Location - Glasgow With Kids

Wonderworld Soft Play

Wonderworld Soft Play in Kinning Park is one of our other second homes (after the science centre & the park). It’s where we go if we’re at a loose end. In fact, it’s probably my favourite soft play area in Glasgow. We were back a few days ago and I realised I have never written about it. (I was sure I had. Baby brain strikes again).

The Play Area

It’s huge. Seriously. Last week we ended up in a bit we’ve never been in before. And we’ve been here, a lot.

The main play frame has at least 3 big, fast slides (one of which is almost vertical) plus those twisty tunnel slides that it’s impossible to get down with a toddler. There’s a big area to run around in over 3 levels, a bunch of trampolines, foam ball shooters, bridges & probably loads other stuff that we haven’t found yet. The slides in the main area are too fast & too big for the little lady to go by herself yet (as are the other children).

The toddler area is one of the best we’ve played in. It’s big enough for the little lady (who’s 22 months) to happily play in for a while, and she’ll go up the play frame & down the slide by herself. There’s a decent sized ball pool (big enough for a random 6ish year old to hide in & make you kack your pants when they leap out at you making zombie noises), some cars & a good bit of floor space with soft blocks etc to keep the very littles happy.

There’s also a go-kart track and a football pitch. And over the other side of the massive warehouse room there’s another slide that looks like a volcano. The little lady is way too small for it, but there are kids crawling up it & rolling down it constantly. Looks fun.

The Cafe

The food is pretty standard for soft play. But they have a Starbucks inside which is a winner for me; you can’t beat a chai tea latte. They also have a pretty good cake selection.

When you walk in there’s an ocean of tables and chairs facing you. I’ve never had a problem getting a table (although we usually avoid peak times so I can’t speak for what it’s like on weekends & in really busy periods).

The Cost

It’s free for under 1’s at any time. It costs £4 for under 3’s & £5.50 for over 3’s off-peak. They get unlimited play. It’s a bit more expensive at peak times (£5.50 & £6.95) for 2 hrs play.

The Verdict

It’s huge and there’s loads to keep kids (young and old) entertained. They have regular toddler mornings on Tuesday’s with entertainment which are pretty good. And like I said before, chai tea lattes.

Wonderworld is at 99 Middlesex St, Glasgow, G41 1EE.

Jollytots and Cookies

A friend was out in Uddingston the other day, and went to Jollytots and Cookies with her daughter. She very kindly wrote a great review for the page. Thank you so much Aileen! Here it is! Cost It costs £3 for an hour and a half play time. Pretty standard for soft play but there’s not as …

First Steps To Music

We were at our lovely little music class this morning – First Steps to Music. We’ve been going for over a year now & my little lady loves it.

The Class

First Steps to Music is a music class created and run by Katie, an early years musician. It has lots of singing, lots of rhyming, shakers, puppets, drums, marching, teddies & violin playing.

The class is great fun for the little ones. It is relaxed & the kids love all the props that are used.

But it’s also very structured. I think that’s probably partly why my little lady has picked so much up from the class. She constantly sings, tunefully, (with just ‘la la la’s’ instead of words, mostly) the songs from the class at home. Her favourites are ‘Knock, knock, knock, Who’s in the box…’ (the ‘who’ is usually a finger puppet in the class, but she sings it to whomever has the audacity to lock the bathroom door at home), and ‘Lets go a-walking…’ (excellent for getting her to walk properly along a pavement!) The kids learn to tap along with a beat too, amongst other things. They learn pretty quickly what they’re supposed to do and at what point. It’s quite amazing to see actually!

The Cost

The class runs in terms & you need to book a term in advance. It works out at £5 per class.

The Verdict

Katie is great with the kids. The class is really fun for them, but at the same time you can almost see them learning!

Classes are quite small and as far as I can tell the people who start the class (including ourselves) tend to keep going for a long time. I think that pretty much says everything!

