At the weekend we went along to one of our favourite places, the National Forest Adventure Farm, to see what festive fun they had lined up. The kids were excited and I always look forward to our visits there as it’s a lovely place, with friendly staff and plenty to see and do. I’m pleased to say that we were not disappointed.
On offer this Christmas are Santa’s Grotto, followed by a trip to the elves workshop to choose a present, Elf Training, a Christmas Show, a Nativity Play, meeting the reindeer, and this in addition to all the animals and play areas. (I’ve written about several of our days out at the National Forest Adventure Farm, so do take a peek here for more details and photos of the fab indoor soft play and outdoor play areas)
On arrival, we were offered a timed slot to visit Santa, which was great as it ensured only a short wait time for us in the grotto of just five minutes, and the kids were quite happy waiting as there was plenty for them to see…
Santa himself was lovely. He had a good chat to the kids, which felt leisurely and natural, and they enjoyed letting him know how Mummy and Daddy’s behaviour had been this year (‘good’, I’m relieved to report)! We were then collected by an elf who took us through to the elves workshop so that the children could choose an early Christmas gift each for being so good. There was plenty to choose from and I liked that the kids could take their time and choose something that they really wanted. Little Man chose a jumping beans racing track (which he loves!) and Boo went for a cuddly penguin, now named Rosebud Penguin Penguin (?!).
On leaving the workshop, there were more activities lined up, such as gingerbread decorating in Mrs Claus’ kitchen (£1), writing letters to Santa and a giant bouncy Christmas pudding.
We took in the Nativity play in the animal barn, where kids can all get involved if they’d like to, dressing up as the characters, whilst a cheery elf delivered the story and engaged all of us. Boo was then very keen to get some Elf Training in, so we popped over to the courtyard for that, and I’m proud to say that after her rigorous training, including learning how to clean up after reindeer, dodging reindeer antlers and being part of a huge present wrapping machine, she is now able to pledge herself as an elf. Hooray!
We did also visit the animals, the guinea pigs being a draw as we love ours so much (now contemplating getting a whole village of them….!), and the kids had a brilliant time playing in the huge sandpit.
The Christmas event is on 12th, 13th and 19th to 24th December 2015. Adults get in free with a full paying child (£10.75 on the door or £9.67 online) and tickets to see Santa and receive a gift are £5.
An inflatable Christmas pudding, elf training, guinea pigs and Santa – really, what more could a Christmas adventure need?!
Disclosure: We received entry FOC for the purposes of this review
aaaa it looks truly magical!! #triedtested
It is lovely 🙂
We haven’t done anything festive like this yet – it looks fun! #triedtested
The kids loved it!
Looks like you had lots of fun #triedtested
We did indeed 🙂 Thanks
Well this looks like a well presented Christmas adventure! Also seems very reasonably priced compared to many that I’ve seen elsewhere. #triedandtested
Yes, definitely Lots to see and do and all reasonably priced.
Wow! That’s really good value for money, we went to a much smaller event near us and it was £12 to see Santa and wander through a ‘winter wonderland’. Looks really fun, thanks for sharing on #TriedTested
It is very good, and so much to see there. We didn’t do the indoor play this time, but the kids can easily spend an hour or so in there, too!
Looks like a lovely place to visit and how nice that the kiddies could choose what gift they wanted.
Glad you all enjoyed it 🙂 x
Yes, I really liked that part. They enjoyed choosing and are loving their gifts x
It looks great, so much more more fun than waiting in a boring queue to see santa! Lovely review #TriedTested
Definitely! Lots of fun
That looks magical! Glad to hear that you’re on Santa’s good list too and what a great idea to allow the children to choose their own present. I love the sound of the elf training as well – never thought about cleaning up after the reindeer as being an essential part of the job but clearly it must be! 🙂
Oh yes, crucial part of the job! X
I love that they were able to choose their own early gift rather than being given random tat!
Thanks for sharing your review on #TriedTested this week x
Oh yes, definitely the way to go! X