Halloween Half-Term

Autumn is here, it might be chilly but it's still a great time to get out with the kids! Here's a few ideas of things to do this half term inside and out...

PYO Pumpkin... Support your local farmers and make a family trip out of it too! Pull on your wellies and choose your perfect pumpkin. We went to Saffery Farm, Selling nr Faversham today for ours, also hot drinks and cakes available too! Once you get the pumpkins home, you decorate with paints, glow in the dark ones are good or go for the traditional scoop and cut out, if you can get the flesh out make into soup, pie or cakes! There are lots of farms doing pick your own including:

Beluncle Farm, Hoo
milebush farm, Maidstone
Sevington, Ashford
The Old Lorry Farm Shop,Deal

Whitstable Castle... Follow the Scarecrow Trail Monday 24th - Sun 30th, collect your free trail from the tea rooms and you can also enter the colouring competition. Wrap up warm for a play on the pirate adventure playground and warm up with a nice hot choc! Don't forget free parking for 3 hours!

Woods... My boys love collecting conkers, we end with loads! And if the kids need some encouragement to get the bobble hats on and go to the woods, a collecting mission helps. Other than the traditional game, conkers are also great for decorating, how about painting on some spooky eyes and use as halloween decorations!
The Forestry Commission also a free Autumn Activity Pack available with things to look for in the woods and activities to do at home! We even found some walnuts today on a stomp along a local bridle path. Our favourite woods are Perry Woods, Selling; Kingswood, Ashford and Shorne Woods; 

Shopping Centres... Lots of local shopping areas put on activities and events for half term. Including:

Whitefriars, Canterbury who have a free trick or treat hunt on Saturday 29th and Sunday 30th, go to Build-a-Bear in fancy dress to get a free collecting cauldron and make your way around the stores. Also check out the  Creepy Crawly Cavern with lots of interesting animals to see!
Ashford Town, collect a trick or treat bag on 29th October and follow the trail for free goodies! Fancy dress competition too so check out www.loveashford.com!
Bluewater has tickets available to book for 'The Mystery of the Pumpkin Ghost' a family halloween adventure,prices from £6.95 each.
Wyevale Garden Centres, 'Little Diggers' is back with Autumn and Halloween craft activities for a small fee, pre-book via the website.

Local Museum... Many local museums and Galleries are free or have cheap entry fees. With extra things to see and do this half term. Some to try:
The Guildhall Museum , Rochester, Free Entry, Halloween trail around the museum and craft activities.
Maidstone Museum, is running halloween craft activities Tues-Fri next week for about £3 per child, discounts for siblings. See website for more info.
The Turner Contemporary , Margate - Free Entry, with some drop in workshops for £3.50 per child including making a silhouette puppet, check website for dates.

Cinema... Movies for Juniors at Cineworld has Finding Dory and Life of Pets showing every morning for £1.80 each if you pre-book! Or check out your local independent cinema for the new releases at a more reasonable price, we like The Royal Cinema, Faversham and The Kavanagh, Herne Bay.

Bedgebury Pinetum

I remember when my friend first told me about Bedgebury having 10 adventure play areas on a walk through the woods, I knew we had to check it out! But there was much more to Bedgebury and then the Gruffalo and his friends came to the party!

So it is free to enter the Pinetum and the woods but it's £10 to park Mon-Friday and £12 at weekends. So the more seats in your car/mini van the more value for money but it's worth it anyway! So the question is just where to start?...

If you need some advice or a map head down to the visitor centre by the lake, you can get a free map of the Pinetum or pay for a map of the woods or just take a quick photo of the map on the wall outside which pin points all the play areas. This is also the location of the only toilets so good to stop before you venture further. Toilets are nice and clean with baby change, disabled and showers for those hard core bikers.

So for those with babies, preschoolers and under 12s the adventure play areas in the woods are your highlight but to be fair theres plenty of teens and adults on the stand up log swings, the adventure trail and the Spiders webs too! First stop is the ship wreck adventure play surrounded by sand, with slides, baby swings and don't forget to get a pic of the kids in the pirates throne! 

There are some picnic benches around the playground and also a small undercover pinic area should you need to get out of the sun or the rain. The play village area is great for the littlies, it has wooden platforms,  mini swings, musical chimes and a slide.

Take the woodchip path through the woods up to the log swing. These are great, definitely a team work activity and have seen plenty of adults on this!

I've done the next few play areas in random orders, we particularly love the ants nest! Proper climbing wall stylee on the outside for the bigger kids or little ones if you climb behind. But you can also go up inside from underneath, the hole in the middle has footholds for the shorter kids to climb up. 

There's the tree house, this is quite challenging so good for the older ones and the tree Stump is good fun with tunnels for the little ones to crawl through.

Then theirs the Butterfly, the Adventure Trail, the Dragonfly which will keep them busy...

...then jungle drums and last but not least the Spiders Web!!