The Details

It’s on in St Mary’s Cathedral on Monday mornings, and in Wellington Church on Saturday mornings. (Both in the West End around Woodlands). There are baby, toddler & pre-school classes available.

All info can be found on the First Steps To Music website

Play Town Soft Play

We took a wee trip out to Bishopbriggs to meet a lovely mummy & toddler friend last week, and thought we’d all check out Play Town Soft Play whilst we were there.

The Play Area

The baby/toddler area is pretty good. There’s a little ball pool, quite a few toys, a soft see-saw & an area to clamber up & round to get to the slide. It’s easy enough for a toddler to get round, and there are plenty toys to entertain a tiny tot too.

The main play frame is great. There are 3 levels with bits to freely run around and a couple of slides, one of which ends in a big ball pool. There’s also a mini flying fox & quite a few different bits to climb around.

This was the first time my little lady ever wanted to play by herself in a soft play area :’-( so it gave me a slightly different perspective than I’ve had before. (I know, I’m becoming ever more obsolete with each passing day.) Anyway, the play frame is not huge, but a toddler (well, most toddlers – at least ones who haven’t the climbing abilities of Spiderman) can run around the different levels without getting to the big slides. That meant I could sit and have a chat, obviously whilst paying attention. It also meant that I could actually unclench a little and let her run around without worrying too much.

It was quiet when we were there. But it was a midweek morning when schools were in so that’s not surprising!

The Food

The food is pretty standard soft play food – there’s sandwiches, toasties, paninis, potatoes, soup… The usual suspects. The kids menu is not what I’d like to see, but I say the same thing about pretty much every soft play we go to. We had a panini, which actually was quite nice. It’s pretty reasonably priced too.

The Cost

It was £3.50 entry for us. It’s £4.50 for kids ages 4+ and £1 for babies up to age 1.

The Verdict

It was the perfect soft play for the toddler at this age (21 months). It was clean & the staff were friendly. I actually really liked it, and so did my little lady!

Play Town Soft Play is at 30 Wellington Road, Bishopbriggs

Jungle In The City – CLOSED

We had a spare hour the other day and decided to pop into Jungle In The City soft play in Glasgow West End. It’s in Partick, and it’s so close to us that I can’t believe I’ve never been before! The Play Area The play area is in a few parts: there’s a play frame, a big …

Chatelherault Country Park

Chatelherault Park is one of my favourite places on earth. Walking through it’s big, beautiful, ancient forest makes me feel like I’ve gone back in time. We go here with our dogs quite a lot, especially during the week when it’s quiet. Some days you can walk for an hour hardly seeing another person! (Bit …

The Messy Place in Bishopbriggs

Sadly The Messy Place is now closed.

We’d been meaning to check out The Messy Place in Bishopbriggs for ages. I’d heard great things about it & so we met our toddler & mummy friend there for some messy play time.

The Messy Place is exactly what it sounds like it’s going to be. Messy play for kids up to age 6. Very messy, in fact. But in a really good way. With the exception of painting & play doh, it’s pretty much all the stuff that I want my little lady to be able to do, but that makes such a mess we tend not to do in the house.

Each week is themed. It was construction week when we went along, so there were lots of diggers and trucks and spades and other construction themed toys in each of the play trays. As for the play trays… There was play doh, painting, a water table, sand pit, ice tray, craft table, and a tray with wood shavings to dig around in. So much for the kids to do. It really is fantastic.

There is a class structure. So there’s free play for most of the time, followed by a group activity (this week we made construction themed paintings using sponge stampers). Then you’ve got a bit of ‘clean-up-the-toddlers’ time and a few songs at the end.

The kids all get painting overalls at the beginning and there are loads of clean towels should you need them. It’s definitely worthwhile taking a change of clothes though – at least for the top half. Because messy is the key word!

Sessions last 1 hour and take place Monday – Thursday at 10.30am and 1pm, and on Fridays at 10.30am.

It costs £5 for the session (£2.50 for additional siblings) and mummies/daddies get a cuppa. Well worth it. The kids have an absolute ball.

