Tickleberry Place Indoor Play Gym

Central LA

South LA

We will fundraise the funds and become certified as B Corporation. Once we have the funds we can do the following:

Obtain a lease or purchase property

Purchase equipment

Design the space for the needs of the families

Marketing and awareness

Currently, children in South LA experience many injustices related to play. There are only a handful of indoor play facilities in the area. The play facilities that do exist promote play but also promote unhealthful eating, such as Chuck-E-Cheese and the play gyms at McDonalds. Lack of green space, play space and healthy food choice options all contribute to the growing rate of obesity among children in LA County. Tickleberry Place will combat the trifold issues of lack of play space, lack of green space, and lack of healthy food by providing a space where children and families can eat, play, and learn about healthy living.

Our children our exposed to a large number of harsh chemicals and toxic materials. Tickleberry Place will be a play space made from environmentally friendly materials. In addition, Tickleberry Place will use products and methods to keep the play space toxic free. This is particularly important as about 1 in 11 children have asthma in Los Angeles.

Children can play in the play gym or participate in community building games facilitated by the Tickleberry team. When children are done playing,they can eat healthy organic produce grown in Tickleberry’s garden. Food will be healthful but also culturally relevant to the majority black and Latino residents in the neighborhood near Tickleberry.

What will distinguish Tickleberry from other indoor play gyms is its focus on education for families. Through a partnership with educational organizations, Tickleberry will offer classes, workshops, and events for parents on topics such as gardening, healthy eating, sustainable living, and healthy child development.

Our goal is for Tickleberry Place to be a community hub for health and wellness. With a local space that caters toward fun and well being, Tickleberry Place will help make LA the best place to learn in 2050.

This will benefit families in South and Central Los Angeles, but it is not limited to other neighborhoods and communities.

Tickleberry Place was designed to meet the unique needs of South LA. Historically, South LA has experienced violence, lack of access to safe play spaces to children, limited access to healthy foods. This limits opportunities for children to play and for parents to connect in a public space about values such as healthy living for families. Tickleberry caters to this demographic of Black and Latino families with children ages 6 months to 10 years old. Tickleberry begins in South LA as it is the highest need region for issues of food access and play space. However, the location of Tickleberry makes it accessible to the greater Los Angeles’ Community. Tickleberry welcomes participation from families across the city. Eventually, it is the goal of the founders to expand Tickleberry into other regions of the city, so that families will not have to travel far for safe, environmentally friendly, healthful play spaces for children.

Access to open space and park facilities

Number of children enrolled in afterschool programs

Percentage of residents that feel safe in their neighborhoods

Residents within 1⁄4 mile of a park (Dream Metric)

Number of parks with intergenerational play opportunities (Dream Metric)

Number (and quality) of informal spaces for play (Dream Metric)

Be the top quality informal spaces for play in South and Central Los Angeles being accessible for open play to the public during the week and on weekends

Be considered a safe and healthy place for kids and families to play by having staff available and managing the facility at all times. As a indoor place, it is easier to watch over children.

Provide local residents after school programs, workshops, and actives, for learning about environment, science, art, and healthy eating.

Raise at least $500,000 to fund opening the facility

Gain 100,000 followers and supporters in the community (government, customers)

Obtain facility location with parking in the South/Central Los Angeles area that is within ¼ mile of the residents and is easily accessible for residents within 2 mile radius

Meet the requirements for Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design (LEED) Green building Certification

Open doors in Spring 2015

Become certified as a B-corporation.

The first lesson is that there are not any indoor play spaces in the South and Central Los Angeles Area. Because of the lack of indoor play for the families, we have to travel outside of the area to obtain it.

The second lesson is that the South and Central Los angeles neighborhoods are considered food deserts with not many places to buy healthy organic foods or many business that provide healthy, eco-friendly, and sustainable services.

Having a background in User Experience, improving people’s experiences and making things easier, created the idea for Tickleberry Place. Tickleberry Place will provide a solution to these lessons by creating a fun indoor place for families that also provides a healthy and environmental alternative.

The first major challenge we anticipate is gaining enough capital/funding to finish the project in the time frame. With the challenge of gaining the capital we need, it pushes back when we can start to provide this experience for families.

The second major challenges to anticipate is finding the perfect location to meet our needs of having at least 4000 sq ft, accessible from the public transportation, and has plenty of parking space.

We would like to obtain a space that is in south LA but accessible to the 10 and 101 freeways so that families from the greater Los Angeles area can easily access Tickleberry Place.

This items affect our customer experience and can make it a challenge for them, if these requirements are not met. The space needs to be easily accessible, therefore creating a seamless experience.