Go Bananas

Tomorrow we are rock painting in our arts and crafts session!
Join us from 10am 🙂 included in entry

LETZ DANCE BALLET THEMED!
Every Tuesday at 11.30am included in entry price
Let you little ones be mini ballerinas - tutu’s optional but super cute!
... Be sure to book your space
www.bookwhen.com/gobananas
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Our weekly timetable for next week w/c 17th September 2018.
There is always something going on for your little ones to enjoy and a special treat for parents on Monday's with our FREE hot drink offer.
To book onto any classes or activities please visit : www.bookwhen.com/gobananas
... To book onto Kidslingo spanish class please contact Sylvana Rebaza To book onto Mini Vibes please contact Sarah at Mini Vibes
All classes included entry to soft play before and after.
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ROCK PAINTING! Join us at our arts and crafts morning next Monday 17th September for some fun painting and decorating rocks.
Let the little ones imaginations wild!
... Enjoy a FREE HOT DRINK and cup of squash and biscuit for your little ones
All included in entry no need to book 🙂
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Just two spaces left for tomorrow’s messy play session! Be sure to book via the link below: www.bookwhen.com/gobananas
Included in entry!

Thank you for coming to the wonderful teachers and children of Barnadiston Hall school today!
We've loved having you with us for you annual visit and can't wait to see you all again next year.

We're all set up for our morning activity of Sticker Sorting! Ready to help your little ones with their colours, shapes and to learn about taking turns.

Tomorrow we are sticker sorting with our under 5’s!
A great activity to help your little ones with their colours, as well as helping them learn to wait their turn and share with others.
Included in entry available from 10am 🙂

So excited for Kids Kitchen to return tomorrow!
We are fully booked up until the session on 26th September where there are still some spaces available.
Be sure to book online... 👇🏻 www.bookwhen.com/gobananas
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WE WON!
We are so happy to announce that our Autism Friendly Play Sessions won the award for special contribution to the local community via the Essex Mums Awards!
Thank you so much to all those who voted and have attended the sessions, we hope they have made a difference in some small way to your children. Here's to many more in the future. Special thanks to Angela Turner who works tirelessly to ensure these run smoothly.
... The next session is Tuesday 18th September at 4.30pm. If you wish to attend please book via the link below. Cafe will be open as normal.
www.bookwhen.com/gobananas
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Come and meet Peter Rabbit and help him do some gardening! First of all you will decorate your very own plant pot, next you will fill it with soil and then plant the seeds and watch them grow at home! Peter will be helping you every step of the way - he is a great gardener although he might try and pinch some of the seeds for himself so keep an eye on them!
Included in entry price
... Book tickets here: www.bookwhen.com/gobananas
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Come and join us and make some yummy homemade pizzas for dinner! Roll, stretch and knead the pizza dough until you have the perfect base - make it thin and crispy or nice and thick! We will also make our own mozeralla dough balls
Decide your toppings and decorate away. We will then cook them and you can enjoy them for your dinner with chips and a choice of peas, beans or salad :)
Included in our After School Meal deal offer.... Pre booking is essential - please follow this link to book www.bookwhen.com/gobananas
Starts at 4pm prompt. Suitable for all ages :)
PLEASE NOTE WE CAN CATER FOR CHILDREN WHO ARE GLUTEN FREE
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Letz Dance is back tomorrow with two classes!
Included in entry price
Come along and join in the fun ... Booking required 👇🏻 www.bookwhen.com/gobananas
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Join us tomorrow for some arts and crafts! We will be making a fun rainbow craft 🙂
Freshly made lemon cake and strawberries and cream cupcakes to enjoy with your FREE hot drink.
Monday’s aren’t that bad after all 😍

