A screen free afternoon · Story
A screen free afternoon in Mooresville: a visit described
What it actually looks like when a family walks in.
Screen free is easy to say on a Saturday morning and hard to do by two in the afternoon.
Plenty of the families in the room on a weekday morning have come from somewhere like Mooresville. Nobody is local to a mall attraction; everybody has driven.
Walking in
Nobody has to ban anything. Children put the phone down on their own when the alternative is better.
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.
The middle of the visit
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 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.
The last ten minutes
Screen free is easy to say on a Saturday morning and hard to do by two in the afternoon.
Feed them first. Every attraction in the world is improved by not being hungry in it.
What sticks
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.
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 Mooresville
The nearest of the two centres to Mooresville is the one to aim at - Concord Mills in Concord - and the drive is the ordinary sort rather than an expedition.
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.
Bring a snack for afterwards rather than during. Hungry children leave early and full children want to stay.
Families around Mooresville 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.
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.