A Magic Forest

We loved our visit to A Magic Forest. After a terrible experience with Under the Sea Playground, we were referred to this place by one of their customers. As soon as you walk in you feel this calm vibe. It wasn’t very large but it was really peaceful. All the toys are wooden and unique. My 14 month year old daughter absolutely loved the place. I’ve never seen her be so imaginative! Also, there are huge comfortable and clean couches right next to the play area to relax. They also have yummy treats and a coffee bar for parents. The prices were very reasonable. There is also a second smaller play area and an outdoor space. I even saw dads in the back using the free wifi on their computers. We met a lovely mom, who I actually kept in touch with. Couldn’t have been better experience!
ps we bought some of their wooden stick toys, and my daughter has been playing with them non stop!

I just had my son’s 3^rd birthday here, and it was a hit! The helpers were great and set everything up really nicely. The cupcakes were AMAZING.
We had 15 kids and around 30 adults. The kids really enjoyed themselves and were not over crowded in the space. There was plenty of room for the adults as well. We did the drum circle, which was a lot of fun, but you really only need for like 30 minutes, not an hour, although I will say that the drum lady was great, and really good at getting the kids involved.
I would recommend this place for parties for 2 – 3 year olds, it was overall a great experience that was pretty stress free.

I have been bringing my child here since A Magic Forest opened. We have had 4 great years of fun wonderful memories here. Over the years my child has made many friends from other guests as well as the employees children. I have also made some close friends from A Magic Forest. This is a wonderful oasis for children to grow and explore the Waldorf experience. The place is always kept clean, the staff is attentive and kind and we absolutely love coming here. They have delicious snacks, yummy coffee and natural toys for curious little minds to play with. It is ideal for all small children from babies to young preschoolers.
I have seen some negative reviews but have to point out the really good experience that we have had for 4 solid years at A Magic Forest. And to respond to people who complain about kids acting out– well that’s what kids do — it doesn’t matter where they are. It could be school, the playground or the grocery store. Don’t go criticizing an establishment for the way children behave on the occasion you are there. Kids are meant to explore and be free to have their emotions. That is how they learn to work through issues throughout their lives.
My daughter and I enjoy visiting A Magic Forest on a regular basis and look forward to many more delightful times at this special place, we love it !!

Have been here a few times, seems more disappointed each time coming here. The place itself is nice, kept relatively clean (especially compared to Under the Sea nearby). Love the Waldorf style, with neat toys and outdoor area.
But they do have a pretty big problem: lack of management, as concerned by many other reviews here. The employees bring their kids to work and are too busy to watch them. Sometimes there will be five or six kids from the employees, outnumbered the customers. They are much older kids and they won’t let younger kids who paid to come here to play «their» toys. Most employees are nice, except the Asian lady with two kids, who’s a bit rude. She didnt bother to move her eyes off the screen while greeting the customers, and was passive aggressive when communicating with the customers about the rules.
I really hope this place could have better service as it’s so important to a business and will heavily influence a customer’s decision about coming back.

I really want to enjoy this place but I have repeatedly run into situations that are alarming at best. The way that this establishment is run is not safe for children. It is unfortunate but the staff treat this environment like it is their home where they parent and hang out however they chose too; irregardless of whether or not that puts the safety of other children at risk.
I have watched their children climb the sides of the building in the outdoor play area, tear apart the seating and run behind the counter area. And as those children run recklessly with relaxed supervision they put other children at risk, particularly small ones, and parents whom are patrons in the position of monitoring the staff that they are relying upon to set and maintain a professional business standard that must honor the safety of ALL children first.
My daughter fell off a cushion that was moved by a staff’s child and hit her head incredibly hard which resulted in me rushing her to the pediatrician to be checked. The staff stood there and watched my daughter cry and cry as I held her. Thankfully, one person kindly retrieved ice and put it in a plastic bag. Although this act of kindness was appreciated, it is substandard for an establishment that caters to children. THERE SHOULD BE A SAFETY PROTOCOL AND THE APPROPRIATE ITEMS, SUCH AS ICE PACKS AND AN EMERGENCY KIT ON HAND. And some confidence on behalf of the staff to handle these types of situations.
I want to support this place but I simply can not until the staff has some formal training and appropriate professional boundaries for their own children in this play area that parents and care givers choose to pay for.
There are multiple complaints throughout the reviews about the staff and how they manage their children. I suggest that something be done before a child is really hurt due to their negligence.

