Visiting Oxford in June with three cling-ons. Please can local mums advise on kiddies' activities?

[TravellingWithKids]

Hi local mums,

My husband and I and our three children (2, 5 and 7 years old - boy, girl, girl) are visiting Oxford for three weeks in June/July. We are from South Africa and although we visited Oxford ten years ago, I was browsing bookstores rather than keeping my eyes open for kiddie-friendly activities!

Can anyone please advise me on places to go in Oxford that would appeal to small children, and/or that cater to kids, such as family-friendly restaurants or activity centers or parks or anything like that? I would greatly appreciate any and all help. We will be staying in Jeune Street (which, according to Google maps, is near The Plain, the circle where High St, St Clements, Cowley and Iffley Roads meet).

We are also hoping to go to EuroDisney for a few days, so it would be extra fabulous if anyone has done that trip from Oxford and can advise on easiest or cheapest travel/accommodation options.

Many thanks for your help.
Jo du Plessis

Lots to do with littlies.
City children's centres are listed here:
www.oxfordshire.gov.uk/cms/content/central-oxford-childrens-centres
Most have some kind of drop in sessions running during UK school terms (end at the end of July)
Toddler groups are legion, but might be a bit tricky with a 7 year old.
if fine weather, you are very close to University Botanic Gardens, Christ Church meadow. A bit further is the open air pool at Hinksey park. Adventure playground also there
Less good weather and there are the museums (Natural History, Ashmolean, modern Art are best for children), Science Oxford or, gulp, soft play (but you'll need a car). Central library also good and does storytelling and song time sessions. Municipal swimming pools at Temple Cowley, Marston Ferry and Barton all reachable by bus.
Local parks are really well equipped, council have spent loads on redoing them recently. Bury Knowle is a favourite for us, bit of a walk from the Plain, but a very easy bus ride
You have to go to G and Ds ice cream cafe, there is now a branch on the Cowley Rd very near Jeune street.
Sorry, can't help with EuroDisney, but for the Oxford to London stretch, far the easiest and cheapest is to get the express coach (Oxford Tube), which stops on St Clements.

Wow thanks exactly the kind of info that is going to be useful, thanks so much. I'm going to research the lay of the land before we arrive, so that I know where all the places are that you've mentioned. Especially the swimming pools because if the weather is good then we'll swim a lot. After all the effort, I think my 2-year old will probably be happy just to ride buses all day long, since we don't have a bus service where I live and he is obsessed with transport!
Just a quick sues: is there a website I can access with the bus timetable, in particular for the express coach to London?

www.oxfordbus.co.uk/ for half the local buses plus one of the express buses to London (they also run the direct routes to and from Heathrow and Gatwick)
www.stagecoachbus.com/localdefault.aspx?TAG=0 for other local buses, including the S3 which will get you to Blenheim palace, which is a great day out
Day pass is great value if you have bus obsessed offspring (both of mine are and dd regards a bus ride to town as a great treat)
www.oxfordtube.com/ for the other company running express buses to London.
If pools are your thing, outdoor pool at Abingdon also popular:
www.soll-leisure.co.uk/abbey-meadows-outdoor-pool
A bit further, but again buses are good and the X13 goes along St Clements and then onto Abingdon.
Forgot to put in previous post but a good rainy day activity plus cafe plus bookshop is Barefoot Books in Summertown (north of city centre, short bus ride), they have craft and story telling activities as well as drumming classes and things!
www.barefootbooks.com/uk/story/about_us/our_stores/

Pitt Rivers museum has won awards for child-friendliness. And it has shrunken heads. Top combination IMHO.

Eurodisney: I would get the bus to London, tube to St Pancras and Eurostar. Went a few years ago (not with kids) - and even though there was a strike on French trains Eurostar coped perfectly, swapped our tickets and were an absolute pleasure to deal with. Plus the station at Eurodisney is only a short wander from the on-site hotels.

There's also Hinksey Outdoor Pool (there's a playground there too).

"There's also Hinksey Outdoor Pool (there's a playground there too)."

And the squirty things! Don't forget the squirty things! "Water feature", I think it's called. Children run about and jump on the triggers which set off fountains, sprays and rainbows of water which they can run through. Best of all, it's free. However, it is often out of service so don't get the kids' hopes up too high.

I don't really rate the pool itself, and you wouldn't be able to take your kids there by yourself as they don't allow one adult to supervise three children under the age of eight.

THANK YOU x a million - such helpful advice!