A screen free afternoon · Guide
A screen free afternoon in Donelson: everything worth knowing
Everything below is the sort of thing you would want to know before the drive rather than after it.
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.
Families around Donelson who have done it once tend to plan the second visit differently: shorter, earlier in the day, and with the machine the child liked in mind.
What it actually is
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.
Take the phone out of your pocket before they start rather than after. The moment worth filming is usually the first one.
Who it suits
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.
What to expect
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.
Feed them first. Every attraction in the world is improved by not being hungry in it.
Before you go
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.
Nobody has to ban anything. Children put the phone down on their own when the alternative is better.
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.
How do I get in touch?
By phone on +1 (424) 387-6232 or +1 (615) 968-4925, or by e-mail at info@newlife-entertainment.com.
Planning your visit in Donelson
The drive back to Donelson is where you find out what they actually thought. Children review an outing about twenty minutes after leaving it, never during.
If two children are visiting together, plan for them to split up. Doing different things in the same room is the point of a room with different things in it.
A short visit that ends while they still want more beats a long one that ends in a meltdown, every time.
Nothing about the visit assumes you know the area. The centre is inside Opry Mills, which is signposted from everywhere in Nashville and impossible to miss once you are there.
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
Anything time critical is worth a phone call first: hours are 10:00 AM to 8:00 PM Monday to Saturday and 11:00 AM to 6:00 PM on Sunday.