Kiddo Adventure is a place to play in San Mateo

He saw the opportunity to fill a gap other indoor playgrounds left open.

Eighteen months later, Chau started a new journey with the November soft opening of his indoor playground Kiddo Adventure in downtown San Mateo. After being in the corporate financial sector for over 18 years, Chau said his goal was to make his indoor playground different from the rest by making sure walk-in admissions were available at all times.

Chau and his wife designed the play structure to feel and look as big as possible.

“We wanted to maximize what we can fit in based on the space that we have,” Chau said.

The couple first started by coming up with a concept and a list of must-have features.

“We knew we wanted slides, a ball pit area, a minimum of two levels to make the experience more adventurous for kids, and an age appropriate obstacle course,” Chau said. “From there, we worked closely with a designer to develop illustrations and go through multiple iterations, ultimately arriving at the final design.”

Off to the side of the playground is a party room for clients to hold their kid’s birthday parties. Since the opening, hosting birthday parties have kept them busy, Chau said, adding that parent recommendations have increased bookings for other parents.

Kiddo Adventure has three party packages: Mini Adventure, Adventure and Ultimate. The $880 Ultimate party package is chosen most often, he said. It allows up to 20 kids so they can invite their whole class and comes with birthday themed decorations, plates, napkins and utensils. 

The total birthday time is two hours. Kids get an hour and 15 minutes to play in the playground and the final 45 minutes is spent in the party room for eating and gift giving. The birthday kid will also receive a free pass for their next visit, plus a Kiddo Adventure T-shirt.

Admission inside Monday-Thursday is $20 for kids aged 1-12, and $23 Friday through Sunday. There is a membership program for frequent visitors that costs $149 per month and includes a free Kiddo Adventure T-shirt, grippy socks and 10% off all party packages.

Hawaiian shaved ice is coming soon, hopefully by March. Chau said they will offer a variety of tropical flavors such as strawberry, guava and coconut.

Word of mouth grabbed Santa Clara resident Sarah Chen who visited with her 2-year-old daughter and said the first thing that caught her eye was that it was “very kid-friendly.” 

San Bruno resident Natalie Mossman said she discovered it on her own, after scoping online for places to go with her two nieces.

“I liked that they were open on weekends because all the other places are mostly closed on weekends,” Mossman said, adding she liked the layout of the playground because it was easy to supervise her nieces, but still felt big.

“I like how there’s a lot of stuff to do, but it’s not too big, so you’re not gonna lose them,” Mossman said.

Chau said that he would love to hold a grand opening for the business in the middle of February. He wants people to think of Kiddo Adventure as the “best indoor playground in the San Francisco Bay Area,” as his goal is to bring the X-factor to kids and parents who visit. He also added that the community has been a big help in spreading its name.

“The community is really supportive of what we’re doing.” Chau said. “They said it was much needed, and they’re really grateful that we opened a space for the kids and family and something to do on the weekends.”

Kiddo Adventure is located at 24 E. Fourth Ave., San Mateo. It is open from 9:30 a.m.-6 p.m. Sunday-Thursday. It is open from 9:30 a.m.-7 p.m. Friday-Saturday. Go to kiddo-adventure.com for more information.