Tomorrow morning we are supporting St Helena Hospice by welcoming their friendly mascot Dandy the Lion and 2 of our staff member’s Mums Emma and Di from Hospice who are fundraising for the Hospice’s Northern Lights Winter Trek 2019.
They’ll have a raffle, where you could win this amazing Dandy the Lion cake and some other great prizes & Name the Scarecrow, which was handknitted by a Hospice patient. Both love working at the Hospice and as a local charity, it’s very close to a lot of our hearts so if you’re visiting, do go and say Hello!

we visit go bananas every year when we come and visit family (we live in london). we visited on Wednesday 4th April with a 5 and 12 year old (ASD/ADHD) and I can honestly say the staff were so lovely and helpful. They all smiled, were very cheerful and polite when they spoke to us, including the kitchen staff. our 5 year old banged her knee as she climbed a piece of equipment and there was plenty of staff around to ask for help. They promptly got me an ice pack

and asked if we needed a 1st aider but it was required. after i have it back they asked if she was ok and to just let them know if we needed any futher assistance. the wall instructor was very supportive, patient and friendly too and they even gave us a certificate which delighted our 5 year old. on a whole was a lovely experience, well done to the team there you are doing a great job �

We attended a Monday evening sen session for the first time . !All the children are greeted individually with a unique name card for their table which was a lovely surprise. The play area is big, clean and accessible . the staff there were really friendly and very helpful . I had chips and a cup of tea which were both of really good quality and very reasonably priced.

Visited today for the first time with my 4 year old and 19 month old and we had a brilliant time!

Tiny Town was thoroughly enjoyed by both my children as was the Mother’s Day crafts that were on this morning.

The Aztec Adventure area is also brilliant and my eldest loved everything about that play frame from the spider web climbing section, to the wobbly walk ways and of course the big blue wavy slide.

Kate was extremely helpful with my enquiries and all the staff were polite, hardworking, friendly and all wearing a smile.

A clean and safe soft play centre with lovely food and drink as well.

We will definitely be visiting again soon, thank you.

Took 5 children on Thursday...( as a childminder) they all had a fantastic time...we didn’t eat but have in the past and the food was always just right... staff were friendly and helpful ... thankfully it wasn’t too busy..we had a 1 year old with us too and he spent over an hour on the go.. would love the squash to be a little cheaper, maybe an option to buy 5 jugs for less? If there’s a large group and in this weather ice cubes would have been very welcome

Over the past year i have been bringing my daughter to here with her two friends. They absolutely love it and we regularly attend the kitchen on a Wednesday (when work allows). My friend and myself don’t hesitate to suggest going here with our 3. The place is great for them, the cafe is brilliant and above all the staff care about what they do and their clients. We have just got back from the Easter party where I saw my daughter smile, laugh, dance and play. We also attended the Halloween party. We’ve been coming so much recently Angela greets us by name now. Which goes to show how much attention they pay. Amazing. Well done to all. We shall see you next week sometime �

My son and I love Go Bananas. There's so much to do, it keeps being exciting.

The staff are friendly and very helpful and the food is surprisingly good. Great quality ingredients, lots of healthy options and lots of vegetarian options, which is important to us. Portions are very generous too.

Highly recommended.

My soft play centre of choice in colchester. My daughter can spend hours playing in the Tiny Tots Town. It looks great after a mini make over. The extra activities (put on at no extra cost) are great especially the Kid's kitchen where my daughter made the most delicious brownies! I have always found it clean and equipment well looked after. The staff are friendly and attentive.



I hope that parents understand the rules of play are there to keep our children safe and should be respected.

My daughter had her 7th birthday party here at the weekend. I can’t highly recommend it enough, she had the ultimate party package and worth every penny so well organised and our party host (Sophie) is a credit to your team she was fantastic!! Brilliant with the children, and definitely deserves praise for her dedication.

We often come to play and love it my children always have a good time!

Love all the new little changes since new management.

My children go to after school club and they love it!! Angela,Sarah,Natalie and the rest of team are fab!!! Jacob and poppy rave about them and are always excited to go after school!!