It’s a spacious and clean facility and all the toys are made of wood, which is creative and probably less toxic. They also have parking in the back which is always appreciated, and coffee/​snacks/​nice lounge area for the adults. I brought my 2 yr old daughter here and she enjoyed the fruits and veggies made of yarn, and the wood house and kitchen. That being said, it is kind of sparse and probably more appropriate for children 2 – 2.5 and under.
The one sour note that I will point out as others have said, and friends of mine who have gone to this place have also mentioned, is one of the owner’s/employee’s 2 yr old daughter kept hitting/​swatting at my daughter. While I get she is just a 2 yr old, my also 2 yr old who is quite feisty doesn’t go around constantly swatting at other kids. The real problem was that her mother never once said «don’t hit» or anything of the sort to her kid and she was right there! So I spent a lot of time as a referee — I get that kids are kids but come on lady your job is to discipline your kid, YOU ARE THE PARENT, and at least explain to her that hitting other kids is not OK. You may have some weird, crunchy discipline style, but even in today’s modern world HITTING OTHER KIDS AND LETTING THEM DO SO, IS NOT OK SO CONTROL THAT OBNOXIOUS KID. I take my daughter to a lot of places with other kids and have yet to experience such a strange dynamic of a bratty child and parent who refuses to discipline their kid.
Overall minus the bratty kid/​parent, it is a unique facility that is definitely worth visiting. Your kids will enjoy it. Perhaps you’ll get lucky and go on a day when those two are not there:)

Really beautiful, calm and magical oasis for little ones. I felt like I had stepped into a little fairytale. A very different experience from the usual indoor play areas around. I particularly loved the outdoor section and the coffee. The open ended toys were plentiful and well made. Don’t come here expecting things that function with batteries or any wild craziness. Everyone was also very pleasant.

If I had 6– 18 month olds I would have probably given this place 4 stars, but I have extremely active 2 year olds. As other reviewers said, there weren’t enough toys especially for the large number of kids there. It’s a pretty small area as well and it got packed quickly (not sure if they have a cut-​off number). I liked the café, the all wood toys, and the staff was friendly. However, I think it is way overpriced for what it is ($ 17 for two kids).

Updating my review after bringing my little girl here consistently for 2 – 3 months now. I love everything about it. Yeah, there are unaware parents. But you’ll find that everywhere, and I’ve come to realize the parents who come here are much nicer and down to earth than most other places. The owner and her staff are beyond nice and personable. My, now 14 month old, daughter has not gotten sick of this place even after coming 2 – 3 times a week. She (and I) aren’t overstimulated, the energy is just more laid back, and not to mention their coffee is pretty good too! Great place especially for smaller kids who get trampled on the playground, and a small space where you can always keep an eye on your little one.

I think this place is o. k (wooden toys, coffee and nice concept). But there are a few things that I don’t like. The gates seems to be always open mostly by The employees kids who see this place as their second home (which is fine and understandable) but what bothers me is that their parents (the employees) do nothing to explain to them that they should close the gates after they get out and why it’s important. My little one just stops playing and rush out (which he wouldn’t have been doing if the gate was closed after they leave) instead of playing with him I have to run after him outside the play area because I don’t want him to crawl on the cold and dirty floor or to get hurt by a hot cup of coffee that parents often leave on the coffee table when they go play with their kids.
I just found myself wondering why I just paid $ 10 to run after my son in this place, I could have gone to the park and run after him for free. The whole idea of me relaxing at times on the sofa and keeping an eye on him, when he is in a safe place, is gone when I have to close the gate every minute.
I talked to one of the workers about it after her daughter got in and out of the play area many times without closing the gate and she didn’t do anything about it although she wasn’t busy.
From what I understood there is a play area for the little ones and a play area for the older kids. But what happens is that the older kids just run from one play area to another and other than the gate issue I am just really worried that they will accidentally hurt my baby during their play because they are running and tossing toys all over. Many of the parents of the older kids don’t particularly care or pay attention that their kids Are playing in a risky way (including the employees who their kids often do that). if there was a more clear and strict separation I wouldn’t have to worry about open gates or about the older kids might hurting my baby by accident. The employees there should make things more clear instead of just expecting the people who come there to figure things out. after all, we pay money so our kids will be able to enjoy wooden toys in a safe environment.
I also think that there are not enough toys and that is a shame.
Dear Owner,
It seems to me that, in general, your employees just can’t keep track on their kids while they are working. they are either busy or just got used to them running around and don’t pay enough attention and in the end of the day, the costumers = your business gets affected and hurt by it.

