How to Make Money While Your Indoor Playground Is Closed: Holiday Marketing Strategies That Actually Work

Listen to this as a podcast episode (Episode 26 of the Profitable Play Podcast) instead!

If you're reading this around the Fourth of July, chances are you're either preparing to close your business for the holiday or you've already made that decision. Here in Western New York, the Fourth of July just isn't an indoor play holiday. Even if the weather isn't perfect, families are spending the day at parades, backyard barbecues, lakes, beaches, and fireworks. Trying to convince them to celebrate indoors usually isn't worth the effort. 

Of course, every market is different. Maybe your busiest holiday isn't the Fourth of July. Maybe your biggest closures happen because of snowstorms, hurricanes, renovations, maintenance, or an unexpected issue with your facility.

Whatever the reason, every indoor playground owner eventually faces days when the doors are closed.

And when that happens, many owners immediately assume something that simply isn't true:

"We're closed today, so we're not making any money."

I want to challenge that mindset.

Just because families aren't walking through your doors doesn't mean your business can't continue generating revenue—or at the very least, creating momentum that leads to future revenue.

In fact, some of the smartest marketing campaigns you'll ever run can happen while your business is completely closed.

Now, before we dive in, I do want to make one thing very clear. I am not suggesting that every holiday needs to become a giant sales event. If you've built a healthy membership program and your recurring revenue is strong, sometimes the best thing you can do is unplug, spend time with your family, and enjoy the holiday.

But if you know you're heading into a slower season, you'd like a quick cash infusion, or you're simply looking for a productive way to use a closure, here are some of my favorite strategies.

Skip the Holiday Discount

Let's start with the biggest mistake I see businesses make every single holiday weekend.

Twenty percent off.

Twenty-five percent off.

Flash sale.

Limited-time discount.

Every retailer, restaurant, and local business seems to send the exact same email.

The problem?

Customers are numb to it.

Their inbox is flooded with discounts all weekend long, so yours becomes just another promotion competing for attention.

Even worse, when you repeatedly discount your core products or services, you slowly train your customers to wait.

If families know you offer twenty percent off birthday parties every holiday weekend, why would they ever book at full price?

Instead of encouraging immediate action, you've unintentionally taught them to delay their purchase.

This is one of the biggest reasons I almost never recommend running flat percentage discounts on birthday parties or admission packages.

If you've never listened to Episode 26 of the podcast, I'd highly recommend going back and doing that because I dive much deeper into this strategy there.

Instead of lowering your prices...

Increase your value.

Create a Bundle Instead

One of my favorite alternatives to discounting is creating a bundle.

The concept is simple.

Keep your price exactly the same.

Instead of reducing the cost, add additional value that makes your offer feel exclusive.

For example, instead of advertising:

Birthday Parties – 20% Off This Weekend

You could create a Holiday Birthday Bundle that includes:

• Your standard birthday party package
• A return play pass for the birthday child
• Two café drinks
• A birthday T-shirt
• A small retail item
• Priority booking for their next event

The customer feels like they're receiving significantly more value, but you haven't devalued your core service.

Many of those extras cost your business very little while dramatically increasing the perceived value of the package.

That's exactly what you want.

People don't necessarily remember the exact dollar amount they paid.

They remember how exciting the offer felt.

They remember walking away thinking they got something special.

That's much better than simply being the cheapest option in town.

Holidays Are the Perfect Time to Spotlight Your Memberships

If you've listened to this podcast for any length of time, you already know how strongly I feel about memberships.

Recurring revenue changes everything.

It creates stability.

It improves cash flow.

It makes slower seasons much less stressful.

And eventually, it gives you the freedom to stop relying on today's admissions to pay tomorrow's bills.

That's why holidays are one of my favorite opportunities to put your membership program front and center.

One strategy I absolutely love is running a founding member promotion.

Now, I know what some of you are thinking.

"But Michele...I've been open for two years."

Or maybe five.

Or even ten.

That's okay.

A founding member launch doesn't have to be limited to your grand opening.

You can absolutely create a founding-style promotion after you've been open if you're introducing new membership perks, making meaningful improvements, or simply taking the time to properly market a membership program that hasn't received much attention before.

The key isn't whether you're technically a new business.

The key is giving customers a compelling reason to join during a limited window.

One of the easiest examples?

