A screen free afternoon · Compare
A screen free afternoon in Mooresville: how it compares to other indoor days out
Comparing like for like: what this gives you that the alternatives do not, and where the alternatives win.
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 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.
What it does differently
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.
Where other options win
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.
Two shorter visits teach a child more than one long one. The second time they already know what they want to try, and that is when the good part starts.
How to decide
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.
Nobody has to ban anything. Children put the phone down on their own when the alternative is better.
The short version
Screen free is easy to say on a Saturday morning and hard to do by two in the afternoon.
If it is the first time, do not also make it a birthday. Learning a place and celebrating in it are two different visits.
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 Mooresville
Coming in from Mooresville 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.
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.
Feed them first. Every attraction in the world is improved by not being hungry in it.
If Mooresville is home, this is the sort of place you end up returning to rather than ticking off. That changes what a first visit is worth planning around.
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.