Want a fun Santa experience for your toddler but don’t want to deal with the hustle and bustle of the mall? Check out “Brunch with Santa” from Keiki & The Pineapple, a combination coffee shop/children’s play area located near Blaisdell Arena.
For the Christmas season, parents can get a reserved outside table for up to six people for $25 (not including food). The tables will have materials to write and decorate a letter to Santa, who will then come by to chat, take photos and collect the letter “to bring back to the North Pole,” said proprietor Tiffany Morrissey. “Instead of you having to go to Santa, he’ll come to you.”
It’s part of the relaxed atmosphere that Keiki & The Pineapple offers to families with toddlers. Morrissey, an Oahu native, got the idea for the “kid-friendly coffee shop” after her time as a stay-at-home mom in London and Singapore, when she found herself seeking “soft-play cafes” — establishments that offer grown-up beverages like coffee and espresso, games and activities for kids and light meals for all ages.
“When I came home, I was kind of shocked that there was nothing like it (here),” she said, “and I just knew there was a need to have something similar.”
She describes Keiki & The Pineapple as a place where a parent “can sit down and chat with a friend and look over and see your kid playing with another kid. You can keep your eye on them and still have a bit of ‘me time.’ ”
Regular restaurants often look down on dealing with young children, but “we don’t care,” she said. “We have kids that walk all over the place. Sometimes they end up in the kitchen. They’re not allowed there, but we don’t judge.”
Keiki & The Pineapple’s menu, developed by Morrissey’s cousin, a pastry chef in San Francisco, offers simple, tasty fare like tuna or ham and cheese on toast and plenty of fruit and cheese, but no greasy foods like burgers or fries. For kids’ appetites, she’s found that adding sprinkles to “just about anything” gets them to eat it.
There’s Wi-Fi for the adults to connect to the internet, but no video games to stupefy young minds. Instead, there are plenty of toys and puzzles, most of them donated by parents who “didn’t want to see them end up in the landfill,” said Morrissey. Sometimes she passes the toys on.
“We’ve done an event where you grab a cup of coffee and take a free toy home,” she said.
In addition to brunch with Santa, Keiki & The Pineapple’s “mini” family photo shoots have proven popular during the holidays. The facility has holiday- themed backdrops and various toys to draw smiles from toddlers. Cost is $60 for three portraits.
“Sometimes they use the photo for their Christmas photos,” Morrissey said.
Visit keikiandthepineapple.com for more information and to make reservations.
More holiday fun
Parents looking for other holiday family activities can check in with the Children’s Discovery Center in Kakaako. On Saturday, it is holding a Winter Art Workshop where kids can learn to make a beaded snowflake ornament and a winter scene, and make up a batch of snow out of dough. On Dec. 11, Santa’s Secret Workshop will be held.
The center is also offering some take-home projects: a gingerbread cookie decorating kit for two cookies (deadline to order is Dec. 6); a craft kit for making holiday gnomes and Playdoh Christmas trees; and a holiday literacy kit, featuring a bag containing four books and materials for two related crafts.
Visit discoverycenterhawaii.org/events to register for a workshop or order a craft kit.
