Little Land of Adventures Review | Newton Aycliffe

Thanks to our writer Grace for this post. 

How great is it when there’s a fab little children’s play café on your doorstep! Come rain or shine, I can get a latte and a slab of cake while my two girls run round being doctors, mummy’s, policemen and builders! 

Little Land of Adventures is fairly new but thanks to Covid we’ve not had chance to visit much. Now we are restriction free, we’ve been able to pop in for an hour on one occasion and on another we stayed for a couple of hours! 

The role play café is in Newton Aycliffe town centre – the town centre hasn’t got anything else like this, there’s only the leisure centre opposite for family orientated activities. Previously we’ve travelled to Durham and Consett for role play centres, so this is a great addition to the South Durham area. 

The first thing you notice when approaching the café is the super cute window decoration, it screams fun and modern! You’re immediately greeted by the counter as you walk in with a selection of cakes and treats on offer.

I was quite surprised by the size of the venue; it is compact but well laid out for the size of the space. It was quite busy, but we got a table in a corner and the girls had their shoes off straight away – I’m not even sure that’s necessary at these roles play places but I suppose they’re just used to kicking their shoes off and running off into the chaos. 

As the girls had deserted me for the pretend shop and big wooden ambulance, I headed back up to the counter for a cuppa.

The prices are really reasonable, if not cheap I’d say, with a latte and some old school sprinkle cake costing £3.20. I ordered a fruit shoot and crisps for the girls costing £3.60.

Admission was also reasonable at £4.00 per child with siblings at £2.00 for 2 hrs play. We didn’t eat anything other than a few snacks, but the menu did look nice for a bit of lunch with things like toasties and jacket potatoes available. 

I loved watching my eldest show the little one how to stack the shelves in the mini supermarket and help her put all her shopping into her basket.

The little stations are adorable, there’s a hospital/medical area with a big ambulance the kids can sit in, they can dress up as doctors and nurses too. There’s also the shop with a checkout and lots of food and household bits to buy.

There’s a cute forest, zoo type of area with a tipi and dinosaurs and other animals. There’s also a builder’s bit with foam bricks to stack and mini wheelbarrows. The girls spotted a huge chalkboard on the wall and added their creative squiggles.

I do know there’s a baby room with sensory type things and lots of twinkling lights, but we didn’t go in there. Little Land of Adventures seems a great place to for ages 0-6, I think, there’s a nice variety of areas for them to explore. 

Looking at their Facebook page, the café has plenty going on with various classes daily including a mum’s exercise class, baby ballet, messy monsters, and baby massage, lots of events like mascot days, bubble man and animal adventures and they offer party packages too.

If you live by or fancy a look out to somewhere different, I suggest checking the Facebook page and website, seeing what’s on and heading over.

The events and classes require prebooking, but the role play sessions can be booked or walk ins. The café has a really nice calm feeling about it, which is strange when it involves lots of kids, but I quite enjoyed digging into my cake and watching all the kids just a few feet away happily playing.

The place is owned and ran by a local mum and former teacher which is a great aspect too I think. With the location being in the centre of town it was also handy to have the other shops close by to pop and get some bits afterwards! Two birds and one stone!

Parking wasn’t the best, I did have to have a drive around but found one only a short walk away and there was no fee, so I can’t complain! 

Unit 53, Beveridge Way, Newton Aycliffe, DL5 4DU – Next door to Boots and Specsavers

Opening times - Monday to Saturday 9.30am – 2pm, Sunday 11.00am – 1.00pm 

www.littlelandofadventures.co.uk

www.facebook.com/Littlelandadventure