Family Day Out at Cotswold Wildlife Park, Oxfordshire

http://www.cotswoldwildlifepark.co.uk/

Since living in Oxfordshire I have visited Cotswold Wildlife Park a couple of times with the nursery I was working in at the time.  However I hadn't been for about 6 or so years so when we were arranging a day out with my brother and sister in law and nephew we decided to visit here. On the edge of the Cotswolds and not far from Oxford its a popular attraction for families in my neck of the woods.

Price

£15(gate) £14(online) Adult

Under 3s free

Children 3-16yrs £9.50(online)£10(gate)

Whats on

• feeding talks daily
• adventure playground
• train rides
• skymaze interconnecting treehouse maze
• specialised events (link below)

http://www.cotswoldwildlifepark.co.uk/whats-on/events/

Eating Facilities

As I always say a cheap way of feeding your children is to bring a picnic and there is lots of outdoor seating and grass areas to pitch up.  As our visit had not quite hit spring at this point it was still quite chilly so we went and had a main meal in the Oak Tree Restaurant.  The food was okay I had lasagne and chips and a drink for under £10.

Value for money?

There is a wide variety of animals including lions, zebras, rhinos, birds, reptiles, penguins and many more.  You can easily spend a day here as a family as there is plenty to do.  My nephew enjoyed the animals but he also just loved running around in lots of wide open space.

Interactive features

The park have an app on the apple store that you can download prior to your visit.  This has quizs, interactive map and will tell you fun facts about the animals in the park.  This is good if you are with older children and want to make more out of your visit.

Favourite Part

I liked the penguins and have done on previous visits here. You get really close to them and I think its at a good height for little ones to be able to see whats going on. 

Accessibility

Most of the park is quite flat and has paths of a good quality for pushchairs and to walk around.  Lots to see but its not spread out to far so you are never far from when you need to walk back on yourself for restrooms/coffee etc.

Throughly recommended for a fantastic family day out if you are ever in Oxfordshire.

Nanny Bicester

Wellington country park near Reading in Berkshire

A few hours spent in the late October sunshine with two of my uni friends and gorgeous baby girl at Wellington Country Park near Reading.
http://wellington-country-park.co.uk/

This is a very quick blog post about my trip here in half term as I didn't spend very long here and did not engage with all the activities on offer as we were with a 8 month old so there was not as much she could engage with but did love the animals.

 As you can see from the photo here the weather was beautiful and we had a lovely stroll around the lake which would be lovely at anytime of year as it doesn't take to long and you could stop and have a picnic. 
The petting zoo area is a lovely size and a few different farmyard animals for children to look at.  In the wooded area there were some cool dinosaur models to look at so would be great for any dinosaur enthusiasts.

Facilities include a large café and shop with plenty of indoor seating and outdoor seating. The cost is reasonable for what it is so go on over to the website for further information and details on special events.

They also arrange scavenger hunts and work shops which sounds fun defintley a must for small children.


I liked it here and a day could be made of it but more for 2-8 years for my recommended age of children.

American Museum of Natural History, New York

During my trip in New York we visited the American Museum of Natural History attracted there by the dinosaurs and space stuff. After a small diversion of the wrong subway line we arrived 11am so had to do a small bit of queuing.  The Museum has a wide variety of exhibits and artefacts from American history, mammals to Asian culture.  It is very easy to spend a few hours here as there is so much to see.

 Is it expensive?

Adult $22 Child 2-12 yrs $12.50

Free if you buy a New York Pass or City Pass for attractions in the city.  Ill put the links at the bottom.  There is a lot in the museum to see and do so I think its priced well for what you get.  Just to note special exhibitions and events are normally extra.

Facilities?

Very clean facilities in the museum.  There is a few cafes and restaurant throughout the museum that sell hot and cold food. There are also a few gift shops dotted around the museum.

Best bit?

As we thought we really enjoyed the dinosaur section and there was real dinosaur bones and full size replicas which were huge!! I also enjoyed looking at the tomb in the photo below.

Interactive tools?

