The best soft-play centres in London

Got an ‘in for a penny, in for a pound’ approach to soft play? Croydon behemoth Kidspace is the one for you (if your eardrums can take it). Split into distinctively designed zones, it features enormous undulating slides, climbing walls, go-karts, mini-golf, ball blasters, multi-sensory toddler areas, trippy UV-lit tunnels and much more. Billed as suitable for anyone under 13, it’s particularly good for older kids who like a challenge and grown-ups who’ve never seen a children’s tunnel slide they didn’t want to hurl themselves down. Also in Romford.

There are newer museum play spaces in the capital (such as the impressive Postal Museum in Clerkenwell) but the Museum of London Docklands’s Mudlarks gallery still packs plenty into a small space. As well as dock-themed soft play – complete with a squidgy DLR carriage – there are giant building blocks, divers’ helmets, tiny cranes and a waterplay table you may well have to forcibly drag the kids away from. Best of all, although the 40-minute sessions are ticketed, they cost nothing.

In truth, the indoor play area at socially conscious West Hampstead venue the Sherriff Centre (the usual jumble of ballpits, slides and netted walls, with separate sections for babies and under-11s) is hardly unique. However, while some soft plays offer parents little more than a few chairs and an erratic vending machine, this place is nestled in the striking, vaulted interior of St James Church. That means you can grab a coffee or some cake from the Sanctuary Café while your charges scramble madly over vinyl-covered foam.

Trampoline parks are springing up faster than you can say ‘Where’s the closest A&E?’ But this Stratford venue has the bonus of some smart soft-play options. Housed in a former nightclub (and still rocking an unusually vibey, dimly lit atmosphere), ZAPspace boasts three storeys of boingy fun for over-fours. It’s especially worth visiting for Battle Beams – a ‘Gladiators’-style duel over orange-and-black foam cubes – and the café-adjacent room of squishy objects that’s perfect for little crawlers.