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

261 replies

MichelleMumsnet · 28/08/2013 09:20

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. Grin

Thanks and good luck with the prize draw!

MNHQ

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OP posts:
noyouhavehadawee · 31/08/2013 21:50

we like going on forresty walks, down by rivers, through country parks, if there is a big wooden play park hallway through all the better!

Fraxinus · 31/08/2013 22:51

Lots of votes on here for outdoors activities. Perhaps bassets would do better to sponsor bits of local woodland and free to access parks. Probably better for the immune system, too.

pinkponk · 01/09/2013 00:07

Taking the kids on a walk along the canal, feed the ducks on the way & end up at the play park. Simple fun.

Eagleeye13 · 01/09/2013 00:07

As a family we enjoy going to farms,baking,reading together,jumping on a trampoline together and playing games.
We especially like zoos and museum visits the best

ICutMyFootOnOccamsRazor · 01/09/2013 00:14

We all really love swimming, walking and bike riding. Soft play is ok but usually only as a sort of last resort when it's pouring, to be honest.

firawla · 01/09/2013 02:36

yes we do like soft play, i like gambados but most of them are good really
we also like outdoors stuff like national trust places, castles, lighthouses,woods, that kind of thing

cheeseandcrackers · 01/09/2013 07:35

I can't stand soft play. D's is 2 and too young to go off and play by himself so I have to crawl after him through tiny tunnels and down slides too narrow for me. It hurts, feels claustrophobic and is very hard work. I won't be going again until D's is old enough to run off and play by himself and I can sit and watch in peace. Even then, though, it would only be a very occasional visit on a rainy day as it's very expensive and often crowded.

Right now, I'd rather just go to the park or save my money for a trip to the zoo.

HanShotFirst · 01/09/2013 08:19

My children love soft play centres, but I'm not so keen as quite a few in my area are very run down, visibly dirty and serve terrible food. I prefer using ones that are attached to attractions as they seem to be maintained a bit better than those that are independent.

In an ideal world, I'd love to have a nearby soft play centre that had a proper cafe attached that served something other than fried food and rubbish snacks - more healthy snack options other than chocolate and crisps with good coffee and friendly staff. Also, maybe a system that had timed sessions of an hour.

Our favourite way to spend time as a family is at the beach or just in the garden - anything with no pressure as our children are young and can sometimes the pressure involved in trying to have fun if you've paid for something can end up ruining it for everyone.

letsgetreadytoramble · 01/09/2013 11:14

My son is 13 months and thinks that all soft play areas are magical places of wonder. For me, they're an affordable way for me and his dad to have some fun with him and to get out of the house for a while. And as long as they have tea (and cake) on the menu, I'm happy... :0)

Other things we like to do are go to the park, go to our local Bookbug sessions at the library and read books together. We sometimes go swimming but he always seems to catch something there so it's not my favourite activity. I'd love to take him to the zoo, to deep sea world, to castles etc, but cost is an issue. Maybe if I stopped spending so much on cake...

AllSWornOut · 01/09/2013 14:05

Family bike rides and going to the park.

Soft play is great for cold and wet winter days when you just don't fancy running around in the rain.

jenny77 · 01/09/2013 15:05

We love swimming, going to the beach, picking mushrooms or brambles and having discos in the house. Looking forward to the children being able to go for longer walks - but we are always busyGrin

xxxkadzxxx · 01/09/2013 15:33

Both of my children love soft play centers and i think they are perfect for a rainy day. I am unable to take them as much as they would like as they are so expensive to enter and a lot of my local centres also charge for adult entry as well! Food and drinks cost the earth and we are unable to take our own in!
I don't particularly enjoy taking the children as they are noisy places with little to do for adults but i go for the kids not for myself and i just ensure that i don't forget my book when i am visiting! I think they should offer free wifi for the adults to use, i'm sure it would bring much more custom.
I haven't been to one which has stood out for doing anything different to others except from one near me has a bubble machine with light beams which operates every half an hour which the children love.
I think Bassetts offering free play is a great idea but unfortunately i wont be using the voucher as my nearest participating soft play center is 30 miles from where i live.
As a family, we have lots of favourite activites. We enjoy going to the cinema, woods, park, taking the dog for walks, going on days out to local activity parks, going to the zoo, beach etc. As activities and days out are all so expensive now a days, I try to take them for a 'proper' day out at least once a fortnight in the holidays and stick to the free activites with a picnic on the other days as demonstrated above.
I am a lucky Mummy and my children are pretty easy going, they are happy doing anything really-indoors and out! :)

Catmint · 01/09/2013 15:49

We love getting our warm gear on in autumn and going for walks in woods, kicking up the fallen leaves and spotting weird fungi. Best of all is den building and then drinking our flask of tomato soup in celebration of a job well done. Smile

Catmint · 01/09/2013 15:51

I forgot to say, our favourite soft play is Cyril's Nut Hut in Long Eaton.

julesjam · 01/09/2013 16:09

Our new favourite thing is going for a 'family cycle'.

