Hero Day

Damion, from as early as I can remember, loved all activities that fed his proprioceptive needs. Our days in the play project program showed us that he did best with engaging when the games involved chasing him, spinning him around, or just the general “rough play” type scenarios. It didn’t take us long to find a place semi local to us that had a variety of bounce houses to run and jump and play on. This place was called Jumpy’s Fun Zone and was a family favorite of ours for many years. Unfortunately, it went out of business a few years back, definitely a disappointment for my kids and really our family as a whole as we didn’t have any similar locations nearby for those types of high energy activities that our kids (especially Damion) thrive on. Until now that is.

The Piqua Center (previously known as the Miami Valley Mall) recently opened a Hero Day franchise in the location of the old movie theater. No surprise that we were within the first two weeks of them opening to check it out ourselves. There are other Hero Day franchise locations in Ohio (Lima and Findlay), but this was our first time visiting a Hero Day location ourselves. So, we were happy to get a firsthand look at what all they had to offer.

Walking up it definitely looked impressive, and we could see the instant excitement on all our kids’ faces. Like nearly all other places like this, we were required to complete online waivers for ourselves and each of the kids before we were able to partake in any of the activities. We were able to get through this pretty quickly and for those worried that their kids will have trouble waiting for this part, you are able to go to their website and complete the waivers before you arrive.

Once those were complete, we were able to purchase our jump passes. Adults have the option to not purchase passes if they plan to just watch as their kids explore the courses, but Adam and I wanted in on the fun too. Plus, we weren’t sure how easy it would be to help keep track, manage, or help our kids, when need be, from ground level. They do have a few workers throughout the space, but they seem to be there for just gentle reminders of using the obstacle correctly and safely.

The place was a big hit for all of us. They had a couple of ninja courses where you could time yourself going through space. A big “pit like” obstacle that you could fall into. Some areas to climb, areas to slide, a ball pit, and a small zipline. Some of their obstacles were pretty big but that didn’t stop any of our kids from diving right in. There is also a basketball area built over this soft foam ground and a blowup “dodgeball” type area with a target and scoring for each team. The only area we didn’t try was the small blowup that was made for toddlers as all of my kids are out of that stage now. Everything was clean, everything was new, and everything was a ton of fun.

Prices seemed reasonable to us and if you buy a 10 pack of 60-minute passes or a two-hour pass instead of a one hour, then the price is a touch more economical. Although I have to say that one hour was plenty of time for us to enjoy the whole place. They do require you to wear their “hero day” socks with the grippers on the bottom, but they give them to you for free, so yay free socks too. They give you a sticker to wear on your shirt with the end of your jump time, so you don’t have to question or forget when your time is up.

This place earned ten thumbs up from our family of 5. We may even be tempted to go check out some of the other Hero Day franchises a bit farther from us as it looks like each one may have a few different things to offer. But for now, we will just be happy to have a place close by again where we can take our crew to get all their energy out and some of that proprioceptive input that they seek.