Recently at Great Wolf Lodge in Niagara Falls, ON, I spotted three pre-teens puzzling over what to order… off the spa menu. Longstanding age restrictions on who could enter these temples of Zen have been lifted—in favour of customers in training bras. Move over, ladies, the kids’ spa trend has begun.
At Great Wolf’s Scooops Kid Spa (separated from the big-girls Aveda spa courtesy of soundproof glass), the under-12 set hops up on a sundae-shaped bench and orders from nail treatments, facials and makeup applications named after sweet treats (the Coconut Cream Pie Pedicure or Manicure is “For the kids who dare to be different and are adventurous.”)
Across the country in Victoria, BC, Heidi Sherwood of Sapphire Day Spa says kids as young as four are turning up (with their parents) and having massages and esthetic treatments of their own.
“They see mom having a treatment and they want one, too,” says Sherwood, who adds that the benefits of the Ayurvedic spa aren’t limited to adults. “We don’t look at what we’re doing as an effort to pamper someone; it’s about restoring balance.”
Others seem to agree that there’s room for kids in the spa zone. In Quebec, Spa Cheribourg has the “Bursting Cataplasm of Gum” (60 minutes)—a bubble gum-scented body mask for girls and boys. Zonespa offers a pirate-themed Jack Sparrow Package (120 minutes plus lunch) aimed at little boys. (There’s also a Fairy Tale Package for the girls.)
Kids’ treatments don’t come cheap, though; expect to pay anywhere from $30 to $105. Which means if the trend continues, parents can expect a spike in allowance raise demands.
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