Be With Me – The Playseum

This is my go to place with my two daughters! And a place where I can make friends. They call it their «Mrs. Gina school.» The Playseum is divided into different themed rooms. Grocery store, fire station, blocks, princess room, restaurant, grandmas room (old school phones, radios – our favorite!), and so much more. There is a bakery where they can make smoothies, decorate a cupcake, etc There is an art room that you can paint a piece. Story time. I could go on and on! But why I love this place is I can do activities like art and baking, in a place that is set up already! My daughters want to go everyday – so it’s nice to have a place where I meet other moms and my kids have fun! Oh and there is coffee! The best part of all is the owner, Gina. She is the most giving and thoughtful person. I found a friend at the Playseum. You’ll fall in love with the Playseum!

We love this place. Both my 5 and 2 year old have a blast. $ 9 per person is a bit much but you can’t put a price on family time.

My 11 month old enjoyed all the rooms and exploring the various activities, and I love the concept of the place. However, it’s too antiquated for me to recommend it. First of all, why would I want my young child to see doves and rabbits kept in dirty cages in a tiny room called «PET SHOP?» That doesn’t really teach compassion. In addition, it didn’t seem too sanitary at all. I’d like to see people going around cleaning things, but there were no such people. Maybe they can upgrade the place to fit more with the year we’re in.

We had a wonderful time with our two year old grandson today at the Playseum. There are several rooms with different themes for the kids to explore, and I was quite impressed with the variety of activities. Our little one didn’t want to leave! The live bunnies were a huge hit. I definitely recommend this place!!!

I am not sure why this establishment does not have 5 stars the whole concept of this little city is wonderful! My sons birthday party was yesterday and the customer service was impeccable Gina is amazing in ensuring that you have a free flowing party everything is sanitary and clean and the children have a blast my son and all his party was able to make and take home an art they made and use their playseum dollars to take home a book! I was so impressed and am a very satisfied customer thank you Gina!

I think it’s ridiculous that they charge an adult because an adult does nothing other than supervise… we are «helping» the workers there by watching our kids so they should not be charging us at all but whatever… I just do it because I know that my daughter would love this place and she ended up did. I found a deal on either livingsocial or groupon so I took advantage of it because I didn’t know what it was really like… she was around 15 months when she went and she had a BALL. Most of the things are for older kids but that didn’t stop from my daughter from learning how to play with everything. She loved the room where it has different types of blocks. She loves the antique room and the animal room. At 15 months old, she went through a phase of thinking that a ball is the most coolest thing ever so there is a room that is a «ball room» where there are balls in every size and shape/​colors and she was in heaven. That room is for older kids and would’ve been a disaster if there were kids in that room but we came in the right time when there was no kids in that room so she had a ball playing w/​the balls for a bit. I can’t remember how many rooms they have but i would guess around 12 or 13 rooms… with different themes… so we went to these rooms 3 times before we were done… I will definitely take her back there again but not for the original rate. i will wait until i find a good deal again. i think it’s a rip off that they charge adults when they don’t do anything other than watch their little ones. if you want to do the other stuff like paint stuff, bake, decorate a cupcake, etc, you have to pay extra.

Love this place! I have a 4 year old and 2 year old and they’re entertained for hours every time we go. My daughter loves the be-​hive beauty bar where she can get her nails done for $ 1, and make her own lip gloss for $ 2. There are so many different activities available… Music, crafts, painting, dress up, a full grocery store and a room with rabbits, birds for the kids to hold and much more! Would highly recommend it!

What a fun place! Easmt sure what to expect, but was very fun! Def get the $ 25 for $ 20 dollar deal! My granddaughter had a great time doing a zillion projects !