Oh but waiting there's loads more to do... if you love a family bike ride or your kids have outgrown the whole play park thing then explore the rest of the woods! You can take your own bikes or hire bikes, kids seats and trailers from Quench Cycles located next to the car park. There are various trails through the woods so ask advice for what's best for your group but the 4.5 or 9km blue trail is suitable for families . If your hardcore or a little accident prone don't worry there are showers down at the visitor centre to wash the mud off! To get a different view point of the woods there is also the Bedgebury Go Ape course which you can incorporate into your day for the usual fees, and can be viewed from below around the adventure play trail.

Not finished yet, there's still the Pinetum to go!! So heading back to the visitor centre... refurbishment was completed last year making the café larger and providing more inside seating. They've also landscaped out the front adding lots more picnic benches by the lake. The cafe provides various sandwiches, hot food, cakes, ice creams, prices are reasonable but not cheap so I would recommend take a picnic but stop for tea & cake or ice cream. If your sitting up by the café you will be asked not to feed the ducks as they've recently become rather more agressive in their demands for food!

So first the Forestry Commision had the Gruffalo trail, then the Gruffalo's Child trail but this year we have the Stick man trail! You can purchase the pack from the visitor centre for £3, it includes the trail sheet with questions, a pencil, extra paper and crayon for a brass/picture rubbing and some pipe cleaners for making your own stick man near the end. Suggest you look out for stickman shaped sticks on way but don't tell the kids.

You only really need one pack unless your kids really can't share, my 4 year old held the 'map' (trail sheet) and answered the questions whilst the 8 year old read the clues and did the writing. You follow the stickman signs to each of the numbered boards which have a question/task to complete on the sheet but also information and challenges to do.

Also look out for extra character picture cards that you tick off as you find them. It is a great way to see the Pinetum and get those less inclined to walk moving. The normal route around the Pinetum is accessible but there is a section of the stickman trail that is more off road.

At the end you find the enormous Stickman! Gruffalo and Gruffalo's Child are also still in the Pinetum (but you miss them on the stickman trail). If those with little legs have over done it on the adventure play the nice people in the visitor centre will let you in on the secret location and you can go straight to them,  not far to walk from the entrance.

At Bedgebury they also have the Gruffalo Orienteering trail which is £1.50, this consists of a basic map and the aim is to find each of the Gruffalo markers using the map. Recommended for under 8s. Obviously there is also all the usual activities in the woods, tree climbing at your risk of course, scavenger hunts and stick wands! Dogs are also welcome but need to be on a lead in the Pinetum,  play areas and visitor centre. For further information and events visit the website Bedgebury or follow on Facebook

Best For: Everyone
Recommend: Picnic, Bikes
Time: 3-5hrs

Rain, Rain Go Away...

May Half Term weather here in Kent this week is ultimately disappointing so thought I'd give you a quick brainstorm for the rest of the week for places you could check out. Unfortunately there are not many free activities inside so also included payable and good value ideas.

Museums/Galleries - Many towns and cities in Kent have a small museum or gallery, read my earlier blog on 'Inside in Canterbury' for the low down on the museums there. Many museums are also free or discounted for locals. Some might only kill an hour or so but it stops the kids killing each other! Theres usually some extra activities laid on in the school holidays. Check Out these free ones The Beany,Canterburyhttp://canterburymuseums.co.uk/beaney/; The Turner Contemporary, Margatehttps://www.turnercontemporary.org/; The Maidstone Museum, Maidstonehttp://museum.maidstone.gov.uk/; The Guildhall Museum, Rochesterguildhallmuseum; The Spitfire and Hurricane Memorial Museum, Manston.http://www.spitfiremuseum.org.uk

Cinema - So the latest films seriously hurt the wallet but Cineworld have 'Movies for Juniors' which are usually films that are 6-12 months old. On every morning in the holidays for only £1.50 per person prebook online at https://www.cineworld.co.uk/ . Also check out your local independent cinemas they are cheaper than the multi plex but still often have recent kids film on and the popcorns usually cheaper too!

Swimming Pool - So obviously not free but if you want the kids suitably worn out for a dvd afternoon swimming is good bet. We went to Swallows in Sittingbourne this morning, which was great as they had all the floats and pool toys out, the wave machine going a few times then an inflatable obstacle course for the those that can swim 25m and the flume, for £13 for the 3 of us plus parking it wasn't too tragic! Check out your local pool timetable for half term activities or try somewhere new.

Art Cafés - Now there are lots of these places across the county. Normally buy an ornament or some crockery and paint away. With father's day coming up you have the perfect excuse, who can resist a one of kind mug created by the kids. We particularly like Little Potters in Sittingbourne, you can chose to decorate in acrylic or proper paint that needs firing. For the littliest ones there is a soft play if they are very much a splash and dash artist. And most importantly plenty of tea/ coffee and snacks available to keep you going. Check out... Little Potters, Sittingbournehttp://www.littlepotters.com/index.html; Espression, Canterburyhttp://www.espression.co.uk/; This Art of Mine, Maidstonehttp://www.thisartofmine.co.uk/; Ceramics Cafe, Doverhttp://www.ceramicscafe.com/.

