Keeping the family amused in the Christmas Holidays

If you trust your knees, it’s possible for the whole family to get involved at Flip Out Ashford, located in the Henwood Estate, filled wall-to-wall with trampolines. You can pick either a one-or-two-hour session which gives you access to over 80 trampolines, two stunt zones, soft play and a ninja assault course! All the bouncing definitely makes you thirsty so the unlimited slush puppies are brilliant too. You can sign up for a monthly pass per child which is £9.50 for unlimited days. 

Bowling is such a fun activity to enjoy with people of all ages and Hollywood Bowl is fantastic, particularly for rainy, grey days. As well as the amusement area, which has shooter games, dancing games and air hockey, it has a selection of penny drops. There’s also a bar and four snooker tables. Once that’s all out of your system, it’s time for the actual bowling. The sound of the ten pins being knocked out by a bowling bowl should be a core sound for anyone’s childhood.  

Having tried out a few Escape Rooms in London, I was intrigued to find Pressure Point Escape Rooms in Ashford. I can honestly say that it was a great experience. Vicky, the host, did a great job at setting up the story for our Escape Room. We were two explorers attempting to steal treasure from a God. We had 60 minutes to escape with the treasure, and our lives. Without giving too much away, it was a fun date night with Ben and we came away feeling buzzed. 

We headed around the corner to The Made Inn for a pint and a debrief. The puzzles were challenging but not too tricky but we were only allowed to ask for three hints. This made it more fun and stressful in both measures as we had to really give each puzzle a go before resorting to help. Luckily though, we made it out with the treasure with three minutes to spare. It would be great with up to four guests, however any more than that, it might be pretty cramped in the room. I would highly recommend this as a fun, family-friendly thing to do with kids above 15 years of age. We’re definitely going back for the other two rooms in the new year! It costs £24 per person so it's good to give as a present or for a treat.  

Unfortunately, the time between Christmas and New Year can bring drizzly days but luckily there’s more undercover options in the cinemas in Ashford. I’m a member of the Picturehouse Cinema in Elwick Place and there’s also the Cineworld near Kennington which has 3D and 4D screens. Although they’re both owned by the same company, I prefer the seats and atmosphere of the Picturehouse. They also sell ice cream mochi balls which are a real treat! Avatar: A Way Of Water will be showing until 29th December and is the longest ever film, screening for 3 hours and 12 minutes! 

When you’ve got cabin fever, the best thing to do is to get out of the house and into nature. Located just south of Elwick Place, Victoria Park is a great place to play and explore. It’s currently having a lot of improvements, including a new café and bike pump track, which won’t be completed until summer 2023, however it’s still a nice place to kick a ball around or walk along the stream.  

Alternatively, you could drive less than an hour away from Ashford to Bedgebury Park or Brockhill Park for a woodland walk, play park and café scenario, or visit Folkestone’s Warren for a fossil hunting walk! 

Along from Folkestone, there’s Camber Sands and Dymchurch beach which are lovely sandy beaches. They are super fun to walk along - especially on a windy day. A seal was recently spotted on Dymchurch beach which was rather exciting.