We had heard quite a bit about Noodle Noggin’ ‘N Bean (NNNB) and finally brought our son there this past weekend. The place is fantastic! The creators of NNNB really understand how children like to play and the importance of it, especially the interaction between kids and their parents.

NNNB dubs itself as an “EDU-tainment parent-child experience for children ages one through six,” and is located in Northborough, MA. Featuring 5,000 square feet of open play and learning space split into 12 themed rooms, NNNB will keep your kid(s) entertained for hours. The entry fee is $9.99 per child and $2.99 per adult, and is good for the entire day so you can come and go (after all that play everyone needs some food!).

What really struck us about NNNB was the variety and quality of activities for the kids and parents to participate in, and unlike traditional playplaces, NNNB encourages parents and caregivers to participate right alongside their kids. We won’t attempt to detail each of the twelve themed rooms that make up NNNB, but will tell you about some of the highlights from our visit.

Old Town Square is where we entered and were immediately struck by the large wooden vehicles that you could climb aboard to start your adventure – one is a train and the other is a fire truck. This room is covered in murals, giving it a nice warm feel. Kid-friendly music is playing throughout the entire facility. Some noteworthy tunes we heard were kid versions of
Chumbawamba’s ‘Tubthumping’ and House of Pain’s ‘Jump Around;’ the the songs were sung by kids and the lyrics were changed a bit to remove anything inappropriate (‘Whiskey Drink’ became ‘Soda Drink’).

Off of this room are several other themed rooms including Bean’s Bricks & Blocks, Inc., Mona Lisa’s Art Studio, Pirate’s Cove, Dr. Bone’s Body Shop, and Noggin’s Knock Knock Nook. Each room features unique activities for your kids to try out. Bean’s Bricks & Blocks is full of different building systems—Duplos, Quartros and Lincoln Logs—allowing your kid to perfect his craftsmanship. Mona Lisa’s Art Studio has a huge chalk board as well as a large wall covered in paper waiting for young artists to adorn it with their work. The Knock Knock Nook is filled with musical instruments, costumes, and sheet music, encouraging your kid to express himself musically. We were even able to follow the colored notes and play ‘Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star’ on the xylophone. Our son really enjoyed this room, especially the kid-sized cymbals and the life-sized floor keyboard al-la Tom Hanks in ‘Big.’ We didn’t have time to go into Pirate’s Cove, but it looked like a lot of fun. It had a full-size pirate ship and a long water trough where kids can play with various water toys or use a fishing pole to catch a live one (don’t worry, there are no real fish).

Walking from one side of the complex to the other, the hallways feature different types of activity toys mounted to the walls. From rollercoaster bead mazes to circle spinners, the folks at NNNB have covered all the bases to keep your kids entertained, even when walking down a hallway. We spent 15 minutes playing with the toys in one of the hallways.

The opposite side of the building is laid out in a similar fashion, with a central room, aptly named Central Park, and a few smaller themed rooms. Central Park is meant for younger kids and has soft mats and padding allowing for the little ones to tumble around. There is a diner where your kids can cook up a feast or be a guest and sit down for a nice meal. Before cooking, you can hit up the kid market, a well-stocked supermarket complete with shopping carts and a cash register. The sea-saw and ball pit were big hits for our kid on this side of the building.

As you can tell, Noodle Noggin’ ‘N Bean packs quite a punch under a single roof. We’d encourage you to check out their site, especially the ‘Rooms’ section, to get a better feel for the variety of offerings. When visiting, we’d also recommend taking a walk around the entire facility to gauge your kids’ interest and plan your visit. NNNB has two rooms for birthday parties and is definitely in our list of venues for future birthdays.

Mom Says: Clean and cute!!! No food allowed in the building except for the party room, so there aren’t any wayward crumbs. The toys were very gently used – I wasn’t disgusted with anything that my kid touched. I even got in the ball pit with him and found it to be clean. Next time I’m planning on staying for at least 2 hours.

Dad Says: This place knocked our socks off! It is clear that NNNB understands how to create an engaging and fun environment for kids and adults. The idea of playing and learning with your kids is great and I know we’ll be doing more of it at Noodle Noggin’ ‘N Bean.

Noodle Noggin’ ‘N Bean
38 Southwest Cutoff (Rte 20)
Northborough, MA 01532-2159
Phone: 508-351-7060
Website: http://www.noodlenogginnbean.com/

This entry was posted on Thursday, May 21st, 2009 at 4:36 am and is filed under Playplaces. If you use RSS, you can subscribe to the RSS feed , or if you would rather receive an e-mail, please subscribe to the e-mail in the lower right hand corner of this page. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.