IDEA Lab – Memorial

We had my daughter’s 5^th birthday party here and it was a great experience! I was allowed to bring in my own decorations (or they have some that you can use if you want to keep it easy) and the staff was really helpful with the set up and take down. I also brought my own food and they did a great job getting everything passed out. The staff was WONDERFUL with the kids, and all of the activities they did were a lot of fun. The children had a great time and even learned some new things! Several parents at the party made a point to tell me how impressed they were with Idea Lab, and my daughter is already looking forward to having her next birthday party there!

My son had an awesome time for his 6^th birthday. We chose the science theme and the package included 4 experiments, 2 hours for the room, and help setting up/​take down from staff. The kids were able to keep their hand made lava lamp and slim. This vendor allowed outside food and a play room for kids during setup. Entire package price was about $ 389. Downside — instructor could have been more enthused and knowledgeable about the ingredients and reaction. I suggest not using orange food coloring for the lava lamp experiment bc at the end the oil looked like a darker oil color. Use another color besides orange for this experiment. They had only two food coloring to choose from? One or two of the experiment didn’t turned out right bc there was either more or less of the reactive ingredient needed. Other than that we had a great time!

Even though the counsellors are great and they have a good after school program, how they run the company is very, very poor. My child attended for only one year but there were issues from the start. For example, they didn’t even have her enrolled. When I went in on the first day of school to double check on the status, they didn’t even have a record of her, which meant that she would’ve been left at school with no pickup.
There were several issues of lost payments and they would send me notices of nonpayment when I had in fact, paid on time.
Then there was the issue of the Taekwondo moving away from right next door and the manner in which they handled this was so poor. Many of the moms were upset with the excuses the owner made.
Then this was the straw that broke the camel’s back. They take too long to respond. I’ve been waiting for a response from them for over two months. I had called more than 5 times and even went to the location to talk to a a manager or the owner. They don’t value relationships with their clients at all. I was planning on re-​enrolling my child and second child but that won’t be happening AT ALL. Be warned. Too much headache dealing with the issues.

I just wrapped up my daughter’s fourth birthday party and I have to say I was very impressed with Idea Lab-​Memorial. I went with the Art Party and the kids had a great time. They did tie-​dyed socks outside, a pendulum paint project, and a shaving cream/​paint/​marbeling project. I had mostly 3 – 5 year olds and they helped me choose projects that were age appropriate.
The counselors that ran the projects were all pretty helpful but some of them came off as abrasive and cold towards the kids which, obviously, I didn’t appreciate. However, there was one staff person who ran the pendulum room that was AMAZING with the kids. She had the patience of a saint and explained the physics of the pendulum along with all of the artsy stuff they were doing very well.
We had booked the space for over 14 guests so we wound up paying extra for that. It was very VERY expensive to host a party here (it came out to about $ 415 which included the $ 100 deposit), but if you’re looking for a creative alternative to the run of the mill birthday party, this works really well.

My son is attends Idea Lab after school at Field Elementary and we love it! The staff is very nice and has great control of the kids. They are always doing new and amazing things.
We also had a Jedi Training birthday party and had a great time! Everyone went away with homemade light sabers and Jabba slime. Lots of fun was had by all!

Wanted to try something different for our son’s 8-​year old birthday party and heard about IdeaLab. Planned for a Minecraft-​themed party. It was great. The two guys who ran the party and interacted with the kids were great and hardworking– helped everyone with Minecraft and led through some other activities — made «creeper» slime in the science room and formed teams to knock down «creepers» in the gym. The staff made it easy and enjoyable.

