Yesterday, Birch and I spent the day at The Moxie Spot. It isn’t new anymore, it opened this fall, but I have waited to write about it until I had tried it out a few times. I have been there three times and can offer my honest opinion.

Our family has gone only on Saturday and Sunday mornings and all three times it has been very quiet. You enter through the front door which is Wonka-like with three sized openings: one of adults, one for children and one for tiny tiny chickens or teacup dogs.  (SEE PHOTO) The kids get a complete kick out of it. Upon entering, you encounter a series of handles, knobs, cranks and slots- your first clue that this was a former hardware store. The kids love all the hardware and pipes that they can twist and feel.  The rest of the decor is equally unusual: maps, globes, trunks, exotic prints, animal images and flat screens with BBC’s "Blue Planet" and old Bugs Bunny cartoons playing. Everything about this place harkens back to times where exploration was full of wonder and travel was an adventure, not an annoyance. It is equally fun for adults and children to examine the pictures and foreign objects. 

You order your food downstairs at a cafeteria-type area that I’m not crazy about. It is in discordance with the considered downstairs decor.  However, the breakfast fare is fine: I have ordered both oatmeal, pancakes and eggs and have been satisfied with it all.  They give you a number and you walk upstairs to even more seating. Upstairs is the best.

It is warm with yellow painted walls, wooden floors and colorful lamps suspended from the ceiling. There is a separate activity room in the back that has a nice-sized table with paper, crayons and markers.  There are dollhouses, trunks full of paper bricks and tubs of sea animals, trucks and legos. It is all neatly kept and organized. Upstairs the adults can eat and keep an eye on their children playing. It makes for one of the most restful eating experiences I have had with children and other families. Part of it is due to the fact that the environment is calm and the children don’t seem to grab each other’s toys since there are so many available. Most of it is due to the helpers who are stationed in the activity room. They play with your child, help them turn on the computers and find appropriate material for them, locate books of interest for your child and just be a sitter for a bit. Yesterday the owner, Nate, spent a lot of time playing with me and Birch. It was nice to have a foil to play with and he was genuinely interested in helping the kids find the right toys to furnish their imagination.

While I was there a family of four came in: the parents read their enormous books while their kids played foozball, another group of six let their kids play with Nate and enjoyed an adult conversation for over 45 minutes! (Glorious!) Birch and I hung out there for a few hours. I left a big tip as they don’t charge for your play time and honestly, it is completely worth it.

It is all well done. I’m just not sure why the Moxie Spot isn’t more occupied….it has  a right to be. The Moxie Spot has storytimes three times a week: Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. Check our Google calendar for details and times. They also offer Kids Yoga, Downtown Babies (music), Kids Music Underground with John Carlin, and Summer Camp that starts this week. They also rent out for private parties (for kids and adults!)

The Moxie Spot: 81-83 Atlantic Ave  at Hicks Street   Brooklyn, NY 11201   Phone: (718) 923-9710    2, 3; 4, 5; M; R at Borough Hall

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