Insights

Brighton & Hove for Kids – A Guide for Mums and Dads

Brighton & Hove is a wonderful place to start a family and bring up children. Surrounded by natural beauty including an amazing beach and the South Downs, with independent cafes and shops at every turn, and a cultural calendar chock full of delights for all ages, we really are spoilt for choice.

Burt Brill & Cardens have created this guide to help you navigate the options and discover the best things to do with your kids in Brighton. It’s designed to unlock the city’s child-friendly delights for those of you with babies and toddlers in the Brighton area. If we’ve missed any of your favourite places or hidden gems then we’d love to hear from you – email us or find us on Twitter and Facebook.

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Eating Out – Cafes and Restaurants

It can be tough trying to fit a buggy into a small café or ignore the disapproving looks as your teething baby complains vocally about their current predicament in a romantic restaurant. In this section, we consider your options for eating out with children in Brighton.

Baby and Child Friendly Cafes

Book Nook Child Friendly Shop and Café
Located in Hove, this award-winning children’s bookshop, café and pirate ship really does have it all. Delicious food, first-rate facilities and everything you need to nurture young imaginations. There are special baby mornings too.
https://www.booknookuk.com

Paint Pots Cafe
http://www.paintingpotterycafe.co.uk

Looking for more inspiration? There’s a great list of Buggy Friendly Cafes from The Graphic Foodie.

Family Friendly Restaurants in Brighton

The Chilli Pickle
Vibrant in décor and flavours, the Chilli Pickle is a great family-friendly dining option in a central location. With an exciting children’s menu including delicious mini thalis, it’s a great option.
http://thechillipickle.com/restaurant/

Terre a Terre
This vegetarian restaurant has a carefully considered kids menu and even offers free organic baby food for babies. And for the adults, it’s a real treat with different cuisines and creative cooking delivering vegetarian dishes that pack a punch.
http://www.terreaterre.co.uk/menus/vegetarian-food/kids-menu

Old Bank
Located in Kemptown, the Old Bank offers good value for money with an affordable children’s menu including some sweet treats unattractively called Smelly Belly Buttons.
http://www.oldbankkemptownbrighton.com/

Activities for Kids in Brighton

Duke of York Kids’ Cinema Clubs
Between Toddler Time and Kids’ Club, the wonderful Duke of York cinema has it covered. If your little one is preschool, then Toddler Time is £3 for children and free for you. For older children, the Kids’ Club has exclusive access for kids and their parents – tickets are from £3 each.
https://www.picturehouses.com/cinema/Duke_Of_Yorks

Sama Circus City
With climbing frames and walls, slides, soft play and a ball pit, Sama has all the indoor fun you’d expect. It really excels with the extras like the film nights and offering supervised play so you can pop off into town and run errands.
https://www.samafunfactory.co.uk

Sling Swing Brighton
Get your groove on with these dance classes designed especially for mums and dads with their little ones in slings and baby carriers. Dance away to everything from hiphop to the Charleston in a friendly welcoming environment.
www.slingswing.co.uk

Prince Regent Swimming Centre
With four pools including a training pool and a warm shallow pool, it is ideal for babies and toddlers.  Your children can take swimming lessons through a nationally-recognised syllabus and awards system, and there are junior and family fun sessions with floats and flume.
https://www.freedom-leisure.co.uk

Kids Run in Portslade
Register your child(ren) for this monthly race in Portslade that is heaps of fun and a great way of keeping active. It occurs the fourth Saturday of the month and you need to be at the park for around 9am.
www.kidsrunfree.co.uk

Child-Friendly Events & Festivals

Comedy Club 4 Kids at the Komedia
Imagine a stand-up comedy club and then fill it with children (aged 6+) and you have the Comedy Club 4 Kids. Since 2005, the Komedia has welcomed leading stand-ups from the international circuit to perform to an audience of kids and their families. It’s a genuine hoot with some seriously young hecklers getting in on the action.
http://www.komedia.co.uk/brighton/comedy/comedy-club-4-kids/

Brighton Open Air Theatre
Keep an eye on the programme at the Brighton Open Air Theatre: each summer you will find at least one child-friendly production and special family events too.
http://www.brightonopenairtheatre.co.uk/

Brighton Fringe
Introduce your baby to puppetry or get toddlers laughing along to comedy at this mixed arts festival. A third of the Fringe’s programme is suitable for children of all ages, which is pretty amazing. There’s even a dedicated children’s area called the Den packed full of entertainment.
https://www.brightonfringe.org

Brighton Festival
The Brighton Festival hosts hundreds of multi-arts and family-friendly events, which take place across the city as part of annual festivities and include the brilliant Children’s Parade.  Events are designed to entertain and educate children, and include a number of free sessions. With names such as Michael Rosen, Miriam Halahmy and Patrice Lawrence appearing at previous Festivals, the line-up is always bound to be inspiring.
http://brightonfestival.org/whats_on/family/

Elderflower Fields Festival
Located in Pippingford Park in East Sussex, this festival promises a magical experience for all of the family. As well as numerous activities from star-gazing to tree-climbing in a beautiful setting, it also boasts a line-up of musical acts from beat-boxers to future folk superstars. Under fives get in for free.
http://www.elderflowerfields.co.uk

Specialist Kids Shops

Whirligig
This independent toy shop located on Gardner Street sells a mix of vintage and modern toys along with a selection of hand-picked and beautifully illustrated books.
http://whirligigtoys.co.uk/

Daisy Daisy
Also on Gardner Street, this is another independent children’s shop which stocks toys, gifts and unusual room decorations.
https://www.daisydaisydirect.co.uk/

Wigwam Toys
Founded in 2001, Wigwam toys stocks a wide range of well-known and rather unusual toys, books, pocket-money treats, including educational toys and craft kits, plus greetings cards and gift wrap for girls and boys.
https://wigwamtoys.co.uk/

Resources & Support Services

Netmums Brighton – a great place to ask questions and receive honest no-nonsense responses, tips and insights from other mums in Brighton & Hove as well as find out about the latest events.

Mumsnet Brighton & Hove – an active forum where users can receive genuine local advice from other parents on everything from the best primary schools to the name of a reliable handyman.

Parent Carers’ Council  – Parent-led forum representing parent carers of children with any condition including mental and physical disabilities.

Child Friendly Brighton – up-to-date listings for a wide range of child-friendly things to do, places to visit, eat and drink in Brighton & Hove.

Legal Services for Families in Brighton & Hove

At Burt Brill & Cardens we have been working closely with Brighton families for over 100 years, taking care of all of your legal needs.

We can help with:

Planning for the future for you and your family by updating your Wills and offering legal services around trusts.

Residential Conveyancing – if you are looking to find a bigger home or move to Brighton & Hove then our high-end, high quality conveyancing service ensures you have peace of mind and security for the future.

If you have any questions or we can help in anyway then contact us today on 01273 604123 or email on enquire@bbc-law.co.uk.

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