Parents facing the six week long challenge of entertaining the kids without breaking the bank received a boost last weekend when St Stephen’s, Hull’s leading shopping and leisure destination, unveiled its ‘Summer Sun, Summer Fun’ extravaganza.

The plaza outside St Stephen’s on Ferensway has been turned into a city centre haven of fun-filled activities for children aged 4-12 years old.

Jim Harris, Centre Manager for St Stephen’s says: “Schools out for summer and I can already hear the chorus of kids telling their parents ‘I’m bored’ even though the holidays have just begun. But with money tight for many families at the moment, keeping the kids entertained without breaking the bank is tricky. So we’ve pulled out all the stops to help parents by providing great value entertainment right on the doorstep for children of all ages throughout the summer.”

The plaza features a huge range of activities including massive tanks of water with water walkers (inflatable balls that the children go inside and move around by walking, running or jumping); mini-water pedalos; bouncing fun on bungee trampolines; tests of skill with crazy golf and hook a duck; and an antique carousel.

And when the kids need to sit down to recover from all the activity there is hair braiding and glitter tattoos as well as ‘walking pet balloons’ that little ones will love.

Of course, there is food on offer too with the locally renowned Sausage Shack serving locally produced sausages as well as an ice cream and candy floss stall. Plus inside the centre, you’ll find every type of eaterie from Burger King to Nandos and Wok and Go.

All of the activities are paid for with tokens that are purchased at the ticket office. Each token costs 50p but a family bag of tokens gives the best value with free tokens that can be redeemed at any point during the summer.

Jim continues: “The activities are open from 9.30am to 5.30pm seven days a week right through to 31st August. To keep the costs down, parents can buy a family bag of tokens to get the best value and can spend them at any point, because we’re sure that kids will want to come back time and again throughout their school holidays.”

The activities are designed for children aged 4-12 years old and prices vary according to the different activity. All are clearly priced on-site.

St Stephen's website: http://www.ststephens-hull.com/