10 soft play and indoor places near Chester with prices, ages and hours, from £3 at Hayrack Church Farm to Zippy's and Flip Out. Checked October 2026.
The soft play most Chester families look for is Zippy’s Playworld off Grange Road, a three-level frame for under-tens; Flip Out Chester at Chester Gates for trampolines and older children; Polar Palace in Winsford for under-twelves; and, for the cheapest session, the playroom at Hayrack Church Farm, £3 a child. Every entry was checked against the venue’s own site on 27 October 2026.
Prices change often, several venues open different hours in the school holidays, and this is half-term week, so check the venue’s booking page before you set off.
Soft play near Chester compared
| Venue | Where | Ages | From |
|---|---|---|---|
| Zippy's Playworld | Chester, CH2 | 0 to 10 | On booking page |
| Flip Out Chester | Chester Gates, CH1 | Under-fives session; all ages | £7.50 (Stay and Play) |
| Hayrack Church Farm | Thornton-le-Moors, CH2 | 1 and over | £3 |
| The Ice Cream Farm: Fun Factory | Tattenhall, CH3 | All ages, under 1.4m | £4.50 plus entry |
| The Playbarn | Blakemere, Sandiway, CW8 | Crawlers to older children | On booking page |
| Polar Palace | Winsford, CW7 | 0 to 12 | Not published |
Soft play in and around Chester
Zippy’s Playworld, Grange Road
An indoor play centre for children up to 10, with what it calls a “huge climbing frame complete with slides, ball pits, roller squeezes and rope bridges”, a toddler area and a baby sensory room for under-twos that can be booked privately for 30 minutes at off-peak times. A height limit of 4ft 9in applies. Play is charged by the two-hour session; admission prices show on its booking page, and membership starts at £6.95 a month. Usual hours are 9.30am to 5.30pm on weekdays and 9.30am to 5pm at weekends, with last entry an hour before closing. Half-term hours vary by day: it opens at 9.30am on Thursday 29 October and 11.30am on Monday, Wednesday and Friday, and closes at 2pm on 31 October and 1 November for private parties. It asks families to book online when rain is forecast, as walk-ins may be turned away at capacity. It says it was named Children’s Soft Play Centre of the Year 2026, North West England, at the SME UK Enterprise Awards. Hygiene rating 5 (FSA, 21 July 2025). Unit 5 Grange Park, Grange Road, CH2 2AN. 01244 377229. zippysplayworld.co.uk
Flip Out Chester, Chester Gates
A trampoline and adventure park with 14 attractions, which its site lists as including trampolines, drop slides, a Cyber Tower, interactive football, Laser Quest, a battle cannon arena and e-karting. One hour costs £15.45, or £10.95 for anyone under 1.2m; two hours are £20.45 or £15.95. Off-peak two-hour sessions, on Fridays 10am to 4pm and from 4pm Monday to Thursday, are £13 or £8 for under 1.2m. For the youngest, Stay and Play runs on term-time Fridays until 3pm, strictly for ages five and under, at £7.50 a child and £3 an adult. Carers with ID go free. Flip Out grip socks must be worn; sign the waiver online and arrive 30 minutes before your session. Hygiene rating 5 (FSA, 26 March 2025). Chester Gates Business Park, CH1 6LT. 01244 956777. flipout.co.uk
Hayrack Church Farm, Thornton-le-Moors
A farm park on the A5117 north of the city with an indoor playroom that it describes as “soft play, ride on toys, sensory panels and library corner”. The playroom is included in the farm park ticket, which is £6 on term-time weekdays and £7 at weekends, at half-term and in the summer holidays, for adults and children from one year old. The playroom on its own is £3 a child. Under-ones are free, and carers with proof of DLA or a carer’s ID pay half price on the farm park. Its prices page gives farm park hours of 10am to 3pm Tuesday to Friday and 10am to 4pm at weekends, closed Mondays, but open daily in the school holidays. No need to book. Free parking. The Hayrack Cafe holds a hygiene rating of 4 (FSA, 24 February 2026). A5117, Thornton-le-Moors, CH2 4HU. 01244 301473. hayrackchurchfarm.co.uk. Our listing.
