New to Newport

[lydiamama]

Hello fellow mumnsnetters, we have just move to Newport atea, Saint Julians, and looking forward to make some new friends, and find out what Newport has to offer. Where are the indoor play areas? Do you know any nice one? My little one is 5, a girl. Unfortunatelly I work so I have not much time during the week, I seem to miss any exciting thing going on...

Hi Lydia, a warm welcome to Mumsnet! You are definitely in the right place. Check out our Things To Do section and you will find parks, soft play, leisure centres and all sorts of family friendly places.

There is a great free museum in Newport that even my 4yo enjoys! It's in John Frost Square upstairs from the library.

I'm Sam and I'm the local Editor for Mumsnet Monmouthshire and Newport and I am at your service!

Oh hi Sam, thanks so much, I have already checked things to do, and intend to visit the soft play in Spytty this Sunday. Thanks so much for the information about the museum, we just love them, so we will go soon enough

Anytime! and Santa's Grotto is just next door in the Kingsway centre if you want to make a day of it.

Hi there, newport's a great place to be and it's due to improve too- you've really moved here at the right time!
Our highstreet's looking a bit shabby right now but there's a big change coming. A really good mall is due to be built near to the library you were talking about with SamInSouthWales, with a cinema in, department stores and some great restaurants. But in the meantime (and on the more affordable side) there's a very good aladin's cave-style market in the middle of town with sweet shops, button-and-fabric stores, all kinds of odds and ends shops and a good few cheap but good cafes. It's just the sort of place I used to spend time in with my mum when I was little (she let me slowly build a collection of sparkly buttons from the button store, I still have some lol!).
On the soft play front, Ezeeeplay indoor play center is a great place- I did some work there a while back and it was kid heaven, but also had somewhere for mums and dads to have a cup of tea- well thought out.
Hope this all helps a bit!

Welcome Lucy!

I think Ezeeplay is closed now, sadly, but I can't wait to try out the one in Spytty.

There are two good soft play centres in nearby Cwmbran too- about 4 miles away and on lots of bus routes. They are Cheeky Monkeys in Fairwater and Zoopadoopas which is in the town centre at the back of the cinema building. You could also try Lollipops and Ladybirds if you come to Cwmbran. It's a lovely cafe and shop where you can paint pottery and which has a playhouse, a toy kitchen and other toys for children.

I am always keen to hear recommendations from readers Lucy, so keep those great Newport suggestions coming. I love the idea of a little girl collecting pretty buttons. I used to love going to Newport as a little girl too.

aw man ezeeplay's gone too? So many places are shutting down nowadays... at least there are some other good soft play spots. I would have recommended the really excellent blooms garden centre, who had a soft play area as well as lots of other stuff, but the place burnt down into a pile of ashes and girders a week or so ago. A real loss for the area and also a big problem for us as that was where hubby and me were going to get our christmas tree!

It's a shame about Blooms, there was so much there. I hope they can salvage something from it. Raglan Garden Centre is pretty good, and Sunnydale Garden Centre in Cwmbran always has a Santa's Grotto.