Portsmouth things to do: Why MountAirX and AquaDash at the Mountbatten Centre may be the saviours of the end of the summer holidays - review

Everyone with school-age kids knows the feeling. You’ve got through the tail-end of July, and through the first half of August. “Surely,” you think to yourself, “there can’t be much more left?”

But I’m afraid calendars don’t lie, and we still need to get through a couple more weeks before we can breathe easy. This summer has brought its own unwelcome and worrying difficulties, as we’ve had to take refuge indoors due to heat, rather than rain - and you don’t want to allow screentime to get out of hand. So what to do?

Thankfully, in Portsmouth there is an answer. We have been to the Mountbatten Centre twice in recent days, once for the AquaDash inflatables in the pool, and once for MountAirX - a giant bouncy castle-type structure full of slides and obstacles, and both have been a godsend.

My children Eddie, nine and his younger sister Rosanna came out of both sessions thoroughly exhausted, and in the case of MountAirX, absolutely dripping with sweat and red-faced (which in my book is brilliant). After each one, both children immediately said they wanted to come back and do it again, and when you know how children that age will tell the unvarnished truth, that’s high praise indeed.

First, AquaDash. The bollards in the pool are up, and the inflatable is in the deep end. The activity is only for children aged eight and up, and while everyone including the adults is given a lifejacket if your child is not confident in water then it may not be for them, as they will be submerged after the slides at the end. If your child is confident in water then... it’s brilliant.

The course is not too tricky, and there’s plenty of scope to race another person - although there is always the possibility of falling in. As a moderately fit adult I was tired at the end of it; there’s plenty of hanging on to handles as you cross the obstacles and it began to feel like a full-body workout. The kids could have gone on for a lot longer than an hour - the course may not be huge but the thrill of having such an exciting playtime in a pool rather than swimming lessons is immense.

A couple of days later we headed into the sports hall for MountAirX. It’s hard to believe there’s a bigger version (MountAirXL) as the inflatable is huge - a room filling size.

These sessions are 90 minutes, and I wondered whether my two and their friend would last the duration, but under the watchful eye of the patrolling staff - who helped organise some basic games - they did. As well as sheer-drop slides, there was also a jump of about 6ft, which involved leaping out of what looked like a window on to an air cushion below. My kids - and indeed everyone in the session - did not stop moving for the full hour and a half, except for brief water breaks. I can say with authority that bedtime was easy that night.

So in short - wholeheartedly recommended. Fun and energetic, it really is the summer holiday godsend that means you won’t feel too guilty about letting them have the telly remote for a bit. And that’s much more than just a lot of hot air.

• The next AquaDash is on Wednesday, August 26. It’s £12 per session, for adults and juniors.
• MountAirX is on Friday, Saturday and Sunday (£10.50 a session), and from Monday, August 24 becomes MountAirXL for a week. MountAirXL sessions are £14 each.

To find out more or to book tickets go to https://bhliveactive.org.uk/