Definitely not just another play barn!…read more Spread over two stories of an old department store this is a fantastic place to bring the kids. Areas to suit babies, under threes, under fives and upwards! A huge play frame to let the kids loose on and upstairs they can speed around the racetrack on electric go-karts (this costs extra), play air hockey, table football, table tennis or even play on the Wii A great place to eat with hot and cold menus, all freshly prepared in their kitchens. They do kids parties and have four themed rooms (Pirates, Princess, Pitstop and Undersea) for them to eat in before they're let loose on the equipment. A nice family run business, not just another franchised playbarn run by grumpy teenagers!

I cannot rave enough about Finkley Down Farm. I don't even have kids I can use as an excuse - I…read moresimply come here to relax and spend some time with the animals. The atmosphere is relaxed and peaceful and the abundance of cute greedy animals desperate for you to feed them is nothing short of delightful. Their animals range from goats and sheep to chickens to cows right over to the more unusual llamas and highland cows. Even if you're not into getting close to the animals or feeding them the buckets of food available at the ticket office, just watching them mooch around is still fun and relaxing. The llama took somewhat of a disliking to me (was it something I said?) and stormed at me, looking like it could easily clear the fence and gain its freedom. I wasn't going to hang around to find out. One look at my pathetic retreating hide running off into the distance was enough to reduce its anger to mere disdain, and instead he decided to spit all over me. In some sort of random heroic act, the pig sharing its pen flung itself at the llama as if to take the blow for me, and rather than reflect on the llama soaking I'd been given, I instead watched this pig take one for the team. Right in the eye, no less. From hereonin, I shall name this pig SuperPig. If you do have kids you can pretend are the reason for visiting, there's plenty to keep them occupied. Other than the animals you can feed, there are talks and handling sessions with some of the smaller or baby pets throughout the day. There's also a nice adventure playground and a couple of trampolines to wear them out on too. There's a small gift shop and a place to buy some food, as well as a picnic area if you're sensible enough to bring your own food. I love this place and can't wait to go back when it reopens for the season next year.

A lovely little petting farm for a day out with the family. Entrance fee is very reasonable. Farm…read moreisn't huge by anyone's standards but just about big enough for an afternoons walking about without it being too much for the little/older ones. Lots to see and many activities laid on for the children. Arm them with a bucket of food from the entrance first though or you will find yourself running back for some! On site cafe sells everything from fish & chips to ice cream or just a cuppa. Toilets well sign posted and clean. Lots of basins and hand gel dotted around for after you have touched the animals. Nice staff who are kid friendly. Congratulations to the farm for keeping the gift shop prices low, lots of souvenirs on sale for under £2.

Toad Hall Adventure play is open 7 days a week and offers soft play facilities for children from…read morebabies through to juniors. There's a good under 3s section with a ball pit and 2-stage climbing frame (soft). There are some sit-on soft toys and some blocks. The floor is a bit suspect and there's a bit of an old smell to the area - nothing terrible but you do notice it. The play equipment appears safe but could be in better condition. The main soft play is a triple height affair with climbing, balls, slides and chutes. It's safe and in better condition than the toddler area. At weekends and after school this place can get packed but, during the day it's not too bad. A cafe facility is available serving teas, coffees, soft drinks and snacks. The prices are reasonable. Tables are kept away from the soft play being behind a low wall. They are OK but there's not a good view of the play area meaning that it's hard to have a coffee and take care of your child. For many parents this just seems to mean that they don't watch their child and so you do have to be careful that your child doesn't get set upon by unrully kids. It's not a particularly comfortable place but it's a good local option for a rainy day. Car parking is available.

Animal farm can be a great place to visit rain or shine. lots of lovely animals to pet and feed…read more The farm has barns with rabbits,ferrets and all other fluffy things. In the 20+ acres you have all the reg farm animals to feed. Theres a couple of rides , bouncy castle and toy tractors to skoot around on. All this could be done in drizzly weather with wellys on but if its really bad theres a massive indoor play area. they have a small area for babys and toddlers thats well padded and keeps them entertained for ages. The older kids have lots to climb and the tallest slides i have ever seen. my heart was in my mouth watching the kids come down it , but they thought it was wicked. The farms very easy to find as burnham-on -sea isnt a big place to get lost in. well worth a visit :)

This is a brilliant place to take your kids to. My little girl is 2 1/2 now and we have been taking…read moreher there for over a year now and she loves it. You pay an entry price and then most of the things are free. It has a bouncy castle, trampaline,'cuddle club' where you can cuddle ginea pigs and rabbits, outdoor slides, swing boats, climbing frame, ride on tractors etc and a large indoor play area with ball pits, lots of slides and places to climb around. Also it has paddocks with animals in (such as cows, lamas etc.) which you can feed and indoor barns with pigs and horses in. It is a great day out and you can stay for hours without your kids geting bored.

