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- Child
- By: NICK DE KLERK
If you are one of those parents who are tired of outings with your kids where you feel you’ve compromised your culinary desires or your low cholesterol diet in favour of seeing your little ones jump for joy at the fatty hamburger, fish fingers or pizza and a plastic slide, jungle like cage structure or play station at your local fast food joint. There are alternatives and quite a few of them in and around Johannesburg. They all provide quality menus and great kids outdoor entertainment. Let,s start with several either situated in or bordering big parks. There’s Moyos at Zoo Lake in Johannesburg with free kids workshops to entertain your kids when they are not playing on the lawn, feeding the ducks or rowing on the lake. Situated in the Walter Sisulu Botanical Gardens in Roodepoort is Eagle’[s Fare Restaurant. There are train rides for the little ones, wonderful walks and regular open air music concerts. The River Café next to the Sandton Field and Study Center in Parkmore borders a beautiful park. They have a huge sandpit where kids play volleyball with a distinct beach-like feel, a secure playground for little ones and lots of space for bike riding, games and a playground. If your kids love animals, there’s Tres Jolie on the West Rand with a few farm animals the kids can feed, a jungle gym and delicious food. Nde Bushe near Fourways, true to it’s name, makes you feel like you are out in the bush, a huge natural space with roaming buck and space for kids to run,walk, cycle and play. There are health food restaurants with jungle gyms that sometimes serve organic Coke, such as Greenlands in Parkview or if you want to visit one of the biggest garden restaurants in Gauteng, try Stonehaven on the Vaal with several playgrounds, boat cruises and buffets for the whole family on weekends. The list is extensive and you can find them all and much more on www.jozikids.co.za in a section on the website entitled “ to eat – restaurants” So next time you’re planning a Sunday lunch out with the family spend some time browsing the many offerings on this extremely informative in-depth website. You’ll find that if you do this you definitely won’t have to compromise.