I can't compliment them enough. I take my 1 year old to play there now and they always come over and say hello.

They are all fab and highly recommend to any parent.

Go bananas is always clean tidy and inviting. Staff attentive and happy.

Big thumbs up to you all x

I have been visiting Go Bananas for over 20 years and I am so impressed with the changes the new owners have made. The new play areas are wonderful - plenty to challenge older kids, with lots to do for younger ones as well. The centre is clean and welcoming, and staff are extremely friendly and helpful.



A note about the menu: the food on offer is great, with a good mixture of healthy and vegetarian options alongside favourites like pizza and chips, or homemade cakes. The jacket potatoes are gorgeous - properly baked in the oven.



Thanks Go Bananas - we think you're the best and my kids have had so many happy days playing there!

Had a lovely after school play date with friends tonight-3 mummies and 6 kids all left happy. Food came out hot and quickly and was all eaten. Staff were lovely as always especially Kate who went above and beyond to help with our group of little monkeys. We will be back soon, keep up the good work!

Booked an adult party for my husbands 30th birthday and it was an absolutely hilarious night! Great games and our staff hosts, Sarah & Claire, really made it fun for all of us! Well worth the money for a truely memorable evening of team games and just generally acting like a kid again!! The food was good too and there was more than enough to go round everybody with plenty left over for people to take home at the end. Definitely highly recommend!! 5 Star staff, 5 Star party, 5 Star fun!! Thank you for making it a birthday my husband will never forget!I

We have just come back from another great activity organised at go bananas. I love that there are always things going on but also the tiny town area is a safe place for my little one to play independently. I also cannot compliment the staff enough who are so friendly and when we as parents have those tough days �, are always there with a smile and often a helping hand.

Normally love taking my 1 year Go Bananas, even during school holidays. But today was chaos. Queue was out the door as only one young girl on the desk. But that’s not my complaint. My compliant was that the Tiny Town for under 5s had more kids over 5 than under 5, and I counted at least six lads that were close to high school age. They were running around like lunatics, throwing plastic plates at each other, tackling and hitting each other and climbing/falling off all sorts of equipment. Don’t get me wrong, they were being big kids which is fine, but right next to Tiny Town is a 4 story giant soft play area for them. My 1 year old was terrified and did not enjoy it at all. When I spoke to a member of staff (possibly management) they were quite dismissive but ultimately did send a young girl in to chuck out the big kids. However they all came back in within minutes. I’m guessing their parents had sent them back in telling them to tell any staff they are supervising their younger siblings. A young female member of staff (must’ve been 17/18) started telling the big kids off again to which they said “we are supervising” I heard her say “you either leave or if you are supervising you stop playing and don’t go on the equipment”. To be fair she had more back bone than the first person I spoke to. It won’t stop be going back I just highly suggest they police it better at peak times and holidays. UPDATED: more than happy with go bananas prompt reply. Glad they agree with my comments and hope to see the changes they mentioned in place soon

Me and my partner brung our 10 month old today and felt it was over crowded, there was people standing everywhere. I would rather had waited a bit longer than having no where to sit. There was also staff members (didn’t get names) reserving tables for other people. The under 5s area was also very busy and the children seemed to be really rough as well as what looked like over 5s in there. We decided not to stay for very long because of this which is also a shame as we had come from Chelmsford. I understand it’s the parents responsibility to watch there children. A lot of people were also not leaving when there colour was called out which didn’t help the situation.

I visited for the first time in a long time last week with a friend and our children.



I was told that "go bananas has new owners and it's really good now" so I thought I would give it a go.



I was really disappointed - it looked like the same dark dingy dated soft play, my boys weren't too keen on the tiny tots area other than the little interactive space (which fair play was really good). It just looked the same as years & years ago.



I guess my boys (2&3) where too young for the big play area although they did go on there as lots of other little children where and too big for the tiny tots and I had to keep letting them in and out of the gate which meant I couldn't sit and have a coffee whilst they played I had to constantly stand at the gate ( I do watch my children but they are at the age where they don't need mummy following them round the play area all the time.)



