Doodah in Croydon Is Adelaide’s Best New Creative Play Studio for Kids
Updated September 2026
My daughter is almost four and she has strong opinions about places. She will sit down on the footpath outside a play centre and refuse to go in if she doesn’t like the look of it. She has walked out of soft-play centres before the parking meter has expired. So when she spent one hour and thirty minutes at a new creative play studio in Croydon, painting a giant wall, pouring rice through her fingers for a solid twelve minutes, threading beads onto a necklace, making a caterpillar out of an egg carton, and then asked when we were coming back, I paid attention.
Doodah is a new creative play studio on Elizabeth Street in Croydon, in Adelaide’s inner west. It opened this year, it is run by a mother-and-daughter team called Maria and Rita, and it is the best thing I have booked for my kid all year. If you have a toddler or a small child in Adelaide, book a session for this weekend and see for yourself. This is why.
What’s inside the studio
Doodah is designed as a stay-and-play space where children move between six or seven permanent creative stations at their own pace. The big ones stay set up every session, so returning kids know exactly where to head first, and new kids can walk in and pick.
The giant easel wall runs almost the length of the studio. Kids can paint standing up, using brushes and their hands. My daughter went straight to it and did not stop for twenty minutes. The sensory table is the other permanent feature. A long, low bin filled with colourful rice, cups, funnels and scoops. It is huge, it is always there, and it is where every kid I watched ended up at some point. There is a playdough table with rollers and cutters, a craft table stocked with paper, glue, buttons, cardboard and scissors for kids to make something and take it home, and Rita’s Kitchen, a pretend food and cooking corner named after Maria’s mum.
Every station has been thought through for how small hands work. Everything sits at kid height. Maria breezes around helping kids with activities, and by the end of the session she knows every child by name and is handing out high fives and stickers. The whole space assumes children are capable of choosing what they want to do, and then treats them accordingly.
What my daughter made in 90 minutes
In no particular order, before we left with rice in her pockets and a beaded necklace around her neck:
Painted three potato prints, with the potatoes cut into stars and hearts.
Made a laminated smiley face at the making table.
Threaded a beaded necklace, deep in concentration, tongue out.
Turned an egg carton into a caterpillar with googly eyes.
Painted her palm blue for no apparent reason.
Poured rice from cup to bowl to cup like it was her full-time job.
Sat with a lump of playdough and said, without prompting, “this is the best day.”
Everything she made came home with her. That’s the deal at Doodah. The paintings, the necklaces, the caterpillars, the smiley face, all yours to keep. Every station is designed around that idea, which means kids leave with a bag of tangible things they made themselves, and parents leave with a fridge worth of proof.
Small things that make a big difference
The things you don’t realise you needed until you find them. Doodah gives every child a denim smock when they arrive, a little jacket that keeps paint off their clothes and looks so cute your kid will not want to take it off. There is a toilet on site, which matters more than it should when you have a newly toilet-trained three-year-old and no time for a public dash across the road. Water bottles are welcome. Grown-ups can bring a coffee from one of the cafes on the strip as long as it has a lid. Babies under 12 months come along free with a paying sibling. Sessions run 90 minutes, which is exactly the sweet spot before a small brain melts down.
Every one of those details tells you the same thing. Doodah has been built by people who have spent time with small children and know what parents need. Not many kids’ venues in Adelaide can say that with a straight face.
The love is in every single crevice
Rita, Maria’s mum, spent a career in visual merchandising, and every prop inside Doodah has been made, collected, painted, stitched or reimagined by hand. Some pieces came from Adelaide op shops. Others were ideas that had been sitting in a notebook for years, waiting for a room to belong in. When you walk through Doodah you notice the character illustrations on the walls, the painted signs, the little rope-and-clothes-peg gallery for finished artwork, the corner where the rice bin sits like a treasure chest, the way the light hits the giant easel in the morning.
If I could hire Maria and Rita to come and design a play room in my own house, I would. Every other parent in the room that morning would have done the same. The place is not intimidating. It is calm, fun, thoughtfully made, and clearly on its way to becoming a small community. You feel the love and thought in every crevice.
Who runs Doodah
Maria Apostolou is the owner. She spent ten years working in a school as a graphic designer before opening Doodah, which is exactly the combination that makes the studio work. She has watched thousands of kids interact with thousands of activities, and she has kept the ones that work. She knows how to arrange a table so a two-year-old can reach it. She walks the room during every session, quietly proposing an activity to a child who’s hovering, refilling paints, and staying out of the way of families who want to be left to it.
Rita, her mum, is the reason the space looks the way it does. Visual merchandising background, decades of experience, endless capacity for craft. Maria and Rita are Greek-Australian, which anyone who has ever walked into a Greek grandmother’s house will notice the moment they step in. There is a way Greek women decorate a room that says come in, sit down, we made this for you. Doodah has that. It is the kind of place that gets under your skin.
Where to find Doodah
Doodah is on Elizabeth Street in Croydon, which is also known locally as the Queen Street area. You come in through a colourful mural gate. Croydon train station and Croydon Train Park are both walking distance, which makes the whole visit doable without a car if you’re nearby. Street parking is available on Day Terrace, Elizabeth Street, Robert Street and Thomas Street.
The location matters for what it puts you next to. Croydon and its Queen Street strip sit inside Adelaide’s coffee-and-bakery belt. Findon is 10 minutes down the road, where The Greek Warehouse just opened. Woodville, Kilkenny and Fulham Gardens are all within a 15-minute radius. You can absolutely design a whole morning around a Doodah session.
The perfect Doodah morning
What I did, and what I’d do again in a heartbeat.
