If your plans for entertaining the children for the duration of the long school holidays are starting to go downhill then you could be on a very slippery slope.
So when Snozone invited my kids along to try out their new Summer of Fun programme there was snow chance of turning the offer down!
The indoor real snow slope is based at the Xscape centre in Milton Keynes.
All activities are fully supervised, so parents can choose to stay and relax in the café or simply drop their kids off. The Summer of Fun runs every weekday until September 4 with four daily programmes on offer catering for different age groups.
The Summer Funzone (5-11 years) was the package suitable for my daughter, 7, and son, 5, with its action-packed schedule of supervised on and off-slope activities, including wacky races, dodgeball, sledging, ultimate frisbee, mini tennis, dance classes, junk music, arts and crafts and a whole lot more.
My wife and I watched on from the cafe as the children disappeared to get wrapped up and when the reappeared they grabbed a sledge and darted up the hill eager to try out the slope.
Given a series challenges and races by the supervisors they had a whale of a time as they skidded down time and time again during their hour-plus session which ended just as they seemed to have run out of puff.
It was then time to try out some of the other activities in the playroom. There’s a changing daily schedule of entertainment, but for our visit the children enjoyed parachute games and the use of the soft play area.
Mind you, we didn’t watch them play as by the time the sledging had finished it was time for the mum and dad to be kitted out for their skiing lesson. Gulp.
Having never been skiing I didn’t have a clue how I’d get on. My wife was marginally more experienced having been on two school skiing trips (albeit 20-plus years ago).
Instructor Ali started off with basic explanations about the equipment, stance and balance, and we were then shown how to walk sideways up the slope a short distance before attempting to ski in a straight line.
How difficult could it be? Gold star for Mrs Sims but I’m afraid I was veering off in all sorts of directions – tempted to lean right to straighten out my skew-whiff radar which just compounded the problem.
Still, at least I never ended up on my backside and after a bit of practice performing the snowplough skiing stance I did manage one straight line before the session ended.
To be honest many more lessons will be needed to turn me into a competent skier and after the challenge I faced I’ll never take the piste out of Eddy the Eagle again!
Overall we all had a great time and are planning a return visit before the school holidays are out.
And if my children’s reactions are typical of the youngsters attending the new sessions, then the centre can expect to be snowed under by an avalanche of repeat bookings.
Other programmes for children:
> Snozone Learning (5-13 years and 14 years+) offers a balance of education, fun and fitness, with educational courses linked to the National Curriculum key stages. Youngsters get the chance to discover the science behind how snow can be made indoors, while for children 14+ there’s a business studies class using Snozone as a case study. Each course lasts half a day and includes a fun hour-long activity on the slopes.
> The Family Summer School (all ages) is an educational and activity package all rolled into one.
> Snozone’s popular Snocamps (7-15 years) return all summer long to teach children to ski or snowboard.
To find out more about the Summer of Fun activities or to book, visit snozoneuk.com/summer.