Review: Play Base at National Army Museum for fun and active indoor play for under 8s

Last weekend I called Daddy T to say I’d discovered a new place I had a feeling we would be visiting pretty regularly. I had been invited to visit the new Play Base at the newly reopened National Army Museum in Chelsea, and I was super excited to be back at the museum, which was also a family favourite before the three-year redevelopment.

The museum reopened on 30 March and Play Base is the new children’s play area, which is located on the ground floor near the entrance. It features more varied play opportunities than the Kids Zone that used to be in the museum’s basement, and in addition to soft play there are now also role play areas with a kitchen and cleaning facilities dressing up vests and lots of food to serve to the troops. There’s also a command liaison vehicle and several phones located in different areas of the play area, so visitors can call each other.

As part of the soft play, there’s an assault course, where little ones can pretend to be soldiers, climbing up a steep hill and balancing on pretend logs and ensuring not to fall in the ‘water’.

Play Base is designed for children aged 0 to 8 and there’s a small separate area for babies with soft play cubes and a mirror.

I can see the new Play Base becoming my new place to hang out with Baby Boy when he needs to run off steam, and my new place to go with both children when we all want to do something together–perhaps even meet up with other families.

In fact, after going to review Play Base on Friday I’ve already been back once and I’ve got another session booked in too. It’s simply an enjoyable place to be and I’ve even met some other lovely parents there.

The National Army Museum is again a local favourite.

Tickets for sessions in the Play Base can be pre-booked online a week in advance for £4.50 per child.

Tags: Attraction, Chelsea, London, Museum, National Army Museum, News, Play Base, Review