Junior’s Clubhouse is a state-of-the-art indoor playground and movement studio for kids, coming soon to downtown Washington DC! Named for the founder's daughter (nicknamed "Junior"), Junior's Clubhouse will be a spectacular place to play for boys and girls ages 12 and younger.

Thousands of people have moved to downtown DC and Mount Vernon Triangle in the last several years, and thousands more are expected. Over 19 million people visit the nation’s capital every year as tourists. The business development in this part of town was designed to attract people drawn to the convenience, culture, and community of city life, but when it comes to metro-friendly indoor spaces where kids can run, play, and gather with their friends regardless of what the weather is like outside, the downtown area falls short. Many of us have opted to make the trek to take our kids to parties, classes, or play time at places outside the city, but if the choice is between an extra hour in traffic or an extra hour of playing, there is no question what busy families would rather have! Additionally, after hours spent soaking up culture and trekking through museums and monuments, visiting families would love to have someplace within easy reach for their tired kids to unwind, avoid getting "museumed out," and recharge to get ready for the next journey through history.

With Junior’s Clubhouse, our hope is to create a spectacular space downtown that will be exciting, nurturing, and educational for kids, and that will be convenient and comfortable for their grownups.

Located in a prime position among downtown’s residential buildings and hotels, and within an easy walk from a downtown Metro stop and public parking garage, Junior’s Clubhouse will be conveniently situated for downtown’s families and tourists. This fund raise will help us gather the financing to secure a lease at a location that will be close to the Metro Center or Gallery Place Metro stop.

The play structures will be built for us by the amazing International Play Company (Iplayco) and will be custom designed specifically for our future location. These are some examples of tree and forest themed structures that they have built.

Already an official Family Entertainment Center concept registered with the International Association of Amusement Parks and Attractions, Junior’s Clubhouse will have a rainforest theme with an eco-educational focus, and will feature attractions and activities for kids ages 12 and under with a separate area just for babies and toddlers. The centerpiece of the facility will be two tall climbing trees flanking a thatched-roof hideaway clubhouse, complete with spy glasses, ship's wheel, and captain's bell. Additional play features will include a climbing maze of ramps, PlasmaCar racetrack, zip line, helix slides, interactive electronic floor and wall panels, a velcro wall, ball area, balance logs, shaky rope bridges, balancing logs, ball area, and much more. The themed decor will continue the theme with stylized greenery and vines, giant flowers, and animated butterflies. When we meet the funding to lease our space, all of our play structures will be custom-designed for it. 

We’ll also have a gorgeous studio space constructed from sustainable materials that will be used for kids dance and yoga classes and for birthday parties.

Here are just a few of the features that will make Junior’s Clubhouse the play destination for downtown DC kids 12 and younger and their grownups:

Flexible admissions and membership options

Gorgeous themed play structures incorporating interactive technology

Separate play area for the littlest juniors

Tiny Dancers® dance classes

One Breath at a Time, LLC yoga classes with LaShone Wilson

Birthday parties

Weekday drop-off program (by appointment)

Friday & Saturday date night drop-off (by appointment)

Snow Day drop-off program (by appointment)

Smartphone app to visually check in on your junior

Tasty, healthy, and sustainable refreshments

Peanut-free facility

Café with wi-fi

Comfortable seating with a view of the play area

Nursing mothers welcome

Walkable from downtown Metro

Near public parking garage

Special events

Latest practices and technology for security and safety

Highest standards for cleanliness and health

And there is more in the works! Future expansions will include options for deluxe birthday party refreshments and favors, tea parties, summer camp, an expanded selection of dance and movement classes, and additional play features. We want each guest to have a spectacular experience.

We're on the way to making Junior's Clubhouse a reality, and you can help us make it happen! Every bit - big or small - truly does help and make a difference. 

With this fundraise we're hoping to raise a minimum of $20,000 via pre-sales. How it works: you choose your favorite option from our list of services and pre-pay for it (you will be charged on November 30th regardless of when we meet our goal), and then when we open our doors, you are all set to use your pre-paid service! And there is no risk: if we don't meet our goal, then all transactions are automatically canceled and no charge will be made.

Our goal is to open our doors 12 months after we secure our funding. This is an ambitious goal, but one that we believe to be within our reach. Raising at least $20,000 through this crowd funding venture will set things in motion, proving to future customers and potential investors that there is substantial demand for an indoor play facility in our market. Let's prove that our children need a better place to play! 

We have some great services and packages lined up to thank you for supporting the Junior's Clubhouse vision -- check them out on the right side of the page, above. We can't thank you enough for your support!

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The idea for Junior’s Clubhouse came during an oppressive and relentlessly hot DC summer, when founder Cheryl Zandt, a psychotherapist, former preschool teacher, and parent to a curious and active toddler, realized that walkable or metro-friendly climate-controlled kid-friendly options where her energetic daughter could enage in physically active and challenging play were nonexistent. And since DC experiences a variety of seasonal extremes, this lack of indoor active play space continued to be felt during weeks of hard gusting wind and rain in the fall, a string of snow storms and below-freezing temperatures over the winter, and a symptom-laden allergy season in the spring. Local families she knew and visitors she met all wished there was someplace nearby and indoors to take the kids to climb, jump, and run off some energy on bad weather days.

