Overall: Lovely. Nappy change, feed, rest, and loads of play.
Good Points: Affordable! $2 entry fee for kids. Good food on the menu, at reasonable prices. Party room upstairs. Bright comfortable seating. Loads of table space. Indoor and outdoor covered activity areas. Ball pit just inside the safety gate of the cafe. Massive chalkboard wall. Dolls house. Painting stations inside and outside. Books and toys. Toilet in the nappy change room, and another separate toilet. Sliding door access to both the toilet and nappy change rooms. Great bathroom fittings. Loads of toilet paper. Soap and paper towel at sinks. Single chair in the nappy change room.
Bad Points: Not open Mondays 🙁 Paper towel dispenser empty in main toilet, so a roll of paper towel was on the sink instead. Hard chair in the nappy change room.
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Glitter Cafe is a great place to head with little kids. I’ve been to indoor playcentres with loads of equipment for the kids, and cafes for the adults. But these can get quite crowded and be a bit expensive (entry fees for children and adults!). Finding Glitter is a dream come true for parents and carers of little people. At $2 per child (no fee for adults), it’s incredibly affordable. Most of all, it’s just a comfortable, pleasant place to visit.
It took me a couple of uh-oh trips to Lilyfield to finally remember Glitter is NOT open on Mondays. Go for it any other day of the week, but DON’T go on a Monday. Otherwise you’ll be kicking yourself like I did hehehe.
Parking is on-street, but it’s pretty easy to find. I usually find a spot outside the Antique dealer a few doors further up the road. I just love coming to this area. It’s so different from the north-western suburbs of Sydney where I usually spend my time. I love the north-west, but it’s just nice to check out a different area.
Glitter has loads for kids to do, without being too much. If they want to jump and leap and be really physical, then there is the covered area at the back with the jumping castle, slide, climbing equipment and mini bike ramp. For little ones who want to do some creative work on their own, there’s a couple of painting stations with all equipment provided. Perfect! Also, there’s the giant chalkboard wall inside the cafe. Dolls houses, blocks, trucks, ballpit, books to read…………..a little bit of fun to cater for each little personality.
So what is there to do for us parents? Well do you want to do something or would you rather sit down and relax? I want to relax, and I can easily do this here. There’s loads of comfy seating and tables, so take a book, laptop or craft with you, sit back and relax. Of course this doesn’t mean ignore what your children are up to. But the layout of the cafe means you can have some ‘me-time’ while keeping an eye on your cherub.
The food and drinks here are definitely affordable. Menu items are priced between $2 – $5, with only a couple of items exceeding that range (eg soup & roll for $6). Pricing aside, I love that there’s not just beige food available. There’s yoghurt, fruit salads, sandwiches, banana bread and more. It is so refreshing to come across a kids cafe that isn’t just hot beige food (chips, nuggets, burgers) that costs a wallet-load. The typical response from other cafes is it’s too expensive to focus on fresh healthy food. Well if Glitter can do it and charge such good prices, why can’t other places? I think it comes down to effort. And Lana, the lovely owner, puts in alot of effort.
Now it’s time for the nitty-gritty. What are the baby change facilities like? Well I was happy to find there’s two separate rooms, both with locking sliding doors. The first room has a toilet. The second has the baby change table (including wipes, nappies, paper towel, toilet paper), chair, toilet and sink. While it’s not the most sensational baby change room, it has everything you’d expect plus more. I was very impressed to see wipes and nappies available. I know on rare occasions I’ve forgotten one of these items and have had to come up with some interesting alternatives. So to have these essential items available at no extra charge, it’s just a really beautiful touch.
In terms of being able to fit a pram inside the change and toilet rooms, give it a go. I doubt a double would fit in, but a regular pram should be able to. But even if you can’t get the pram in there, it’s a pretty safe environment.
Before I wrap up this entry, I have to tell you about one more very sweet thing. Just after lunchtime, Lana was busy putting something together at the counter. She soon emerged with a tray in hand, carrying mini juice cups with straws, and marshmallows. With the permission the parents and carers Lana then handed these out to all the children, completely complimentary. Isn’t that just the sweetest thing ever?
Thank you Lana for making Glitter Cafe a beautiful, fun, enjoyable place for both adults and kids. We’ll be back 🙂