Tag: fun

Christmas children’s parties

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Christmas is by far one of the most magical experiences of childhood. From being too excited to sleep to peeking out of the window, hoping to catch a glimpse of Santa’s sleigh, the memories of the holiday season become some of our most treasured.

If you have child that has a Birthday near Christmas, make it as exciting as can be, let all the other kids invited get all Christmassy excited!!!

Fancy Dress
When it comes to fancy dress, you’re spoilt for choice. Ask all of the kids to dress as something Christmassy – this can be anything from an Elf to a snowman or a reindeer. Provide them with a few ideas on the invitations to get them started.

Decorations
Aside from the essential Christmas tree, you can have lots of fun creating a festive wonderland in your home.

Santa’s Grotto
A great idea is to create a Santa’s grotto – choose a small room, which you don’t need to use and drape the walls and any furnishings with fabric in deep red and purple.
You can then decorate the room with fairy lights, Christmas lights and decorations to make it feel festive. Get one of the adults to dress as Santa Claus and send the children into the ‘grotto’ to collect their party bags and any other treats.

Crafts
There are lots of simple Christmas decorations that you can easily make with the kids and the whole family. Try making garlands from pine tree leaves, pine cones, tinsel and baubles. Other ideas include; painting the tips of pine cones white for a snow-effect, cutting snowflakes out of paper to string around the house.

Games
Gift Wrap Relay
Divide the children into two teams and provide each team with a gift-wrapped box – you should also prepare stations with pre-cut wrapping paper and cello tape. Each child has to run to a station, unwrap and then rewrap their box, before running back to their team and passing it on to the next person. The first team in which every child unwraps and rewraps the box, wins.

Mystery Stocking
Fill a stocking with a collection of ‘mystery’ party bag fillers, with a distinctive tactile feel. Each child has a chance to feel the fillers inside the stocking – if they can guess what they are without looking, they get to take them home.

Party games for toddlers

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Animals
This is game is fun for small kids who are naturally intrigued by animals and can’t cope with the intricacies of a more complicated game. Have a selection of animal masks or small wild animals– the same number as you have guests. Hold one up, one at a time. Ask all the children to imitate the animal. Continue, changing the animal just as soon as you feel the time is right! At the end of the game, give a mask or animal to each child. This could be a good ‘going’ home game if you’re brave enough not to hand our party bags!

Sleeping Lions
Surprisingly loved by a huge age range, this is a great ‘calming down’ game before handing your guests back to their parents. Ask the children to ‘sleep’ on the floor like a sleeping lion. The moment anybody moves they are ‘out’. In reality, you can ignore the odd twitch and your guests can stay ‘sleeping’ until somebody comes to collect them! You will look marvellously in control and the children will have calmed down into a contented and peaceful state.

Air Balloon
This is more of a time filler than a game with a winner and is enjoyed by everybody because it doesn’t matter how good or bad you are! It’s a good way to start a kids party whilst you are waiting for everybody to arrive. Before the party, insert a small, light-weight gift such as a Stretchy Smiley Men into the opening of a balloon before inflating it. Then, blow air into the balloon and repeat until you have a balloon for each guest. The children have to try keeping the balloon in the air for as long as they can just be using their head. Once given the go ahead they can enjoy bursting the balloon and retrieving their prize!

Pass the Parcel
Before the party wrap a gift into a layer of paper. Now wrap it in another layer and repeat until you have the same number of layers as you do guests. (If you have more than about 15 guests it’s more fun for your guests if you play the game with 2 parcels). Seat everyone in a circle and play some music for a short time. When the music stops, the person holding the parcel removes ONE layer of wrapping. (Have a bin bag ready so you can keep tidy from the start!) Repeat until the last layer of wrapping has been removed. The winner keeps the present.

Great tips for visiting DisneyLand

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Baby/Child Switch

If there is a particular ride in the Disneyland Park or Walt Disney Studios that isn’t suitable for the little ones but you want to ride then you can use a Disney service called ‘Baby Switch’. This free service means that one adult can enjoy the ride whilst the other watches the children and then the second adult can ‘switch’ and ride without having to join the queue again.

Single Rider

Another great way to skip the queues on some of the rides that your kids can’t go on is to use ‘Single Rider’. This is another free service and means that you line up in a separate queue (which is much quicker usually) and you are slotted onto the ride when a single space becomes available.

Pack Snacks

When kids are hungry they want food straight away, so we suggest taking lots of their favourite pre-packed snacks with you to eat whilst queuing for rides, waiting for shows and for those emergency ‘I’m Hungry’ moments without spending extra cash in the park shops!

