Holiday Clubs (HAF)
Funded holiday clubs with food included, ages 4 to 18, for families on benefits-related free school meals. Worth a look even if you assume you won't qualify.
North West England
Soft play & indoor play in the North West
Somewhere dry when the forecast falls apart. Frames, ball pits, sensory rooms and bowling.
115 places1 free
This list is a good deal shorter than the number of soft play centres in the North West, and that is deliberate. A bad one is genuinely miserable: sticky, deafening, and somehow with nowhere for an adult to sit down.
Warrington is unusually well supplied for a town its size, with Jellybeans, Fun2b, Giggles and Tenpin all within a few miles of each other, and Jellybeans' mini bowling solves the toddler-plus-seven-year-old problem better than most places manage. Bubbles World of Play on the Wirral is the biggest in the region and priced accordingly. Play Factore at the Trafford Centre is enormous and gets very loud by eleven on a Saturday. Two things are worth checking before you set off, because neither is usually on the front page: whether grippy socks are compulsory and sold at the door, and whether the ticket buys an hour or the whole day. That second one is often the difference between a cheap morning and an expensive one.
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Every option
Active Zone and TAG Active, Bidston
The council's leisure centre in Bidston has a three-floor soft play for under 8s and, rarer, a TAG Active arena for 8s and over: climbing, running and scoring points round a three-storey game. Term-time weekday soft play is £4.
Air Unlimited Burnley
A warehouse of giant inflatables on Craven Street in Burnley: mega ball pit, launch slide, jump tower and ninja walls. Book the hour, buy the socks, and let them tire themselves out on something that cannot bruise.
Amazonia
A jungle-themed play frame and an 18-hole indoor adventure golf course in the vaults under Bolton's Market Place. The play-and-golf combo is £9.
AW Arena
A soft play and indoor football centre on Stanney Mill Industrial Park, and about as cheap as soft play gets round here: £5 a child, adults free, babies under six months free. Open until 8pm on weekdays.
Aztec Adventure Play
A big walk-in soft play off Crown Street with a separate baby area and a proper hot food menu. There is no booking for general play, which is handy on a whim and a gamble on a wet Saturday in the holidays.
Charlie Park
Enchanted-forest soft play on the first floor of an Atherton mill, with a baby and under-3s area, sensory and craft rooms and a cafe. Over-3s are £9, adults £1, and weekend sessions are capped at two hours.
Cheeky Cherubs
A community-run centre in Urmston with a sensory room alongside the soft play, split above and below four. £7 a child and £1.50 an adult, and you can still pay on the door on weekdays, which almost nobody else does now.
Family & Friends Playcentre
A small play centre in the old Prescot Gospel Hall built for under-fives, with a role-play street, a soft play house with slides and a ball pool, and a baby corner. Weekday mornings only, closed Tuesdays, and adults go in free.
Flip Out Rochdale
Rochdale's trampoline park, with a ninja course, battle beams, a kids arena, soft play and an inflatable park you can combine with the trampolines. Closed on Tuesdays in term time.
Frankie + Lola's Liverpool
A jungle-themed soft play and cafe at the ASDA in Hunts Cross. Walk-up only, adults go in free, and the cafe takes its coffee more seriously than most.
Fun Valley Bolton
Indoor play centre on Blackburn Road with junior and toddler frames, a parent cafe and free parking. Two-hour sessions are £8 for ages 4 to 13, £7 for under-4s and £1.50 for adults. Closed Mondays in term time.
Fun2b
Straightforward multi-level soft play with a café that adults can actually sit in. Nothing fancy, reliably works.
Funda Land
Big active soft play inside The Leisure Box at Brierfield, with bumper cars, a VALO climbing wall, UV laser tag and a baby and toddler space. Term-time weekday soft play sessions are free if you book. Weekends cost £10 for 3 to 12s.
Funsters Crewe
A family-run play centre in Crewe since 1997, built round a six-storey play frame that the owners reckon is one of the tallest in Europe. Fixed sessions, fair prices, and a separate baby and toddler time in term.
Funtastic Play Centre
The long-standing Radcliffe centre, with a multi-tier frame, a proper toddler section and a home-cooked cafe. £5.50 a child on weekdays, and one adult per child gets in free.
