Adventure & rides in Ellesmere Port

Two of these sit side by side on the Coliseum Leisure Park at Cheshire Oaks, which makes a wet afternoon easy to string together. Paradise Island has two indoor 18-hole adventure golf courses at £9.25 a child and £11.50 an adult for one, and on term-time weekdays before 4pm the second course is free. Tenpin next door has 24 lanes from £9.95 a game online and half-price Tuesdays, though in the school holidays that deal only starts at 6pm.

Climbing Hut on Poole Hall Road is the active one. It is a bouldering centre with two areas built for children, Boulder Play for under fives and Boulder Zoo for 2 to 10 year olds, at £12 a session, or £6 for under fives off-peak. The main walls start at 11.

Adventure & rides in Ellesmere Port

Tenpin Cheshire Oaks

Ellesmere Port~30 min

★★★★☆4.0(1,293)

Twenty-four lanes on the Coliseum Leisure Park, next door to Paradise Island golf, with laser tag, escape rooms and an arcade. Tuesdays are half price in term time, but in the school holidays the deal only starts at 6pm.

Bowling from £9.95 a game onlineIndoorsAges 4-14

Climbing Hut Ellesmere Port

Ellesmere Port~30 min

★★★★★4.8(966)

A bouldering centre with two areas built for children: Boulder Play for under 5s, with soft walls, pool noodles and a tunnel, and Boulder Zoo for 2 to 10 year olds. Low walls, thick mats, a parent alongside.

Kids' areas £12, under 5s £6 off-peakIndoorsAges 2-11

Paradise Island Adventure Golf, Cheshire Oaks

Ellesmere Port~30 min

★★★★☆4.2(425)

Two indoor 18-hole adventure golf courses in 13,000 square feet of fake tropics on the Coliseum Leisure Park at Cheshire Oaks. Rain-proof, easy to explain to a four-year-old, and two courses for the price of one on term-time weekdays before 4pm.

One course £9.25 a child, family of four £37.50IndoorsAges 3-14

Adventure & rides elsewhere in the North West

Jungle Parc

Warrington~10 min

★★★★★4.5(10)

Treetop rope courses in the woods at Walton Hall Gardens. The Warrington site runs the Adventurer course, built for children from age 4 with a minimum height of 1.05m, with over 60 activities at different heights. Children £19; supervising adults walking below go free.

Children £19, supervising adults freeAges 4-11

Gulliver's World

Warrington~15 min

★★★★☆4.0(9,643)

A theme park deliberately built for ages 2 to 13 rather than teenagers, so both of them can ride most of it. The classic full-day option on your doorstep.

Full day ticketAges 4-9

BeWILDerwood Cheshire

Malpas~45 min

★★★★★4.6(1,400)

The best age match of anything on this list. Reviewers put the sweet spot at 2 to 10 and say a 4-year-old can do essentially the whole park; the map colour-codes areas by age and puts mini zipwires beside the full-size ones. Budget four to six hours.

From £20.95; under 92cm freeAges 4-10

Zip World Manchester

Manchester~35 min

★★★★★4.7(752)

Treetop nets, high ropes and forest tubing in the woods of Heaton Park, and it is outdoors, not indoors. The cheap one is Treetot Nets: an hour bouncing on nets in the trees for ages 1 to 5, from £5, with a grown-up joining in.

Treetot Nets from £5, Treetop Nets from £25Ages 1-11

Legoland Discovery Centre

Trafford~25 min

★★★★☆4.0(4,657)

Two rides, a 4D cinema, build zones and Manchester's skyline done in miniature bricks. Squarely aimed at 3 to 10, and it knows it: adults can only visit with a child.

Book online - walk-up costs moreIndoorsAges 4-9

The Snow Centre Manchester

Trafford~25 min

★★★★☆4.4(5,629)

Real snow all year round at the venue Manchester still calls Chill Factore. Over-fours get the Snow Park with sledging, Downhill Donuts and an ice slide at weekends and in the school holidays; older kids can learn to ski or board on the UK's longest indoor real snow slope.

Pay per sessionIndoorsAges 4-11