A screen free afternoon · Ages
A screen free afternoon in Antioch for toddlers
Age changes the answer more than anything else, so this one is written for a specific one.
Nobody has to ban anything. Children put the phone down on their own when the alternative is better.
A Antioch school holiday runs out of ideas by about day three. This is a day-three answer rather than a day-one one.
How it lands at this age
Screen free is easy to say on a Saturday morning and hard to do by two in the afternoon.
The feedback loop is the same one games use - do a thing, see a result, adjust - except it happens with hands, in a room, with other people watching.
What to plan for
What replaces a screen has to be more interesting than a screen, which rules out most of the obvious answers. A machine a child actually controls is one of the few that works.
Bring a spare layer even in summer. Malls are air conditioned, rinks are colder than that, and a cold child is a child who wants to go home.
What parents notice
Nobody has to ban anything. Children put the phone down on their own when the alternative is better.
Screen free is easy to say on a Saturday morning and hard to do by two in the afternoon.
Worth knowing
The feedback loop is the same one games use - do a thing, see a result, adjust - except it happens with hands, in a room, with other people watching.
Photograph the machine as well as the child. In two years you will have forgotten what the room looked like.
Questions parents ask
Is there screen time involved?
The machines are levers and cables. The ice is ice.
Where is New Life Entertainment?
Two centres: 433 Opry Mills Drive, Nashville TN 37214, and 8111 Concord Mills Blvd, Concord NC 28027.
What are the opening hours?
10:00 AM to 8:00 PM Monday to Saturday, and 11:00 AM to 6:00 PM on Sunday.
Planning your visit in Antioch
Coming in from Antioch with more than one child, the useful thing to know is that the room does not need to be rationed - there is more than one thing to do at the same time.
A birthday group runs better with a rough plan of who goes where first, even if you abandon it in the first five minutes.
The quietest hour of the week is the first one on a weekday morning in term time. The busiest is Saturday around midday.
If you are coming from Antioch, treat it as a cross-town outing rather than a day trip. Go with a return time in mind and the day stays easy.
The practical details
- XCAV ZONE — 433 Opry Mills Drive, Nashville TN 37214: four child-operated machines over a ball pit.
- ICE PARK — 8111 Concord Mills Blvd, Concord NC 28027: a real rink with bumper cars on the ice.
- Opening hours — 10:00 AM to 8:00 PM Monday to Saturday, 11:00 AM to 6:00 PM on Sunday.
- Phone — +1 (424) 387-6232 · +1 (615) 968-4925
- E-mail — info@newlife-entertainment.com
The two centres are at 433 Opry Mills Drive in Nashville and 8111 Concord Mills Blvd in Concord, open 10:00 AM to 8:00 PM most days and 11:00 AM to 6:00 PM on Sunday.