New partnership with children’s entertainment chain 360 Play strengthens The Good Play Guide’s growing portfolio of trusted play and leisure venues
The Good Play Guide, led by play expert Dr Amanda Gummer, has announced the expansion of its Good Play Zones (GPZ) network through a new partnership with the children’s entertainment chain 360 Play.
The Good Play Zone initiative is a growing portfolio of trusted play and leisure venues across the UK designed to support evidence-based play, research, and real-world product testing. The addition of seven 360 Play venues – welcoming more than one million visitors annually – significantly increases the Good Play Guide’s capacity to review toys, conduct play research, and support children’s brands navigating today’s competitive and fast-moving market. It also strengthens 360 Play’s position as an evidence-led voice within the indoor play and early years leisure sector.
Dr Amanda Gummer said: “Parents and early years professionals are increasingly looking beyond ‘fun’ to understand whether toys, games and play experiences genuinely support children’s development. Good Play Zones allow us to demonstrate what good play looks like in practice – while giving brands access to richer insight and more authentic engagement with families.”
Good Play Zones are venues that meet The Good Play Guide’s standards for high-quality, developmentally appropriate play. They operate as live hubs for toy and game testing in real-world play environments, play-based research and insight generation, content creation and expert commentary, parent and caregiver engagement and education, and brand showcases and pilot activations.
Unlike traditional testing environments, GPZ’s enable children to interact with products naturally, supporting richer observational insight and more meaningful evaluation for brands and early years stakeholders. The continued expansion of the Good Play Zone network creates new, scalable opportunities for clients of The Good Play Guide. Brands benefit from access to diverse family audiences across multiple UK locations, faster and more cost-effective toy testing beyond laboratory settings, and insight-led storytelling to support PR, marketing and retail conversations.
The network also provides opportunities to pilot products, play patterns and messaging ahead of launch, while generating stronger developmental evidence to support accreditation, retail readiness and licensing discussions.
