if there’s anything special going on before heading out. They also offer some deal and discount days (like Grandparents Day) and those can all be found on their monthly events calendars posted on social media. 

Want some tips?

Here is a list of 12 Tips to Know before heading out to MiniSota Play Cafe:

1. Bring gripper socks as they are required. No shoes allowed for kids or adults in the play area. 
2. Before you come, save time by filling out your kid’s waiver online here. You can certainly do this when paying in the café, but it can hold up the line if there is one and it’s just nicer to speed up the process.
3. Strollers are allowed and there is an area designated specifically to them. There are also plenty of bins for storing other items that no parent can leave home without. 
4. There are very nice bathrooms with changing tables. There is also plenty of child-friendly seating. They’ve really got the “kid-friendly” thing down here. 
5. Outside food and drink are not allowed. The café offers a full drink menu for kids and adults and has some health-conscious snack options as well (including vegan, gluten-free and allergen-friendly).
6. Weekday afternoons (ahem, naptime) are super quiet there as are the last couple hours leading up to closing time. Mornings are the busiest time of day (from around 9:30-11:30).  I haven’t been there on the weekends, but one can usually safely assume Saturdays are quite crowded, depending on weather, time of year, etc.. Nice part is, while they close at 5pm most other days, Saturdays they stay open until 7pm. 
7. Yes, adults do need to pay to enter. $3 isn’t very much to tack on to what you’re already paying for the kiddo and most likely a tasty caffeinated treat. I only brought one of my kids so the $12 wasn’t a hard hit. But if I had three kids, it might be hard to shell out $36 + $3 (due to their older ages), considering the amount of time the older ones might actually spend here. Definitely consider a punch pass if you think this would be a regular outing for you. There is air conditioning, so in addition to somewhere to go to avoid the snow, it’s also lovely in the warm months.
8. It’s. So. Clean. I mean, I’m no germaphobe or anything, but even I noticed how sanitary everything looked and felt. There are wipes and hand sanitizer available throughout the whole place and the workers tidy up the individual play spaces as best they can as often as they can. Parents can place sucked-on or dirty toys into a cleansing container too. The website says very clearly that cleanliness and safety are their top priority. And I love that.
9. There are a few coupe cars that kids can drive around the main area and two boats on “Lake MiniTonka”. We were there when it was not busy at all, but if it is a more crowded environment, be sure your kids are sharing and not driving into each other at full speed. #preachymom #ivebeenthatmom
10. The seating is great now – in the older space, tables were limited. The Maple Grove cafe has lots of table seating in the cafe, and also many benches, chairs and small tables to set your coffee or just get off your feet for 5 whole minutes. Do watch your hot coffees on busy days though. Everyone knows how clumsy and speedy some youngsters can be.
11. I love that you can use this place as an ideal opportunity to PLAY with your KID. The number of toys are minimal here and I really did love how it made me and my kiddo use our imaginations and truly interact with one another. Sit in the salon chair and get a haircut, shop for pretend groceries, put on a concert at the music store, have your kid fix your broken arm at the hospital. It was a good time to just forget the running to-do list in my head, even if it was very (VERY) temporary. And I know my youngster appreciated my time and attention. 
12. MiniSota Play Cafe hosts lots of monthly events and the full calendars can be found on their social media pages (here’s the link to their FB page: www.facebook.com/minisotaPC). Some daily events are BOGO for multiples, yoga, story time, movie nights, crafts and camps, music classes and more. These calendars are also updated with early closings and other schedule changes.

Hours and location

The Shoppes at Arbor Lakes  |  12055 Elm Creek Blvd N  |  Maple Grove, MN 55369
Get directions here

Monday-Thursday: 9am-5pm
Friday-Saturday: 8:30am-7pm
Sunday: 9am-3pm

They offer tons of super fun events throughout the month in addition to free play – including Family Movie Nights, Parents Nights Out and Mini Camps. All sound like a blast! They also list any closures or private party blockouts on their online calendar, or follow them on social media. 

The café has a free parking lot in the Shoppes at Arbor Lakes mall area and there are snacks and fun a-plenty in that area, from Nadia’s Cupcakes to Dave and Busters to Trader Joes.