Eat at different times

We highly recommend eating at slightly different times to when you normally would in order to save waiting for a table. For example, enjoy an early lunch at 11.30am and an early dinner at 4.45pm. By choosing these times you will miss the rush and can enjoy a more relaxed dining experience.

Use Fastpass

Fastpass is a brilliant way to beat the queues at some of the most popular rides, our top tip is to get your Fastpass and then have a look around a few of the other rides in the same land which have shorter queue times or perhaps meet a character or two! Rides such as Pirates of the Caribbean and Autopia are great ones to head for with children as they have a quicker turnaround of customers, so the queues are quite often quicker.

Take a different route to everyone else

When you enter the park most people head straight down Main Street and then turn left into Frontierland, why not turn right and visit Discoveryland first followed by Fantasyland.

Fun fairy spotting guide

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If you’d love to add even more sparkle to your day, we’ve listed some really magical locations below which are perfect for spotting a fairy or two…
Trentham Gardens, Stoke on Trent, Staffordshire

Keep your eyes peeled as you walk around the beautiful mile-long lake, through the woodland, maze and gardens where the Fairies at Trentham live. Each fairy is different, some are bold and will want to shake your hand, others are shy and are harder to spot high up in the trees. Can you find them all?

Acorn Bank, Temple Sowerby, Cumbria

Best known for its collection of herbs and traditional fruit orchards, if you explore a little further you might find something straight out of a fairytale! Hidden doors, a hollow tree and a wild play area, so kids can have a real adventure. Look out for pixie houses in the roots of the trees!
Furzey Gardens, Lyndhurst, Hampshire

These magical gardens are hiding over 30 fairy doors for you to hunt out as you make your way around. You will also find a variety of tree houses, lookout towers and an adventure playground.
The Forbidden Corner, Leyburn, North Yorkshire

Winner of the White Rose Awards 2015, Forbidden Corner four acres of labyrinths, grottos, walled gardens, statues and passages are great to explore. You’re not provided with a map so you have to find your own way around, which is all part of the fun.
The Alnwick Garden, Northumberland

Throughout the year the gardens are full of life and colour, there’s also a magical giant treehouse that the kids will love exploring which is one of the largest in the world! Cross the wobbly rope bridges (suitable for wheelchairs and pushchairs) to find a treetops restaurant.
The Gnome Reserve & Wildflower Garden; Bradworthy, Devon

Walk around the beautiful woodlands that over 1,000 gnomes call home. Gnome hats are loaned free of charge together with fishing rods, so you don’t embarrass the gnomes when you visit.
Jupiter Artland; Wilkieston, Edinburgh

This is a piece of breathing art; the landscape is dotted with commissioned artwork and full of things to be discovered. The children will love exploring all of the installations and the views of the surrounding landscape are simply stunning.
Trebah Garden; Falmouth, Cornwall

Trebah Garden is a beautiful fun day out for visitors of all ages. This sub-tropical paradise provides a magical Cornish village garden with exotic blooms, vibrant tunnels and there is even a secluded beach on the Helford River. There are also adventure play areas and children’s trails for the little ones to enjoy

Games for long journeys

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The following children’s fun and games are great fun and you can always adapt them to suit your family. Most of them require very few props and rely mainly on imagination. Some may not be appropriate for car journeys as they could be too distracting for the driver but there are plenty to choose from.

Talk to the animal
Nominate a player to be an animal character for the first round. The other players have to ask questions until they guess what the animal is. The first one to correctly guess the animal gets to go next.

I went to the shop and bought…
Each player has to choose something they had bought at the shops. The first player starts by only reciting what she or he has bought. The next player then has to recite what the previous player bought, as well as add something new to the list.

The player who forgets an item is out of the game, whilst the rest battles on, till there is eventually only one shopper left!

Two facts and a fib
Each player gets a chance to make three statements – two which are true and one that is false. The other players have to try and guess which statement is the lie – number one, two three, by indicating the number with their fingers.

Word association
One player says a word and the other player responds with the first word that comes into their head. The quicker you play, the funnier it gets.

Buzz words
Children need to be quiet to listen for words in this game. Choose a word and listen out for it on the radio or announcements. As soon as a player hears the word they shout ‘buzz’! Children can also look out for buzz words on road signs or advertising boards.

Road cricket
Each child chooses a colour – all oncoming cars in their colour passing you on the road counts as a run. All children nominate one colour to be bowled out by, for example, if a white car comes along you are bowled out and the next player gets a turn at the road wicket.

Broken telephone
One player starts by whispering a message, only once, to the next player. This player then whispers to the next player and so it goes on until the last player who has to say it out loud to the group!

