Chill Factore Snow Play Party

The Chill Factore at The Trafford Centre in Manchester has recently started offering Snow Play Parties and invited a bunch of Bloggers and our children to try them out.

Inside the huge Chill Factore building - so THIS is what it looks like...

Suited and Booted and Ready to go...
.......once they'd finished playing on the benches

The parties are suitable for children aged 2 and up, and before I went I couldn't really see how well that was likely to work, as my experience of young children tells me after 15 minutes in the snow they're worn out and cold and want to go into the warm, rest and heat back up. It was not the case at all. My 3 and 4 year olds were out there for 90 minutes really happy even with all the extra clothing on, plenty of tumbles and the odd snowball..

Chill Factore Snow Park and Carousel

Sledging, Luge and Tubing

Snow Party Activities take place in the Snow Park, and can include SnowPlay, Tubing, Luge and different types of Sledging depending on the ages of the children.There is also a brand new spinning carousel which all ages of children can use.

The new Carousel at Chill Factore - which for some children
had a similar calming effect to a smooth car journey...

Children aged 4 and over can try Sledging, which was better with Dad than with me as I manged a spectacular crash, taking out a part of a netting barrier and a photographers tripod. Thankfully my son thought it was 'awesun', so I retained a little parental dignity.

I broke this man's tripod! (Sorry)

Ready to go....

And they're off....

The small slope in the Snow Play area offered plenty of sledging fun too.

 We really did have a great time. It's easy to forget you are indoors. The ambient temperature is nice, your face never gets cold and the snow is mainly compacted and doesn't punish you in the same way as walking to the shops in natural snow would. I thought there wasn't much there to keep them entertained, but I was wrong, although 90 minutes was just about their limit and they were worn out by then anyway.

King of his Castle.....erm.....Snowplough

After the play we were treated to a sample of the menu, with various pizzas and chips, which got the thumbs up from all my children, including 2 of the girls who joined us after shopping. The food was really well cooked and very tasty, the pizzas were really nice and the chips crisp.

I will definitely go again and I think it makes a great party venue. I've been meaning to go for so long and it was all so much quicker and easier than I expected. The suits are not like the last time I wore one on a school trip as a teenager, they're light and really comfortable. The snow is not really deep and tiring, if anything we needed a bit more loose snow for snowballs! It's a real fun thing to do and the pricing is comparable with most other days out activities and children's parties.

Not quite enough snow for snowballing...but he tried!

Chill Factore Snow Play Parties cost from £9 per child with the standard menu, with a minimum of 10.
Hire of jacket and trousers £6 per day, Boots and Helmets are free of charge.
The Chill Factore Snow Play currently costs £6 per person or £20 for a family of 4 for 30 minutes.

We were given free entry to try out the Snow Play Party experience