Winter afternoons · Ages
Winter afternoons in Green Hills: is it right for a 6 year old?
What works brilliantly at one age is a shrug at another. Here is how it lands at this one.
Winter shrinks the list of things to do with children to whatever is indoors and warm, or indoors and cold on purpose.
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.
How it lands at this age
On the Nashville side the answer is the opposite - a warm room, a deep crate of balls and machines that do not care what the weather is doing.
The quietest hour of the week is the first one on a weekday morning in term time. The busiest is Saturday around midday.
What to plan for
An ice rink in winter is not the contradiction it sounds like: the cold is the attraction rather than the problem, and it lasts an hour rather than a day.
Dress for the room you are going to, not the car park you are crossing.
What parents notice
Winter shrinks the list of things to do with children to whatever is indoors and warm, or indoors and cold on purpose.
Warn a nervous child about the noise before you walk in. Knowing what to expect is most of the difference between anxious and curious.
Worth knowing
On the Nashville side the answer is the opposite - a warm room, a deep crate of balls and machines that do not care what the weather is doing.
An ice rink in winter is not the contradiction it sounds like: the cold is the attraction rather than the problem, and it lasts an hour rather than a day.
Questions parents ask
Is the rink cold?
It is a real rink, so yes. Layers and gloves make the difference.
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.
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.
Planning your visit in Green Hills
Nothing about the visit assumes you know the area. The centre is inside Opry Mills, which is signposted from everywhere in Nashville and impossible to miss once you are there.
Count on the drive home being the conversation. Children tell you what they actually thought about twenty minutes after leaving.
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.
Weekends bring more of Green Hills out at once. If the schedule allows a weekday, take it; the same visit is quieter and the machines wait for nobody in particular.
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.