Brislington play cafe linked to Bristol’s ‘first forest school-inspired nature nursery’

Out There Indoors Play Cafe has been open for just over a year and describes itself as an “alternative play space, taking some of the best bits of Out There and putting them indoors”. The ‘product’ of Out There Kindergarten, Bristol’s ‘first forest school-inspired nature nursery’ which opened in 2017, is the brainchild of Jenny Brough and Mikael Georgelin.

Jenny and Mika live in St George and Out There Indoors Play Cafe is based in Paintworks in Brislington. Jenny describes the area as ‘vibrant’ and told BristolLive: ‘We are delighted to share our immediate surroundings with the Royal Photography Society and Martin Parr Gallery, as well as The Beauty House and Lukasz Szejka Studio Hair Salon. It’s an eclectic mix of businesses and gallery spaces.”

Mika, whose main passion is in the food and hospitality industry, helped set up the Cowshed on Whiteladies Road (now Cow & Sow), where he was operations director for five years. With over 25 years in the restaurant business, he also helped found and launch the Pizza Workshop, but is now putting his skills to work helping run both the playhouse and daycare.

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His main priority was “to create a space where both children and adults can have fun, feel relaxed, drink quality coffee and eat good food”. Jenny said: “As many locals in BS4 know, Brislington has seen a huge influx of young families over the last 10 years or so.

“I moved to Brislington in 2015 and became a mum in 2016 and immediately recognized that the area was missing something for new mums and dads and those with young children.” By this time, however, Jenny says her heart was already set on opening Bristol’s first ‘forest school-inspired nursery’, which is now well-established as ‘The Forest School and Nursery there’, so despite that he had the idea of ​​a play cafe. back then, the idea was realized only in October 2022.

Jenny added: “We were actually looking for a site for a third nursery when we came across Unit 389 at Paintworks. We both fell in love with the space as, although it is relatively small, it inspired us to try something different that would compliment our mainly outdoor nurseries.

“It’s obviously the antithesis of what we set up with the Forest School. There’s no puddle to see (unless it’s a rare accident) and no mud to fight, as much as we like mud .”

Jenny had researched German kindergartens and came across some architects she loved who design and build kindergarten interiors in Germany, and although she says the couple didn’t have a big enough space or the funds to support it, they wanted to make their own interpretation of their drawings. The cafe has a custom, design-led interior and Mika designed and made the folding furniture from scratch.

Jenny said: “The Paintworks also proves to be a great location for meetings as it is outside the CAZ area for people and is easy to get to from areas like Knowle and Totterdown, St George and Easton and places in the east like such as Keynsham and Longwell Green have recently added more free three-hour parking spaces.

“The cafe opened in March 2023 and has gone from strength to strength. It’s always going to be hard work opening a small business in the middle of a cost of living crisis, and it’s also very seasonal, but the cafe that goes along with the play. sessions, really compliment and help support the business play sessions.

“At lunchtime, we serve the Paintworks community as well as parents and guardians who come for the play sessions and stay for the food. That’s not to say we couldn’t do better with a few people walking through our doors right now, and in the next few months as the weather warms up, we’re about to start offering salad boxes and we’re already serving coffees with ice and a great selection of cold drinks.

“Our Play Cafe offers four pre-bookable play sessions per day aimed at 0-5 year olds, as well as parties and private events on Saturdays and Sundays, and £8.50 admits one child and one adult. I think there are several things. that make us stand out from other play cafes – our leaning towards nature and our use of mostly wooden resources.

“It’s a joy to change them four times a year and bring out the next season. The resources are beautiful as well as sparking children’s play and learning and we get lots of compliments on them.

“We offer a wide range of session times. One of our most popular sessions has been the last session of the day which runs from 3.30pm to 5.00pm as parents look to fill that long afternoon slot. We serve delicious homemade brownies, carrot cakes, cookies and organic five-vegetable soup, as well as quality food and drink that bring people back and send people our way. We also have very nice staff working there.

“We’re excited to see what next year brings (our year runs from September to August as a school). We are not looking to expand but we really want to make the play cafe a success, continue to serve the local community. , as well as people further afield and we continue to offer parents an alternative to the delicate play experience.

One visitor to the play cafe described it as “a lovely space for little people’ and said: ‘Even if you have a newborn, there’s a booster seat and things to look at.

“My child loves all the busy tiles/cubes and exploring the different shelves and bins of toys. Out There Indoors has been a godsend for her to go and unwind during the winter months, especially since she started crawling and walking.

“At this age, playgrounds aren’t really an option and soft play can be a bit intimidating as it’s not yet at the level of older children. It is very clean and the food is delicious.

“It’s small enough that you can meet a friend and talk while sitting close to your little one, and it’s friendly enough that you feel comfortable attending just you and your little one if you don’t have anyone to go with. The sessions are well thought out. so there’s always something available, even if your child has had a bad sleep day.”

Out There Indoors Play Cafe can be found at Unit 389, Block C, The Paintworks, BS4 3AR.