Servette Ludotheque

Tuesday morning is Ludotheque de la Servette morning. Between 9.30 and 11.30 a strange little place near our flat opens its doors to children under 5 and their parents. Inside are lots of toys and activities for kids. We just turn up in the buggy, walk through the door and I release the girls to do whatever they want.
Most exciting for both of them is a kitchen located on a mezzanine in the middle of the play area. The little one mostly likes climbing the stairs, and the big one likes ironing, preparing dinner for the dollies and doing the dishes. There is another kitchen at ground level, but this area seems not to be as popular with the kids, clearly the stairs  are a key draw for all children.
The place is open on Tuesdays and Wednesdays in the morning and afternoon with a long lunch break, and also on Thursday afternoons. All sessions except the Tuesday morning session are open to children of primary school age, all of whom must be accompanied by an adult. For older children there is a pool table, a few different games consoles, a Nintendo I think, and lots and lots of board games.
I only use the Ludo on a Tuesday morning, when I get an hour to an hour and a half's worth of play time for my girls without me having to really think hard about what to do with them. The kids simply wander around the space until they find something that interests them and then they get on with it. In the other sessions I would worry my girls would be too small, and anyway busy afternoon activities in the Ludo would wipe them out completely.
It's possible to become a member of the Ludo for 30CHF a year, which means you can rent toys and games to take home, but beyond that I'm not sure of the benefits.  The whole place seems fairly relaxed, there aren't many staff on hand, though there is hot water and instant coffee for the parents. Clearly the money has gone into finding a building and toys to put in it, which is a pleasant reassurance of competence on the part of the council that I think helps to fund the place.  There is a national association of Swiss ludotheques, which translates ludotheque as a toy library: according to to the website, a place which exists to teach people how to play. A brilliant and ambitious aim, which I hope I support simply by turning up to get a hour or so of ease.