What does the state of soft play in the UK really look like?
For many of us, hearing about wave slides and seeing colourful soft play balls brings memories of pure joy and happiness. Despite the emergence of online technology, there are still thousands of UK indoor playgrounds that are adored by children up and down the country. But, unfortunately, they don’t all share raving reviews from visitors.
While parents don’t expect spotless play centres, upholding a certain level of cleanliness is important to prevent the spread of germs and illnesses and ensure the general safety of little ones. Based on Tripadvisor reviews, we can reveal which areas are home to the cleanest (and dirtiest) soft play centres in the UK.
Less than four in 100 soft play centre reviews in Somerset mention unhygienic terms
1. Somerset - Unsanitary reviews make up just 3.6% of all reviews
From Jolly Jumpers Play Zone in Bridgwater to Ocean Adventurers Soft Play in Cheddar, only 3.6% of the total number of reviews for soft play centres across Somerset include references to unsanitary conditions.
“Clean, friendly staff, nice play area.” - Tripadvisor review on the Willow Play Village in Bridgwater.
Moreover, the Willow Play Village in Bridgewater does not have any mention of unhygienic terms in its reviews. Based on the highly-praising parent reviews, you can rest assured that your kids will be letting off steam in a hygienic play centre.
2. Greater Manchester - Unsanitary reviews make up 6.4% of all reviews
Home to the UK’s largest indoor family entertainment arena, Play Factore, Greater Manchester offers exciting indoor play areas that most of us could only have dreamed of as children. However, soft play centres in this county seem to be a hit with parents, too, as Greater Manchester has the second-lowest percentage of unsanitary reviews on this list.
“Really clean & friendly staff.” - Tripadvisor review on the Party and Play Funhouse in Bolton.
Alongside the abundance of rave reviews for soft play centres across the county, there are 88 recorded mentions of terms associated with dirtiness, including five that describe their experience as ‘vile’ and 15 that mention the term ‘smelly’.
3. South Yorkshire - Unsanitary reviews make up 6.6% of all reviews
South Yorkshire may have fewer unsanitary reviews across soft play centres than the area in second place, but this county ranks third when this figure is compared to the total number of reviews. Of the 881 reviews analysed, only 6.6% mentioned terms relating to dirtiness.
“Brilliant fun and clean place.” - Tripadvisor review on Play Valley in Dinnington.
South Yorkshire’s most reviewed soft play centre on Tripadvisor, Play Valley in Dinnington, has only received a handful of unhygienic reviews through the years, with most parents greatly impressed.
More than a quarter of soft play reviews in Derbyshire refer to unsanitary terms
1. Derbyshire - Unsanitary reviews make up 27.3% of all soft play reviews
Your little ones may not notice the dirtiness of a soft play centre, but as parents, we can find these things hard to look past. Of the 20 most populous UK counties, Derbyshire has the worst ratio of unsanitary reviews for soft play centres.
“Friendly, but poorly maintained and filthy.” - Tripadvisor review of a soft play centre in Derby.
Of the unsanitary reviews for indoor play centres in Derbyshire, most references are for the term ‘dirty’, followed closely by the term ‘smelly’ — whether concerning the toilets, eating areas, or play centre itself.
2. West Yorkshire - Unsanitary reviews make up 18.1% of all soft play reviews
While South Yorkshire is one of the best counties for indoor play centre cleanliness, the same cannot be said for other parts of the north. With almost one in five reviews for soft play centres in West Yorkshire mentioning how dirty or smelly they are, this area appears next on this ranking.
“Disgusting, dirty, and rubbish.” - Tripadvisor review of a soft play centre in Wakefield.
If cleanliness is important to you and your child, soft play centres in this county probably aren’t the best fit. From the smell of greasy food to sticky surfaces, almost 60% of reviews for a soft play centre in Bradford include parents highlighting the dirty nature of this play area.
3. Hertfordshire - Unsanitary reviews make up 15.1% of all soft play reviews
Completing this top three is Hertfordshire, with just over one in six reviews for soft play centres referencing its lack of hygiene.
“The most filthy soft play we have been to.” - Tripadvisor review of a soft play centre in Stevenage.
The Stevenage branch of a popular play centre outnumbers any other in Hertfordshire regarding unsanitary reviews. Parents include terms like ‘disgusting’, ‘dirty’, and even ‘vile’ when documenting their experience at the venue.
Kim May, Creative Arts Therapist at ISP Fostering, shared insight with the Outdoor Toys team on the benefits of soft play centres for young children and how facilitating a safe and sanitary play environment can aid their development:
“Spending time in play centres helps children to embrace the play and imagination stages of their development and is beneficial for socialisation and the development of physical and cognitive skills.
When children are in their most infant years, development is about harnessing imagination and mobility skills and lots of what they learn is through sensory experiences - soft play can positively contribute to this. For children under four years old in particular, they rely on their sensory memory a lot (taste, touch, sound, feel, and sight), even if a child is too small to physically move or interact with toys or a play area, they are still learning and developing through their senses.
For children who have experienced trauma or are living with Autism spectrum disorder (ASD), attention deficit disorder (ADD), or attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), an unsanitary play environment could cause a lot of distress as they are sensitive to their surroundings. To ensure all children can really benefit from soft play, these areas and toys within them should be kept clean and tidy to accommodate every child’s needs, and protect their physical health too.”
Methodology
Data is accurate as of 16/01/2025.
We created a seeding list of soft play centres in the 20 most populous UK counties by searching ‘indoor soft play centre UK’, in Tripadvisor, noting their locations at the city and county levels. Any centres with less than 20 reviews were removed from the ranking, and Tyne and Wear and Leicestershire were not included due to lack of data. We then collected the following figures using each centre’s individual Tripadvisor page:
- Total number of reviews
- Number of reviews filtered by ‘dirty’
- Number of reviews filtered by ‘unclean’
- Number of reviews filtered by ‘disgusting’
- Number of reviews filtered by ‘vile’
- Number of reviews filtered by ‘smelly’
We added together the total number of reviews containing the above terms before dividing this number by the total number of reviews to calculate the percentage of reviews mentioning unsanitary terms for each soft play centre. This calculation was repeated to find the percentage of reviews mentioning unsanitary terms at county-level.
For counties with three or more entries, we averaged these percentages to find the percentage of reviews mentioning unsanitary terms per county.