Maps
Children can use maps to trace out their journeys or one player can have look at the map and then choose a town on the map. The other players can then have a look at the map and take turns to guess the secret destination.

October half term ideas

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Looking for children’s entertainment on a budget during October half term? If you’re strapped for ideas for half-term family activities, never fear.

Take a free event.
Have a look at Free-events, search the web for more events going on in your area over the course of the week.

Watch a film;
For a lazy start to the day, Vue cinemas host Mini Mornings every morning during the holidays. Both adult and child tickets are £2.49 for selected movies, so you could release your inner child for very little expense.

Odeon offers something very similar with Odeon Kids. Kids and adults can go every morning during the school holidays at a slightly higher ticket price of £2.50.
Cineworld also does Movie for Juniors where you and the kids can get in for a tiny £2 each (3D £3.50).

Go bowling;
Head over to your local Tenpin from Monday to Friday and get a cracking School’s Out deal. If you go before 5pm, kids can get one game of bowling and a burger meal for £8.49 and adults can get the same for £10.99. Deals vary between bowling alleys so check the Tenpin website before you go.

Learn a new skill;
There’s everything from free scales and fins pet workshops at Pets at Home stores to spooky shadows workshops at the National Gallery.

Hobbycraft;
Runs a free workshops for kids in some of its 81 UK stores over the weekends and during half term. Check if your local store is running one.

Alternatively stay in and pass on your own skills (think instruments, drawing, cooking) to the kids.
Get sporty If the weather holds up, get them outside for a bit of a kickabout. Find out where to get free holiday football coaching at various skill centres throughout England.

A stress free Family day out

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We’ve come up with some top tips for making sure everything goes smoothly and everyone has a day to remember for all the right reasons!

Plan ahead
Plan your journey to avoid the stresses of getting lost on route with excitable children in tow! It also helps to pack the bag you’re taking the night before to stop the morning scramble.

Pack some spare clothes
No matter how old your children are take spare clothes with you, then they can relax and get messy or wet even if it wasn’t in the plan. Take a unisex variety so that it doesn’t matter who ends up wearing them!

Snacks to the rescue!
You can never take too many snacks! Keep separate snack boxes/ bags for each child to avoid arguments! Even better if they can pop them in their own backpack.

Money Money Money
Take loose change with you, especially £1 coins and keep it handy. Many attractions have ‘extra’ children’s activities you can do such as; feeding animals or rides and often this costs £1 or so, plus there might be parking charges.

Take wellies/walking shoes
Some places might get muddy when it has rained and no one wants to get their shoes caked in mud. Also, take plastic bags to put the wellies in after so you can keep the car clean!

Sun protection
With the weather always being changeable it is a good idea to always carry sun cream, sunglasses and sun hats.

Kids love Ice Cream

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The Ice Cream Farm, Cheshire

If you’re looking for the ultimate ice cream themed day out, then look no further than The Ice Cream Farm in Cheshire in the North West. Home to the ‘World’s Largest Purpose Built Ice Cream Parlour’, it’s not only bursting with award-winning flavours made on site, but also a range of themed activities for children to turn a tasty treat into an action-packed day out.

The farm is FREE for the whole family, including Daisy’s Garden, the parlour and the farmyard animals, but with a range of low-cost activities to try you can mix and match to find all the perfect ingredients for your visit. Head to Honeycomb Canyon, Europe’s largest indoor sand and water play area, practice your putting on the Strawberry Falls adventure golf course or race to the finish at Silvercone – the themed go kart track!

Churchfields Farmhouse Ice Cream Cafe, Droitwich

Family comes first at Churchfields Farmhouse Ice Cream Cafe, with the farm having been in the family for over 100 years. Fast-forward to today and this tasty treat is a local favourite for the DOWTK team! Home to an outdoor play area and an indoor play barn with activities for the kids, the ice cream is the star of the show with more than 36 flavours in stock at any one time. With classic combinations and some more unusual flavours too, the staff are more than happy to let you sample as many as you like before taking the plunge. If you’re visiting in a big group, or for a special occasion, be sure to book a farm tour too, giving you the chance to see the cows and find out just how the ice cream is made!

Bluebell Dairy, Derby

With a host of awards under its belt, Bluebell Dairy is a fab ice cream farm that’s a real Derbyshire gem. All 25 flavours are made using fresh milk and cream from the cows living on the farm, then lovingly made in small batches for a more intense flavour! For a full family day out, this ice cream farm is also home to Bluebells Play Park, filled with fun including climbing frames, swings, a sandpit and a toddler tractors course! At the Animal Patch, a farmyard full of animals awaits with feeding and petting sessions every morning, plus seasonal events always mean there’s something new to explore.

