Group visit · Seasonal
Group visit in Green Hills: the school holidays plans
Written for this time of year specifically.
It works as a reward trip, an end of term outing, or the indoor half of a day that has an outdoor half somewhere else.
If Green Hills 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.
Why this time of year
Teachers get an activity where children take turns without being told to, because the machines and the cars enforce turns by existing in limited numbers.
Group visits are worth arranging in advance so the centre knows how many are coming and when - a call does it.
What changes
For a class group the appeal is that the activity explains itself. No briefing, no equipment to hand out, no rules that take ten minutes to teach.
Tell a nervous child what is going to happen in the order it will happen. Surprise is the thing they mind, not the activity.
What to wear
It works as a reward trip, an end of term outing, or the indoor half of a day that has an outdoor half somewhere else.
Teachers get an activity where children take turns without being told to, because the machines and the cars enforce turns by existing in limited numbers.
Planning around it
Group visits are worth arranging in advance so the centre knows how many are coming and when - a call does it.
Bring a spare layer even in summer. Malls are air conditioned, rinks are colder than that, and a cold child is a child who wants to go home.
Questions parents ask
Can school groups visit?
Call ahead and arrange it: +1 (615) 968-4925 or info@newlife-entertainment.com.
Is it educational?
Working an arm on levers is hand eye coordination, cause and effect and patience, whatever you call it on the form.
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 Green Hills
The nearest of the two centres to Green Hills is the one to aim at - Opry Mills in Nashville - and the drive is the ordinary sort rather than an expedition.
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.
Warn a nervous child about the noise before you walk in. Knowing what to expect is most of the difference between anxious and curious.
Plenty of the families in the room on a weekday morning have come from somewhere like Green Hills. Nobody is local to a mall attraction; everybody has driven.
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
The two centres are at 433 Opry Mills Drive in Nashville and 8111 Concord Mills Blvd in Concord, open 10:00 AM to 8:00 PM most days and 11:00 AM to 6:00 PM on Sunday.