Funtazia
24,000 square feet in the middle of Blackburn, with go karts, bumper cars and laser tag alongside the climbing frames. Not really soft play any more, more an indoor funfair.
Giddy Kippers
Soft play on Lomeshaye with a three-storey frame, a separate under-3s area, an enclosed football zone and Kipper's Cafe. Children are £6 on weekdays and £7 at weekends and in the holidays, and adults pay £1 or £2.
Giggles Play and Adventure
Adults go in free and you only pay for the children who actually play. Giggles takes birth to ten in Lancaster Leisure Park, with the frames split by size so the crawlers are not flattened.
Giggles Play Mill
Two-tier soft play frame, low climbing wall, pirate ship, crawl tubes and a bouncy slide, plus Messy Monday and sensory sessions during the week.
Harry's Play Centre
A community soft play inside the St Annes YMCA, with separate areas for different ages. Cheap, walk-in, adults free, and a cafe that brings food to your table.
Imagination Bay Adventure Play
Beach-themed play in a converted mill: indoor sand, role play, a craft corner and a dance floor rather than the usual three-storey frame. Timed two-hour sessions and no walk-ins.
Jungle Fun
A proper old-school multi-level soft play above Belle Vale Shopping Centre, 19 years in and recently refurbished. Free parking, cheap adult entry, a separate toddler area and 1 hour 45 minute sessions.
Jungle Mayhem
Radcliffe's jungle-themed centre: a four-lane slide, a ball pool with suction tubes, a sports zone and a disco room. Adults get in for nothing, which is rarer than it should be.
Jungle World Leyland
A jungle soft play with the extras older ones actually want: a laser tag arena, electric go-karts and a netted football court, plus a separate toddler zone. Free parking and cheap by current standards.
Leaping Lizards Play Centre
Clitheroe's soft play: a two-storey frame, a sports pitch and a 0 to 3 zone, in two hour booked sessions for £7 a child. Friday after school is £2.50.
Let Loose Play Centre, Stanley Square
Sale town centre's soft play, themed round the town itself: tackle a Sale Sharks player, surf on Sale Water Park. £3.50 a child with adults free, a separate sensory toddler frame and two hours' free parking in the multi-storey 100m away.
Little World for Scholars
Role play rather than climbing frames: a vets, a supermarket, a petrol station and an aeroplane, in 80 minute booked sessions in the middle of Altrincham. For the child who narrates everything.
Mini and Me Role Play Village
A child-sized pretend village in Barrow with eight themed pods, from a supermarket and a vets to a salon, a building site and a sensory snug. For under-8s, booked sessions only, and small on purpose.
Mini Monsters Funhouse
Somebody put a soft play inside a garden centre on the Chester High Road at Neston, which means free parking and a shed full of plants for any adult who has had enough. Frame, slides, nets, ball pond, separate nought to two area.
Minty Land at Brockhole
BeWILDerwood's first indoor play centre, opened at Brockhole in July 2026: tree-top tunnels, river rapids and magic mirrors in the world of Minty the Crocklebog. Timed slots, and a proper wet-day answer on the Windermere shore.
Monkey House
Adults go free, which is not universal. A small Wallasey soft play scaled for under fives: frames a toddler can actually get round, a baby area, and a cafe with proper coffee and seats facing the frame.
Outside In
A charity-run play centre on the edge of Kendal town centre, with a soft play version of Kendal Castle, a little high street of role-play shops and a walled-in baby area. Weekends and school holidays only, apart from Wednesday mornings, so check before you drive.
Penrith Leisure Centre and Jungle Jacks
Penrith's leisure centre does the full rainy-day stack under one roof: Jungle Jacks soft play, a 25m pool and learner pool, a climbing wall and a Saturday inflatable. Not glamorous, very useful.
Planet Play
Knutsford's only children's play centre, a space-themed soft play between Booths and the station with a rocket, a four-lane wavy slide and a separate baby and toddler zone. Adults go free, and nothing is booked.
Planet Play
A big three-tier soft play in Heywood with separate areas for toddlers, infants and juniors, a spook room and aerial runways. No booking, one adult free, and weekday mornings in term time are the toddler session.
Play! Oldham
Oldham's big soft play: a three storey junior frame and a separate toddler and baby area. Term-time weekdays are £5 for unlimited play.
