Soft play & indoor play in St Helens

Two soft plays and a scheme. Willowbees, inside the council's leisure centre at Newton-le-Willows, is the good-value one: a 7.4 metre frame with three slides, a baby area and a little library, two hours for £6.50 on a weekday and £8 at weekends, with one adult in free. Crazy Club is the soft play inside Superbowl on Linkway West, a main frame for 4 to 12s and a gated toddler frame, with bowling through the wall. Its prices only show when you book.

The third entry is the council's funded holiday clubs, which include food and run for 4 to 18 year olds from families on benefits-related free school meals. Check the rules even if you assume you will not qualify.

Soft play & indoor play in St Helens

Holiday Clubs (HAF)

St HelensIn town

★★★★★5.0(17)

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.

Free if eligibleIndoorsSchool holidaysAges 4-11

Willowbees Adventure Play

St Helens~15 min

★★★★☆4.0(40)

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.

£6.50 weekdays, £8 weekends (2 hours)IndoorsAges 0-11

Crazy Club at Superbowl UK St Helens

St Helens~20 min

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.

Price not listedIndoorsAges 1-12

Soft play & indoor play elsewhere in the North West

Giggles Play Mill

Warrington~10 min

★★★★☆4.2(164)

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.

£6.75 a child, adults freeIndoorsAges 4-8

Jellybeans Play Centre

Warrington~15 min

★★★★☆4.3(504)

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.

£6 off-peak, £12 at weekends and half termsIndoorsAges 4-9

Fun2b

Warrington~10 min

★★★★☆4.2(200)

Straightforward multi-level soft play with a café that adults can actually sit in. Nothing fancy, reliably works.

Session priceIndoorsAges 4-8

Tenpin Warrington

Warrington~10 min

★★★★☆4.2(1,663)

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.

Per game / sessionIndoorsAges 4-11

Play & Sensory Centre

Warrington~10 min

★★★★★4.5(16)

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.

Price not listedIndoorsAges 4-8

Family & Friends Playcentre

Prescot~20 min

★★★★★4.9(56)

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.

Over-1s £6, babies £4, adults freeIndoorsAges 0-5