Allow families to lock in today's membership price for life—or at least for as long as they remain active members.

That's incredibly valuable.

Instead of worrying about future price increases, they know exactly what they'll pay month after month.

You're rewarding people for making a decision today without simply discounting your business.

Your Incentive Doesn't Have to Be About Price

When people hear "membership promotion," they often assume it has to revolve around a lower monthly rate.

It doesn't.

Some of the most successful membership incentives I've seen have very little to do with price.

Think about the things your members already love.

Could you offer:

• Ten free coffees during their first few visits?
• Priority registration for camps?
• Early access to special events?
• Exclusive member-only merchandise?
• Bring-a-friend passes?
• Café credits?
• A branded mug?

The possibilities are endless.

The goal is to create an offer that feels exciting enough for families to act now while still protecting your profit margins.

Remember, you're not trying to attract bargain hunters.

You're trying to attract families who genuinely see the value of becoming loyal customers.

Annual Memberships Can Create an Incredible Cash Infusion

If you already have a healthy group of monthly members, don't overlook one of the easiest opportunities sitting right in front of you.

Convert them to annual memberships.

Think about it.

These families have already made the decision to become members.

They've already experienced your business.

They've already decided you're worth visiting again and again.

They're much warmer leads than someone who's never walked through your doors.

So instead of focusing only on attracting brand-new members during a holiday promotion, think about the customers you've already won over.

Maybe your annual membership normally offers twelve months for the price of ten.

For one holiday weekend, you could sweeten that offer even more.

For example:

"Upgrade to an annual membership this weekend and, in addition to your existing annual savings, you'll also receive ten café drinks, five guest passes, and an exclusive members-only T-shirt."

Notice what you're doing.

You're rewarding commitment.

Not discounting your business.

And because annual memberships are paid upfront, they can provide a significant boost in cash flow that helps carry your business through slower months.

For many indoor playgrounds, that alone can make a holiday promotion worthwhile.

Don't Forget About Your Existing Members

Sometimes we're so focused on finding new customers that we forget our current customers can become our best marketing team.

If you don't already have a formal referral or affiliate program, don't let that stop you.

A holiday weekend is a great time to run a simple referral promotion.

Keep it easy.

Create a social media graphic your members can share.

Write the caption for them.

Tell them exactly what to say.

Then let them know:

"If someone joins our membership and mentions your name, we'll reward you."

That reward could be:

• Guest passes
• Café credit
• Merchandise
• Event tickets
• Birthday party upgrades
• Retail credit

Whatever makes sense for your business.

The easier you make it for people to share your membership program, the more likely they are to actually do it.

And because these recommendations are coming from real families instead of advertisements, they often carry far more credibility than anything you could post yourself.

Not Ready to Run a Sale? Turn the Holiday Into a Marketing Opportunity Instead. 

Let's say you just finished a membership promotion.

Or maybe you recently ran a birthday sale.

Or maybe your revenue is exactly where you want it to be, and you simply don't feel like discounting or selling anything right now.

That's completely okay.

Your holiday closure can still be incredibly productive.

Instead of focusing on immediate revenue, focus on creating marketing assets that will help you generate revenue later.

One of my favorite ways to do this is with a simple user-generated content (UGC) campaign.

If you've been listening to the podcast for a while, you know how much I love user-generated content. Families trust real families. They want to see real children having real experiences inside your play space—not perfectly staged stock photos or overly polished marketing images.

The best part is that your customers are already taking these photos.

They're sitting on hundreds, if not thousands, of pictures and videos that could become some of the most valuable marketing assets your business owns.

Sometimes all you have to do is ask.

Run a Simple Holiday Photo Contest

One of the easiest promotions you can put together in less than an hour is a holiday photo contest.

Your post could say something like:

"We're missing all of your smiling faces today! Since we're closed for the holiday, we'd love to see some of your favorite memories from your visits. Share a photo of your little one having fun at our play space, tag us, and you'll be entered to win a Family Fun Bundle!"

That's it.

Simple.

Low effort.

Highly engaging.

You could randomly choose one winner, or if you'd like to increase engagement even more, create an album of all the entries and let your community vote by liking their favorite photos over the next few days.

Either approach works.

The important thing is that you're encouraging families to post about your business while you're closed.

Every tagged photo introduces your play space to an entirely new audience—friends, grandparents, coworkers, neighbors, and other local families who may have never heard of you before.

