Soft Play and Rainy-Day Places Near Canterbury

The soft play most Canterbury families can book is at Kingsmead Pools and Fitness: £5 a child, next to a pool where a junior swim is also £5. For the rest of a wet day, there is roller skating at Bay Sports Arena in Herne Bay (£5 for juniors), MFA Bowl on Whitstable seafront, the Kavanagh Cinema at £4.75 a child and the free Beaney. Every entry was checked against the venue’s own site on 28 October 2026.

Kent’s October half term runs to Friday 30 October, and some venues have holiday hours this week.

Soft play

Kingsmead Pools and Fitness, Canterbury

The district’s leisure trust, Active Life, runs the centre, which reopened after what its site calls “a major refurbishment in 2024”. It has a 33-metre main pool and a learner pool, and its half-term post describes “family swimming and soft play, all under one roof”, where children can “climb, slide, bounce and burn off whatever energy is left”. The price list gives soft play at £5 a child, and swim sessions at £5 for juniors and £8.50 for adults. Sessions are booked through Active Life’s booking page up to seven days ahead. The centre’s site also lists the Gingerbread Café on site. On Saturday 31 October, 9am to 2pm, it holds a Halloween community open day with swims, fun-and-floats sessions, soft play, face painting and a free ‘Thriller’ dance workshop. Open 6am to 10pm on weekdays and 7am to 6pm at weekends. Kingsmead Road, Canterbury, CT2 7PH; 01227 769818.

Swimming pools

Herons Leisure Centre, Herne Bay

The Herne Bay pool is the one with a slide. Active Life’s page describes a 25-metre pool, a flume and a toddler pool, inviting visitors to “race down the flume slide, or let little ones splash confidently in the toddler pool”, and says family swims run throughout half term. The price list gives a swim at £5 for juniors and £8.50 for adults, booked online up to seven days ahead. The cafe, Hathats Coffee Company, was rated 5 for food hygiene on 6 May 2025 (FSA). Open 6am to 9.45pm on weekdays and 7am to 4.45pm at weekends. William Street, Herne Bay, CT6 5NX; 01227 742102. The Kavanagh Cinema is next door.

Whitstable Pools and Fitness

On Tower Parade, a short walk from Tankerton slopes, with a 25-metre pool and a learner pool. Its page says family swims run throughout half term, and the price list is the same as the other Active Life pools: £5 for juniors and £8.50 for adults, booked online up to seven days ahead. Its own Halloween open day on Saturday 31 October, noon to 4pm, lists swims, fun-and-floats sessions, scuba tasters with Whitstable Scuba and face painting. Open every day from 6.30am to 9pm. Tower Parade, Whitstable, CT5 2BJ; 01227 772442.

Skating, bowling and the cinema

Bay Sports Arena, Herne Bay

Active Life’s sports hall on Bullockstone Road doubles as a roller rink. Its page promises sessions “for all ages and abilities”, with music, and its half-term post says beginners are welcome and “grown-ups are welcome too”. A skate session costs £5 for juniors and £6.50 for adults, and skate hire is £4, by its price list; sessions are booked online up to seven days ahead. Half-term opening is 8.30am to 10.30pm on weekdays and 8am to 9pm at weekends. In term time the arena opens from 4pm on Mondays and Fridays and from 6pm Tuesday to Thursday, with weekend hours unchanged. Bullockstone Road, Herne Bay, CT6 7NS; 01227 366921.

MFA Bowl, Whitstable

A tenpin bowling centre on Tower Parade, next to Whitstable Pools, with arcades and food. Its site says it is “open every day”: 10am to 10pm Monday to Thursday and 10am to midnight Friday to Sunday. Its family deals start at £26.50 for one game, for up to six people, or £49.50 with food and drinks. Kids’ meal add-ons are listed at £5.95. The cheaper Daytime Strike offer, two games for £9 a person, is not available during half term or on bank holidays. Children’s parties start at £15.50 a child. Food hygiene rating 5, inspected 10 December 2025 (FSA). Tower Parade, Whitstable, CT5 2BJ; 01227 274400.

