There is a particular kind of celebration that is hard to place. A baby shower where three guests are bringing toddlers. A christening where the cousins range from two to nine. A first birthday that is really a gathering of adults with a very small guest of honour asleep in the corner. A function room leaves the children with nothing to do, and a restaurant leaves the adults apologising. Hiring an empty soft play solves both at once, and it is a use of the venue plenty of people never think of.
Why a soft play works for an adult occasion
The problem with most venues is that they are designed for one age group. A function room is fine for adults and dull for children within twenty minutes. A soft play during a normal session is wonderful for children and exhausting for the adult trying to hold a conversation across it.
An exclusive booking changes the arithmetic, because the venue is empty of everyone but your own guests. The play frame, the toddler areas and the storybook playhouses occupy the children in a space where every adult in the room knows every child in it, and the seating and the restaurant let the grown ups do the part they actually came for.
- Nobody is counting heads against a room full of strangers.
- Children of very different ages are all catered for at the same time, because the toddler areas are separate from the main frame.
- Adults can see across the space from where they are sitting.
- Setup and clearing up are not yours to do.
- The site describes itself as Scotland’s only climate controlled soft play centre, which matters more than you would think if your date lands in a heatwave.
What an exclusive booking includes
The private hire page sets it out: exclusive use of the entire venue for two hours, access to the themed play areas and Erina’s Kitchen, and personalised decorations and catering for up to 40 children and 40 adults. Our companion guide covers what exclusive hire includes and how it compares with the standard party packages if you are still deciding between the two.
Baby showers
A baby shower has a rhythm that most venues fight. People arrive over half an hour, there is a stretch of talking and eating, a short structured bit with games or gifts, then more talking. Guests who already have children usually bring them, and those children have nothing to do during any of it.
- Put the structured part in the middle. Let people arrive and settle for the first half hour, then do gifts or games, then let it drift. Two hours is comfortable for this shape.
- Keep the games short. Two is plenty. The reason people came is to see each other.
- Sit the guest of honour somewhere that is not a throne in a corner. A seat where people can come and go beside her works far better than a receiving line.
- Give the older siblings a job. Handing out something, or collecting the wrapping paper. It stops the moment where the toddler opens the presents.
- Do not schedule it across a nap. Late morning or mid afternoon suits the under threes, and the under threes set the mood for everybody.
Christenings and naming days
The service or ceremony happens elsewhere and then everyone needs somewhere to go. This is the point where families most often end up in a hotel function room with a buffet and a very long afternoon ahead of the children.
- Allow travel time between the two. Guests will not arrive together, and a two hour window is easier to manage if you start it a good half hour after the service ends.
- Tell people what to wear. Adults dress up for a christening, and children who are going to be climbing need something they can climb in. Say so in the invitation and everyone relaxes.
- Remember socks. Soft play means socks, and it is the single most common thing families forget when they have come straight from a church.
- Plan for grandparents. Seating where they can see the children without being in the middle of the play frame is the thing they will thank you for.
First birthdays, where most of the guests are adults
A first birthday is a party for the parents, and everybody knows it. The child will be overstimulated by half past two and the useful question is what the other twenty five people are doing.
The venue works here because it covers two groups at once: the one year old and any babies present have the separate toddler areas, and the older cousins and friends’ children have the main frame. Adults get to sit down. The birthday child gets a nap when they need one, without the whole event stopping.
The measure of a first birthday is whether the parents got to talk to anybody. Almost everything else is for the photographs.
Fun Street, Silverburn
Family gatherings with a wide age range
Reunions, milestone birthdays where grandchildren are coming, a gathering because somebody is visiting from abroad. The defining feature is that ages run from babies to adults and no single activity suits all of them.
| Age group | What they need | What the venue offers |
|---|---|---|
| Babies and pre walkers | Somewhere clean and safe to be put down | Separate toddler areas away from the main frame |
| Toddlers | Space to move without being knocked over | Toddler zones and the storybook playhouses |
| Children roughly 3 to 12 | Something physical and a bit exciting | The main soft play frame |
| Adults | Seats, a table, food and a conversation | Seating with sightlines across the play areas and a full restaurant on site |
| Grandparents | Somewhere comfortable with a view of everyone | The same, without having to stand at the bottom of a slide |
Food and drink
Catering comes from Erina’s Kitchen on site, which is a full restaurant rather than a service hatch. The party packages are built around a hot and cold buffet where you choose a set number of items, with adult platters included from the Diamond package upwards, and an exclusive booking includes catering as part of the arrangement. What exactly you want, and for how many adults, is agreed when you book.