Due to high demand, you have to book your place in advance now. (Nobody wants to go along to be told there’s no space for your kid!) you can do that by sending a message via The Messy Place facebook page.

The Messy Place is located in Bishopbriggs at 21 Park Avenue.

Some Triking at Free Wheel North

We checked out Free Wheel North recently. Most people I speak to haven’t heard of it, but it’s a fantastic charity run cycling centre down at Glasgow Green next to the big sandy playpark & climbing frames across from the templeton building. If you’ve been down there you’ve probably seen it; you just didn’t know …

The Hunterian Museum

We’ve been doing a lot of museum-ing recently, since Spring decided it wasn’t quite ready to come out yet.

So last week we took a wee wander around the Hunterian Museum, in Glasgow University. I hadn’t been since I was a student and unsurprisingly, it was a bit of a different experience with a toddler!

There’s nothing at all interactive & not much that would peak the interest of a typical toddler. Most of the exhibits are up much higher than the eye level of small children too.

But it’s free, it’s nice & warm and since toddlers are happy as long as they’re free to roam, it’s good for an hour on a rainy day. It’s a pretty good place for a game of peek-a-boo.

hunterian-museum-glasgow2

You might even get to look at something if you have a toddler that doesn’t run away at every possible opportunity.

Note: The radiators run around the bottom of the railing on the top level. And they’re really hot. Make sure your toddler doesn’t think it’s a seat.

The Hunterian Museum: The University of Glasgow, University Avenue, Glasgow, G12 8

A Run Around GoMA

If you’re in town and need something to do, GoMA (the Gallery of Modern Art is perfect for a wee indoor run around with the toddler. We were meeting a friend in town for some grub & decided to let my little lady roam free for a little while before we headed to the restaurant where …

Sporty Kidz Thornliebank

We met a friend at Sporty Kidz soft play over in the South Side the other day. Having been to the one in Maryhill (and thinking it was great) I thought that the Spiersbridge Rd Sporty Kids would be much the same. Well, it was and it wasn’t… The Play Area The first thing I …

Review: Mummy Massage Meetup

A lovely mummy friend organised a Mummy Massage Meetup last week. It was my first Mummy Massage Meetup experience, and man, was it nice! Firstly, you might ask what on earth a Mummy Massage Meetup actually is? Well, it’s basically a playdate: a regular playdate for the babies/toddlers/kids, but with a half hour back, neck, …

Pigeon Chasing

George Square is always good for a run around if you’re in town & at a loose end!

Note: The pigeons are pretty gallus & will definitely follow a toddler around if said toddler has a biscuit in his/her hand!

A little bit of charity shopping

We popped into Birth, Baby & Beyond on Dumbarton Rd in passing a few days ago for a wee look. We only had a few minutes, but managed a pretty decent haul: laptop & guitar toys, converse, shorts & leg-warmers. All for £14. They are a non profit who help families in the Greater Glasgow …

Gambado Glasgow – CLOSED

We’ve been meaning to go along for a while to Gambado soft play at Braehead, as we’d heard lots of great things. So we went to try it out at the weekend. The play area It was smaller than I expected (especially for the price). Toddler area was good (and gated) – it had a …

Jo Jingles

We checked out the Jo Jingles class in Partick this week. It was numbers week & so we did lots of numbers songs (obviously!) with castanets, tambourines, pom poms… It felt more educational and maybe slightly less fun than other classes we’ve been to. Not that it wasn’t fun, because it really was; my little …

The Glasgow Science Centre

We took our first (long awaited, in my case) trip to the Science Centre at the weekend. Full disclosure: I worked there when I was a student, and I loved it, and I’m also a tiny bit of a science geek, so my review may not be entirely unbiased. But anyway, the review. Where do …

People’s Palace & Winter Gardens

We checked out the People’s Palace & Winter Gardens a few days ago.

The Museum

Apart from being a place to run around in, the museum itself doesn’t really cater for young kids. There isn’t much for them to do & we didn’t come across any interactive exhibits or anything at all aimed at young kids.