Me and Dh on our bikes, dd1 on hers and dd2 on the child seat on dad's. We're lucky enough that we can cycle from our house through short cuts to the woods and then to a wee grassy playpark next to a reservoir.

It's good exercise, fresh air and we all enjoy it.

julesjam · 01/09/2013 16:11

Also I don't love soft play - it's often noisy, sticky, the food/coffee is poor and I worry about safety. We go sometimes, but I can never relax when we're there and I tend to avoid it.

Princessdivaaa · 01/09/2013 17:46

Swimming, soft play, parks and picnics..

Happiestinwellybobs · 01/09/2013 19:52

Favourite family activity is something that we can all do - and that includes the dog. So walks in the park, with a trip to the swings and slides, blackberry picking at this time of year, visits to farms, picnics on the beach, feeding the ducks and very recently a brilliant day out at the wild boar park near to us.

If its raining we don our coats and wellies!

We like soft play but only really mid week and in term time as our local ones get very busy. We do play dates at a couple near us. I can chat with friends with my little one gets on with the serious business of climbing, sliding and running off all of her energy.

Happiestinwellybobs · 01/09/2013 19:52

Favourite family activity is something that we can all do - and that includes the dog. So walks in the park, with a trip to the swings and slides, blackberry picking at this time of year, visits to farms, picnics on the beach, feeding the ducks and very recently a brilliant day out at the wild boar park near to us.

If its raining we don our coats and wellies!

We like soft play but only really mid week and in term time as our local ones get very busy. We do play dates at a couple near us. I can chat with friends with my little one gets on with the serious business of climbing, sliding and running off all of her energy.

DelayedActionMouseMaker · 01/09/2013 19:56

So, what are your favourite family activities? We are outdoor people, so this year we've been doing a lot of 'wild' swimming (lake, river and sea swimming) which my eldest loves, (though takes a bit of getting used to as its very cold!!) and we're looking at doing some geo caching this winter.

Do you enjoy going to soft play sessions with your children? If so, why? If not, why not? I dont generally love them tbh, but in term time they are just about bearable, as long as we go in the mornings before it gets busy. In school holidays and at weekends??? Not if you paid me to go!!!

If you have been to one which really stood out as being ace, what made it so good? Once near us has a huge indoor space with areas for younger and older kids, an outdoor kart track, ice skating and an outdoor play area with huge sand pit and water pump and an animal area. For £5 each for the kids and £2 for me we can spend the whole day there if we so wish. It's very good and almost has me converted to soft play places!! :)

Puppypoppet · 01/09/2013 20:50

Favourite family activities include bike rides, eating out and going to the beach. DD also enjoys meeting her friends at the park. As DD is almost 11 she has grown out of soft play now. I didn't find them particularly enjoyable as I found they tended to be too chaotic - children going the wrong way up slides, running about bashing into others etc. The cafes were usually overpriced and poor quality - the coffee often very poor. Also from the age of 2 to about 6 DD would not go on the slides etc without me because she found it too noisy.
2 softplay I didn't mind going to were crazy tykes at Thorp Arch as it usually was well supervised - staff would say something if children were acting dangerously (to be fair it should be the parents) and the homemade cakes were nice and Creepy Crawlies at Wigginton York because there was a great variety of outdoor activities available such ad go-karts, ice skating, farm animals to look at etc.

GetKnitted · 01/09/2013 21:07

We love taking the bikes and a picnic to the park, this year has been great for picnics :) We do enjoy going to soft play because the kids can get a good run around whatever the weather, I don't have to worry that my only just 2 year old is about to fall over and you can even have a cup of coffee. The most exciting ones are in taller buildings, they can fit in a longer slide or two, but our local one has a really nice 2-4's area which is exciting enough for a little one when there are too many big kids in the more adventurous end.

UKcanuck · 01/09/2013 21:19

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?

Favourite family activities: anything outdoorsy, we are frequent wood-walkers, cyclists and swimmers. Give us a park and a football and we're happy; a beach, even better.

Soft-play areas: mine are getting a bit big but they used to love going to these. The 9year old still asks to go and enjoys them but the 12 and 15 year old are getting too cool now! We liked Gambado's near Watford. I enjoyed taking them to play areas, too - a chance for a coffee and a read or a catchup with a friend.

Witchesbrewandbiscuits · 01/09/2013 21:32

we enjoy soft play, especially in winter when outdoor activities are limited.

ones that stand out are ones with a choice of slides, sensory activities, climbing walls, go karts, football pitches, and good food!

we also enjoy swimming, baking, days out, crafts.

MrsH2010 · 01/09/2013 21:37

Favourite activity is just all being together - whether reading, walking the dog, building a den in the living room- time together is the most important.
I've been put off soft play areas in some cases as they can be fairly expensive as a regular outing for several kids, and can often be crammed with parents more interested in having a sit down than watching that their children are behaving properly towards others, especially to little ones. One of the best I've been to was in fact the smallest- and that is part of what made it great. With several kids to watch it made it easier and contained to do so easily and safely without being strung out, and meant that the kids and I played together too whilst there. Sometimes warehouse sized soft play areas are just too much room/ space/ choice for it to be good!