“I wanted a place that I could come get coffee. There’s Wi-Fi. I can sit in one spot and see the whole space,” Michael said.
After getting the keys in December 2024, The Silly Goose Creative Play Cafe officially opened its doors at the end of June in the Beavercreek Towne Center at 2781 Centre Drive 12B, next to Clean Eatz.
Credit: Natalie Jones
Credit: Natalie Jones
An imagination-driven play space
The Silly Goose is an indoor play space designed for children five and under. However, siblings up to 12 years old are welcome as long as they are respectful to the little ones.
“Most play spaces focus on large muscle play and like running (or) jumping,” Michael said. “This is more imagination driven.”
Credit: Natalie Jones
Credit: Natalie Jones
The space features a market, kitchen and dress-up area with traditional wooden toys from Le Toy Van, Inc. The dress-up area has items parents shouldn’t have to help their kids put on.
There’s also a slide, train track, parking garage, climbing toys and a baby space.
“You pretty much can be unneeded for a solid hour,” Michael said. “They’re just engrossed in whatever they’re doing and you can get stuff done.”
Admission is $14 per child for two hours. Babies six months and younger are free with the paid admission of a sibling.
A coffee shop with snacks
In addition to being a play space, The Silly Goose features a coffee shop with baked goods and light snacks.
Michael said adults without children are welcome to stop by and get a coffee or treat to-go. The Silly Goose uses Counter Culture Coffee with favorites such as the lavender dream latte or the confetti latte.
Credit: Natalie Jones
Credit: Natalie Jones
For kids, they offer sparkle fizzes featuring sparkling water, flavoring and mica powder to make it extra shimmery. They also have steamers and cacao especial.
“We rotate our pastries because we bake them fresh every morning,” Michael said. “We source them from Whole Foods — their bakery.”
Guests can expect anything from croissants and scones to muffins, turnovers and cinnamon rolls with rainbow sprinkles.
Credit: Natalie Jones
Credit: Natalie Jones
Kid-friendly snacks include mini pancakes, French toast sticks, pizza cupcakes, gluten-free dino nuggets, mini corndogs and more.
All items that are baked in the space are nut-free with no artificial dyes or flavors.
Meet the owner
Michael is originally from Houston, Texas. She came to Ohio to study early childhood education and stayed in the area because her husband is from Centerville. She continues to work from home as a billing analyst.
“I’m a super Type B mom, and I forget my diaper bag 100 times a day,” Michael said.
Credit: Natalie Jones
Credit: Natalie Jones
Because of this, The Silly Goose is stocked with extra diapers, wipes, creams, etc.
Her favorite part so far has been meeting and talking with other moms.
“I was making this for me and I was hoping other people would appreciate it,” Michael said.
MORE DETAILS
The Silly Goose is open 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday and 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday. Private party bookings are available 1 to 6 p.m. Saturday and 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Sunday.
Reservations are encouraged. Michael likes having no more than 15 kids in the space at a time.
For more information or to reserve a time slot, visit sillygooseplaycafe.com or the studio’s Instagram page (@sillygoosecreativeplaycafe).
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