Sharing is caring!

After a cold and wet start to the summer, the sun had finally made an appearance. All I wanted to do was take my girls to the park and watch them run around in the fresh air. However, we were spending the afternoon at the Ministry of Sound. Not my usual choice of Saturday afternoon hang-out – and definitely not since I had become a mum to three little girls. I wasn’t sure what to expect. Would it be dark and dank, with sticky floors and the smell of stale sweat from the night before? My girls certainly didn’t know what to expect. Amelia (6) loves music but is probably more into Coldplay than dance anthems. Florence (4) loves to dance, but is more of break-dancer than a disco dancer. And the little one… well she isn’t even one yet.

Despite my reservations, off we went to Southwark to meet my sister and their much-loved cousin Hugh (3) to go to Rave-a-Roo. We couldn’t have been more pleasantly surprised. We arrived before the 3pm start time so it was very quick to get in through ‘security’ – who could have been the ministry’s usual bouncers but with the addition of neon pork pie hats. The Rave-a-Roo staff were very friendly and helpful. Buggies had to be left in a secure area in the outside bar so I waited a while, until baby Nancy was woken up, by a rather loud announcement on the tannoy.

We were one of the first through the door, so the children could take it all in before it got busier – they were mesmerised by the size of the disco ball in main room. We beat the queues and headed straight to get our complimentary neon tattoos and glow-sticks and mould some neon plasticine characters. Then children played with the floating ball machine whilst we enjoyed a glass of Prosecco – resisting purchasing a bottle, which at just £15 was selling pretty well. We then hit the dance floor where the Rave-a-Roo team kept all the children enthralled, teaching dance moves and the odd conga whilst ‘DJ Cuddles’ played the tunes. After a while we dragged the children away to check out the ‘chill out area’, which had been decked out with a parachute and some soft play equipment.

It seems my initial reservations were unfounded… the ministry was clean; even the toilets, where they had added baby changing mats and the bits and pieces their youngest customers might need. There was plenty to keep the children entertained if they wanted a break from the main room. It got pretty warm, when all the mini-ravers got going, but it didn’t feel uncomfortably busy. There were overpriced neon bits and pieces to purchase, but we managed to avoid these. All the children seemed to be having a fantastic time – and as a result so were the adults. And possibly the happiest customer was baby Nancy #ravingbaby.

So if you do fancy taking a break from running around in the park for two hours of high intensity fun, then I would recommend Rave-a-Roo.

NB: Lucy, Emily & the Mini-Ravers received complimentary entry into Rave-a-Roo but all views are their own!