Playkidds Play Centre
An independent soft play on Moorside Road in Swinton, going for more than ten years and run by a team who also do a wraparound school club. Over-3s are £7 on term-time weekdays and £8 at weekends, but it is shut Mondays and Tuesdays in term time.
Playtopia
Bolton's biggest recent soft play opening, with a sports court and a gym room alongside the frame. Adults are a pound, which is the number that decides where you go on a wet Tuesday.
Playtown
Southport's main play centre, on Ocean Plaza by the marine lake, with a big frame and a drop slide. Priced by age band, so babies are almost free.
Pure Imagination
A role play centre on Poynton's main road where a cafe sits next to an enchanted forest and a hospital next to an ocean. Ninety-minute sessions, £10 for an adult and a child, and coffee and cake within sight of the play.
Rheged
Two minutes off the M6 at Penrith: a big indoor play area at £5 a child, a giant-screen cinema, a cafe and free parking. The motorway stop that is worth the stop.
Run and Jump
An independent soft play in Wigan, going since 2013, with a 4.2 metre three-lane wavy slide, a small football and basketball court and 7,000 square feet of frame. Open every day, no booking, and cheaper on a weekday.
Salt Ayre Leisure Centre
Lancaster's council leisure centre doing triple duty: Energy soft play, XHeight climbing walls and a 33m pool with a waterslide and inflatable sessions. Cheaper than the private soft play chains, and everything is under one roof for a wet day.
Tenpin Southport
Twenty lanes on the Southport seafront at Ocean Plaza, with a laser tag arena, pool, table tennis and an arcade attached. Bumpers mean a three year old can take part.
Tenpin Warrington
Soft play plus bowling under one roof, which solves the two-different-ages problem in a single trip. Ask for the barriers if anyone is under about six.
Tiny Teds Soft Play, Stretford
The council's under-5s soft play session at Stretford, £3.45 for an adult and a child including juice and biscuits. The cheapest indoor hour in Trafford by a distance.
UA Play Crewe
The soft play formerly known as GTC, in a converted warehouse near Crewe town centre, with its own car park, open-ended stay and play in term time and £1 adult entry. Closed on term-time Tuesdays.
Wacky Warehouse at Barlow Croft
A pub soft play at Parrs Wood: slides, tunnels, ball pools and a separate tots area, £6 a child, adults free and free parking. Not glamorous, but cheap, easy and next to a coffee.
Wacky Warehouse at Red Robin
Pub soft play at the Red Robin: a tots area, several slides and a big ball pool for £6 a child, with adults in free and the coffee within reach. The cheap, dependable Wigan fallback.
Wacky Warehouse at the Owl & Pussycat
Pub soft play at the Owl and Pussycat on Hindpool Road, with slides, ball pits, a tots area, crafts and an outdoor play area. £6 a child, adults free, and £4.50 Tots Club on term-time weekdays.
Wild Tots Play Cafe
A play cafe in Barons Quay, in the middle of Northwich, built round the under fives: an adventure frame, a 0 to 3 soft play up on the mezzanine and a quiet sensory corner for babies. Cheap off-peak, with the big car park right outside.
Willowbees Adventure Play
St Helens Council's own soft play, inside the Newton-le-Willows leisure centre: a 7.4 metre frame with three slides, a baby area, a children's library and a Costa in the cafe. Two hours for £6.50 on a weekday.
Adventure Forest
Three tiers of frame, a sports court and mini quad bikes in Trafford Park, with unlimited play on weekdays and a hard two-hour limit at peak. Autism-friendly sessions monthly.
Adventureland, New Brighton
New Brighton's big indoor play centre on the prom: a giant six-lane slide, inflatables, two netted trampolines, a ball pond, a castle and a toddler area. £10 a child for the whole day. Shut on term-time weekdays.
AirHop Adventure & Trampoline Park Blackpool
The trampoline park on Cornford Road, formerly Ascent, with wall-to-wall trampolines and airbags for 4+ and a separate soft play for 6 and unders. In term time it does not open until 3pm Tuesday to Thursday.
AirVault Inflatable & Trampoline Park
Trampolines and inflatables under one roof on the Wingates Industrial Estate, with a covered sports court and a mezzanine cafe overlooking the lot. The term-time toddler morning is £5 for three hours.
