A screen free afternoon · Seasonal
A screen free afternoon in Hermitage: the summer break plans
Written for this time of year specifically.
Screen free is easy to say on a Saturday morning and hard to do by two in the afternoon.
Families around Hermitage 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.
Why this time of year
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.
Bring a snack for afterwards rather than during. Hungry children leave early and full children want to stay.
What changes
Nobody has to ban anything. Children put the phone down on their own when the alternative is better.
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.
What to wear
Screen free is easy to say on a Saturday morning and hard to do by two in the afternoon.
Take the phone out of your pocket before they start rather than after. The moment worth filming is usually the first one.
Planning around it
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.
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 Hermitage
If you are coming from Hermitage, treat it as a cross-town outing rather than a day trip. Go with a return time in mind and the day stays easy.
Do not schedule anything immediately afterwards. An hour of concentrated play is tiring in a way that shows up in the car park, not in the room.
Count on the drive home being the conversation. Children tell you what they actually thought about twenty minutes after leaving.
Plenty of the families in the room on a weekday morning have come from somewhere like Hermitage. Nobody is local to a mall attraction; everybody has driven.
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
Questions about a specific day, a group or a party are best asked directly - info@newlife-entertainment.com, or either of the numbers on the contacts page.