Kavanagh Cinema, Herne Bay

An independent cinema beside Herons Leisure Centre. Its pricing page lists child tickets (14 and under) at £4.75 and adults at £6. It runs autism-friendly relaxed screenings, with no adverts, the lights dimmed rather than off and the sound turned down, on the last Saturday of each month. Children under two are not admitted except to family screenings. Tickets cannot be refunded, but they can be swapped for another showing for £1 a ticket. Family films on its listings this week include Shaun the Sheep: The Beast of Mossy Bottom and Disney Junior Cinema Club. Food hygiene rating 5, inspected 13 May 2025 (FSA). William Street, Herne Bay, CT6 5NX; booking line 01227 360569.

Museums

The Beaney House of Art and Knowledge, Canterbury

Canterbury’s museum, library and gallery on the High Street is free to enter. Its Halloween puzzle trail, Fright at the Museum: Tudor Traitors, runs to Sunday 1 November at £6 a trail with a prize, with a dressing-up Spooky Day on 31 October (see our Halloween guide). Canterbury Museums’ website was not loading on 28 October. Its visit page, as last archived in July, gave opening hours of 10am to 5pm Tuesday to Saturday and 11am to 4pm on Sunday, with Mondays closed. It also said the lift at the Best Lane entrance was out of use, with step-free entry from Orange Street car park instead. 18 High Street, Canterbury, CT1 2RA.

Canterbury Roman Museum

The city’s Roman museum is on Butchery Lane, between the High Street and the Cathedral. Its visit page, as archived in July, lists opening from 10am to 5pm every day, with last admission at 4.30pm. Tickets are £11 for adults, £5.50 for children aged 5 to 15 and free for under-fives. Entry is also free for carers with a carers card and for Canterbury residents who are My Canterbury members. The museum recommends booking ahead. Its summer family tickets (£10 for one adult and up to four children) ended on 1 September. Butchery Lane, Canterbury, CT1 2JR; 01227 785575.

The Seaside Museum, Herne Bay

A volunteer-run museum on William Street, the same street as Herons Leisure Centre and the Kavanagh. Its admission page says children under 16 with an adult get in free; adults pay £4, or £3 for concessions. Opening hours are 11am to 4pm, Tuesday to Saturday. Its children’s page describes a revamped children’s area where children can “dress up, hold a puppet show or just relax and look at our books on a beanbag”, plus trails and explorer backpacks. A free Lego Fun for Families session runs on Wednesday 4 November at 11am and 1pm; book at seasidemuseumevents@gmail.com. Because volunteers staff it, the museum asks anyone making a special trip to phone ahead. 12 William Street, Herne Bay; 01227 367368.

How we chose

We started from the indoor places that come up when people look for soft play and rainy-day ideas in the Canterbury district. We kept the ones whose own website, on 28 October 2026, shows they are open and gives enough to plan a visit. Food hygiene ratings come from the Food Standards Agency register. Two soft play names still appear on listing sites: Play Islands on Simmonds Road and Inflate ‘N’ Play at the Canterbury Academy campus on Knight Avenue. We have left them out because neither has a working, current website or booking page that shows it is still trading. The FSA register also lists The Whitstable Play Cafe at Unit 2, 132 Cromwell Road, CT5 1NQ, rated 4 on 15 July 2026 (FSA). It has no website we could find, so check before you go.

Run a place that should be here, or spot something that has changed? Email newsdesk@canterburylive.co.uk.

For dry days, see our guides to Canterbury playgrounds and walks near Canterbury. There is more in things to do in Canterbury, what’s on in Canterbury this month, Santa’s grottos, Canterbury cafes and our Canterbury business directory. For getting there, see parking in Canterbury.

Frequently asked questions

Where is there soft play in Canterbury?

Kingsmead Pools and Fitness on Kingsmead Road, CT2 7PH, runs soft play sessions alongside its family swims. Active Life, the trust that runs the centre, lists soft play at £5 a child, booked online up to seven days ahead. It was the only soft play in the district we could find with current prices and online booking published by its operator on 28 October 2026.

How much does it cost to swim with children in Canterbury, Whitstable and Herne Bay?

Active Life lists a swim session at £5 for a junior and £8.50 for an adult at all three of its pools: Kingsmead in Canterbury, Whitstable Pools on Tower Parade and Herons Leisure Centre in Herne Bay, which has a flume and a toddler pool.

What can children do in Canterbury on a rainy day for free?

The Beaney on the High Street is free to enter, closed on Mondays, and runs family trails in the school holidays. At the Seaside Museum in Herne Bay, children under 16 go free with an adult and there is a dressing-up and puppet corner. Canterbury Roman Museum is free for under-fives and for My Canterbury members.