Antz In Your Pantz
A two-level main frame with a climbing wall, an aerial glider and a disco room, a sensory room for babies, and non-playing adults at £2.75. Priced by age, so a one-year-old is not charged like a nine-year-old.
Bubbles World of Play
One of the biggest indoor soft plays in the UK, by its own account: more than 30 themed zones, giant slides, ball cannons and a role play mini city on the New Brighton seafront. School-day tickets are £8.50 and let you stay all day.
Castaway Play
Five themed play worlds in Congleton, including a covered sandy beach with a water splash area, a pirate ship with gold panning, a jungle zip line, pedal go karts and a disco room. One admission price; term-time weekdays are cheaper, but it closes at 3pm on those days.
Crazy Town Aintree
A big soft play on a Netherton business park with its own 57 space car park, character visits at the toddler sessions and a Friday night disco. Weekend prices are high, so the term-time toddler mornings are the smart play.
Flip Out Aintree
Trampoline and activity park on the Aintree Racecourse retail park: trampolines, a kids arena, a stunt zone, soft play, a super trampoline and an airbag. 90 minutes from £15, with toddler and low-sensory sessions.
Flip Out Blackburn
Trampolines, a ninja course and an inflatable obstacle run, with a foam-padded soft play area for the ones too small for all that. Shut on Tuesdays and Thursdays in term time.
Flip Out Chester
A big warehouse of trampolines, drop slides, laser tag and e-karts on the business park before Chester. Loud, sweaty and reliably popular, and the off-peak slots are the value play.
Flip Out Liverpool
A three-floor indoor adventure park in Clayton Square Shopping Centre, and despite the name it has no trampolines: toddler soft play, a ninja playground, a ball pit, interactive football, laser quest, bumper cars and a roller rink, all on one ticket. Sessions are timed, book ahead.
Flip Out Manchester
A big trampoline and adventure park in east Manchester with a soft play, a ninja course and £2 go-kart rides. Toddler Time is the bargain; a full-price weekend hour for a family of four is not.
Flip Out Preston
Preston's Flip Out: trampolines, a Kids Arena, slamball, a stunt zone and two soft plays, one for toddlers. In term time it is shut on Mondays and opens at 12.30pm on weekdays.
Fun Arena UK
A big indoor inflatable arena on the old Burscough Aerodrome, with a 10,000 sq ft castle, a three-storey climbing frame and a separate toddler castle. Book ahead, and note that weekday mornings in term time are toddlers only.
Fusion Trampoline Park
Trampolines, foam pits, a climbing wall, a soft play zone and a Skyrider indoors, plus an outdoor dinosaur crazy golf course, all behind Sainsbury's. The golf is the part that sells it to a mixed-age family, weather permitting.
Head Over Heels Chorlton
A big indoor centre on a Chorlton trading estate: a gated area for nought to threes, a space themed sensory room with bubble tubes, a role play castle and village, an LED disco room, a music zone and a sports court.
Head Over Heels Wilmslow
A big, polished play centre on the Stanley Green estate at Handforth with Safari Falls, an immersive jungle room, a large frame, a disco room and a separate under-threes village. Sister to the Chorlton one and priced like it, though the school-day unlimited ticket takes the sting out.
Imagine That!
A warehouse of hands-on pretend in Wavertree: a child-sized village with a diner and car wash, an art zone where they paint a real car, water play, and a slime pot to take home. The child ticket stings, but under-tens get a full session out of it.
Imagine That! Wigan
Three floors of child-sized town in the Grand Arcade, opened in July 2026 by the people behind Imagine That in Liverpool: a city with an emergency services dispatch, a village supermarket, a dino dig and a slime factory. Dear, but a session is three hours, not one.
Inflata Nation Inflatable Theme Park Manchester
A Trafford Park warehouse rebuilt as an inflatable ball park: ball pits round an erupting Ballcano, a double tipping slide, an obstacle course and 11 metre slides, with a mini arena for under 4s. Louder and bouncier than soft play, and priced accordingly.
Jellybeans Play Centre
Bigger than the average soft play: multi-level frame, a spooky room, an astro slide, a climbing wall, two mini bowling lanes and a slot racing track. The bowling is what makes it work when you have a toddler and a seven-year-old to keep happy at once.
