Poynton, Cheshire
Pure Imagination is a pretend-play centre on London Road South in the middle of Poynton, built for young children to play at real life: a cafe beside an enchanted forest, a shop next to a giraffe's hangout, a hospital next to an ocean. Children can be firefighters, sit inside a zoo, garden with the fairies, take a baby shopping or turn into a dragon.
Visits are 90-minute sessions, seven days a week, at £10 for one adult and one child, with extra adults £3 on the door. The coffee shop sits in sight of the play, so you can drink it while it is hot. Regulars can buy four visits for the price of three, and there are one-off sessions through the autumn: an animal roadshow on 17 October and a Halloween disco on the afternoon of 31 October.
What it costs: General visit (90 minutes) £10 for one adult and one child; additional adults £3, paid on arrival. Play pass: 4 visits for the price of 3 (£30). Halloween Disco (Saturday 31 October 2026, 2.30 to 4.30pm) £20. Wriggly Roadshow animal session (Saturday 17 October 2026, 9 to 11am) £25 for one adult and one child.
A two-hour afternoon session at the Poynton role play centre with play, a spooky disco and crafts. Timed to finish before trick or treating.
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★★★★★ 4.8 across 148 Google reviews.
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The reliable default: gardens, a children's zoo, a big playground and plenty of room to run. Pay for parking, nothing else.
High ropes and treetop courses in the grounds at Walton Hall. Reviewers rate the value, but frame it as one for the bigger, braver kids.
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.
Farm animals, outdoor play and indoor barns, so a wet forecast doesn't cancel the day. Well matched to the 3-8 age range.
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.
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.
One email a week: what is on this weekend within a sensible drive, and the places worth booking before they go.