You can’t look at this place from the perspective of an adult. If you do, you will write up a 1 or 2 star review which there seem to be plenty of.
If you look at it from the perspective of a child, here are some highlights:
— can play dress up
— make believe grocery store shopping
— paint on the wall in the paint room
— paint various wooden objects or crafts (costs extra)
— there is a manicure bar where you can paint your nails, make your own lipstick, create your own bubble bath, etc (costs extra)
— pet and interact with animals (rabbit, birds, etc)
— read books
— pretend to cook
— play pizza shop
— put on a puppet show
— make your own cupcake, milkshake, cookies, etc (costs extra)
— fishing for letters
My kids can easily spend 4 – 5 hours here on a Saturday.
Here’s my input as a parent:
— This place is better for children 2 years and up rather than toddlers because they can play on their own, though there are plenty of parents who bring toddlers
— Don’t bring a stroller. There is no place to park them.
— If you are two parents bringing one kid and only stay for 1 hour, I don’t think it’s going to be worth it
— There is free parking in the county parking lots on Leland Street on the weekends
— Buy some of the Be With Me money ($ 20 buys $ 25 fake Be With Me dollars) that you can spend on crafts, milkshakes, etc
— Have your kids bring their friend (s) and let them play while you hang out with the other parent. It’s a great place to have a play date.
— Verizon and AT&T have great coverage so you can stream a game on your phone or check scores (for dads).
— The owner invests some of her profit into orphanages overseas, that’s really commendable and I like supporting small businesses that support good causes

The place is very dirty, not… VERY DIRTY, with plenty of broken toys and unfriendly, constantly changing staff. Rather than leaving false positive reviews on Unilocal,i would suggest the management to have the place properly maintained.

Went this morning with friends visiting DC. There was a group that arrived just before we did — according to a staff member, there were 51 kids and 30 adults! That was in addition to all the other families who were there…
It was truly hideous. We have been before and I know it’s a bit old fashioned and grubby, but my kids like it. They didn’t today. The group was basically prioritised for everything, we couldn’t get nails painted or decorate cupcakes as there was no space. They should have just shut the place to the public and entertained the group as a private event.
Very, very disappointing. The bathrooms were out of paper. Staff were told numerous times and did nothing. They basically couldn’t cope. I’d also be interested to know how many people the fire department believe should be in such a confined space, as there were times when I actually couldn’t get to my children due to the crowds.
Good luck if you go when there’s a group there. Oh yeah — and it’s now $ 9 per person, so $ 27 for me and two kids. That’s pricy.

The previous Unilocal reviews are evidence that the masses aren’t always right. I have been led astray by Unilocalers before. I am glad I disregarded the negative reviews because we had a blast today!
My 6 year old, 18 month old and I spent Friday afternoon there. There were so many different activities! Both girls were thoroughly entertained. We listened to story time. Gina, the owner was a great storyteller. I was entertained just listening to the kids’ reactions to the story. We had a puppet show, made pretend pizzas at the Dominos. Mimi, in the arts and crafts room, was great and she helped us make presents for grandad and dad for Father’s Day. We played dress up and played the drums. We went shopping in the pretend Safeway. We made cinnamon apples (with a cool spiral apple peeler) and decorated cupcakes. Yum!
Warning:
In the name of full disclosure I would discourage you from visiting if you fall into any of the following categories:
— don’t come if you are incapable of descending one flight of stairs.
— don’t come if you are incapable of finding street parking, parking in a parking lot or taking the metro
— don’t come if signs that say «please leave things as you found them» offend you
— don’t come if you are a germaphobe and keep your child in a bubble, away from other children, daycare, school, playgrounds or any activity that involves your child touching something that another child has touched.
As long as you don’t fall into one of the categories above you and your kids will have a great time!

I planned my daughters 3^rd birthday party there. I should’ve gone to check it out before hand but I assumed that because it was in Bethesda it was going to be really nice. No way. The concept is AMAZZZZINNNGGG but the facility is old and run down. VERY disappointing… and embarrassing. They need a TOTAL facelift and renovation. I LOVED all of the stations available to the kids but this could be SOOOOOOO MUCH BETTER! The staff wasn’t very attentive to us during our party so we were kinda on our own. The kids didn’t mind of course but it just wasn’t aesthetically pleasing.

Great concept, poorly executed. The idea is awesome and the owner seemed very excited about her work. The place, however, did not have enough staff to cover (those who were there were also were totally not engaged in assisting customers) and it was FILTHY. The bathrooms seemed to have not been cleaned in days, I seriously doubt that there is a protocol for sterilizing the toys and it stunk (downstairs). It would be awesome if they’d close for a week to clean and disinfect the place. I want to take my son back because he and his cousins had fun but it’s just too dirty.
P. S. Take extra cash because many activities upstairs have an additional fee attached.

