A screen free afternoon · Tips
A screen free afternoon in Mount Juliet: things worth doing differently
None of this is complicated. All of it is the difference between a good hour and a difficult one.
Screen free is easy to say on a Saturday morning and hard to do by two in the afternoon.
The drive back to Mount Juliet is where you find out what they actually thought. Children review an outing about twenty minutes after leaving it, never during.
Before you leave the house
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.
Count on the drive home being the conversation. Children tell you what they actually thought about twenty minutes after leaving.
When you arrive
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.
While you are there
Screen free is easy to say on a Saturday morning and hard to do by two in the afternoon.
Let the child choose what to do first even when it is the thing you would have chosen last. The order matters less than the choosing.
On the way home
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.
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.
Where is New Life Entertainment?
Two centres: 433 Opry Mills Drive, Nashville TN 37214, and 8111 Concord Mills Blvd, Concord NC 28027.
Planning your visit in Mount Juliet
Families searching from Mount Juliet are usually weighing one thing: whether it is worth the trip for an hour of something the children have not done before. The honest answer is that it depends on the child, and the rest of this page is about telling which.
Bring a snack for afterwards rather than during. Hungry children leave early and full children want to stay.
Take the photographs early. The best ones happen in the first fifteen minutes, before anybody is tired.
If you are coming from Mount Juliet, 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 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.