Our kid first attended summer camp at the Idea Lab on I-​10/​Wirt over this last summer. The camps were well done and a ton of fun. Because of the positive experience, we decided to do the after school option this semester as well. Because of our unique needs, the management team was great to work with and allowed the flexibility that our family needed. In addition to having options of which «classes» to attend at the end of the school day, the music lessons that are given are offered by a true professional musician who is great with kids. Having previously experienced both bad music teachers and bad after school care, Idea Lab has been a true game changer for our family. The staff is friendly, Adam (manager) is attentive and helpful, and the facilities offer a ton of options for activities. I would highly recommend this facility for keeping those kids busy after school, as well as providing them with great technology classes (3D printing, Minecraft courses, flight simulators, programming classes, etc) to further their knowledge. The science and cooking classes are just a little icing on the cake. Idea Lab has set itself apart by offering educational after school care, instead of being a glorified babysitting service that so many other facilities are.

My children attended several classes over summer with mixed success. However, the classes were scheduled to occur at the Energy Center location, but were moved at the last minute to their memorial location which did not work for us. My VISA was charged on July 2, 2014 and it is now September 17^th. I still have not recieved the $ 635 refund that I was promised. I have contacted Idea Lab four times concerning my promised refund with no success.

This was my first — and LAST — experience with The Idea Lab. We attended one of their «not-​so-​good» summer camps. The camp instructor had insufficient knowledge of the subject matter and poor communication skills with parents, the facilities were «less-​than-​pleasing» and the camp description/​expectations were not clearly communicated. My child has no interest in going back. When I reached out to the company’s owner with feedback, she did very little to try and make the situation better. Save your money!

My twins went to the Thanksgiving camp yesterday and loved it. They played in the gym, had computer time, and did arts and crafts. They brought home flowers in pots that they had painted themselves. I am very pleased that I now have another option when I need to get a lot done and the kids are on vacation from school. Idea lab did a great job of keeping my kids busy and having fun. We will be back for camp again. Thanks for saving the twins from a day of being dragged around on a ton if errands!

This experience was really not a good one at all. My daughter attended 2 camps. She was supposed to attend more but because of low-​enrollment, a few were cancelled. (Not the camp’s fault, I know.) She attended a movie-​making camp and a music video camp. To this day, we’ve never received the DVD of the music video (one year later) after asking probably 10 times. We finally gave up. Communication via email was almost impossible to get a reply and we were always getting a voicemail for phone communication.
Her days were «okay» as she stated. She didn’t seem excited to go and really just wanted to be home. That can’t be a good sign. I think had there been some semblance of organization on their part, we would have been happier.
Pros: Good security for a daycare/​summer camp center. Good sign in/​out policy and always had someone at the front desk. Hours were good.
Cons: Never received what we were told she’s receive. (DVD of the children’s week-​long hard work and excitement! Down the drain!) Communication with them via email and phone is difficult. Seem very disorganized and kept blaming the fact that they had «so many camps» that it was hard to stay in touch.
I would think long and hard before giving money to this company for what I consider is mediocre child care.

First question asked to me when I checked into this place was, «Did you purchase the Unilocal deal?» I was not there for their normal services, which includes kid tutoring and afterschool programs. I was there because my wife wanted something fun and different for my daughter to do on her 8^th birthday. You cannot use the Unilocal deal on a birthday party package, so my answer is a resounding, «I would have, if I could have!»
I must start off by stating that the staff is really nice and they genuinely seem to enjoy children. My daughter was having a fairy party, and her and her female friends enjoyed themselves being girly. I must point out that they started off shooting hoops, so no true gender bias here! There were multiple rooms with multiple themes, which included a music room with guitars and keyboards. You know anytime children have a chance to make noise in a place that you bring them to have fun, they will not spare those decibels!
The children were treated to dressing as a fairy, designing and building a home that would be in an enchanted forest, if such a thing existed. That included glitter and moss to make sure the house was pretty! The girls also dipped their hands in salts to soften their skin so when they put on makeup and polish their fingers, they were feeling pretty and pampered.
All in all, it was a great time had by the girls, and the facilities are decent. The staff ensured each female left happy, so I could not ask for more from them. Professional, friendly staff mixed with multiple activities for your child leads to good memories.
Consider them the next time you have a birthday party to throw. Also look in them for the multiple scholastic enhancement programs designed to get your kid growing in multiple areas of life.