The food was good & quick.



I didn't like the fact that children's squash came in a really flimsy plastic cup (I think a proper child's cup which you can buy from Ikea for super cheap would be sooooo much better and just looks a bit nicer too.)



The toilets didn't have any toilet roll which was a little annoying to say the least with a toddler.



I think it could do with a good old freshen up throughout just to brighten it up and make it more nicer for the adults too.



Unfortunately I won't be returning any time soon which is a shame as me and my boys love a day out but our favourite soft play is jungle adventure in stanway as it's clean and bright and inviting.

Over priced admission for what it is.

Bought a diluted juice to put in my child's juice cup.. was room temperature. Complained and kitchen staffed laughed it off saying that's how it comes out the tap. I suggested keeping a jug of diluted juice in the fridge but was told there's no room in the fridge. ! Wont come back

Normally take my kids here during every school holiday, I won’t be taking them again. I’ve never had a problem here until the last time I did during the Easter break. One of the problems I had was with one of your workers (I think her name was Sophie) she was rude to my daughter and made her cry. She told my daughter that she wasn’t aloud to play with her younger brother and sister. Excuse me but no one tells my kids who they can and can’t play with. I went and confronted this girl in front of the other parents that were in the tiny town play area.

I also got told my kids weren’t aloud to each their lunch as it wasn’t purchased on the premises.... again not being funny but my kids have food allergies and they will eat what I bloody well give them not what you say they can have.

When we arrived we got told we had 2 hours to play... yeah we didn’t we got told we had to leave after an hour and 20mins because our colour card had been called.

I have also wrote an email to you which has been ignored (clearly) as I sent this on the day... I then sent another a few days later and still nothing.

We visited last week and really didn't enjoy our day. The place was so messy, food was all over the floor and the service was very slow. We expected a lot better to be honest after hearing that Go Bananas was getting better, but in our experience it wasn't. The toilets were so messy. We appreciate it was half term, but still, please keep some level of cleanliness and hygiene.

we visit go bananas every year when we come and visit family (we live in london). we visited on Wednesday 4th April with a 5 and 12 year old (ASD/ADHD) and I can honestly say the staff were so lovely and helpful. They all smiled, were very cheerful and polite when they spoke to us, including the kitchen staff. our 5 year old banged her knee as she climbed a piece of equipment and there was plenty of staff around to ask for help. They promptly got me an ice pack

and asked if we needed a 1st aider but it was required. after i have it back they asked if she was ok and to just let them know if we needed any futher assistance. the wall instructor was very supportive, patient and friendly too and they even gave us a certificate which delighted our 5 year old. on a whole was a lovely experience, well done to the team there you are doing a great job �

We attended a Monday evening sen session for the first time . !All the children are greeted individually with a unique name card for their table which was a lovely surprise. The play area is big, clean and accessible . the staff there were really friendly and very helpful . I had chips and a cup of tea which were both of really good quality and very reasonably priced.

Visited today for the first time with my 4 year old and 19 month old and we had a brilliant time!

Tiny Town was thoroughly enjoyed by both my children as was the Mother’s Day crafts that were on this morning.

The Aztec Adventure area is also brilliant and my eldest loved everything about that play frame from the spider web climbing section, to the wobbly walk ways and of course the big blue wavy slide.

Kate was extremely helpful with my enquiries and all the staff were polite, hardworking, friendly and all wearing a smile.

A clean and safe soft play centre with lovely food and drink as well.

We will definitely be visiting again soon, thank you.

