Every month Kate Eastman is searching for the best things to do with children in the county with her son, Jasper. This month she visits Crawley and the surrounding area

Holmbush Farm World

Holmbush Farm World is a traditional farm in a beautiful setting that is full of fun whatever the weather with plenty to see both inside and out, including indoor animal barns, tea barn, indoor toddler soft play area, sand pit, pedal tractor zone, spider’s web climbing zones and the popular ‘bouncing pillows’ jumping zones.

Open seven days a week, from 10am to 5.30pm, this farm prides itself on being the perfect place for a fun family day out, offering the opportunity for kids to run free in extensive, safe and imaginative play areas as well as meeting the animals including rabbits, mice and baby chicks, who are without question the stars of the show.

Bring a picnic or visit the tea room with its wide selection of refreshments. Prices: Adult �7, Child �6.25, OAP �6.25, Family �25 (two adults and two children).

Holmbush Farm World, Crawley Road, Faygate, Nr. Horsham, West Sussex, RH12 4SE. Telephone 01293 851 110. Email info@holmbushfarm.co.uk

Two other great things to do:

Indoor rock climbing is easy to get into and hugely popular with juniors. High Sports is the UK’s leading operator of indoor climbing centres, located at the K2 Leisure Centre. Starting from age four, the instructors introduce kids to climbing in a safe and controlled environment. It doesn’t take long before they are scaling the heights and demonstrating some very cool climbing moves. The youngest climbers, called Pebbles, are aged four to seven. This is climbing just for fun in small, supervised groups and children are provided with full body harnesses and helmets. Open seven days a week Mon-Fri 10am-10pm Sat 9am-6pm, Sun 9am-7.30pm with a delicious caf� on-site.

K2 Leisure Centre, Pease Pottage Hill, Crawley, West Sussex, RH11 9BQ Tel: 0845 363 1177

Treasure Chest Soft Play Centre is a new and exciting family entertainment centre, for children up to the age of 11 who are also under 148cm in height. The Centre is designed to provide a pleasant, enjoyable and comfortable environment for adults, as well as the children they supervise. The play equipment has been designed to allow an adult to supervise children of varying ages in each of the separate play areas. The menu is varied, to cater for many different preferences. Open seven days a week, from 10am to 6pm (excluding Christmas Day, Boxing Day and New Year’s Day). Prices: Adults are �1.50 each, babies under 12 months are free, under 4 years �4.50, 4 years + �5.50, initial family membership �2.

Play is limited to between 90 and 120 minutes at peak times, depending on your arrival time.

Treasure Chest Soft Play Centre - Unit 1, The Faraday Centre, Faraday Road, Crawley, West Sussex, RH10 9PX - 01293 549 009 -

Caf� culture

Cool places to eat with your kids

OJ’s Caf� is part of the amazing K2 Sports and Leisure complex. It is a bright and spacious place to enjoy a drink or a snack with the family. There’s a good selection on the children’s menu and a choice of healthy meals, juices and smoothies made to order. Organic fair trade coffee can be enjoyed with tasty pastries or fat-free homemade cakes.

OJs Cafe at K2 Crawley, Pease Pottage Hill, Crawley, West Sussex, RH11 9BQ Telephone: 01293 585349 Email:

A pint and a bib!

You will find Heathy Farm in the countryside just outside Crawley and it’s ideal for a family meal. It is a 500-year-old farmhouse, still with its original beams, fireplaces and a large beer garden with fantastic children’s play area. Main meals on the children’s menu are smaller portions of dishes from the adult menu and there’s also a separate menu for toddlers and children under seven years.

Heathy Farm, Balcombe Road, Crawley, West Sussex, RH10 3NQ. Telephone: 01293 886879. Email: 1554@greeneking.co.uk

Crawley shopping

The shopping facilities in Crawley are excellent with the usual selection of high street chains in the County Mall, a covered shopping centre situated in the heart of Crawley with over 90 of your favourite high street shops. It has a fantastic food court and for the little ones it has Mini Mayhem, a children’s soft play area. With over 1,700 parking spaces, shopping at County Mall is made easy!