Visiting with a toddler · First time
Visiting with a toddler in Lebanon: what happens the first time
A first visit has a shape to it, and knowing the shape takes most of the guesswork out.
With a toddler the plan is short and simple. One thing, done properly, beats three things rushed.
Families around Lebanon who have done it once tend to plan the second visit differently: shorter, earlier in the day, and with the machine the child liked in mind.
The first ten minutes
Go at the quietest hour you can manage. A toddler reads a busy room as a loud room and gets tired twice as fast.
Toddlers rarely want the machine. They want the balls, the colours and the noise, and that is a complete visit at that age.
What children do first
Bring the things that end visits early if they are missing: a drink, a snack for afterwards and a spare layer.
Take the photographs early. The best ones happen in the first fifteen minutes, before anybody is tired.
What usually goes wrong
With a toddler the plan is short and simple. One thing, done properly, beats three things rushed.
Go at the quietest hour you can manage. A toddler reads a busy room as a loud room and gets tired twice as fast.
Making the second visit better
Toddlers rarely want the machine. They want the balls, the colours and the noise, and that is a complete visit at that age.
Take the phone out of your pocket before they start rather than after. The moment worth filming is usually the first one.
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 Lebanon
Parents from Lebanon tend to ask the same first question: how long will this hold their attention. Long enough to be worth the drive, and short enough to leave while they still want more.
Count on the drive home being the conversation. Children tell you what they actually thought about twenty minutes after leaving.
If one child is nervous, let them watch for the first ten minutes without being asked to join in. Almost all of them join in.
Plenty of the families in the room on a weekday morning have come from somewhere like Lebanon. 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
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.