Took 5 children on Thursday...( as a childminder) they all had a fantastic time...we didn’t eat but have in the past and the food was always just right... staff were friendly and helpful ... thankfully it wasn’t too busy..we had a 1 year old with us too and he spent over an hour on the go.. would love the squash to be a little cheaper, maybe an option to buy 5 jugs for less? If there’s a large group and in this weather ice cubes would have been very welcome

Over the past year i have been bringing my daughter to here with her two friends. They absolutely love it and we regularly attend the kitchen on a Wednesday (when work allows). My friend and myself don’t hesitate to suggest going here with our 3. The place is great for them, the cafe is brilliant and above all the staff care about what they do and their clients. We have just got back from the Easter party where I saw my daughter smile, laugh, dance and play. We also attended the Halloween party. We’ve been coming so much recently Angela greets us by name now. Which goes to show how much attention they pay. Amazing. Well done to all. We shall see you next week sometime �

My son and I love Go Bananas. There's so much to do, it keeps being exciting.

The staff are friendly and very helpful and the food is surprisingly good. Great quality ingredients, lots of healthy options and lots of vegetarian options, which is important to us. Portions are very generous too.

Highly recommended.

My soft play centre of choice in colchester. My daughter can spend hours playing in the Tiny Tots Town. It looks great after a mini make over. The extra activities (put on at no extra cost) are great especially the Kid's kitchen where my daughter made the most delicious brownies! I have always found it clean and equipment well looked after. The staff are friendly and attentive.



I hope that parents understand the rules of play are there to keep our children safe and should be respected.

My daughter had her 7th birthday party here at the weekend. I can’t highly recommend it enough, she had the ultimate party package and worth every penny so well organised and our party host (Sophie) is a credit to your team she was fantastic!! Brilliant with the children, and definitely deserves praise for her dedication.

We often come to play and love it my children always have a good time!

Love all the new little changes since new management.

My children go to after school club and they love it!! Angela,Sarah,Natalie and the rest of team are fab!!! Jacob and poppy rave about them and are always excited to go after school!!

I can't compliment them enough. I take my 1 year old to play there now and they always come over and say hello.

They are all fab and highly recommend to any parent.

Go bananas is always clean tidy and inviting. Staff attentive and happy.

Big thumbs up to you all x

I have been visiting Go Bananas for over 20 years and I am so impressed with the changes the new owners have made. The new play areas are wonderful - plenty to challenge older kids, with lots to do for younger ones as well. The centre is clean and welcoming, and staff are extremely friendly and helpful.



A note about the menu: the food on offer is great, with a good mixture of healthy and vegetarian options alongside favourites like pizza and chips, or homemade cakes. The jacket potatoes are gorgeous - properly baked in the oven.



Thanks Go Bananas - we think you're the best and my kids have had so many happy days playing there!

Had a lovely after school play date with friends tonight-3 mummies and 6 kids all left happy. Food came out hot and quickly and was all eaten. Staff were lovely as always especially Kate who went above and beyond to help with our group of little monkeys. We will be back soon, keep up the good work!

Booked an adult party for my husbands 30th birthday and it was an absolutely hilarious night! Great games and our staff hosts, Sarah & Claire, really made it fun for all of us! Well worth the money for a truely memorable evening of team games and just generally acting like a kid again!! The food was good too and there was more than enough to go round everybody with plenty left over for people to take home at the end. Definitely highly recommend!! 5 Star staff, 5 Star party, 5 Star fun!! Thank you for making it a birthday my husband will never forget!I

We have just come back from another great activity organised at go bananas. I love that there are always things going on but also the tiny town area is a safe place for my little one to play independently. I also cannot compliment the staff enough who are so friendly and when we as parents have those tough days �, are always there with a smile and often a helping hand.

