Tell Bassetts Soft & Chewy Vitamins about your favourite family activities – iPad Mini up for grabs! NOW CLOSED

[MichelleMumsnet]

Bassetts Soft & Chewy Vitamins now offer a free soft play session for one child with each purchased pack of promotional Bassetts Soft & Chewy Vitamins. To celebrate this, Bassetts Soft & Chewy want to find out what Mumsnetters' favourite activities are to have fun as a family.

Here's what Bassetts Soft & Chewy have to say, "Mums have told us that they want their kids to be healthy and active so that they can enjoy school. That's why we decided to make mums' lives a little bit easier with free soft play sessions on every promotional pack of Bassetts Soft & Chewy Vitamins offering a free soft play session for one child. With nearly two hundred great soft play centres around the UK taking part in the promotion, children around the country can have fun at their local centre, while mum enjoys a hot cup of coffee. Bassetts Soft & Chewy Vitamins promotional packs can be found in the UK (including the Channel Islands and Isle of Man) in most major retailers."

You can find your nearest participating centre here.

So, what are your favourite family activities? Do you enjoy going to soft play sessions with your children? If so, why? If not, why not? If you have been to one which really stood out as being ace, what made it so good?

Everyone who enters their thoughts to this thread will be entered into a prize draw to win an iPad Mini.

Thanks and good luck with the prize draw!

MNHQ

Please click here for the full Terms and Conditions.

[fusspot66]

There's s fantastic soft play and pedal cars place at
stowmarket leisure centre. We visit whenever I go to stay at my mum's. Otherwise we love to spend family time making pancakes on Sunday mornings.

[flamingtoaster]

We never used soft play - we much preferred walking in the park (trying to identify flowers and insects we spotted), on the beach (even in winter), puddle jumping, playing ball games, baking, making junk models, etc. When the children were small we had a season ticket to the zoo for a few years and they really enjoyed that as there was always something very interesting to see. It was expensive but we really got our money's worth as they had an adventure playground etc.

[fanoftheinvisibleman]

We like going out dog walking and picnicing. Ds is in full castle obsession at the moment too so we have done countless numbers if lovely EH events this summer.

He loved soft play as a toddler but less so now at 7. I think he would only go in now if with a group of friends.

[maxmissie]

Favourite family activities - baking, geocaching, walking/exploring new places especially ruined castles, beaches and places where they can build dens!

The kids love soft play (they recently had a joint soft play party for their sixth and fourth birthdays) but as they are now older and at school we go less, mainly because DH and I don't want to spend our free time with the kids in soft play places! I do prefer going now then when they were younger though as now we can have tea and cake and don't actually have to crawl around the climbing frames etc.

Ones that the kids enjoy are Jungletastic and Pirate Play in Nottingham.

[Freemilk]

Favourite soft play is adventure island it is in tooting, like others I find them Ok occasionally but then the noise, lights, overpriced expensive coffee, rubbish food and other people's badly behaved children start annoying me.

Favourite activity would be going on holiday/going to the beach, love new things and new places, love the beach

[GaryBuseysTeeth]

Love soft play (the DC like it a bit too, I suppose), best softplays are ones where the other parents look after their children, although that's rare around here

In our household the favourite activity of the week is spinning around in a circle until dizzy & then laughing. It's usually something more messy...

[ataraxia]

Soft play is great fun ( I used to love ball pits as a kid) but as an adult I have to say I'm concerned the equipment is unhygienic with so many kids using it each day. Jungle jims at Blackpool Tower is good but far too expensive for regular use. nice overall day out as a one-off though.

Fave family activity would be a National Trust property with big house and gardens, especially if they're having a free entry promotion on!

[kellestar]

We live being outdoors, DD is so active that any efforts to try and contain her in the house go badly. She has just started to throw and catch a ball successfully, at the moment we have to take a small ball with us everywhere, just in case she wants to play. DS is too small to play as such, he does love watching DD burn about or the leaves on the apple tree, clouds in the sky, that kind of thing really.

I take DD to a gymnastics class weekly, it has really helped her find her balance and learn some great skills while having fun and using up some of her endless energy.

We pay a membership to the club, who also have a brilliant soft play that we get reduced entry to. It was a real life saver in my early pregnancy as DD could burn off steam while I felt sick in the corner, then when DS arrived it was handy again to let DD have a play while I fed DS and could rest.

They have a dedicated under there's section separate to the older children's section. It means it is easier to see your little ones play and not so easy for the bigger ones to sneak in and take over. It has a good seating area for parent and a small cafe! The equipment is clean and in good condition.

We attend Go Banana's at Writhlington Sports Centre, Radstock.

[cindersinsuburbia]

My children love soft play - it does a great job of getting them tired out!

Our favourite thing to do as a family is going away on day trips and holidays., just the change of scenery re-energises us and improves the childrens mood no end

[MichelleMumsnet]

Thank you everyone for adding your thoughts. The thread is now closed, and am pleased to announce dahville as the winner of the prize draw!

[dahville]

Thank you Bassetts & Mumsnet! That's lovely news for a Wednesday morning.