That's incredibly powerful marketing.

Don't Just Collect Photos—Collect the Photos You'll Actually Need

Here's one tweak I'd encourage you to make.

Instead of asking families to share any photo from your play space, think about what you're planning to market over the next few months.

For example, if you're about to launch a big birthday booking campaign, don't ask for general play photos.

Ask specifically for birthday party pictures.

You might say:

"Share your favorite birthday party memory from our play space for a chance to win..."

Now you're building a library of authentic birthday content that you can use when you're promoting birthday parties later.

Planning to push memberships this fall?

Ask members to share photos from their favorite visits.

Launching a new café menu?

Encourage families to post pictures enjoying coffee, snacks, or lunch.

The more intentional you are, the more valuable this content becomes.

Rather than collecting random photos you'll never use, you're creating a content library that's directly tied to your future marketing goals.

Don't Forget About the Legal Side

Whenever you're collecting user-generated content, make sure you're protecting yourself.

Include clear contest terms and conditions that explain how the contest works, how the winner will be selected, and—most importantly—that submitted photos may be used in future marketing by your business.

This is one of those details that's easy to overlook, but it's incredibly important.

If you're a Play Maker Society member, I've shared a contest terms and conditions template that covers exactly this and helps ensure you're complying with social media platform rules while also giving yourself permission to reuse the content families submit.

It's a small step that can save you a lot of headaches later.

Think Bigger Than One Holiday

One thing I want to emphasize is that none of these ideas are limited to the Fourth of July.

Yes, that's what inspired this conversation.

But these same strategies work any time your business is closed.

Christmas.

Thanksgiving.

Easter.

Memorial Day.

Labor Day.

Snow days.

Unexpected repairs.

Staff training days.

Even planned vacations.

The reason these ideas work isn't because of the specific holiday.

They work because your customers are paying attention.

A closure naturally creates a reason to communicate with your audience, and every time you communicate, you have an opportunity to strengthen your relationship with them.

Sometimes that relationship leads to a sale today.

Sometimes it leads to a membership next month.

Sometimes it simply keeps your business top of mind until they're ready to book a birthday party six months from now.

Marketing isn't always about immediate results.

Sometimes it's about building familiarity and trust over time.

You Don't Have to Monetize Every Closure

I want to end with something that's just as important as everything we've talked about so far.

You do not have to turn every holiday into a sales event.

I think social media sometimes makes us feel like we have to constantly be launching something.

Running a promotion.

Sending another email.

Posting another sale.

But sometimes the healthiest decision for both you and your business is to simply close the doors and enjoy the day.

Spend time with your family.

Go watch the fireworks.

Take your kids to the parade.

Enjoy a long weekend.

That's one of the reasons I talk so much about recurring revenue.

When you build a strong membership program, your business continues generating income even while you're taking a well-deserved break.

That's the goal.

Not to work every holiday forever.

Not to feel guilty every time your doors are closed.

But to build a business that doesn't depend on you squeezing revenue out of every single day on the calendar.

If you've never taken a real vacation from your business, I'd also encourage you to check out my Vacation Prep podcast playlist. It's become one of the most popular resources I've ever shared, and honestly, that makes me really happy because it means more play-based business owners are taking the breaks they deserve.

Building a profitable business isn't just about making more money.

It's about creating a business that gives you more freedom, more flexibility, and more time with the people you built it for in the first place.

The next time you're preparing to close your indoor playground for a holiday or another planned closure, don't automatically assume that your revenue has to stop too.

Maybe it's the perfect weekend to launch a bundle offer instead of a discount.

Maybe it's finally time to shine a spotlight on your membership program with a compelling founding-member promotion or an incentive to convert monthly members into annual ones.

Maybe your existing members become your best salespeople through a simple referral campaign.

Or maybe you skip the sale entirely and use the day to collect incredible user-generated content that fuels your marketing for the rest of the year.

And maybe—just maybe—the right decision is to do none of those things and simply enjoy a day off with your family.

The important thing is remembering that a closed business doesn't have to be a stagnant business.

With a little planning and creativity, your next holiday closure can become an opportunity to generate revenue, build stronger customer relationships, create valuable marketing assets, or simply recharge so you can come back ready to serve your community even better.

That's a much better mindset than assuming every locked door automatically means a lost day.