New children’s role play centre in Sussex encourages kids to ‘let their imaginations run wild’

Giggleton Village, which can be found at Unit B5 of Horsted Keynes Business Park from Monday, July 7, is aimed at kids from ages 0 to seven and will boast seven role play settings.

The husband and wife team behind it, Harry and Ayla Batchelor, say the aim is to let children ‘immerse themselves in the world of make believe’. Visit www.giggletonroleplay.co.uk.

Director and co-founder Harry, 35, told the Middy: “We’ve built a huge mini-village for the children to visit and let their imaginations run wild.”

He said: “They can dress up, they can go into all the mini-buildings, pretend to be a police officer or a farmer. We’ve got a full sized cow that they can pretend to milk.”

He added: “It’s really an interactive play centre where they can role play different scenarios and different occupations.”

Harry said he and friend constructed the mini-village, which is the main area, with seven custom mini-buildings that children can enter. There’s the Giggleton Cottage with a kitchen inside, as well as a dining table, sofa and a pretend baby in the crib so children can pretend they have their own house. Next to that is a salon for kids to practice their hair styling skills on six mannequin heads. Then there’s the farm with a ‘vegetable garden’, a hospital for parents to lie down in while their kids check on them, a construction site with diggers and building blocks, a library and a police station with radios and a fake prison for locking up friends and siblings.

There’s also an astroturfed area with a slide, as well as small ride-on cars.

Main play sessions will be Monday to Saturday with exclusive birthday parties held on Sundays.

Harry said he and his wife got the idea when they took their two young daughters to a similar site. He said: “We thought it was a great idea, but there was room to make some adjustments and potentially make it better.”

The Horsted Keynes couple initially started looking for properties in Haywards Heath before one came up in their village. At first, Harry and Ayla thought it might be too rural, but when they asked around they found that people liked the idea of coming out to a rural area. Harry said the site is in a lovely setting and is quiet enough that visitors can hear the Bluebell Railway.

He joked that what he is most looking forward to about the play centre’s grand opening is ‘sitting down’ after a busy time setting the business up.

But, in all seriousness, Harry said: “At the moment it’s quiet and I want to hear it filled up with children running around and see that appreciation for all our work that’s paid off.”

Giggleton Village is set to offer a weekly special educational needs (SEN) session for children up to age 13. The centre has a baby area for non-walkers as well. Parents are welcome to join in the fun but there will be plenty of seating onsite, as well with as a cafe.