Book the 9.30am session through doodahplay.com.au. Weekend mornings fill up. Book at least a week ahead. Tuesday to Friday there’s also an 11.30am to 1pm session if morning isn’t your window.
Arrive at 9.20am. Bring a change of clothes for your kid. Rice will get everywhere. The denim smock helps but does not perform miracles.
Do the session until 11am. Sit and chat with other parents, or get on the floor with your kid. Both work.
Walk 90 seconds up the strip to a Queen Street cafe. Order a coffee, order the kid a babycino, take a breath.
Walk to Croydon Train Park a short stroll away to run out the last of the morning zoomies before the nap window closes.
Go home for a sleep, knowing you’ve done the parenting equivalent of a full day’s work by 12pm.
Total spend around $40 for the session and cafe, one hour of playground included, and a bag full of art on the way home.
Cycladic Spaces tip
Take a photo of every one of your kid’s creations at the end of the session before they get squashed in the car. The process is the point. The photo is what you want on the fridge. My daughter doesn’t remember what she painted, but I have three photos and one egg-carton caterpillar on my desk that I’ll keep forever.
Sessions, ages and pricing
Cost: $30 per child per 90-minute session. Discounts apply for two or more children in one booking.
Ages: Designed for ages 1 to 10, though every child is welcome. Babies under 12 months come along free when joining a paying sibling.
Weekday sessions: Tuesday to Friday, 9.30am to 11am and 11.30am to 1pm. Younger kids tend to dominate weekday mornings.
Weekend sessions: Saturday and Sunday, 9.30am to 11am. Weekend afternoons are held for parties (1pm to 3pm).
Format: Stay-and-play. At least one grown-up stays with each booking. The studio is cosy, so one or two adults per family works best.
Doodah birthday parties
If you’re running a birthday and you don’t want to spend it in a soft-play warehouse, Doodah does private parties on weekend afternoons (1pm to 3pm) with exclusive use of the studio. The party price is $850 for up to 10 children including the birthday child, with extra kids at $65 each up to a maximum of 15. That includes a party crown for each child to decorate, a cardboard mosaic picture and a pasta-bead necklace to take home, Doodah styling and a birthday number prop for photos, a tablescape with cloth and napkins, two slices of cheese pizza per child, a vanilla Smartie cookie, a babycino and water or cordial. Doodah is also nut-aware. Bookings are by email to party@doodahplay.com.au.
What’s coming next
Two things worth putting in your calendar. The Doodah Post is a monthly mail club for kids, so every month a small piece of the Doodah world lands in your kid’s letterbox. The Moonlight Atelier is a series of evening workshops for women who want to make, chat and try something new, run in the same studio after hours. Sign up on the Doodah explore page to be told when both launch.
Practical details
Where: Elizabeth Street (Queen Street area), Croydon SA 5008. Enter through the colourful mural gate.
Public transport: Croydon train station is a short walk. Croydon Train Park is next door.
Parking: Day Terrace, Elizabeth Street, Robert Street, Thomas Street.
Cost: $30 per child, 90-minute session. Discounts for siblings. Babies under 12 months free with paying sibling.
Ages: Designed for 1 to 10.
Smocks: Provided. Cute little denim ones.
Toilet on site: Yes.
Food: Not inside the studio. Water bottles and lidded coffees welcome.
Parties:party@doodahplay.com.au
General enquiries:hello@doodahplay.com.au
Follow:@doodahplay on Instagram
Common questions from Adelaide parents
What is Doodah?
Doodah is a creative play studio for children aged 1 to 10, on Elizabeth Street in Croydon, Adelaide. It offers 90-minute booked sessions with painting, sensory play, playdough, making and pretend play. Grown-ups stay and play with their kids throughout.
How much does Doodah cost?
$30 per child for a 90-minute session, with discounts for booking two or more children. Babies under 12 months are free when joining a paying sibling.
What ages is Doodah for?
The studio is designed mainly for ages 1 to 10, with activities that scale up. Toddlers gravitate to the sensory rice bin and the giant paint wall. Older kids get into the craft table and Rita’s Kitchen.
Is Doodah drop-off?
No. It’s a stay-and-play studio, so at least one grown-up stays for the whole session. Sit and chat, or get on the floor and play alongside.
Do I need to book in advance?
Yes. Weekend sessions fill up fast. Book at least a week ahead through doodahplay.com.au.
Who runs Doodah?
Maria Apostolou (owner, graphic designer with ten years working in a school) and her mother Rita, whose visual merchandising background is behind every handmade prop in the studio. Mother-and-daughter Greek-Australian team.
Are birthday parties available?
Yes. Weekend afternoons (1pm to 3pm), $850 for up to 10 children including the birthday child, extras at $65 each. Includes food, styling and take-home crafts. Book by email at party@doodahplay.com.au.
Is Doodah messy?
Yes, deliberately. Paint, rice, playdough, glue and fizz all feature. Dress your kid in something you don’t mind, and use the denim smock provided.
Is there a toilet on site?
Yes, in the studio.
Can we take home what we made?
Yes. Everything a child makes at Doodah is theirs to take home.
Is Doodah accessible?
The studio is on one level with one small step at the entrance. For detailed access information, check the Doodah accessibility page or email ahead.
What’s the closest public transport to Doodah?
Croydon train station and Croydon Train Park are both a short walk away, which makes a train visit doable.
Where to read next
The Greek Warehouse opens in Findon, another Adelaide inner-west family business worth knowing.
Adelaide, our full feed of news, openings and events from around town.
Travel to Greece from Australia 2027, for when the little one is old enough for the flight.