Normally love taking my 1 year Go Bananas, even during school holidays. But today was chaos. Queue was out the door as only one young girl on the desk. But that’s not my complaint. My compliant was that the Tiny Town for under 5s had more kids over 5 than under 5, and I counted at least six lads that were close to high school age. They were running around like lunatics, throwing plastic plates at each other, tackling and hitting each other and climbing/falling off all sorts of equipment. Don’t get me wrong, they were being big kids which is fine, but right next to Tiny Town is a 4 story giant soft play area for them. My 1 year old was terrified and did not enjoy it at all. When I spoke to a member of staff (possibly management) they were quite dismissive but ultimately did send a young girl in to chuck out the big kids. However they all came back in within minutes. I’m guessing their parents had sent them back in telling them to tell any staff they are supervising their younger siblings. A young female member of staff (must’ve been 17/18) started telling the big kids off again to which they said “we are supervising” I heard her say “you either leave or if you are supervising you stop playing and don’t go on the equipment”. To be fair she had more back bone than the first person I spoke to. It won’t stop be going back I just highly suggest they police it better at peak times and holidays. UPDATED: more than happy with go bananas prompt reply. Glad they agree with my comments and hope to see the changes they mentioned in place soon

Me and my partner brung our 10 month old today and felt it was over crowded, there was people standing everywhere. I would rather had waited a bit longer than having no where to sit. There was also staff members (didn’t get names) reserving tables for other people. The under 5s area was also very busy and the children seemed to be really rough as well as what looked like over 5s in there. We decided not to stay for very long because of this which is also a shame as we had come from Chelmsford. I understand it’s the parents responsibility to watch there children. A lot of people were also not leaving when there colour was called out which didn’t help the situation.

I visited for the first time in a long time last week with a friend and our children.



I was told that "go bananas has new owners and it's really good now" so I thought I would give it a go.



I was really disappointed - it looked like the same dark dingy dated soft play, my boys weren't too keen on the tiny tots area other than the little interactive space (which fair play was really good). It just looked the same as years & years ago.



I guess my boys (2&3) where too young for the big play area although they did go on there as lots of other little children where and too big for the tiny tots and I had to keep letting them in and out of the gate which meant I couldn't sit and have a coffee whilst they played I had to constantly stand at the gate ( I do watch my children but they are at the age where they don't need mummy following them round the play area all the time.)



The food was good & quick.



I didn't like the fact that children's squash came in a really flimsy plastic cup (I think a proper child's cup which you can buy from Ikea for super cheap would be sooooo much better and just looks a bit nicer too.)



The toilets didn't have any toilet roll which was a little annoying to say the least with a toddler.



I think it could do with a good old freshen up throughout just to brighten it up and make it more nicer for the adults too.



Unfortunately I won't be returning any time soon which is a shame as me and my boys love a day out but our favourite soft play is jungle adventure in stanway as it's clean and bright and inviting.

Over priced admission for what it is.

Bought a diluted juice to put in my child's juice cup.. was room temperature. Complained and kitchen staffed laughed it off saying that's how it comes out the tap. I suggested keeping a jug of diluted juice in the fridge but was told there's no room in the fridge. ! Wont come back

Normally take my kids here during every school holiday, I won’t be taking them again. I’ve never had a problem here until the last time I did during the Easter break. One of the problems I had was with one of your workers (I think her name was Sophie) she was rude to my daughter and made her cry. She told my daughter that she wasn’t aloud to play with her younger brother and sister. Excuse me but no one tells my kids who they can and can’t play with. I went and confronted this girl in front of the other parents that were in the tiny town play area.

I also got told my kids weren’t aloud to each their lunch as it wasn’t purchased on the premises.... again not being funny but my kids have food allergies and they will eat what I bloody well give them not what you say they can have.

When we arrived we got told we had 2 hours to play... yeah we didn’t we got told we had to leave after an hour and 20mins because our colour card had been called.

I have also wrote an email to you which has been ignored (clearly) as I sent this on the day... I then sent another a few days later and still nothing.

We visited last week and really didn't enjoy our day. The place was so messy, food was all over the floor and the service was very slow. We expected a lot better to be honest after hearing that Go Bananas was getting better, but in our experience it wasn't. The toilets were so messy. We appreciate it was half term, but still, please keep some level of cleanliness and hygiene.