As the parents of four-year-old twin girls, Laura Bolton-Debusschere and husband Mark Debusschere know a thing or two about keeping kids active and entertained.
After a visit to an indoor playground in Edmonton last summer, the couple had a five-hour car ride back to Saskatoon to brainstorm ways of creating a similar business in their own community.
“The girls played for close to three hours [at the playground in Edmonton] and Mark and I were able to sit and enjoy each other’s company and a nice coffee,” recalls Bolton-Debusschere. “When we finally left the playground the girls were exhausted and fell asleep on the way back to the hotel.”
Laura and Mark put on their thinking caps. In time their shared love of Flin Flon would inspire Flynn’s Forest Indoor Playground, the large family-friendly play spot they recently opened in Saskatoon.
Growing up on Green Street in Flin Flon, Laura and her sister had no shortage of unstructured, imaginative playtime – something Laura wants for her own girls living in the city.
“We had bush on two sides of our house,” she said. “My sister Rachelle and I spent hours upon hours in that bush making forts, climbing on the rocks, picking blueberries, imagining all sorts of fun and silly games, all while getting lots of exercise.
“It is known that kids are not getting their 60 minutes of recommended physical activity a day. A lot of their physical activities come from things that are structured – dance, soccer, hockey. Structured activity is great, and necessary, but there is a lack of free play. Free play is definitely something that kids [or at least city kids] do not get as much of as I did growing up.”
Laura lived across the street from what they nicknamed the “animal park,” where she and her sister were able to spend summer days on the swing set and winter evenings sliding and hiding under the huge pine trees. Their family spent a lot of time camping at Bakers Narrows, where the girls played throughout the pathways and bushes.
“Bakers Narrows will always be one of my favourite places in the whole world, and my best childhood memories are either at Bakers, the rink or in the bush behind Green Street,” she said. “I would say Mark [who played for the Bombers from 1998 to 2001] has some pretty great memories from the Whitney [Forum] as well.”
Flynn’s Forest Indoor Playground, located on the east side of Saskatoon, opened at the beginning of June after much planning and hard work by the couple and their families.
“We knew if we were going to do this, there were a few things we really wanted,” said Laura. “We wanted natural light. We wanted snacks that were fun for kids but still healthy or at least healthier than deep-fried-type alternatives. We wanted our facility to be very, very clean. As parents we knew this was important. We want parents to enjoy coming to our playground as much as their kids do.”
With a plan for the structure in place, the couple expanded on their theme for the business.
“Once we decided on a forest theme, we also wanted a mascot to go with that,” said Laura. “It didn’t take long to come up with a fox and for that fox to become Flynn in a nod to Flin Flon.”
Flynn’s Forest is a three-storey, 2,000-sq-ft indoor playground. The forest-themed play structure has something for everyone and includes a triple slide, two tube slides, an interactive play floor, eight-foot climbing wall and a sport court.
A dedicated toddler area, concession and comfortable seating for parents throughout the playground make for a great experience for the entire family.
“We believe kids will be sold on the playground, but we have to get parents on board, too,” said Laura. “We have done our best to cater to parents with our seating and food options. We thought adding great coffee combined with lots of comfy seating would achieve that.”
Along with Flynn the fox, the business logo features two butterflies – a purple butterfly for their daughter Lily and a pink one for their daughter Eva.
“The girls have been a huge part of this whole process,” said Laura. “It has truly been a family adventure, although I have a very good friend who got me a little something that says ‘adventure is just bad planning’ when we started all this, so maybe I will say this has been a family project…because I will be adamant there was no poor planning when it comes to Flynn’s!”
Introducing Flynn
Flynn the fox, who is named after and inspired by Flin Flon, welcomes children and parents to his playground with a brief introduction:
Hi! My name is Flynn!
I grew up in the beautiful boreal forest of northern Canada. I spent my days exploring and playing with my forest friends. The forest was full of trees, rocks, lakes and rivers. There was lots of fresh air, sunlight and beautiful colours in every season.
One day, I decided it was time for a new adventure. I packed up my den and moved to a beautiful sunny city with a sparkling river running through it, Saskatoon! I love it here, but I miss my friends and the forest.
So, what is a fox to do?
I decided to bring the forest to you, my new friends. Now we can play and explore this forest together.
Welcome to my forest, Flynn’s Forest.
