Peek-a-Brew play café opened in Seaton Carew, Hartlepool

Rebecca Elsdon, 35, and Laura Shaw, 34, both from Hartlepool, are the co-owners of Peek-a-Brew at Seaton Reach in Seaton Carew.

The pair, who previously worked in primary education, wanted to channel their experience into something that would support children’s development while also building a strong community for parents.

Laura Shaw, 34, and Rebecca Elsdon, 35 (Image: PEEK A BREW)

Rebecca already runs Nurture Nest, a developmental class business for newborns through to toddlers, the new venture now gives the classes a permanent home.

Peek a Brew opened on Saturday February 14 to a sell out day (Image: PEEK A BREW)

Rebecca said: “We wanted to open a play café to have a community for parents who attend our classes as well as a space to run Nurture Nest.

“It is a space for parents to meet up socially as well as a great place to take their children outside of the classes providing that space for a nice coffee and a nice environment as well as a place to build that support network.

“The play café has a sensory room where the classes will run from as well as the café offering good food and specialist drinks.

“It is really exciting but also emotional seeing how much the people in the town and outside as well believe in it and us, its gave us a real sense of community and its nice to see everyone is behind us.

“We also started doing adult events with Nurture Nest and used to go to different local businesses so it is great that we now have this same space and our own space for them now as the mums always appreciate the get together where all they have to do is show up instead of them having to plan it all and they can meet other mums without their children and also do something fun.”

They have a sensory room to run the Nurture Nest classes out of (Image: PEEK A BREW)

The friends were initially set to open on Saturday, February 6 but had problems with their soft play so were delayed a bit but on Saturday, February 14 they managed to open to a sell out.

Peek a Brew is a brand new play cafe in Seaton Carew (Image: PEEK A BREW)

Rebecca added: “We just want everyone to see how much thought we have put into this we have tried to think of every aspect of the full space. It is so family friendly, every part has been thoroughly thought through.

“All the bathrooms are family-friendly and large in size so there are children sized toilets and sinks alongside the adult ones to help make parents lives easier when they are here.

“We describe the menu as boujee and want the whole experience to be a treat for the grown ups to want to come to as well. It’s not a cold place with machine coffee everything has heart in it and a treat like somewhere the parents want to be as well as the children.”

Peek-a-Brew describes itself as a modern, high-quality play café designed with families in mind, offering a safe space for children to play while parents relax with freshly prepared food and drink available to eat in or take away.

Inside Peek a Brew (Image: PEEK A BREW)

Inside Peek a Brew (Image: PEEK A BREW)

Inside Peek a Brew (Image: PEEK A BREW)

Peek a Brew offers specialist drinks so the adults can get a treat too (Image: PEEK A BREW)

The venue is aimed at babies, toddlers and pre-school children, generally up to around five years old.

Alongside regular play sessions, it will host themed events and seasonal celebrations.

The café is open seven days a week from 9.30am to 3pm, Monday to Sunday. You can book on their website.