£350 · 2 hours · Under-5s and mixed ages · £20 deposit · soft play and castle included · Birmingham, Solihull, Sutton Coldfield & Coventry
🧸 Explore Party
Soft play, a bouncy castle and a hosted party in one — built for the under-fives and for the mixed-age room nobody else caters for.
Soft play equipment for the little ones, a bouncy castle for the bigger ones, and two hours hosted from the front so the whole room has somewhere to be. Your Tickety-Boo entertainer reads the room and moves between the two.
This is the party for a 1, 2, 3 or 4 year old's birthday in Birmingham, Solihull or Sutton Coldfield — and the answer to the room that has toddlers and school-age children in it at the same time.
🎥 Every kind of party we run, in 90 seconds
Watch it through and you will know exactly what you are booking.
⭐ Why this one exists
The mixed-age room is the hardest party there is. Toddlers who need somewhere of their own, and seven year olds who will be bored in four minutes. Most entertainers pick one and lose the other. This party is built to hold both at once, and that is the whole reason it is on our list.
It is run like a Stay & Play, not like a birthday party with soft play in it. That is the real difference. The soft play lays out across a mat 12ft by 18ft and it takes the middle of the room, so the entertainment is built around it rather than squeezed beside it. We have been doing exactly that for twenty years and we are quick at it.
More supervision through the free play, deliberately. Free play with a wide age spread needs watching — older brothers and sisters will cheerfully launch the soft play across the room at a two year old if nobody is on it. One of us is, throughout. That is the bit parents notice afterwards.
Twenty years of under-fives, not a guess at it. Between Tickety-Boo's toddler groups and the dance school, little ones are what we have done all day every week for two decades. Tiny attention spans, nervous faces, the child who clings to mum for the first half hour — none of it is new to us.
Hosted, not just delivered. Plenty of companies will drop soft play off and leave. The entertainer, the music, the games and the parachute are what turn it into a party rather than a room with equipment in it.
A proper first birthday party. And if this is their second, third or fourth, they get the medal, the Happy Birthday and their own moment — pitched at a three year old rather than borrowed from an eight year old's party.
🎉 What's included in your Explore Party
🧸 The soft playDelivered, set up and packed away by us. It lays out across a mat 12ft by 18ft — a proper space of their own, not a few bits in a corner.
🏰 A bouncy castle, sized to your roomSix at a time, supervised throughout, and switched off when we move to games so every child is where the fun is.
🎤 Two hours, hosted start to finishYour Tickety-Boo entertainer on the microphone throughout, pitching the games at the youngest children in the room and moving everyone between the soft play, the castle and the entertainment.
🎵 The full disco rigLights, LEDs, professional sound and a playlist pitched at little ones rather than at teenagers.
🌈 The parachute and the bubblesThe two that work on absolutely every age group in the room, including the grown-ups.
🏅 A medal for every childSweets, the big goodbye and a Tickety-Boo medal each, handed over by name.
📦 How much room does it all need?
A good deal, and it is worth knowing the numbers before you book. The soft play sits on a mat 12ft by 18ft and a castle needs its own floor on top of that, plus 3ft of safety matting at each end. This is a party for a hall, not a through-lounge.
Send us your room measurements when you enquire and we will tell you honestly what fits — soft play and a castle, soft play and a smaller castle, soft play on its own, or whether a different party suits you better. We would far rather have that conversation now than on the day.
🕒 How your two hours run
1We arrive 30 minutes early and set up both the soft play and the castle. You do not need to help.
2Music on as they arrive, and straight into free play so there is no awkward standing about.
3Hosted games in blocks, with the soft play and castle open around them.
4Bubbles, which stops a room of three year olds dead every single time.
5Food break just past halfway. You lay it out, we keep the room calm.
6Back in for the parachute and the big group games.
7Happy Birthday, with the birthday child front and centre.
8Medals, sweets and the big goodbye. We clear away around you.
🎯 The games
Action songs · The Bendy Knee Baby Shark Dance · Simon Says · Treasure Hunt · Musical Statues · Musical Bumps · Bounce with the Bubbles · The Parachute Game · The Bestest Ever Party Game In The World · Happy Birthday
Tailored the way we run our Stay & Play sessions — the same structure, the same pacing, the songs the under-fives already know — with the full party games programme on top for the older ones. Every age in the room gets something aimed squarely at them, so the little ones are not left behind and the big ones are not standing about bored.
No knockout games, ever. Nobody is sent to sit down and watch. Doing pass the parcel? Bring the parcel and we will weave it in.
⭐ The birthday child is the star — however they shine best
Some children want the front, the microphone and every eye on them. Others find that the worst thing imaginable. Both are completely normal and we have seen both a thousand times.
Tell us when you book if you have any worries — shyness, anxiety, Autism, ADHD, sensory sensitivities, anything at all. We adapt the pace, the volume and how we bring them in.
Two of our own children have Autism and ADHD, so this is personal rather than a policy line. We would always rather have that conversation before the day than on it.
✅ Established 2005 · Enhanced DBS checked · Fully insured · PAT tested · BIHA member · SEND-friendly
❓ Questions parents ask
What do I need to provide?
The venue and the food. We bring the soft play, the castle, the entertainer, the disco, the games and the medals. You will need a standard mains socket and floor space for both the soft play and the castle.
What age is this for?
It is built around the under-fives, and it is the one we recommend for a 1st, 2nd, 3rd or 4th birthday. It also works when you have a wide age spread — toddlers and school-age children at the same party — because there are two things running at once rather than one.
Will the older children be bored?
Not with the castle and the hosted games running. If the room is mostly 7 to 10 with one toddler, say so and we will point you at a different party — this one is pitched at the little end on purpose.
Is the soft play clean?
Yes. It is wiped down between every job, and we would far rather you asked than wondered.
My child has additional needs. Will this work?
It is often the best of our parties for exactly that, because there is a quieter space to retreat to and nothing is compulsory. Two of our own children have Autism and ADHD. Tell us before the day and we will plan around it.
What about the deposit and paying the balance?
A £20 deposit secures your date. The balance is payable on the day by card, cash or BACS. No booking fee.
Can somebody in our family wear the mascot costume?
Yes, and that is the £25 surprise mascot. It is cheaper than having one of our team wear it because we are already at your party, so there is no journey to pay for. Any of our headed mascots — tell us which one when you book. Two things to know: the costumes fit somebody 5ft 3in to 6ft of small to medium build, and we ask that another grown-up walks alongside them, because the heads have very little vision. Most families run the reveal themselves, and the birthday child usually enjoys that more than a stranger in a suit.
Do you cover my area?
Birmingham, Solihull, Sutton Coldfield, Coventry and the surrounding West Midlands. Not sure? Ring and ask — you will get a straight answer in about ten seconds.
Other ways to have this party
🎪 Have your Explore Party at our venue
Our Ultimate Hassle-Free Party is this same party, at our Solihull venue, with everything else done for you.
✓ The venue, exclusively yours
✓ Party food
✓ Decorations, red carpet and balloon arch
✓ Big screen with your theme playing
✓ Silk flame effects
✓ Set up and cleared away — you carry nothing in and nothing out
See the Ultimate Party — from £450