Free Things To Do With Children At Haven Seashore

Where ever we go on holiday I like to make sure we do a range of activities with Erin. We also like to save money where we can to keep costs down. Visiting a holiday park like Haven means that there is already quite a lot included in the price of your stay and it would be silly not to make the most of them. We did quite a lot during our stay at Haven Seashore recently so I wanted to write a bit about the things we did that were completely free.

Swimming pool

One of the things we were really looking forward to at Haven Seashore was the swimming pool. Although we didn’t know it when we booked the holiday, this part of the park had a big renovation and from the pictures, it looked like Erin was going to have so much fun.

For babies and toddlers there is a smaller, shallow section of water to play in and for older children there is a really large splash/ play area with slides and flowing water features. John and I were both really impressed with how much there was for Erin to do and she had a go at pretty much everything. There are various sized slides and apart from the really big ones that went outside, Erin went on them all.

As well as the slides and amazing play structure, there is a separate pool as well but it wasn’t very big. It was a nice size for children to play in and a fair bit of space to spread out but if you wanted to actually swim, you wouldn’t be able to get very far.

Soft play

Inside the Cakery/ Coast House restaurant there is a small soft play area. After seeing the size of the soft play area at Caister-on-Sea last year I was a bit disappointed to see the size of the soft play at this park.

There is only a very tiny baby/ toddler section with barely anything to do and a bit of a larger section for children aged 4 and over. We visited at 9am and Erin had the whole area to herself but the area can take 26 children. I imagine if this was at capacity then the children would really struggle to get around easily without it being too cramped.

While Erin was able to really enjoy the soft play area it would have been nice for it to be a bit bigger, especially for the younger children.

The beach

One of the great things about Haven Seashore is that it is right on the beach. Our caravan was a 2 minute walk from some steps down to the beach and it’s really easy to get to from anywhere on the park really. The beach is a really great way to spend some time if the weather is nice as all you really need is a bucket and spade or a ball for children to play with.

Haven Seashore also had a small sandpit near the owners receptions with plenty of toys to play with. Erin loved playing here on our last day as we were checking out etc. and killing some time before we left.

Outdoor parks

There are a couple of outdoor play areas at Haven Seashore. There are two ‘children’s play areas’, with one being located outside the Shore Water Park and the other being located in the reception area. One of the parks is bigger than the other but there is still enough for younger children (maybe under 7s) to do. Erin was able to do pretty much everything at 3.5 but struggled a bit with some of the bigger climbing equipment. Another play area is the ‘adventure playground’ which again, is located near reception.

Erin was quite happy to play in all of the areas but older children would get bored quite easily I think. Also, Haven Seashore is a very large park in terms of where the caravans are so it would have been nice for there to be a small play area at each end (like there is at Caister-on-Sea).

Live Lounge Activities

One of the reasons why we booked to come back to Haven was the entertainment available for Erin. Every day there is some kind of show or activity going on in the Live Lounge in the morning. The shows/ activities are aimed at a good age range and there are different things to suit everyone throughout the week.

During our stay we did Groove with Greedy, Make a Mess, Bradley’s Beach Clean Up and Sign A Song With Polly and Ned.

You can see what is on and at what time on the Haven app and you don’t have to book to go to these sessions (although you do for some of the other free activities not mentioned). We arrived about 10 minutes before each session and was able to sit right at the front but I imagine it would get very busy during the school holidays.

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There are more activities as well as these that are also free but we didn’t do any of them. These can be found on the Haven app and can be booked at the Shore Water Park reception. There was things like Mini Archery, Mini Fencing, Nature Rockz Sand Sculptures and Nature Rockz Nature Trail. Although we did a lot aimed at Erin’s age I did see a lot going on for older children too so there’s definitely something for all ages.

If you did want to try some of the paid activities at Haven it would be worth doing some research beforehand to make sure it is something that your child will enjoy doing.