Jellybeans Play Centre Widnes
The Widnes branch of Jellybeans: soft play for under-12s with separate baby, toddler and big-kid areas, unlimited play and a cafe. £6 a child on term-time weekdays, £12 at weekends and half terms.
Jump Heaven
Stockport's trampoline and adventure park in Hazel Grove: 75 linked trampolines, foam pits, an airbag, four ninja courses and a climbing wall. Not cheap at £15 an hour, but the Monday to Wednesday term-time deal gives you two hours for that.
Jump Inc Liverpool
A 40,000 sq ft trampoline and adventure park at Hunts Cross, run by AirHop. Toddler Takeover is the bargain; the 60-minute Open Jump is the cheapest way in for bigger kids, and parents watch for free.
Jumpin' Joseph's Trampoline Park
A trampoline park in an industrial unit in Bromborough with a foam pit, a big air bag, a bouldering wall, a jump tower and a soft play corner. Tots Time at £5 is the bargain; weekend open bounce is £11 an hour.
Just Kidding Holmes Chapel
Holmes Chapel's soft play, on the business park by the village, with a multi-level frame, a separate toddler area and a baby area. No time limit on term-time weekdays; weekends and holidays run in two-hour sessions that need booking.
KICKair Manchester
A trampoline and ninja park on the edge of the city centre with its own soft play for under-5s and, unusually for town, a free car park. Grip socks are compulsory and cost £3.
Oxygen at MediaCity
Trampoline park in the Lowry Outlet with an airbag, inflatable zone, high ropes and an indoor zip ride, plus toddler sessions. An hour of Open Play is £15.95, or £10 on term-time Tuesday to Thursday afternoons.
Oxygen Wilmslow
A trampoline and activity park in Handforth with about 65 linked trampolines, a giant airbag, an interactive sports pitch, climbing walls and three storeys of soft play. An hour of Open Play is £15.95 each, so it adds up fast.
Party and Play Funhouse
An independent at Westhoughton with an outdoor play area as well as the indoor frame, go karts on top, and a baby sensory room for the under ones. Free parking.
Play Factore
Home to what it bills as the UK's largest indoor play frame, with laser tag, ValoJump trampolines, a racing simulator and a zip wire that crosses the entire building. Older primary kids do not age out of this one.
Polar Palace
A big three-tiered play frame on the Winsford industrial estate, with a three-lane astra slide, a football and basketball court, go-karts and separate areas for under 2s and under 5s. Keep the receipt: every ticket includes a free return visit within five days.
Slimeville Liverpool
Slime making, projection games and a small soft play zone in a Duke Street unit, sold as 90 minute sessions. Pricier than a soft play, and the one indoor option in town where the mess is the point.
Spaceworld Play Centre
8,000 square feet of frame over four tiers on a Prescot business park, built round a 20ft rocket, with a 25ft spiral slide, spinning poles and an elevated football pitch.
The Fun Factor
Maghull's big multi-tiered soft play, with separate baby, toddler and junior zones and a four-lane astra slide that the older ones make a beeline for. Term-time weekdays are the cheap slot.
The Gruffalo & Friends Clubhouse
Six play zones built around the Julia Donaldson books, tucked under Sea Life on the promenade. Aimed squarely at under 10s, with a wristbanded 90 minutes inside at busy times.
The Jump Works
Accrington's trampoline park: over 100 connected trampolines, foam pits, a jousting beam and a dodgeball court. One price any time, and term-time toddler sessions for £5.95 an adult and child.
UA Cheshire Trampoline Park
Winsford's trampoline park, on the same industrial estate as Polar Palace. Advance booking only and no refunds, but the term-time toddler session lets one parent in free.
Activity for All Wirral
One site in Upton with a three-tier soft play and enclosed toddler zone, climbing walls, a high ropes course and an 18-hole neon mini golf. Soft play is open 9am to 8pm daily. Book online for cheaper weekends.
Adventure Play & Bowl
A brand new soft play and Ninja Tag arena, opened August 2026, bolted on to the UV bowling alley in Thornton. Baby and toddler area, a junior frame with a racing slide, a sensory room and role play shops named after local landmarks.