Indoor Skate Park - Revolution in Broadstairs is all undercover with enough ramps,  bowls and jumps to keep all skateboard and scooter kids busy. If you already have the wheels, bash hat and various pads then it's only £6 for 2 hours. If your kids are new to the skate park or your a bit worried about the little ones Revolution run 2 hour learn to scoot group lessons everyday through the holidays but you need to pre-book. Check them out at http://www.revolutionskatepark.co.uk

Woods - So it's not indoors but it's also not totally freezing out there! Wait for a gap in the showers and grab the wellies and waterproofs and go for a stomp. You might only manage 30 minutes but at least your out. Our faves for a stomp are Perry Woods, Selling nr Faversham and Kings Wood, Ashford....

Shopping Centre - They want you to shop and spend money but first they have to get you there. Many shopping centres and garden centres now put on free or cheap kids activities in the holidays to entice you through the door. Dobbies garden centres have the 'little seedlings club' with prebookable free activities. Check out your local websites to see what's on near you.

You can't spend all week at home or stuck in the ball pit, give something else a try!

Shorne Wood Country Park

Shorne Wood Country Park is just off the A2 Junction for Cobham/Shorne yet with nearly 300 Acres it feels like your a million miles away. Even the most hardcore child needs a nap in the car on the way home!

We normally start off with a walk, there are a variety of different routes to choose, from the eco visitor centre. We usually combine a few options to suit whoever we have in tow. If you want a short, very accessible walk take the circular Orange Route which takes in the sensory garden, the centre of the park and the dog pond... as the name suggests a pond your dog can swim in! Good for Pushchairs and little legs. There are also 'Tramper' mobility scooters for hire. Country Park Route Map

If you've got school age children (or your a hardcore baby wearer) and enjoy a good stomp the red route is great with a few hidden gems like the fairy ring and a mountain of steps up to the knole but it's worth it for the view! This is also a good place to stop for a drink, snack and a rest! You can still get to see the view if you've got a good alterrain pushchair (and can get heavier toddlers to walk up the steep bits!) by picking your own route with a bit of purple, blue, red and orange.You can also do the Blue Route on bikes, particularly good for teens!

If your kids need more encouragement to walk around the woods, you can buy a themed kids trail activity sheet to complete along the way. There is a permenant Orienteering course, information is available online or buy a map. There are also some geocaching points, if you don't know what it is, check out the website Geocaching.

Walk done or if it's really not your thing, take your picnic and head for the adventure playground. There is plenty of space for picnic blankets and a run around. Then the little ones can head over to the enclosed adventure playground, swings, slides, tunnels etc there are a few benches inside so you can sit and supervise so no one escapes out of either access gate. The big ones aren't left out here either with a large adventure playground up on the slope including slides, scrabble nets and swings. The section at the top is surrounded by trees so you might want to keep an eye on where the not so big kids are!

If you need hot drinks or its too chilly for a picnic the visitor centre has a large café and during spring/summer the outside kiosk makes fresh pizzas and sells ice creams!

The main toilets are at the visitor centre including disabled and baby change facilities. There is also a toilet block nearer to the playground/car park which is open in school holidays and summer weekends.

The Car Park only £2 for all day in the week or £3 at weekends.

Visit the website Shorne Woods for further information on other activities available.

Best For: Everyone
Recommend: Picnic; Wellies when Wet.
Time: 3-6hrs

Oare Gunpowder Works

I have been taking my boys to Oare Gunpowder Works in Faversham since they were tiny, definitely a good place to go when you just need to get out the house for some fresh air for an hour or so. 

Its a great little country park with a buggy/wheel chair friendly path, fab for little legs as it's not too far to walk around and there are a few picnic benches for a pit stop. The park has plenty of trees, ponds, various walk ways on different levels, and what is more fun for a toddler than stomping across the wooden bridges in wellies 'trip, trap' and all that. The kids always manage to find plenty of sticks for some imagining and enjoy running around. The various plaques around the site give information on the gunpowder works ruins, which my eldest has started to show more interest in. It's situated alongside the fishing lake where you may spot the Swans, a few ducks and watch out for dragonflies. You can also take the dog along too as long as they're on the lead.

The car park is free and the visitor centre is normally open on the weekends from April. It is worth noting that the toilet facilities aren't open in the week but you are only a few minutes drive from Sainsburys or pop to the community centre if you need a coffee to warm up too.

Medway Countryside Partnership runs bookable workshops such as pond dipping in the school holidays for a donation as well as other events so it is worth keeping an eye on their website too  http://www.medwayvalley.org/ The next event is an Easter Egg hunt being organised on Friday 24th March, booking information and cost is on the website.

Further Information : www.gunpowderworks.co.uk

Best for : Pushchairs; Little Legs; All Ages; Wheelchair Users;

Recommend : Wellies (if it's rained recently)

Time : 1-2hrs