Solley’s Ice Cream Parlour, Kent

Combining the beautiful Kent countryside with tasty ice cream, a visit to Solley’s Ice Cream Parlour is the ideal summer day out. New for 2018 are hop-on hop-off tractor rides, marked farm trails and walking routes, giving you the chance to explore the countryside in style. Whilst there are no animals to see here, the ice cream is made on the farm using fresh milk from neighbouring farms, so you can rest assured it comes with the local seal of approval.

Ideas for Kids Summer holidays

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Visit a theme park
The summer holidays is the perfect time to plan a visit to one of the best theme parks in the UK.

Go to a safari park
See wild animals roaming from the comfort of your own car, thanks to our safari parks UK guide.

Find your local beach
Feel the sand between your toes, build a sandcastle or paddle in the sea at one of the best beaches in England.

Play in the park
There’s loads to explore at your local park, from climbing frames to minibeast hunting. Don’t miss our tips for encouraging your kids to explore more.

Visit an ice cream farm
Days out don’t come much tastier! Find an ice cream farm near you now.

Complete a maize maze
See if you can find your way to the middle (and back out again!) at a maize maze near you.

Have a BBQ at home (probably in the rain!)
Summer and BBQs go hand in hand and we’d never let a little rain ruin our chance to cook al fresco! It’s one of our favourite things to do in the summer holidays.

Get crafty
With just a few supplies, you can make lots of kid-friendly arts and crafts this summer, without needing Pinterest-worthy skills. We’ve got loads of arts and crafts for kids on the blog, including toddler crafts, pom pom crafts, pottery painting and more.

Learn a new skill
Think about how much you could learn in six weeks! Pick up the basics of a new language, learn how to read a map, try a bushcraft survival skills workshop or even learn how to ski at an indoor slope!

Go on a family bike ride
Explore on two wheels this summer (don’t forget stabilisers for younger riders!) with our list of 5 traffic-free family bike rides.

Join the painted rocks craze
Brighten up your local walking route, by creating and hiding some painted rocks. Start by reading our ultimate guide to painted rocks!

Go to the cinema
The Incredibles 2 is top of our must-see list this summer, see our full list of new kids’ films you have to watch in 2018.

Go swimming
Pack your goggles and your cossies and make a splash this summer. For sunny days, find an outdoor swimming pool near you.

A-MAZING!!!

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Each year fun themed designs are cut into living plants just waiting to be explored, and this year you’ll find everything from dinosaurs and unicorns to Wonderland, with plenty of
surprises and fun ideas for children along the way.

So grab your team of explorers and get ready to put your skills to the test – lose yourself in one of our favourite things to do in the summer holidays: visiting a maize maze!

National Forest Adventure Farm, Staffordshire
14th July – 3rd September 2018

Take on the world’s first Escape Maize Maze at National Forest Adventure Farm! Put your spy skills to the test in Agent Academy themed maze, where the whole family will have to work together to solve a series of mental and physical challenges to collect the lock combination you need to escape. With 3 miles of paths, make sure you use the bridges and towers to help find your way out, and with Dr Von Steal’s Mini Maze that’s perfect for younger kids, it’s a perfect family day out this summer!

Cotswold Farm Park, Gloucestershire
21st July – 2nd September 2018

Venture down the rabbit hole and into Wonderland, with this year’s Maize Maze at Cotswold Farm Park! With various puzzles and games along the way, successfully find your way to the middle to enjoy a Tea Party – just keep an eye out for the Mad Hatter! Entrance to the maze is included within your farm park ticket, or for maze fanatics, you can get maze-only admission from £5.50 per person!

Amazing Cornish Maize Maze, Cornwall
21st July – 2nd September

Amazing by name and amazing by nature, we’re big fans of the Amazing Cornish Maize Maze, especially it’s Jurassic Jumble theme for this year! With 3 miles of paths and two lookout towers with great views, can you find the surprise dinosaur eggs hidden within the maze? Once you’ve successfully found your way out, don’t miss all the other activities on site, including giant games, a tractor trailer safari and farm animals too!

Boston Park Farm, Yorkshire
14th July – 31st October 2018

Back again for 2018, get lost in style at the Boston Park Farm Maize Maze! Open until the end of October (perfect for half-term too!), your mission is to find the four flag poles that are hidden throughout this year’s unicorn themed maze. Mark your sheet whenever you find one, and keep an eye out for Maize Maize, a fun character also missing in the maze! She’s a little harder to find, but if you find her and all four flags, you’ll get your hands on a lollipop as a reward!