I will try to keep this as brief as possible.
My mom and I brought my 16 month old daughter here yesterday. Everything was fine, until a little girl struck my daughter in the face. Her mother was an on-​duty employee of this establishment. She was standing with her daughter while this happened, however did not react whatsoever after my daughter got hit in the face. In fact, immediately after the first hit, her daughter came back at my daughter with BOTH hands and repeatedly struck her in the face hard. Needless to say, my daughter immediately started screaming and crying. I picked up my daughter and comforted her, and the attacker was comforted as well.
The employee/​mother of the other child ADMITTED to her child being aggressive, yet refused to acknowledge her daughters actions. I AM NOT TALKING ABOUT PUNISHING OR CHANGING THE WAY IN WHICH SHE PARENTS HER CHILD. That is not my business, and although I would have IMMEDIATELY corrected my child if SHE would have done that through positive reinforcement (remember– children learn through imitation), someone else’s parenting style is not my business.
What I am upset about however, is the way this business handled this entire situation. The owner was present and alerted of the situation, however no one offered any sort of remedy or comfort to ME and my mother, as caregivers to this child, to ensure that this was something they recognized as NOT OK, and would be addressed.
Yesterday, I decided to let this situation go, because i understand things like this CAN happen. However after reading reviews on Unilocal about the same child attacking other children, I realized this was not an isolated incident. I am very disturbed that the owner of this establishment does not recognize that there is a serious problem here, AND refuses to take any sort of responsibility (please read her responses).
If this child is indeed «physical» (as the owner describes her), then her mother should have moved her after the first HIT to my innocent child’s face.
Then, the employee and owner should have recognized that this was not appropriate or «natural behavior», and should attempt to ease my insecurities about this «safe» open-​play space. Instead, each of them indifferently shrugged it off and could have cared less.
On A Magic Forest’s website, they describe their open-​play by «supporting their children’s natural behaviors as they engage in open-​ended play and discovery», I guess this means allowing the same child to repeatedly attack other children for over a years time without addressing that there just MAY be some sort of issue here.
Terrible business, Magic Forest. Especially for a place designated for children. I will stick to Gymboree, MyGym, and the park. Nothing with such force, malicious intent, or apathetic behavior on the parents part has ever happened there.
(**It should also be noted that our family comes from a long line of Waldorf educated children. This establishment that claims to do things the «Waldorf» way, is a HORRIBLE representation of Waldorf education. Waldorf parents and kids already have a myth surrounding them for being «undisciplined», but anyone familiar with Waldorf knows this is not the case. A Magic Forest, however, seems to perpetuate this stereotype.**)

This place was ok. After 20 minutes you get used to the dirty diaper smell. Definitely a place for 2 years and younger. Not much but a few wooden toys. Super cute spot I admit.

I really liked the concept of a play space with coffee (!!!) but I wasn’t crazy about this. It felt more like a library than a playground. It was very quiet, and the toys were pretty sparse — not many of them, and not much to the ones that were there.
All the toys were made of unpainted wood, except for a few colored pieces and some made out of yarn, which I am sure has some kind of philosophy behind it that I don’t know about and probably don’t share.
I think it would be greatly improved by: more toys, more equipment that encourages climbing and exploring, a sandwich option, and beer /​wine options.
I will probably take my daughter back once more on a weekend to see if it’s any better during a busier time of day.

Although I appreciate the wooden toys and the fact that they’re plastic-​free, I have to mention the fact that there is simply not enough toys for the kids to play with. Aside from a few rainbows and eggs and a couple of other things, there is nothing. The place is also not baby proofed because it has furniture in it and a giant wooden house that kids can fall out of. The floor is slippery if you’re wearing socks (which is required) and the sofa and other furniture are covered in stains. Overall cleanliness was also below average when compared to other places similar to it. We won’t be returning.

