At the end of December, several weeks of hard work for Bianca Sisillo-DeFries finally paid off.
She and her husband, Robert DeFries (who also owns Missouri-based commercial electrical and remodeling company Three Co) spent weeks on their new project in Merriam.
Their “hands were all over” the design process, she said, as crews gutted and transformed a former T-Mobile store into Defries’s cafe and play space’s newest location.
On Friday, the Merriam space was teeming with children and their caregivers grabbing a bite to eat and enjoying the space’s play equipment.
The space comes as the second for Inspired Play Cafe, an indoor playground and eatery that got its start in southern Overland Park.
Inspired Play Cafe moved into 5640 Antioch Road
- The play cafe concept now occupies a space at the Merriam Town Center shopping center, just off Johnson Drive and Antioch Road.
- There, it operates near the Lakeshore school supply store and ice cream shop Betty Rae’s.
- Inspired Play Cafe is open from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday and Tuesday, 8:30 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. Wednesday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Saturday, and 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Sunday.
Inspired Play Cafe offers nutritious eats and education-inspired play
On the cafe side, the Merriam menu mirrors that of the Overland Park location.
Customers can find items like breakfast burritos, buffalo chicken wraps, house salads and yogurt parfaits. The cafe also offers a coffee bar with drinks like cappuccinos, cortados, seasonal lattes and smoothies.
Beyond the cafe seating, a large entertainment space features various toys for kids and their caregivers to play with. The Merriam location also has the same weekly classes as the Overland Park location and is available for private events.
Before opening Inspired Play, Sisillo-DeFries worked as a behavioral technician — primarily with military families — for seven years. During that time, she often used toys to help teach and motivate the children with whom she worked.
She said that knowledge, combined with her studies in Montessori and educational play, came in handy during the first years of her own son’s life. It influenced his earliest learning at home, and later on, Sisillo-DeFries’ education also influenced the toys with which she stocked the cubbies at Inspired Play.
Later this year, Sisillo-DeFries said she plans to make some upgrades at the original Overland Park space that have been inspired by the design of the new Merriam location.
“My background heavily influences my ability to design the play space and know what to put inside,” she said. “Being able to take my knowledge from the past three years and apply it to this was so amazing — (especially) watching the buildout happen and being so hands on.”
They wanted a ‘central location’ for expansion
When it came to expansion, Sisillo-DeFries said she chose Merriam for its centrality.
Just off I-35, the new location helps some of the cafe’s customers who liver further away in Missouri to shorten their drive, she said, and it also opens the concept up to a whole new community.
“It’s such a central location, it’s amazing,” she said. “You’ve got all these cities that are about 20 minutes from this location, and that’s really exciting — being in a new community and getting to meet so many new people.”
A mother herself, she said, being able to provide a space for mothers and other caregivers is exciting for her.
With another baby of her own on the way in the next few weeks, Sisillo-DeFries will go on maternity leave soon — but she said she’s looking forward to watching her staff take care of the space.
“We’re really excited about the staff here who are driven to support our purpose,” she said. “Everyone who works here has a heart for the mission and for the community.”
While Inspired Play Cafe does cater to children and families, Sisillo-DeFries said it has become much more than that.
In fact, some people use the space for meetings — or in some cases, some practitioners and child therapists sometimes meet clients at Inspired Play for a change of scenery.
Others stop by just to grab a coffee and catch up with friends.
All of that fits into the Inspired Play mission as well. After all, Sisillo-Fries said, the adults who take care of children need to be cared for, too.
“Mental health really is such a big thing, especially for parents with young kids,” she said. “The ultimate goal is to really provide a space that caters to everyone.”
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