Growing Littles

361 Tuttle Road, Cumberland, ME 04021

Finding Growing Littles is easy to find when you use a GPS. Parking can be tricky only because this place of fun is based at someone’s house (or a building they own next to their house) so parking is in the driveway so you could be blocked in. I did hear that others parked at the school next door, however this was on a holiday so I’m not sure if this is an option all the time. One you park, follow the path to a door to Growing Littles. There is a lot of things I liked about this place but a favorite is the low price of only $15 PER FAMILY.

The open play is on Fridays from 9am-12pm. When you enter the door you’ll enter a sitting area where you take your shoes off and drop your belongings. There is complimentary coffee and tea for parents. This is also where kids can enjoy their small snacks.

From this room you can go straight into a small room. At the time I was there, there was a table of play dough, popsicle sticks and pom-poms for kids seeking some sensory play. I’m unsure but looking around this room I assume this is the sensory room or table top activity room.

To the right of the sitting room is the big, bright, open play room. It has a baby gate at the top of the two steps down. There is a play kitchen, with all the things needed for kids to become a chef. There is a small dress up basket, with all kinds of small clothing and accessories. My daughter, 4.5y, played doctor pretty much the entire two and a half hours we were here. Along one wall is a bookcase filled with wooden cars, trucks, stacking toys, roads and puzzles. There is a pickler triangle with a double sided ramp. On one side of the ramp is “rocks” to climb and on the other is the slide. They have a wooden balance board type thing and a tunnel too! In a corner, is a play tent filled with cute pillows and a fluffy rug. This spot was hot for reading books.

There is a bathroom with a regular sized toilet as well as a toddler sized and a changing table. (Also my favorite thing about the bathroom was a piece of wall art hanging above the changing table, if you go, you’ll know immediately what I’m talking about). While I wouldn’t say there’s A LOT to do, I do think there is enough to do. I also think it’s best for ages 0-3years. With that said, my 4.5 year old did ask if we could come back to play and of course I said we would and then they got sick the following week, a few days before the next open play. Growing Littles reminds me of Raise Playspace in a way, both seeming to take the Montessori play path and run by a mom as well. The differences being, at Growing Littles I don’t feel I have to have an “indoor voice” and I don’t feel like I have someone coming behind me and cleaning up after me or other kids (and a way better price tag)! The owner of Growing Littles sticks around and mingles with the parents, plays with the kids and she has a pretty spectacular playlist that most moms my age (33) will appreciate.

Another thing I want to mention but have no personal experience (yet, maybe one day), is they hold a lot of classes for newborns and toddlers! There’s a toddler explorers class, where mamas and their littles meet at a location and…well…explore. The newborn class is free for babies 0-6 and their guardians. Anyway I really liked this place, especially for my younger ones and I wish I had more of a village to be able to do some of the classes they hold but for now open play is good for us.