Making the space feel like your event
Personalised decorations are part of an exclusive booking, and the practical question is what you want the room to look like when guests walk in. A colour scheme carries further than a theme for a grown up occasion. Balloons and a banner at the entrance, a dressed table for food and cake, and something at the point where people arrive is usually enough, because the play equipment is doing the visual work anyway.
- Agree the decoration plan when you book, and confirm who is putting it up.
- Check what you may bring in yourself, particularly cake and candles.
- A single table dressed properly photographs better than decorations spread thinly across the whole space.
- Ask one adult in advance to take photographs, and give them the job formally. Whoever is hosting will not get a single picture otherwise.
Practical things guests need to be told
- It is upstairs. Fun Street is on the upper level of Silverburn Shopping Centre. Put it in the invitation.
- The address for a satnav. Silverburn Shopping Centre, Barrhead Road, Glasgow G53 6AG.
- Parking is free and on site, reached from the M77 at Junction 2, and several bus routes serve the centre. The how to get there page has the detail.
- Socks for anyone going on the equipment, children and adults alike.
- Arrival time matters on a private booking, because the two hours start when they start.
- Opening hours are 10am to 6pm, seven days a week, which shapes what slots are possible.
Booking, and how far ahead
There is one venue, and an exclusive booking uses all of it, so the number of slots in any month is limited. Weekends go first, and the busiest periods are school holidays and the run up to Christmas.
- Decide a date range with a first choice and two alternatives before you enquire.
- Have a rough guest count split into children and adults.
- Ask what a deposit is and when the balance is due, at the point of booking.
- Confirm the decoration and catering plan in writing.
- Send invitations once the date is confirmed, asking for allergy information in the invitation itself.
Call 0141 899 0125 or message 07496 181 036 on WhatsApp to talk it through. If your event is a straightforward children’s birthday rather than a mixed age occasion, the party packages are likely to be the better value route, and general entry prices are on the prices page.
Frequently asked questions
Can you hire Fun Street for a baby shower?
Yes. The private hire page names baby showers alongside birthdays, christenings and private celebrations. An exclusive booking gives you the whole venue for two hours with access to the themed play areas and Erina’s Kitchen, and personalised decorations and catering for up to 40 children and 40 adults.
Is a soft play a strange place for a baby shower?
It is less strange than it sounds once you count the guests who are bringing children. A function room entertains the adults and leaves the children with nothing, and a normal soft play session does the opposite. An empty venue does both at once, which is the whole point.
How many people can come?
The guide on the private hire page is up to 40 children and 40 adults for the decorations and catering. Raise it at the enquiry stage if your list is near or above that figure.
How long is an exclusive booking?
Two hours of exclusive use of the venue. That is different from the party packages, which give you a private party room for 30 minutes inside a normal open session.
Can we bring our own cake and decorations?
Personalised decorations are part of an exclusive booking, and what you may bring in yourself, cake included, is worth confirming with the team when you book rather than on the day.
Do adults need socks?
Anyone going onto the soft play equipment needs socks, adults included. It is the thing families most often forget when they arrive straight from a church or a ceremony, so put it in the invitation.
Where is Fun Street and is there parking?
Fun Street is on the upper level of Silverburn Shopping Centre, Barrhead Road, Glasgow G53 6AG. Parking is free and on site, the centre is reached from the M77 at Junction 2, and several bus routes serve it.
How far in advance should we book?
As early as you can, particularly for weekends, school holidays and the run up to Christmas, because there is only one venue and an exclusive booking takes all of it.
Talk to the team
Have your date, a rough guest count split into adults and children, and any dietary requirements to hand, and the team can tell you quickly what is possible. Call 0141 899 0125, message 07496 181 036 on WhatsApp, or read what exclusive hire includes first if you are still weighing hire against a package.