a great place for 8's and unders. there are 2 sections one for toddlers and one for the older ones…read more a safe play area and great place to wear the kids out. they have an eating/seating area and food is ok. its loved by my granddaughter and grandson. they offer a playgroup and school sessions along with parties.they take a photo for our membership card. not to be missed well worth a visit. a car park and the 313 bus stop is right outside. its newness can be still felt inside.

this is a great place for kids my kids always enjoy it here its a big place lots of space inside…read more there is a toddler play erea there is a baby erea and a play erea for older children. also there is a football erea they have got computers there for the parents internet access. and you can eat inside on the tables and chairs not sure how much the food is tho but i would say its fair priced. overall this is fun for children

Whoever thought up the idea of this venue was a genius I know it is a family run business and…read morethat's about it. What they have done is taken an area of Tamworth where there was nothing/very little for kids to do and created a little goldmine (not jealous at all that I did not think of it first!!). The unit is in the middle of an Industrial estate and although that sounds odd - its literally walking distance from one of the biggest housing estates in Tamworth. They have transformed the inside spectacularly to accomodate the following; Large softplay/ ball pool for older children with amazing slides and tunnels. Smaller softplay area especially designed for toddlers. Enclosed netted area with goal posts and basketball hoops. large expanse of tables/seating for food. Comfy relaxed seating area with sofas. Specially painted themed party rooms (x3) Various drinks/popcorn/toy machines and a couple of rides for toddlers. Upstairs seating area/vewing gallery. Go kart area. The parties start from £6.50 and there are loads of different packages available depending on whether its a boy/girl. They have a wide range of hot and cold food available( not badly priced - quality just average- service poor). They even do hair cuts!! The environment is bright, stimulating, clean and above all safe. The security there is very good - they have doors that only staff can open to exit the main area. As I have just mentioned the food not outstanding, but other than that a fab place for younger kids to let off steam and run around. I would say its suitable up to about age 9. One other drawback - no licensed bar!!. I was tempted to take off a star for this - but then conceded its designed for kids.

Rainbow World is one of a British institution -- inside play parks, because let's face it, it's too…read morecold for kids to play outside, even in the summer, in the Land of Never Stops Precipitating. The fine folks at Rainbow World bought out a large warehouse on a large industrial estate, and turned it into a play park full of slides, swings, ball pits and fun things to climb around on. There is also a mini go-karting area for £1 extra, with a size limit and minimum, but it's great fun! The prices are a bit high on weekends, but if you stay for a good few hours, it's worth the cash. The lighting is harsh, the decor is twee and it reminds you that once, you had weekends to go to quaint, tasteful cafes, and now spend time freezing on football pitches and drinking lukewarm Nescafe in equally freezing indoor play parks, because a little person calls the shots. Rainbow World can be rented out for children's parties in part or in full. As play parks go, it's not very large (Crash Bang Wallop is much better), but it does get the job done. A nice feature is the small basketball cum football court off to one side, and also a smaller "play grotto" for toddlers and tiny tots. There is food here, but imagine your worst frozen-pub-food nightmare, and that's what you should expect. I'd go for a Slushee, personally. The staff are some of the rudest, least hygienically presented I've ever seen. I've never been smiled at when at Rainbow World. The neat feature of not being able to leave or enter without someone opening the door for you means that staff can see you waiting at the door, roll their eyes and stomp over to open you out without a word. It's all very couth, really. Be warned: there are only about 15 parking spaces, and traffic wardens regularly go around looking for money to be made for the council. All in all, if you're desperate to give your tot something to do in the winter months, Rainbow World is alright, but it's really best avoided.

This is a big soft play centre in an Industrial estate warehouse. The equipment for older kids…read morelooks great, plenty of bridges and ropes and what-have-you, it's hard to tell from the outside! For the littlies, there isn't a huge amount, but there is a very deep ball pool and a few giant wobble-men to play with. Theoretically this is in a dedicated 'toddler area', but in practice it's hard to keep the bigger kids away, especially when they are all hyped up! This means you are better off taking little kids here while school is on if you can. Meanwhile, there are plenty of sofas and tables for mums and a little coffee shop, claiming to sell the best coffee in Leamington. I'm not sure that's true, but it's good enough. My son will love this place in a few years, for now it is somewhere handy to keep in mind on rainy days.

