A screen free afternoon · Seasonal
A screen free afternoon in spring in Goodlettsville
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.
Plenty of the families in the room on a weekday morning have come from somewhere like Goodlettsville. Nobody is local to a mall attraction; everybody has driven.
Why this time of year
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 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 changes
Nobody has to ban anything. Children put the phone down on their own when the alternative is better.
Take the phone out of your pocket before they start rather than after. The moment worth filming is usually the first one.
What to wear
Screen free is easy to say on a Saturday morning and hard to do by two in the afternoon.
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.
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.
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.
Questions parents ask
Is there screen time involved?
The machines are levers and cables. The ice is ice.
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.
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 Goodlettsville
If you are coming from Goodlettsville, treat it as a cross-town outing rather than a day trip. Go with a return time in mind and the day stays easy.
If two adults are coming, split up rather than shadowing the same child. One at the rail, one free, and everybody has a better hour.
Bring a snack for afterwards rather than during. Hungry children leave early and full children want to stay.
The drive back to Goodlettsville is where you find out what they actually thought. Children review an outing about twenty minutes after leaving it, never during.
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.