Additionally, Cheryl has seen the strategic difficulties that come with hosting children's parties downtown, especially for larger groups. With many families living in small homes, few nearby public venues available, and unpredictable weather making outdoor event plans uncertain, finding a great place to host a child's special celebration can be tricky. Not to mention that some existing venues may book up far in advance, allow for only small gatherings, or may be difficult to reach for increasing numbers of families like Cheryl's who rely on public transportation. Junior's Clubhouse will be a solution, offering awesome and easy to reach parties for groups of many sizes. And future plans include offering an even greater menu of party options, including favors and refreshments.

The same was true when she sought out dance and other movement classes for her daughter: most were beyond the reach of the Metro, and many were either closed to younger participants or required long-term memberships, and some required auditions. At Junior's Clubhouse we are thrilled to be partnering with some of the best names in children's dance and movement and as we grow, will continue to add to the variety of dance and movement classes that we offer.

Negotiating schedules for herself and her family, Cheryl discovered that reliable occasional weekday sitters outside of regularly scheduled childcare hours were hard to come by, and she wanted to find a solution for that need. Junior's Clubhouse will offer high quality professional child care for safe and reliable premium drop off services by appointment for well kids. Perfect for appointments, grownups-only evenings out, coverage on snow days, or any such occasion, grownups can have peace of mind that their child is in good hands and will even be able to check in on them visually via a smartphone app. 

As a leader in her neighborhood parents organization, Cheryl realized she was not alone. So many of her fellow local parents and caregivers were dissatisfied with existing options for these things too: indoor spaces for their kids to play, nearby indoor venues for birthday parties, reliable occasional childcare, and quality nearby dance and other movement classes. The concept of Junior's Clubhouse was born out of these needs and is a promising and innovative and solution which local real estate developers are predicting to be a feather in the neighborhood's cap.

With her diverse education and background in child development, performing arts, and conceptual design, Cheryl realized she was in a unique position to create an engaging, exciting environment for kids that meets their need for movement, exploration, socialization and novelty. She joined the International Association of Amusement Parks and Attractions to gain industry support and expertise in creating a family entertainment center that would draw on the best possible resources to comprise a new concept suited to the particular needs of the area.

Junior’s Clubhouse is in the planning phase, and we’re setting the stage for exciting things to come: we have partnerships in place with Tiny Dancers® and One Breath at a Time to offer children's dance and yoga classes in our studio space, and will contract with White House Nannies to provide safe and reliable professional child care for our premium drop-off service.

Tiny Dancers® has several studios throughout Northern Virginia and Junior's Clubhouse is thrilled to be home to their first DC location. They were named "Best Place to Dance" in May 2014 by Virginia Living Magazine. From their website: "Tiny Dancers® is more than just a ballet school, it's a specialized dance program designed for children ages 2 - 12. Our studios... feature a ballet, tap, jazz, hip hop and musical theater program that provides young dancers with an outstanding technical foundation in a fun and nurturing environment. Beginning with our exclusive Wiggletoes® classes for ages 2-3 year and continuing throughout the program, students are encouraged to learn through creative self-expression, exploration of movement and age-appropriate choreography." 

"LaShone Wilson is a certified professional children's yoga teacher and the Founder of One Breath at a Time, LLC. LaShone has practiced and taught yoga for twelve years. Her training includes teaching yoga to children with specific needs, including ADHD, autism, and sensory processing disorders. Classes include a non-competitive and fun environment that teaches children how to effectively move with the breath, live and create mindfully, develop strong and healthy bodies, self-regulate, and find peace and rest in stillness." (From the company profile)

Our play structures will be designed, built, and installed by Iplayco, who lead the family entertainment industry in creating amazing play spaces for children. They have completed several worldwide award-winning projects for family entertainment centers and theme parks, including Paulton's Park (which was voted the best theme park in Britain) and EPCOT.

From their website: "Iplayco has the most innovative and custom creative theming. You dream it, we create it. Iplayco understands the significance of designing play equipment that address the various stages of a child’s development. Age appropriate equipment is essential to ensure that every opportunity for play results in a safe and positive experience."

The safety and security of our guests will be our top priority at Junior's Clubhouse and will be considered in every facet of our operation.

We have a strong and reliable network of professional contacts and connections in the amusement and family entertainment industry that provide a wealth of information, and we’ll continue to draw on these great resources throughout the months and years to come.

At Junior's Clubhouse, we are committed to doing business well, as well as doing good with our business. We will follow ethical, sustainable, and transparent practices to make sure that we have the best social and environmental impact possible, and plan to apply for B Corporation status. We love Washington DC and want to do our part to help it thrive as a community and world-class tourist destination.

Current plans include:

Facility will be powered by solar and wind via EthicalElectric

Products and materials sourced from vendors who pay fair wages and adhere to high employee safety standards

Priority for using sustainably sourced materials 

Complimentary filtered water vs. bottled water

Competitive wages for employees

Highest standards for cleanliness and health will be supported by using eco-friendly products and practices

Future plans include hosting contests and awards for eco innovation and green lifestyle, offering recycling incentives such as discounts and credits, and creating community connection programs.