We went here today with my two children aged 6 and 2. It is a holiday at her school so it was a…read morequiet afternoon with hardly any people about. The Watford branch of Gambado is brand new, so everything is sparkling clean and attractive to look at. The whole area is large and well spaced. Taking focal point was a massive playframe. There was a large four-lane slide as well as some of those rotating slides (not sure what it's called). There was a seperate area for under-2s. Tame enough to keep older kids away but still fun for the younger ones. They had large building blocks too, a nice touch. Next to the playframe was a climbing wall. The cafe was okish, nothing too great. Food was well presented but limited in variety. The only hot meal options seemed to be pizza and sandwiches. There were some nice salads too. The cafe had nice seating, transparent rounded chairs in different colours. Very well spaced out tables, not your typical softplay cafe. Prices were a bit on the high side. They had some areas with big chalkboards for the children to scribble on. And another place for musical experimenting, different things to bang on and make sounds. They also had some magnet play. Under some clear glass thingies were magnet shavings, pins etc. that children could pull a magnet over, causing patterns. There was also a fairly large track for dodgem cars. For adults there was a seperate lounge. There were computers with internet access, newspapers etc. It didn't look like children were allowed there, the notice said Adults Only. Strange that, who'd be watching the kids while the parents sat in a seperate area? It cost £15 entrace for me and the kids. By far the most expensive place for this sort of activity. You didn't have to spend any money inside though (unless you want to eat), everything was unlimited. There were plenty of lockers, clean and spacious, to deposit your belongings. It is free to use and you only need a £1 coin cif you want to lock it (it is refunded). Toilets are reasonably clean too, but I don't know if that is because it was a quiet day. Would recommend it if nothing cheaper is close to you. Works out quite expensive for a small family even.

Great place to take the kids. The membership I have works brilliantly as we use it more in the…read morewinter. Love how it caters to the younger ones aswell as the older ones. The party's are fab as they take care of everything especially being heavily pregnant and exhausted over the summer it was one less thing to worry about!

So this is where it all started...the beginning of a rather bizarre love with swimming pools as a…read moreplace for fun - the memories of youth - I remember the excitement when this leisure pool originally opened in 1976 - it wasn't a rectangle it was round! What was this madness? Half the pool was too shallow to actually swim in and it had waves. This was the very first time I had encountered a "leisure" pool - oh trend setting, thoroughly modern Swindon you have so much to answer for - (along with the famed "magic roundabout"). I still return here with the kids every time we jump on a train to visit my wife's family. It is a great pool but looking distinctly tatty round the edges now. The domed roof desperately needs renewing - it looked spectacular 30 years ago but putting that aside its still super fun. The pool itself is beach style with a separate small kids pool. Good kids pool with 3 slides plus pirate ship.... The main pool has a steep three lane multislide and a new long slide circles inside the building (77m long). But really it is the flumes here that count and these are top. The Domebusters have a had a refurb this year and one of them has been replaced. All are approx 100m in length.So first off The Sidewinder A fairly gentle, spiralling flume aimed at younger children and parents. You can sit or go head first. The Great White My favourite - heads first ONLY never seen that on any other slide! Normally feet first everywhere.... A fast ride with two small vertical drops and several twists and turns. The Storm The new this year straight fast flume - small circumference with a striped lighting effect and sounds.. Didn't get to try this out this time - but will be back to do so....busy with an under 5... The session time was only an hour - which is really not long enough and it is fairly expensive considering the stingy hour. There are not many reasons to visit Swindon but this is definitely one if you are a water slide fan or the kids love to swim. . --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Update So I came back to try out the new flume which I hadn't managed to try out last time. Managed to slip away from a family visit for a couple of hours with my teenagers. Interestingly GLL have taken over the management of the leisure centre since we were here in 2012 (they run most of the pools we visit in London). It had been spruced up a bit with the new corporate livery...but still the stingy session times. We took no notice of the session times and made good use of the domebuster slides. So The Storm was the main attraction - small tube, dark, with striped lightning and fast with the descent as a helix. A big thumbs up from the family - a great slide but not in our top 5 slides. The Great White remains the favourite - head first you can pick up some proper speed and fly over the steepest vertical drops... ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Oasis is a great place to take the family swimming! They have a huge laguna pool that boasts water…read moreslides, a wave machine, a smaller pool for the children and a big water sprayer. They do a range of different classes such as mother and baby Swimming, OAP Swimming and also offer swimming lessons. They have also just started doing gigs with people such as 'The Sugababes' 'Cascada' and 'Shayne Ward' perfoming there.