We love exploring different soft plays around Hertfordshire, and I have my favourites for different types of days. Today we chose DJs Play Jungle in St Albans which is a smaller DJs soft play compared to the Berkhamsted or Hemel Hempstead indoor play centres.
It’s a great option for children aged between 0-8 and offers different sections for different age groups. Because it’s not as large as some of the other soft plays, I find it easier to be able to play with our littlest one in the 0-2 section, and still keep an eye on our older two in the main frame area.
There are three different aged areas at this DJs, and then a separate area for birthday parties.
The 0-2 section has a really sweet sensory wall with interactive lights that change colour when you touch them- a great cause and effect toy that Sophia loved! There’s also a mini ball bit, soft rockers, monkey bars, a baby slide, a wall mounted busy board and, Sophia’s favourite- an air blower!
I really like how this section is separated to keep the older children from coming in, and means the little ones can roam free and safely!
The under 5s section is the smallest section and a bit of a maze to find! But it’s great fun with lots of interactive, and rough and tumble options including oversized yoga balls, mini zip like ( our favourite!), and a very fun large “build a car” puzzle that you can sit in.
There’s also an upstairs in this section which is easily missed , but if you do climb up through the soft ladder, there’s a cool tunnel maze and an extra large” build the burger ” game. I like this area for if your little one needed a quiet moment, it can be quite relaxing!
The main section is recommended 5+ and has a loads of slides and tunnels to explore! Adults can fit through the tunnel too ( with a bit of a squeeze!). Our kids can navigate their way round finding the different slides pretty quickly, but I will say some of the climbing platforms are quite high so some little ones may need a hand up. A really cool feature of the main frame is that at different areas there are hidden soft jungle animals to play peek a boo with, which our kids love!
Overall although this DJs is smaller, I really enjoy visiting here on days when the kids need to run off some steam, but don’t necessarily need me to lumber round the softplay frame with them! I really like that because of it’s size, it doesn’t feel overwhelming and the girls don’t get lost if they’re adventuring around the main frame!
Prices
Prices start from £4 for an under 1, and £13 for 5-7 year olds peak times which are weekends, school holidays and bank holidays. Off peak offers a £1 discount and is Monday – Friday term time. (January 2025)
Food and drink
The cafe is reasonably priced and offers quite a large selection of hot and cold food for both adults and kids, including sandwiches, nachos and a large pizza for £8 that fed us all! There are also after-school meal deals which are reasonable and include child entry to soft play, which is decent.
SEN
Djs St Albans do an exclusive SEN session every 1st Sunday of the month from 3.30pm- 6pm.
Another pro to this soft play is that parking is free and the car park is just outside which is great for tired legs!
