Greenlight Studio

Greenlight is under new management and I’ve really enjoyed it the two times I’ve brought my two year old.
We go in the mornings, usually when it first opens. It can get very busy and chaotic after 10:00 or so, but hellllloooo that’s the nature of toddlers. They’ve got Uniom bagels (yummmm!!) and great smoothies/​coffee drinks. The food is all prepared to order, so give them a few minutes to make it. I think they’re still finding their groove with staffing and on busy days it can feel like a long time to wait, but the food is good and it’s great to be able to sit and eat while your toddler goes cray over some dinosaur figurines.
It’s always been clean when we show up, nice little nooks and play spaces, and the staff are friendly. It is a nice treat!

This is a really wonderful indoor playspace. The new owners are really friendly and the place looks clean and new. It’s wonderful to be able to have a place for your kids to play while you enjoy a cup of coffee! Don’t forget your socks!

Wonderfully creative space for imaginations to flourish!
Love taking my son here to play in this technology-​free space.
Extremely friendly staff and always so clean and organized
Wish the climbing wall wasn’t there. Would be able to see kiddos just about all the time of that wall wasn’t back area.
Biggest reason we aren’t regulars… Pricing. Admission is somewhat reasonable but the food prices are not and no outside food allowed.

Be warned! The other staff are wonderful but the owner has a definite passive-​aggressive bent that she openly shares with customers. If you go here, and the owner is lurking, be expected to not only feel an uncomfortable, sort of ‘off’ energy, but expect to be told you need to pick up the mess after 12+ children, with no regard that your child hasn’t made much of one at all. If you politely explain that you have chronic health issues (which I do) and that you really came here to be able to rest and not be on constant clean up alert, do expect the passive-​agressive owner to do the following things: 1) loudly throw wooden blocks into bin near your children (yikes); 2) give you a spoonful of hummus, 10 chips, 2 pepper slices, and a carrot for a $ 7.50 hummus «plate» (not kidding). Interesting business model … I think the fact there is absolutely no competition in Portland may be key here.

This was our first of many trips to Greenlight Studio. I’ve been trying to go for about a year. Ms. Jo greeted my son before me which I thought was awesome! The place is a large room with many area for little people to «work», including a rock climbing wall. My son didn’t want to leave !
The café is wonderful too.
I personally have 25+ years experience in Early Childhood Education and this is the kind of place I would love to operate.

Greenlight is great, but there’s a «but» to almost every great thing about it.
Most of the floor is padded with kid-​friendly interlocking padded tiles, BUT there’s big bumps in them and the tiles aren’t all interlocked, both of which are tripping hazards for kids.
There’s a hand-​sanitizer station, BUT it was empty.
There’s tons of toys, costumes, blocks, and equipment for kids to play with and on, BUT much of it was dirty, had dead batteries, was rickety, had sharp edges or corners, or was generally just a bit beat-​up.
There are a few things that are just simply good without any qualifications, like the fact that there’s comfy chairs and such around for parents to sit on while their kids play. There’s also a café area that has good coffee drink, baked goods, and some sandwiches. And most importantly, it’s a great place for kids to go and romp and interact with other kids.
We’ll continue to go to Greenlight because of all the great things about it, BUT there’s a lot of room for improvement, especially to justify the somewhat hefty price.

If only half-​stars were allowed, I’d rate this a 3.5÷5, so I’m rounding up.
I’m definitely a fan of Greenlight Studio — I love the idea of a great open playspace for kids that also has something for the parents, in this case a nice little lounge-​y area (still providing pretty good visibility to the little ones) with a selection of coffees, teas, and snacks. Additionally I find it to be quite clean, which makes a HUGE difference for me — if it doesn’t appear reasonably clean we won’t go back.
It has a ton of fun toys, a train table, climbing structures, art supplies and books, and all are varied for different ages and developmental levels, meaning both my 5-​year-​old and my 2-​year-​old can enjoy their time here. It is beautiful and well-​set-​up.
I do wish it was a little less expensive — $ 10 for one kid with two adults seems silly, since you shouldn’t really be having to pay the admission for guardians who are required to keep the kid safe and who obviously won’t be using the equipment or play stuff. So it’s $ 17 for my two kids (and hubby can join us for no add’l charge). In the middle of winter when the kiddos need a warm, fun space to let off some energy, it’s probably worth it.
Just some extra info about pricing — You can pre-​pay and buy a pass for 10 admissions for two kids for $ 130, which makes it ~$ 13 per visit rather than $ 17. A three-​month pass for two kids is $ 200, which to be worth the purchase would require that you visit 12 times, certainly more than we’d go over the course of just three months. The year-​long pass for two kids is a somewhat better deal at $ 400, but is only a savings if you plan to go twice a month or more, every month for a full year.

My good friend wanted to do a play date. She suggested we meet here at Greenlight. The minute I walked in the door I was at home. Wow. A place for my children to run, explore, play and socialize with other children that is clean, neat, organized, thoughtful and offers an amazing range of developmentally challenging options. While the children play I can get a coffee and lots of Gluten Free treats to choose from. I’ve been 3x in the last 2 weeks. I cannot wait to go back. We get there first thing when the open and leave just before nap time. The kids love it!!! We love it so much that we just booked a birthday party for my soon to be 6 year old. She is psyched. They have a childrens climbing wall — she scales the entire thing and feels like king of the world. It’s great to see her confidence grow in such a safe place. And we don’t need to have our house filled with all this stuff… you’ll see more of us here!

What a nice place. Lots of space for kids, with areas for dress up, climbing, reading, drawing, and just plain old playing. My 7– and 4-​year old would have played for hours if we didn’t have other plans later the day we were there.
A nice space for parents to sit and read if their kids are old enough to play on their own. There’s also a nice counter area with snacks/​sandwiches/​smoothies to buy (all made in-​premise as far as I can tell). The owners were very pleasant and talked to us for quote a while about our vacation, Maine in the summer vs. the winter, their business, whatever.
A nice calm place for kids to play and parents to relax.

Greenlight Studio is a gorgeous play space for 0 – 6 year olds nestled near Portland’s Back Cove. There is plenty of room for little ones to run and make use of the variety of toys provided: play kitchens, train tracks, a mini slide, a jungle gym, a play boat, a club house with stairs to the roof, a theater stage with costumes, cars, animals, books, and art supplies. There is a box provided for toys that have been drooled or chewed on. During our visit, a woman brought out a guitar and sang songs to/​about the kids («I’ve got a name!»).
What kept me from visiting initially was the cost and the hours: $ 10 per child includes admission for two adults. As of this writing, they have half-​price «Whacky Wednesdays,» but on Wednesdays they are only open from 8:30 — 2:30. It seemed like whenever I had time to get to Portland, they would be closed.
However, having my son socialize is priceless, and Greenlight Studio gives him the opportunity to play, naturally. I will be looking into visiting them more frequently.