On the weekend I took Mr Z to Sky Studios at the O2 to try out their Summer of Sport activities. Sky Studios is a permanent feature at the O2 and the activities upstairs change regularly (every 1-2 months). Summer of Sport will be at Sky Studios until 28th September, to celebrate the start of the Barclays Premier League season and other great sporting events.
Sky Studios is a fun place to visit with kids aged around 6 years and up. It’s totally free, which is great! I’m always looking for different places to take the kids, especially indoors places to entertain them in bad weather. We will definitely keep Sky Studios in mind and check out whatever new themes they bring in next. The purpose of Sky Studios is to give visitors the opportunity to get closer to their favourite TV programmes through a range of interactive experiences, and it’s lots of fun. I spotted a lot of adults enjoying the activities as much as the kids!
On the first floor of Sky Studios there is an area where you can have a go at reading the news and be filmed doing it, and some green screens where you can have your picture taken against a choice of backdrops. Mr Z tried out the green screens and chose 3 different pictures. You are given a card that will allow you to save these and download them once you’re home. Here are ours:
Then, upstairs in the Sky Studios Challenge Zone, Mr Z tried out a variety of sports themed activities. He is very keen on football and racing cars so he had been looking forward to trying out these activities especially.
First he tried out the Sky Sports F1® simulator,. Players sit in a special chair that’s shaped like a race car, and use the steering wheel to play the racing circuit on the screen. Mr Z was a little bit small to reach the pedals properly in this car, so one of the ladies from the Sky Crew helped him out. There were plenty of staff around during out visit and they are all friendly and happy to help anyone who needs some assistance.
(this is his serious face because he takes his racing seriously!)
After trying out the Formula 1 racing, Mr Z tried out the Par 3 17th hole at Gleneagles on the Sky Sports Shot Centre. He loves crazy golf but hadn’t tried real golf before, so it was great for him to be introduced to this.
The Batak is another fun activity in the Challenge Zone, and seemed to be really popular. This is a machine that footballers use to train their stamina and reflexes. We had never seen it before but it’s lots of fun and looks like a great way to keep fit! You can choose whether you want to play as a junior or adult and there is a scoreboard to keep track of how all the visitors are doing that day. You have to quickly react and tap the lights as soon as each one lights up.
There is also the chance to play FIFA on Playstation which Mr Z loved. It was good to see how he got on with this game as I had been wondering whether to get it for him, but some friends had mentioned it might be too difficult for his age (he’s 6). He seemed to get on okay so I will definitely be keeping the game in mind for him in the future.
Although it’s the summer holidays, the queues were not too bad for any of these activities. We had to wait a few minutes at most.
Outside the Sky Studios there are some more activities, in the main entrance hall of the O2. These are the Soccer AM Car Park game football challenge and the Game Changers ‘Change Your Aim’ basketball hoop challenge.
With these activities you can win a t shirt if you score a goal in the Soccer AM or get three hoops in the basketball. If you don’t win, you will still get a runner up prize of a Sky Studios wrist band. Mr Z loves a challenge so he was keen to have a go, and he did score one hoop in basketball which he was pleased about since it was his first try with basketball.
We spent just over an hour in the Sky Studios completing all of the activities, and then had lunch nearby as there are so many food places in the area of the O2. While Mr Z and I had been trying out the Summer of Sports, the littler ones had a ride on the Emirates Air Line Cable Car with their Dad (See some pictures in this week’s Project 52 post).
If you are looking for another family day out before the kids go back to school, it’s definitely worth giving Sky Studios and Summer of Sport a try. It is most suited to older children of 6+ and preschoolers will be too small to enjoy a lot of the features. It’s also good fun for teenagers and even adults!
Have you been? Let me know in the comments
Disclaimer: I am a member of the Netmums Blogging Network, a unique community of parent bloggers from around the UK who have been handpicked by the Netmums team to review products and brands on their behalf. I have been paid expenses and supplied with a product sample for this review but retain all editorial control. All my Netmums Reviews will display the Netmums logo within the post.
This is a Netmum’s sponsored review.To find out more click the button:
Anna Marikar, mum of four and seasoned blogger, has spent over a decade sharing her parenting journey and passion for kid-friendly crafts and free printables.
Her easy-to-follow craft ideas and practical parenting advice have transformed In The Playroom into a cherished resource for parents.
Looks like the kids had a great time!
Looks like you had a great time #WHWH
What a fab time together for you and Mr Z! A lot of these activities remind me of some of the activities available in the National Football Museum in Manchester. I think your Mr Z would love it there.
oh we will check it out next time we are in Manchester, I hadn’t heard of it!
We really enjoyed this as a day out, and was great to try some different sports as well as football. Looks like you had fun, I hope you had a go too!