Cute place, just not sure if I will be going back. Apparently, there is a staff member who allows her two children to run amuck. The older being very aggressive and it seems very common for other parents to complain. For my first experience, I wasn’t exactly thrilled, but its a super cute place for kids to play in and I really enjoyed the outside area with my little one!
So it’s unfortunate that there are so many complaints, however nothing seems to be done. I avoid the place now just to avoid having a confrontation with the Mother. If she cannot control her child’s behavior and/​or watch over them as she is behind the register, then she should hire a nanny or sitter to watch them as they play. I will not allow my child to be rough handled by another kid who is not given adequate attention, and apparently acts out because of it.

The people who run this place are just HORRIBLE!!!
We arrived 10 minutes early for our friend’s 1 year old birthday party and the person who runs this place would not let us in just so we could get out of the heat (it was 90+ degrees outside).
Yes! She made us stand outside in 90+ degree heat, on a super busy street with our 1 ½ year old daughter instead of letting us inside where it was cool and safe because we were 10 minutes early. We told the person we didn’t want to mess with anything and we wouldn’t let our daughter run around. We just wanted to get out of the heat. Our friends who were hosting the party were inside and said they were OK with it and the woman running the place STILL SAID NO!
When I asked «why»? the only reason she could give me was, «It’s against their policy». (Stupid policy if you ask me.)
The final thing that rubbed me the wrong way is the party ended at 1pm but the person running the place started taking down the decorations at 12:55pm. It’s almost as if she really didn’t want any of us to be there in the first place. I mean WE WERE PAYING THEM for the time and they were treating us like WE were an inconvience.
WORST HOSTS EVER!!! I will never come back to this place again! The person running it is just plain rude.
I hope this place goes out of business!

My son had his first birthday party here on Saturday and it was absolutely perfect. I wanted a different space for his party and something I wouldn’t have to share with a bunch of other kids. This place was absolutely fabulous and compared with other similar play places, was reasonable. I would recommend this place for a play date or a perfect place to have a party.

Brought my grand baby here back in March/​2015. Nice concept, could use a bit extra thought and investment into the space. The owner was friendly and had good customer skills. This place is good for children 2 and under, older children would be very bored here. Aside from the little indoor house, handmade toys and wooden toys there isn’t much more to keep a child busy. I think it’s a safe space for indoor play during a cold/​rainy day. I really like that they sell organic fruits and snacks, a bit pricey, but I think they’re worth the expense. They sell actual meals, or so their menu states they do, but the day we went they were out of everything. I only gave it 3 stars because it could use more toys, maybe a play tunnel and a mini gym. Also the carpet and toys looked like they hadn’t been cleaned in a long time and for me that’s a red flag because I am a stickler for hygiene, specially when dealing with children.
Would consider returning since the grand baby actually enjoyed it.

Old carpet, not enough toys, and a recurring episodes of aggressiveness from the same little girl. Great concept, but I know first hand from several moms that their child was pushed by the same blonde girl at this establishment. Owners seem to make every excuse under the sun about her adjusting to this and that, but bottom line is that kind of behavior in a large setting of children is not acceptable.
This is a place of business where children come for a positive play experience. This is what people pay for! How can a parent walk out with a smile after having their child pushed to the ground or hit by this child, who apparently is a daughter of one of the owners.
You have already lost a couple of clients already, and will continue to do so until you remedy the situation. You can be sure all of us will warn other parents NOT to take their children to A Magic Forest, unless they will take the chance of the little blonde girl possibly attacking them.

Great business concept however if u are allergic to dust and carpet, u should not be playing in there.
I took my active 11-​month old daughter there and after few minutes I started having itchy nose and teary eyes. I would actually leave as soon as I felt it but my daughter and my friend’s daughter are actually having a blast so I had to deal with my bad allergy then :-(
One more thing, it was 89 degrees outside, after being there for only 3 minutes, I noticed that the air condition was barely ON, I quite ignored it but that’s not really acceptable if u have an asthma and/​or health issues.
My daughter was ready to leave after playing for 30 minutes. It was too crowded and not enough toys.
It’s worth trying and I would still recommend it and probably visit it again but I just wish that they vacuum the carpet regularly and have a comfortable room temperature.