However since stomping around on her own little mission is my little lady’s favourite thing in the world, it didn’t really matter.

Her favourite thing in the museum was the giant Clyde mascot which she attempted to climb a pillar to get to, and had a tantrum when she was unsuccessful.

The Winter Gardens & Cafe

The Winter Gardens are really nice. It’s warm, there are a lot of plants for a toddler to sniff and there’s a good bit of space to run around in.

The Winter Gardens are my new favourite place to meet up with mummy friends & their babies/toddlers. It’s reasonably central; there’s so much space (plenty space for a bunch of prams), loads of high chairs; and loud toddler voices get lost in the vastness of the giant greenhouse!

The food is decent & they have a nice selection of cakes. And their scones are pretty damn good.

Turtle Tots Baby Swimming

It was certificate day at our Turtle Tots swimming class today. That’s us completed the level 2 toddler course, and we’ve been going to Turtle Tots for over a year, so I figured it was probably about time I did a review.

The Class

It was almost 16 months ago we started going, but I remember our first Turtle Tots class like it was yesterday. The Little Lady was about 12 weeks old and I wasn’t allowed to go in the pool yet (section took a while longer than it should’ve to heal) so her daddy took her instead whilst I sat and watched. There was lots of singing, with Hickory Dickory Dock where the baby goes up the clock being a definite favourite.

She was slightly nonplussed with being in the pool, but our teacher, Kim, was great. I enjoyed watching it, and my husband enjoyed the one-to-one time with her in the class, even if the Little Lady wasn’t overly enthused herself!

Her first submersion, about 4 classes in, was quite traumatic (for me) but again, she wasn’t that bothered. By the end of the term (and into the second term) I think she was the only kid who still cried after been dunked, but she was still happy to be in the pool.

As the classes and levels progressed you do a lot more with the babies, and use lots more equipment. Her favourite was always chasing the squirty fish around the pool, and in the earlier classes chewing on the foam mirror! She also always loved the singing.

In our most recent block she was jumping into the pool, holding onto the edge and monkey-monkeying (shuffling along the pool using her hands), kicking her legs, and we were doing submersions with her on my back holding on round my neck. She was also happy to be on her front in the water, kicking her legs with me just holding her hands.

The Venues

We’ve been to 4 of the venues over the past year and a bit. Some are better than others: some are in state of the art leisure centres and some are in schools – the facilities are obviously going to differ.

The Cost

It recently went up to £120 per term of 10 classes. That is pretty costly, but since the little lady and I (or the little lady and her daddy) have enjoyed the classes so much, and she has learned so much from them (and gotten lots of confidence in the water) I really think it’s been worthwhile.

The Verdict

It’s truly amazing seeing the progress of these tiny tots: jumping in, kicking their legs, using floats, holding onto the edge, going under water for a brief swim (and being happy about it) and really enjoying being in the pool! Not only has it given my Little Lady lots of confidence in the water, but it’s given me lots of confidence in taking her into the water too.

Her nursery recently took her swimming and they reported back that out of the 4 or 5 kids who were there that day, the Little Lady was the only one who was happy to jump in, who was kicking her legs and who was happy to be on her front in the water. Obviously I don’t know what she would’ve been like if she hadn’t gone to Turtle Tots classes, but I certainly wouldn’t have taken her swimming anywhere near as much.

As I said above, the classes are pretty costly – they’re the most expensive classes we’ve ever done, by quite a margin. But she and I, or she and her daddy have enjoyed them so much, and learned so much from them that I honestly think it’s been worthwhile.

Highly recommended.

The Details

Turtle Tots classes take place all over Glasgow and the surrounding areas. There’s bound to be a class near you. You can find more info on their facebook page & website.

Whale of a Time

The little lady and I took her Auntie to her first ever soft play the other day to let both of them have a run around! We took a trip to Whale Of A Time in Shawlands to try it out. The play area The toddler area is great. There’s a ball pool, a bunch …