"The Moo Zoo” now open in Stittsville

“The Moo Zoo” is now open in Stittsville. This children’s play centre, planned and developed by co-owner Sandra Luty-Craib, caters not only to the play and party needs of children up to the age of eight but also to the comfort and social needs of the parents, caregivers, and grandparents who will be brining the children to the 4000 square foot facility at the Stittsville Shopping Centre (Shoppers Drug Mart Plaza) on the Stittsville Main Street in Stittsville.

Sandra Luty-Craib has incorporated numerous features into “The Moo Zoo” to achieve her goal of creating a play centre where children can have a blast while parents and adults can relax. She wanted a play centre where both children and parents would feel comfortable.

She accomplished this largely by listening to the comments of other parents during visits to other play centre with her own children as well as drawing on her own experiences.

“I thought about what I would want for my children,” she explains.

That is why “The Moo Zoo” is for younger children, up to the age of eight and why it is located in a neighborhood mall rather than in some warehouse-type facility in a faraway location only reachable by vehicle. “The Moo Zoo” is easily reached by walking or a short drive and it does not have the high ceilings and noisy surroundings of the traditional children’s play centre. Since it is designed for younger children, it does not need the high ceilings of the larger facilities.

“The Moo Zoo” has two play areas, one for children up to age three and another for the age four to eight crowd. The play area for the youngest children features activities and games that could be found in the home of such a youngster.

The play area for those aged four to eight is a maze-like structure specially designed and made for such an age range. It allows youngsters to climb throughout the structure which is totally enclosed with a special mesh that is child friendly and safe.

There is comfortable seating for parents beside these play areas, allowing parents or caregivers to supervise their children at all times while also providing a degree of comfort for them.

This concern for the comfort of parents and/or caregivers is best illustrated in the lounge area where there are leather couches as well as a giant-screen plasma television for the enjoyment of parents, as their children enjoy the room’s wide selection of toys, books, and games. It will also be a room for parties where parents can sit in comfort and enjoy the event.

Sandra Luty-Craib admits that this lounge area is her favorite area at “The Moo Zoo” as it is a great place for children, even featuring miniature lounge chairs for them, as well as a great spot for parents and caregivers, where they can sit in comfortable couches rather then plastic chairs and can enjoy the giant plasma TV. Indeed, on the Wednesday “Dads’ Nights” which are planned, the TV will be tuned to sporting events or other dad friendly programming. Pizza Pizza in Stittsville will be able to provide pizza for the dads.

The lounge area is especially quiet and will thus be an ideal setting for children with autism or Down syndrome who would be easily overwhelmed in a larger noisier setting.

“The Moo Zoo” also has another separate room which will serve as the basic party room on the weekends while functioning as an area for crafts and other activities, such as special theme days, the rest of the time. The cake supplier for the parties will be able to provide cakes that will be allergy-free as required.

The needs of young children, though, are foremost at “The Moo Zoo”. That is not only why the scale of the premises is smaller so that the youngsters are not overwhelmed with its scale and noise but also why cleanliness is a primary focus. There are hand sanitizer stations throughout the premises and there will be an emphasis on keeping everything spotless and clean to prevent any spread of germs whatsoever.

 There are plastic baseboards and mouldings which not only help convey a barn flavour to the premises but also are easily cleaned.

The washroom, for instance, has motion-activated taps so that the taps do not have to be turned on and off, thus eliminating any transfer of germs. One of the basins in the washroom has been installed at a lower height so that it is more easily accessible by The Moo Zoo’s young clients.

This is not the only extra special touch implemented with young children in mind. At the check-in counter, the corners of the counter itself have been cut off so that there is no pointed edge that would be right at the height of many children and a possible source of injury. There are also some small benches in the coat room, ideal for the youngsters to sit on as they are taking off their shoes so that they can go to the play area.

Sandra Luty-Craib, being a parent herself, realizes that youngsters get upset when they have to leave such a fun place. That is why every child will be receiving a balloon or sticker when they leave so that it becomes an exciting rather than sad experience.

The name “The Moo Zoo” came about because Sandra wanted to base her children’s play center on a farm theme since young children all know their barnyard animals and like farm equipment like tractors. Even the youngest children can say “moo” and the “zoo” not only goes well with this but to Sandra, zoo in this context is really a slang-like term for farm.

Sandra found that both her young children could say “Moo Zoo” and it was a name that is rather funny and certainly easy to remember.

Another consideration was that this name was available as a domain name on the Internet and as a result, “The Moo Zoo” was born. So far, people have indicated that they think that the name is funny and terrific for a young children’s play centre.   

The Moo Zoo premises feature green and blue walls, with a black stripe separating the colours. The Moo Zoo logo, featuring a happy cow face, also features this black stripe which is meant to represent the lines usually found in a youngster’s colouring book.

The farm theme is carried through in the loot bags which every child at a Moo Zoo party will receive. These loot bags will not will not only be filled with at least eight items but the loot bags themselves are miniature cardboard barns, much like the size and style of the containers which Tim Horton’s uses for Timbit orders.

Drawing on her earlier experiences in the computer business, Sandra Luty-Craib has a central control panel in which she can control every light and television set on the premises, along with the temperature. She has the capacity for 400 DVD’s which can be shown on the big screen televisions set up in the play area and in the lounge area.

Sandra Luty-Craib has also thought about the future in the designing and establishing this first Moo Zoo.  The whole concept geared to younger children was designed so that it could be located in a mall/plaza location, meaning that multiple locations are feasible. This could lend itself to franchising opportunities in the future.

“The Moo Zoo” children play centre, which opened this week, is open on Mondays and Tuesdays from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.; on Wednesdays to Saturdays from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.; and on Sundays from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Admission prices are seven dollars for children up to age eight. Adults are charged three dollars to accompany the child while grandparents are admitted free with the child.

“The Moo Zoo” also has a special pricing for day care situations.

Wednesday will be Dads’ Night, an  opportunity for fathers, especially single dads, to enjoy a fun time with the child while also having the opportunity to enjoy some pizza and sports viewing themselves.

Thursdays are being promoted as Family Night, and opportunity for a parents to relax after the work day while the child enjoys some safe and active playtime.

There will be no appointments required as parents and children can simply drop in at any time.

Scheduled children’s parties will be primarily held on weekends.

Sandra Luty-Craib, who believes that a business owner should be on site, will be at “The Moo Zoo” on a regular basis. So too will be her brother and business partner Doug Luty, who is “Uncle Doug” to her children and no doubt will have a similar relationship with “The Moo Zoo’s ” young customers.

“The Moo Zoo” can be reached at 613-831-1131.

Its website can be found at www.themoozoo.com