Visiting with a toddler · Tips
Visiting with a toddler in Donelson: what experienced parents do
The things nobody tells you until you have done it twice.
Bring the things that end visits early if they are missing: a drink, a snack for afterwards and a spare layer.
From Donelson the practical question is timing rather than distance. Arriving in the first hour after opening is worth more than shaving minutes off the drive.
Before you leave the house
With a toddler the plan is short and simple. One thing, done properly, beats three things rushed.
Agree the leaving time before you walk in, out loud, to the child. Announcing it later sounds like a punishment; agreeing it first sounds like a plan.
When you arrive
Toddlers rarely want the machine. They want the balls, the colours and the noise, and that is a complete visit at that age.
Go at the quietest hour you can manage. A toddler reads a busy room as a loud room and gets tired twice as fast.
While you are there
Bring the things that end visits early if they are missing: a drink, a snack for afterwards and a spare layer.
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
With a toddler the plan is short and simple. One thing, done properly, beats three things rushed.
Toddlers rarely want the machine. They want the balls, the colours and the noise, and that is a complete visit at that age.
Questions parents ask
Is there anything for very young children?
The ball pit holds their attention on its own, and on the ice side the cars need no skating.
How long will a toddler last?
Plan for less than you think and leave while they still want more.
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 Donelson
For a Donelson family the trip works best folded into something else - the shopping that was happening anyway, a birthday that needed a venue, a Saturday that needed a plan.
Take the phone out of your pocket before they start rather than after. The moment worth filming is usually the first one.
If two children are visiting together, plan for them to split up. Doing different things in the same room is the point of a room with different things in it.
A Donelson school holiday runs out of ideas by about day three. This is a day-three answer rather than a day-one one.
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.