Bounce Central Salford
A Swinton trampoline park with more than 65 trampolines, a dinosaur-themed soft play and a two-hour toddler session with food included. Grip socks £2.50.
Crazy Club at Superbowl UK St Helens
The soft play inside St Helens' bowling alley: a main frame for 4 to 12s with a giant slide and aerial gliders, a gated toddler frame, and bowling and an arcade on the other side of the wall for when the older one gets bored.
Crazy Club at Superbowl UK Widnes
The soft play inside Superbowl at The Hive in Widnes, with a gated toddler frame and term-time toddler clubs that throw in breakfast or lunch. Bowling and an arcade are through the wall when the frame has run its course.
Fun4All Macclesfield
Macclesfield's big soft play on the Hurdsfield estate: a three-level frame with a 10 metre wave slide, a separate toddler frame, a sports pitch and a trampoline zone called Boost. The website's price list is old, so check when you book.
Jump Rush
Morecambe's trampoline park, just off the prom: over 100 trampolines, an airbag, a 6 metre inflatable tower and a small soft play for under 4s. The prom's rainy-day plan B.
Jungle World Blackpool
A big jungle soft play inside the Houndshill shopping centre, with a 40 metre slide, trampolines and a mini zipline for 0 to 12s. Handy for a town centre rainy day; the prices only appear when you book.
Kinderworld Playbarn
A nursery playbarn on Bispham Road that opens to the public on weekday mornings, pre-booked. Small, quiet and aimed squarely at the under fives.
Little Luxe Soft Play
A small independent built around inclusive play, with a multi-sensory calming room off the main floor. The one to try if a big noisy centre has gone badly before.
Little Sparks Southport
A small Scandinavian style play cafe in a Churchtown cottage, built entirely around role play: pale wood, small scale stations and no ball pit. Under fives only, and enforced. Proper cafe attached doing homemade food.
Play & Sensory Centre
A council-run play centre in Woolston built for disabled children and adults and anyone with additional needs, with a sea-themed soft play, a calm zone, a pre-school area and a full sensory room with a hoist. Sessions are booked in advance.
Playworld
Family-run soft play in Shavington, just south of Crewe, themed as a trip round the world: dinosaurs, space blasters, a Wembley pitch and the Great Wall. Drop in on term-time weekdays; weekends and holidays are booked two hour sessions.
Rascals Play Centre
Preston's big indoor centre at Bamber Bridge, minutes off the M6, with a sports court, a disco room and a quieter SEN session on Tuesday evenings.
Superbowl UK Macclesfield
Bowling, Laser Quest and the Crazy Club soft play under one roof on the London Road, on the southern edge of Macclesfield. The early-morning and after-school bowling deals are properly cheap.
Temple of Fun
Darwen's independent play centre with a sensory room, open five days a week in term time and every day in the holidays. Somewhere to sit that is not a plastic bench.
That Fun Place at Jump Xtreme
The soft play bolted onto Bolton's big trampoline park, so the four-year-old and the eleven-year-old can both be occupied in the same building. Over 115 trampolines next door.
The Fun House
Adventure soft play on a Whitehaven industrial estate for children up to 12, with a separate baby and toddler area and a cafe doing hot meals. Weekend play runs only 10.30am to noon, and prices are not published.
The Little Cobbled Village
A pretend village for under 8s on the Lune Business Park: fire station, vets, supermarket, ice cream parlour and seven more wooden play shops. Booked sessions, calm by design, and very little climbing.
Thingamajigz
A long-running soft play centre on Poulton Business Park, reopened by the Clip 'n Climb Blackpool team, with The Shack cafe, walk-ins when there is space and a midweek term-time ticket that lets you stay all day.
Wacky World Inflatable Park
Preston's largest indoor inflatable park, with wipeout-style inflatables, a rodeo bull and a base jump for the bigger ones, a toddler corner on the mezzanine, under-5s sessions and a weekly calm session for ASD and disabled children.
Wee Rascalz Adventure World
A family-run, jungle-themed soft play on a Currock Road trade estate, with a proper under 3s room and a cafe that bakes its own traybakes. Mornings are the move at weekends: it shuts at 2.45pm.
Zippy's Playworld
A unit on Chester's Grange Park business estate filled with frames for nought to ten year olds, with a 4 foot 9 height limit. Admission buys a two hour session.