A screen free afternoon · First time
A screen free afternoon in Lebanon: what happens the first time
A first visit has a shape to it, and knowing the shape takes most of the guesswork out.
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.
If you are coming from Lebanon, 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 first ten minutes
Nobody has to ban anything. Children put the phone down on their own when the alternative is better.
Check the day of the week against the closing time before you leave. Sunday finishes earlier than the rest of the week and catches people out.
What children do first
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.
Screen free is easy to say on a Saturday morning and hard to do by two in the afternoon.
What usually goes wrong
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.
Go early if the choice is available. The first hour after opening is quieter than any hour that follows it, and quieter is easier for everybody.
Making the second visit better
Nobody has to ban anything. Children put the phone down on their own when the alternative is better.
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.
Questions parents ask
Is there screen time involved?
The machines are levers and cables. The ice is ice.
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.
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 Lebanon
Weekends bring more of Lebanon out at once. If the schedule allows a weekday, take it; the same visit is quieter and the machines wait for nobody in particular.
If one child is nervous, let them watch for the first ten minutes without being asked to join in. Almost all of them join in.
Take the photographs early. The best ones happen in the first fifteen minutes, before anybody is tired.
A Lebanon school holiday runs out of ideas by about day three. This is a day-three answer rather than a day-one one.
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
If a visit needs planning around a date, a group or a long drive, the centre is easiest to reach by phone: +1 (424) 387-6232 or +1 (615) 968-4925.