Whirlwinds

Love this place! We go to the Mercer location. The staff is pleasant and accommodating with parents, and interactive and nurturing with the kids. The spaces are roomy, and there are many choices for play activities. The cost is reasonable, too. So happy I found this place!

We had my 2 year old daughter’s birthday party at Whirlwinds (Mercer St). Everyone had an amazing time. The owner was our host and she was just fabulous. She is so sweet with the kids and very helpful for us. We got there early and left a little late and she was as nice as nice could be. She made sure to tell me not to clean anything up, because she’d take care of it. She really let us have free reign of the place. We even brought our own cds to play and extra chairs for the older relatives.
We were able to invite a whole bunch of kiddos and there were endless things to play with: a roller coaster ride, a fire station table, multiple doll houses, tinker toys, pretend groceries, doctors kits, dollies, stuffed toys, dress up stations, toys to ride on, Little Tikes slides and jungle gyms. We probably had 15 toddlers and 5 babies and everyone had something to play with. My daughter even took a break and sat down to read a book. Nice to have 2100 square feet filled with toys for the kids to go nuts with!
There is a little room for the party and we bought the package that had cups, plates, etc. We brought in bagels, coffee and whatnot for the adults. We brought in cupcakes for my daughter’s birthday. We were completely on our own timeline, the owner didn’t pressure us to do any activities or get a move on. Also, a 90 minute birthday party for a tot is the PERFECT amount of time.

Can’t say enough great things about Whirlwinds. I’m self-​employed with flexible hours and Whirlwinds has been a lifesaver. My son LOVES it there and has made a ton of great friends. The facility is safe, super fun, clean, well-​lit and secure. The $ 8/​hour pricing and the punch card option makes the whole experience such a breeze. I mostly use the U Village location but have also taken my son to Mercer a few times when I had appointments downtown. Both locations are fabulous, the staff is terrific and I’m in love with everything Whirlwinds. I’ve had a lot of bad childcare experiences over the years and let me just say… Whirlwinds is the best.

This review is for the Mercer St. Location.
I have been lucky enough to stay home with my son M-​F. Recently, the opportunity to work a few extra hours during the week came up, and as it is Christmas, a lot of my mom friends (who would normally watch kiddo) are traveling, entertaining family, etc.
In comes Whirlwinds. We attended a party at the UVillage location, and were thrilled with the toys and idea of a drop-​off daycare center. Their max is 4 hours, which is a little tough, but it works for most situations. Also, it is CHEAP at $ 8 an hour.
These girls are AWESOME! The one on staff this morning (Kylene?) was friendly, professional, and best of all, immediately made efforts to warm my wary-​of-​new-​adults little guy. She also went with his pace, rather than just getting in his face and yapping and make him uncomfortable.
This facility is large and has a lot of different kinds of toys to entice kids of all ages. It has a fenced off play area, a lunch area, and a clean and easy to access bathroom.
I was ten minutes late to pick my son up, and even after being ten minutes early to drop him off, the staff was still very accommodating and kind.
If the need arises, I will definitely be using their services again.

I dropped off my 2 ½ year old twins there recently for 4 hours– the first time they’ve ever been left with anyone other than family. I was really nervous on how they’d do and guess what– they LOVED it! I hardly got a backwards look when I left they were so excited about all of the toys. My son told me he wants to live there. Great staff, thanks Whirlwinds!

So I just had my son’s 3^rd birthday here and wanted to say how awesome the new space is. It’s 3 times the size of the old place — 2000+ sq. ft. of totally open space with every kind of toy you can imagine (except musical instruments, oddly). For what I think is a very reasonable fee they supply the invitations, the plates/​silverware/​napkins/​tablecloths, access to more toys than you’ll ever have in your house, and even the cupcakes and juice (if you choose). There’s also someone who does the setup and cleanup. You just show up, kids have a good time, then you go home. What’s not to like?
Plus there was almost no fighting over toys — and this is with 15+ toddlers. I attribute to the fact that we weren’t in anyone’s «house» (less possessiveness if the toy isn’t «owned» by one of the kids).
We did bring a little bagels & coffee for the adults, and put it in the nice gated entry area to keep it away from the kids.
I will totally plan to do a party (20 kids is the max) here again — easily good for any kids under 6, and the staff was wonderful to deal with.
Again, I’ve never used this for drop-​in day care (our kid is in pre-​school full time), which is their main business during the week. I’m sure that would be great, as it’s the same space, toys, and so on.

My daughter has out grown this place a bit, but I have used them quite a few times, and its great. The kid loves it, and I do too. Whirlwinds moved into a new sunny second floor space a few months back, and their new facility is very nice.
They seem to have gotten busier over the past couple years, so call ahead. God send when you are really jammed up or have a doctors appointment during the day.