What is a third place for families?

3 hours ago

7 min read

In short: A third place is a place besides home (first place) and work (second place) where people come together voluntarily and regularly. A third place for families works for children and adults at the same time: children play, parents get talking, strangers become familiar faces.

What families lack today isn't necessarily another activity.

Often, they're simply missing a place.

A place you can go without having to organise anything. Where children are welcome without adults feeling out of place. Where at some point you start recognising faces, get talking and maybe even meet people who turn from "we bump into each other now and then" into friends.

There's a term for exactly these kinds of places:

Third place.

And although the idea is several decades old, it feels surprisingly relevant for families today.

Home is the first place. Work is the second. And then?

Back in the 1980s, the American sociologist Ray Oldenburg was already asking what role the places between our private and our obligatory lives play.

He called home the first place.

Work the second place.

And then there's the third place: an informal place outside these two worlds where people come together voluntarily and regularly, talk to each other, meet familiar faces and develop a sense of belonging.

Oldenburg made the concept known in 1989 with his book The Great Good Place. Classic examples were cafés, bookshops, corner shops and other meeting points where you're not just a customer but, at some point, a little bit part of it.

Applied to families, we'd think of the second place a little more broadly today: work, nursery, school. All the places where our everyday life is organised and where certain tasks and expectations come with it.

And in between?

That's exactly where something is often missing.

Families have a surprising number of appointments and a surprisingly small number of places

Especially with small children, life quickly turns into a whole series of stops.

Home. Nursery. Work. Shopping. Paediatrician. Music group and/or swimming.

Quickly picking up a parcel somewhere.

And back home again.

Today we have an incredible number of activities for families.

But an activity isn't automatically a place where community grows.

That takes something else: you need to be able to come back. You can feel comfortable without turning it into a special event every time. You might meet the same people a second, a fifth or a twentieth time.

At some point, someone knows your child's name.

At some point, the family you've only known by sight sits down next to you.

At some point, a conversation starts that nobody planned.

Community rarely happens by appointment. It grows through repetition.

That's exactly one of the ideas behind third places.

Why places like these matter more than ever today

Our lives are becoming more digital, while at the same time our private space is becoming more valuable and, in some cases, scarcer.

In 2025, 17.6 per cent of people in households with children in Germany lived in overcrowded homes. Among minors, it was as high as 19 per cent. At the same time, 11.2 per cent of the population were so burdened by housing costs that more than 40 per cent of their disposable household income went on housing.

Of course, that doesn't mean every family is short of space.

But it shows something fundamental:

Not everything that makes up family life can or should happen within your own four walls.

Children need other children. Adults need other adults. Families need places outside their homes where meeting others isn't complicated.

And we probably need spaces like these all the more, the more parts of our lives move onto screens.

Today you can work, shop, do your banking, order food and keep up friendships without leaving your flat.

Practical? Absolutely.

But a WhatsApp group can't fully replace the moment when someone sits next to you and says:

"It's exactly the same with us, by the way."

A third place is more than a nice room

This matters.

A pretty café doesn't automatically become a third place just because there's a beautiful lamp and someone has written "community" on the wall.

Oldenburg described third places as places where encounters happen regularly, voluntarily and informally. They should be accessible, invite conversation, have a certain lightness and be shaped by people who come back.

In other words:

A third place doesn't live mainly off its interior.

It lives off people starting to feel they belong there.

For families, there's one more crucial point:

The place has to work for children and adults at the same time.

And that's surprisingly rare.

Because many family places are really children's places

Lots of parents will know this one.

You drive somewhere because it's great for your child.

And spend the next two hours on a bench at the edge, holding jackets, shoes and water bottles and hoping the coffee is at least halfway drinkable.

Or the other way round:

You sit in a really lovely café and spend 70 per cent of your attention making sure your child neither rearranges the decorations nor moves in under the next table.

Both can be completely fine.

But a third place for families tries something different:

It doesn't just ask:

What do children need?

But at the same time:

What do families need so that everyone is happy to stay?

And that's exactly where Baby Bee begins for us

When Baby Bee started, we didn't yet know "Third Place for Families" as our big brand phrase.

But the idea behind it was there from the start.

We didn't want to build a typical indoor playground.

And we didn't want to open a café that just happens to have a play corner.

We wanted to create a place where children really get space for themselves and adults still remain part of the experience.

A child can settle into play while mum or dad sits nearby. You can have a coffee, chat, watch, help out now and then and let go again.

And above all:

You're allowed to come back.

Not just for a birthday.

Not just for a special event.

Not just when some class is on.

Just because.

A third place turns strangers into familiar faces

Maybe that's the part you can plan the least, and the one that matters most in the end.

We see families who come regularly.

Children recognise each other.

Parents get talking.

People move to a new city and don't know anyone at first.

One mum sits next to another mum.

Someone asks how old the child is.

And five minutes later they're suddenly talking about nursery, sleep, work, life or some completely absurd phase both of them thought only their own child was going through.

That's how relationships form.

Not always friendships for life.

They don't have to be.

Sometimes the feeling alone is enough:

I'm not alone here.

That's also why Oldenburg described third places as important parts of lively communities: places where social differences matter less and people come into contact outside their usual roles.

Third places could become some of the most important places of our future

That may sound big for a place where children play and adults drink coffee.

But I really do believe there's something bigger behind this idea.

We talk a great deal about what the cities of the future should look like.

How we're becoming more digital.

How we'll work.

How AI is changing our everyday lives.

In all this, we shouldn't forget another question:

Where will people actually meet?

Not planned.

Not through an algorithm.

Not only with those who already belong to their bubble.

But for real.

In 2026, Project for Public Spaces once again describes third places as especially relevant against the backdrop of growing social isolation: we lack places where people can meet friends, run into acquaintances or make new connections in the first place.

Maybe that's the real future of a third place:

Not even more entertainment.

But more belonging.

Third Place for Families

For us, that means:

A place between home and obligations.

A space where children can play without being entertained all the time.

A place where adults are welcome and aren't just there as companions.

A place where you can see the same people again without first spending three weeks agreeing on a date via WhatsApp.

And a space from which community can eventually grow.

In doing so, Baby Bee deliberately reinterprets Oldenburg's original concept for families. We're not a classic public third place in the sociological sense: we charge admission, take reservations and deliberately limit entry.

But the idea behind it captures pretty much exactly what we want to build:

PLACE. COMMUNITY. BELONGING.

Maybe the future will need a lot more of these.

Places where we don't have to become more productive.

Not more optimised.

Not faster.

But where we can simply meet people.

Our children just as much as us.

A Third Place for Families.

Maybe that sounds like a new term.

The longing behind it is probably pretty old:

to have a place where you like to be, and where at some point you get the feeling of belonging a little.

Frequently asked questions about the third place

What is a third place?

An informal place outside home and work where people come together voluntarily and regularly, talk to each other and develop a sense of belonging. Classic examples are cafés, bookshops or corner shops.

Who coined the term third place?

The American sociologist Ray Oldenburg. He made the concept known in 1989 with his book The Great Good Place.

What makes a third place for families?

It works for children and adults at the same time. You can come back without turning it into an event, you meet the same people more often, and community grows through repetition.

Is Baby Bee a third place?

Baby Bee deliberately reinterprets Oldenburg's concept for families. In the sociological sense we're not a classic public third place, because we charge admission, take reservations and limit entry. But the idea behind it captures exactly what we want to build: Place. Community. Belonging.

Read more at Baby Bee