Active Zone and TAG Active, Bidston, Wirral

Illustration of Active Zone and TAG Active, Bidston

Bidston Sports and Activity Centre is a council leisure centre off Valley Road with two things worth a family trip. The Active Zone is a soft play frame over three floors for children up to seven, with slides, obstacles, climbing and tunnels, plus a separate baby and toddler section. TAG Active, next to it, is a three-floor arena for 8s and over where you climb, run and hit targets to score points, played as three 20 minute games.

Prices are council prices. A 90 minute soft play session is £4 on a term-time weekday, £8.35 at weekends and £7.10 in the school holidays, and under 1s are free. TAG Active is £10 a session. The centre highly recommends booking and paying online for both.

The pairing is why you go: it is one of the few places where a four-year-old and a nine-year-old can both be properly occupied under one roof without either being bored or flattened. The cafe has high chairs and there is buggy parking.

What it costs: Soft play (ages 1 to 7, 90 minute sessions, under 1s free): term time £4.00 Monday to Friday, £8.35 Saturday and Sunday; school holidays £7.10. TAG Active (8 and over, three 20 minute games): £10.00 a session in term time; the summer holidays ran a £8.50 offer.

Know before you go

TAG Active only opens 3.30 to 5pm on term-time weekdays and not at all on term-time Wednesdays, so for the older one it is really a weekend or holiday job.
Soft play sessions are 90 minutes and the grown-up has to stay in the Active Zone. On holiday Wednesdays everything closes at 3.30.

Worth knowing: Soft play 0 to 7; TAG Active 8 and over.

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