There is nothing worse than waking up on a Saturday or Sunday morning looking out the window and just seeing pure misery. I thought I would crawl the internet for some ideas on days out in winter.
Pudding loves staying indoors as much as he loves going out and about. The only issue with staying in all day is that he loves reading the same books and the same films. I can only watch Polar Express (the worse film I think I’ve ever watched) barley once, left along 5000 times.
I’ve come up with a list below. Granted, these will all be located near us but hopefully, the list will give you some ideas.
Intu Lakeside Shopping Centre
What’s not to like?! There are over 250 shops (including Marks and Spencer, House of Fraser and Primark), 50 cafes and restaurants, and a 26-acre (110,000 m2) lake. At the beginning of 2019, a new entertainment complex opened which includes Nickelodeon Adventures.
This new Indoor Entertainment Center will provide 50,000 square feet of pure entertainment. It will be highly interactive with a large variety of adventure zones. Dedicated space for the younger members of the family, numerous attractions and Nickelodeon-themed rooms perfect for birthday parties and family get-togethers.
There will be great experiences such as character meet-and-greets featuring some of Nickelodeon’s best-loved characters, such as SpongeBob SquarePants, Dora the Explorer, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and PAW Patrol.
Adventure Island (Southend)
Originally called Peter Pans Adventure Island I can recall many of my childhood memories at this place.
The park contains thirty-three rides, retail outlets, and numerous catering outlets including a Rainforest Cafe. We have been here with Pudding earlier this year and he loved every minute.
There is also an inside part of the park too. There are 5 storeys of unmissable soft-play, 4 fun-tastic rides and tons of arcade machines.
Pudding has been to the soft play a few times and loves them. However, he also loves to drag us into them too. I wouldn’t mind but I’m not the healthiest of people *note to self, loss some timber* and I’m a complete sweaty mess after 5 minutes.
After we’re all worn out running around the place, we’d head off for some chips and maybe a walk along the pier. The pier extends 1.34 miles into the Thames Estuary, it is the longest pleasure pier in the world.
Gruffalo Trail
Only good when it’s not raining but we love this. We go to our local trail at Thordon Park all the time even when it’s raining. There are plenty of these trails around the country. Click here to find your local one – https://www.forestryengland.uk/gruffalo
Even if Pudding isn’t too bothered about hunting down the gang, a nice long walk in a beautiful woodland is just perfect for a winter Sunday morning.
Trampoline Park
When Pudding came to us in Feb 2019 he didn’t know how to jump or even kick a ball now the kid doesn’t stop jumping.
We haven’t taken Pudding to one yet, but I have taken my oldest nephew who absolutely loved it.
The nearest one to us is in Lakeside called https://www.jumpgiants.com/. Luckily, they have sessions for under 12’s which Pudding can attend. They generally run these sessions in the morning for an hour (10 am-11 am)
Jump Giants was one of the first indoor trampoline parks in the UK. It offers over 50,000 square feet of interconnected trampolines with state-of-the-art equipment, including the world’s first 8 lane entry foam zone, dodgeball court, slam dunk lanes, ‘free’ jump area, fitness programs, party rooms and a café area.
This is a definite and one to do this winter.
SEA LIFE Centre London Aquarium
This is an absolute MUST! I have been to SEA LIFE Centre London Aquarium a few times and bloody love it.
The Sea Life London Aquarium is located on the South Bank of the River Thames in central London, near the London Eye. It opened in March 1997 as the London Aquarium and hosts about one million visitors each year.
We’ve taken Pudding to our local Sea Life Centre in Southend. He loved seeing all the fishes and different marine life but it was rather small, well smaller than the London one.
I’m not going to lie, it’s fucking expensive. You can get a discounted entrance price online but it will still cost us 3 £105. Not sure that this attraction is family cost-friendly but we will take Pudding one day