The Fun Factory, The Ice Cream Farm, Tattenhall
The Ice Cream Farm, south-east of Chester, says its indoor Fun Factory is “where our visitor attraction adventure started”: a soft play themed on the farm, split into three age sections, with slides, bubble tubes, nets, ball pits and a “Shoot-Out Zone”. It costs £4.50 a child for 60 minutes, or one play from a Play Pass; under-ones go free, socks are required and the height limit is 1.4m. Parents can watch from the Coffee Barn. You also need a site entry ticket, from £2 a child and £1.50 an adult, which includes parking. The farm is open 9.30am to 5pm on weekdays and 9.30am to 5.30pm at weekends. The Fun Factory closes at 5pm on 29 and 30 October, and the site closes to the public from 2pm on 6 to 8 November for its fireworks. Hygiene rating 5 (FSA, 12 February 2025). Newton Lane, Tattenhall, CH3 9NE. 0333 049 1011. theicecreamfarm.co.uk
Northwich and Winsford
The Playbarn, Blakemere Village, Sandiway
A family soft play centre at Blakemere Village, open since 1997 and, Blakemere says, recently refurbished with a new disco area. There is a soft area with soft bricks for crawlers, an under-threes area with a sensory corner, a smaller slide and a ball pool, and a large frame for older children with a climbing wall, monkey bars, rope bridges and a wide slide. Its own site says adults are not charged, and there is a cafe with free wifi. Child prices show on its booking page. Open 9am to 5pm Monday to Friday and 10am to 5pm at weekends. Blakemere Village itself is free to enter with free parking. Hygiene rating 5 (FSA, 6 April 2026). Blakemere Village, Chester Road, Sandiway, CW8 2EB. 01606 301321.
Polar Palace, Winsford
An indoor play and party centre for children up to 12, which calls its frame “the largest Play Frame in Cheshire”. It lists a three-lane Astra slide, a football and basketball court, go-karts, a trampoline, and separate areas for under-twos and under-fives with trikes, a sand pit, baby change and bottle warming. On term-time weekdays a sensory room runs from 10am to 2pm, and toddler activities on Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays (messy play, crafts, discos, stories) are included in the entry price. Play time is unlimited unless the centre says otherwise on the day. It does not publish entry prices online. You can walk in, but it advises booking for visits after 2pm. Socks are sold at £1.50 a pair, and photography is not allowed inside. A Halloween party runs on 31 October, 2pm to 4pm, at £9.95 a child and £2 an adult. Hygiene rating 5 (FSA, 2 February 2026). Unit 10, Pineapple Park, Road One, Winsford Industrial Estate, CW7 3PR. 01606 863623.
Rainy-day places
Blue Planet Aquarium, Cheshire Oaks
The aquarium beside the Cheshire Oaks Designer Outlet, off junction 10 of the M53, which describes itself as home to Europe’s biggest collection of sharks. It is open daily from 10am, currently until 5pm, and closed only on Christmas Day, with last entry an hour before closing. Tickets are sold online. Parking costs £3 a vehicle for the day; the Stagecoach X1 from Chester stops nearby. It lists lift access to every floor, ramps, accessible toilets and a free carer’s ticket for eligible visitors, and offers quieter days for autistic guests on request. Junior shark dives are for ages 8 to 15. Hygiene rating 5 (FSA, 3 December 2025). Longlooms Road, CH65 9LF. 0151 357 8804.
