Jack in the Box was a regular on our days out list when my children were both younger; I think it’s one of the best soft play centres in the area and I remember the food always being amazing too. When I heard they had opened a new role play centre upstairs I grabbed my little nephews and headed in to check it out.
My nephews are aged 2 and 4, both full of energy and imagination. On a rainy day this was a fantastic activity to take them to. My 9 year old daughter was also intrigued and came along with us, but I think she actually enjoyed it the most out of them all!
Jack’s village is a miniature town, full of lots of different shops and settings to explore, all set around a ‘road’ with a village green and ice cream van in the middle. We’ve been to a few imagination play centres before but this was a completely different experience; a lot of the items actually ‘worked’ and the level of detail was incredible. On the way in you get a credit card that goes in the chip n’ pin machines at the tills to buy items, in the café the cooker glows red when its turned on, in the laundrette the washing machine lights up and spins round, plus so many other details that made it super-realistic.
The post office had letters and parcels that were addressed to the other shops, my 4 year old nephew’s favourite thing was trying to read the addresses and running off to post it in the right letter box. He also loved bashing the drums in the music studio!
My 2 year old nephew is obsessed with animals so mostly hung out at the farm, the vets and pet shop. He loved moving the pet animals around the cages and feeding them all. There was a small ride on horse which he dragged all over the place, including to the corner shop to get some carrots for it!
My 9 year old daughter loved the maternity hospital and spent a lot of time organising the baby dolls, and also the hairdressers where she did a lot of straightening and blow drying. She even washed my hair! The laundrette was also a hit and she did some washing and ironing. It was amazing to see her playing, being a true child again, and embracing all of the experience. She does still play with dolls at home sometimes but she really did think this was a fantastic place to play, she’s asked if I can take her back “without her cousins to pester her so she can do it all properly”!
We had a 90 minute session, it was sold out but didn’t feel too busy or crowded. The staff were amazing, constantly tidying up and returning items to their right places so different children could keep playing with them. We did the 11.30am session so by 1pm we were hungry and we headed down to the soft play area for lunch a play. You can just do Jack’s Village, or get a combi ticket to use both sections.
The food was just as good as I remembered and we had a great lunch. The soft play areas were all really clean and safe. There were some new areas for different age groups and some of the favourite bits my children used to love and my daughter remembered.
At the end of the session I had three very tired children. We’d had a fantastic family day and made some lovely memories, and as a grown up I’d also really enjoyed the experience too. We will definitely be back!
Booking in advance is advised, but if it hasn’t sold out you can just turn up on the day. Find more details and the booking link on Mumbler here.