Preschool and younger elementary school kids will LOVE this place. It’s the play room you always wanted for your kids, but you don’t have to clean up the mess. And there are live rabbits to pet. Kids can decorate cookies, paint craft pottery, dress up, and play in a whole bunch of themed areas. It’s fun — great for a rainy day.

Me and my step daughter love this place. I hate to admit I was skeptical based on the reviews but I’m so happy we came. We were there for 3 hours and still did not get to do everything. The staff there is so AWESOME! Especially Chunky, he’s so good with the kids and very helpful. Another guy helped us when we first got there named Keon he was very nice and I even caught him giving a couple manicures!
Julissa LOVED the dress up room, the pet room, the Bakery and the Art room! We made cupcakes and ice cream cones and so many cool art projects. We loved this place so much we are coming back next week with her cousins. See yall there!

Great concept, however the place has gone downhill a lot since I last visited about 3 years ago!
The place is very dirty and not clean, whatsoever! After reading reviews about the staircase I would have to agree. Although it didn’t bother me, I can see how it would bother parents with 2 younger children.
Parking at this location is very shady! Didn’t want to stay long because we did happen to park in the side parking lot.
Tip — Train your staff to be more friendly, clean up every hour or so. For the most part you can get away with having not too many staff members since it is like an open play. Hire better employees. I’m sure high school students wouldn’t mind working here. Employees need better training with children.
Staff looks like they are in some sort of rehab program.

It’s a little cramped but my toddler son had fun. Some of the rooms he was a little young for, but he enjoyed playing with the ride-​in cars, train set and musical instruments.
It kind of reminded me of Disney: everywhere you turn, there’s an attempt to separate you from your money. After paying $ 14** to enter ($ 7 for each of us), I really wasn’t up for getting nickeled and dimed.
**Call me cheap, but I’m used to kids activities in DC costing $ 5 – 10

I just got back from the Playseum where we celebrated are twin boy’s third birthday. Overall this is a great place to take your kids and is very reasonably priced; however they are missing the mark in a few areas.
To start with the place was way overbooked, and I couldn’t help but wonder what the fire marshal would have had to say. We actually overheard the employees complaining that they were short staffed. It was hard to get the attention we were promised for the birthday party that we had booked in advance.
Private story time (part of birthday package) was not so private due to so many other kids and families milling about. There was also supposed to be a Happy Birthday sign, and drinks with the cupcakes (we had to ask for the drinks and we never got our sign). I couldn’t help but notice that place was little run down the «letter fishing» area had a fence with exposed nails (they did promptly attend to the issue when it was pointed out). It was also a little strange to be told/​advised to tip when paying the final bill.
Despite these shortcoming our boys, and their friends did have a great time playing with all the many toys and all things kids that were available; they also participated in some arts and crafts projects (they made there own bubble bath and lip balm, very cool!!). There was also a really cool pet room, where they got to pet rabbits, birds and lizards.
The staff although overwhelmed was wonderful and very patient. I will definitely bring my boys back again. Thanks for making them happy on their birthday.

Why is this listed three separate times? Oh well, I’ll leave my review here and I hope as many people looking to go to the playseum sees it!
I researched the playseum online before bringing my two nanny kids and husband for a day out. I wish they would have been true to their description of it being in a basement with Extremly unsafe stairs! I’ve had to carry both children up and down them as they are very steep!
The idea and concept of the playseum is cute. Different rooms with different themes, but wow how dirty and old things looked! We were the only visitors thay day and the two workers there one sat at the register on her phone, the other on the couch lounging with her shoes off… Holy unprofessional.
The fact that there is a room dedicated to animals is disgusting. It makes the entire place smell gross. EXTREMELY gross. I was mortified walking into that room with the kids.
Everything «extra» costs money there, which is understandable… However, their activites lack the fun factor. Boringgggg.
The very back room was where we found peace, it’s a huge room with seating as well as books. It was away from the main area so we didn’t feel like we were bothering the two workers lounging.
At the 7 $ per person price it’s a bit steep for such a poorly maintained space.
*purchase some NEW toys.
*replace the stairs.
*hire friendly workers
*get rid of all of the caged, sad animals
*take care of the space.
Needless to say. Skip this place. Not worth time or money. We will not be returning,

This is the third and last time I go to Playseum. Two Birthday parties were going on and so was packed. All was out of place and pretty much dirty. I don’t understand why they let so many kid/​parents in. It really makes it imposible to undergo any of the activities.