National Waterways Museum, Ellesmere Port
The Canal and River Trust’s museum of canal life, on a seven-acre historic dockside site that has been a backdrop for Peaky Blinders and House of Guinness. Its page lists historic boats, exhibitions, discovery trails, self-led craft activities and a waterways-themed playground, and suggests two to three hours for a visit. Day tickets are £13.25 for adults and £9.95 for children aged 6 to 15; under-sixes are free, and booking online saves 10%. Open Tuesday to Sunday, 10am to 4pm, and every day this half-term, 26 October to 1 November. Free parking; dogs on leads are welcome. Some dockside paths are uneven, but the cafe, shop and most galleries have level access. The museum holds a hygiene rating of 5 (FSA, 16 February 2026). South Pier Road, CH65 4FW. 0151 355 5017.
Grosvenor Museum, Chester
The city’s museum of Roman Chester, art, silver and natural history, run by West Cheshire Museums. Entry is free. Open Tuesday to Saturday, 10.30am to 5pm, and Sunday, 1pm to 4pm; closed on Mondays except bank holidays. While scaffolding is up, the museum says the Grosvenor Street entrance is shut and visitors use the back door on Bunce Street. The ground floor, including the Roman Galleries, is wheelchair accessible, but there is no lift to the upper floors. Its website offers a free Digging Detectives activity sheet for children, and The Worst Record Covers in the World is on until 17 January. The nearest car park is the Little Roodee on Castle Drive. 27 Grosvenor Street, CH1 2DD. 01244 972197.
Lion Salt Works, Marston, near Northwich
A former salt works, now one of the West Cheshire Museums, about a mile from Northwich town centre. Children aged 16 and under go free; its visit page lists adult admission at £7.50 and concessions at £6.70, and carers go free. Open Tuesday to Sunday, 10.30am to 5pm, and usually on bank holiday Mondays. On term-time Fridays, Little Lions Go Wild runs nature sessions for pre-schoolers. The whole site is wheelchair and pram accessible, with lifts, baby change and a free car park. The cafe holds a hygiene rating of 5 (FSA, 3 June 2026). Ollershaw Lane, Marston, CW9 6ES. 01606 275066.
How we chose
We started with the indoor play places Chester parents search for and the ones local family listings return, then kept only those whose own website was live and showed current opening on 27 October 2026. Prices, ages, hours and quotes come from each venue’s own pages; hygiene ratings come from the Food Standards Agency register for Cheshire West and Chester. We left out places we could only find on third-party listings. We have not been to any of them for this guide. For outdoor play, see our Chester playgrounds guide and walks near Chester; for somewhere to sit down afterwards, Chester cafes. There is more in things to do in Chester, what’s on in Chester this month and the Chester business directory.
Run a place that should be here, or spot something that has changed? Email newsdesk@chesteronline.co.uk.
Frequently asked questions
Where is the cheapest soft play near Chester?
Hayrack Church Farm at Thornton-le-Moors charges £3 a child for its indoor soft play on its own, or includes it in the farm park ticket (£6 on term-time weekdays, £7 at weekends and in the holidays), with under-ones free. The Fun Factory at the Ice Cream Farm, Tattenhall, is £4.50 a child for 60 minutes on top of site entry from £2. Flip Out Chester’s Stay and Play for under-fives is £7.50 on term-time Fridays.
Which indoor places near Chester are free for children?
The Grosvenor Museum in Chester is free for everyone, open Tuesday to Saturday 10.30am to 5pm and Sunday 1pm to 4pm. The Lion Salt Works near Northwich lets children aged 16 and under in free, and the National Waterways Museum in Ellesmere Port lets under-sixes in free.
Is there soft play near Chester for children with additional needs?
Zippy’s Playworld has a baby sensory room for under-twos that can be booked privately for 30 minutes at off-peak times. Polar Palace in Winsford runs sensory room sessions on term-time weekdays, 10am to 2pm. The Ice Cream Farm closes the whole site to the public for SEN sessions; the next is on 8 November, 9.30am to 2pm. Blue Planet Aquarium offers quieter days for autistic visitors on request.
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