Like with most attractions the museum has its own app.  It is good in the sense that you can connect to the free wifi and it will navigate you around the museum.  However I didn't find it useful in the sense of providing me with extra information about the content in the museum.

Any thing I didn't like?

I was disappointed with the Earth and Space areas in the museum.  The planetarium was impressive but to go in would of cost extra.

Other information to let you know about

I saw that the museum do different types of tours which look amazing. They are generally about 3 hours long.  They even do a tour about Night of the Museum which the museum was used for filming.

They also do day camps and workshops for children and families, look at the website for more details.

If you are visiting New York with little ones I definitely recommend the museum for a visit. Plenty to see and do for all the family.

Useful information

amnh.org for the website link
New York Pass-https://www.newyorkpass.com/En/?aid=28
City Pass-http://www.citypass.com/

Trip to Solider Museum, Woodstock, Oxfordshire

Summer hoildays are drawing to a close with most children back tomorrow or in the next few days.  I've had a fantastic summer with my charges and we have had the chance to try a few new things.  The previous week we managed a trip to the Soldier Museum in Woodstock, Oxfordshire. If you or/and your little ones have an interest in army stuff, the war, artefacts then I definitely recommend this as a place to visit to while away a few hours.

How much?Price is very reasonable for the size of the museum about £7 for one adult and one child.

Facilities? There is a café which we didn't use but does a range of snacks and small plates and drinks. The toilet and changing facilities were clean and in good condition.

What is there to see? Lots of artefacts from different wars and most are from local places.  They have a trench bunker in which you can go into which we really liked.  Another favourite was the medal collection below which had a touch screen next to it with lots of information about the different medals.

How does it engage children?

They do lots of events and craft sessions at the museum especially in holidays and weekends.  I would say the craft is aimed more at younger children though.  There are trails to complete whilst going around and interactive features such as the morse code machine for you to have a go at creating your own message.

What age range is it suitable for?

Any age really from about 4 I would say.  Your child would have to have a definite interest in this type of thing though.

Great way of learning more about local history of Oxfordshire and our place and contribution to the great wars in history.  It was great to spend a couple of hours here and we liked finding out about the day to day life of a solider and what they had in their kit bags in the olden days and now.

Website link-http://www.sofo.org.uk/

Twitter- https://twitter.com/SOFOtrust

Facebook-https://www.facebook.com/SoldiersOfOxfordshire

Instagram-https://www.instagram.com/soldiersofoxfordshiremuseum/

2 new activities I have discovered this week-Aug 2016

Hi all,

Sorry in advance to making this a locally based post but I wanted to share two great new things to do that I have done at work this week since being back off my hols.


1. Street hockey-free two hour sessions this summer around Oxford (Sports for Streets)
https://www.facebook.com/SPORTFORSTREETS

In the local park there was a small group of children of different ages that came together for a couple of hours to play street hockey and best of all it was completely free!!! They are a community initiative who provide all their own equipment and the coaching and the children get to learn a new skill.  The people who run it were lovely and have all been semi professional/professional hockey players so really know what they are talking about.  They do play team matches but also fun games and all the children involved seemed to really enjoy it.

2. The Leys, Witney
http://www.dayoutwiththekids.co.uk/family-fun/The_Leys/5177

This above image is an artist sketch of the play area at The Leys which includes play equipment, zip wire, splash fountains, swings, mini floor trampoline and more.  The equipment provides more challenges for older children and this is what I had heard from different parents so this is why I thought we would try somewhere new today.  When looking after older children you can often find that they outgrow the equipment at the conventional parks. Also on the grounds as well as wide open green space there is a mini golf course, skate park, tennis courts and a decent café to get an ice cream/coffee.  Such a lovely afternoon had and I'm sure we will be coming back soon.

Places to go in Brighton with Kids

On a visit to Brighton a couple of weekends ago I got to go to Laser Zone with a great bunch of ladies.  I haven't been laser questing for a long time and thought this could be fun and I was right it was brilliant!

We had two games which were about £5 each for an adult and that buys you a 15 minute game.  We were split into two teams of seven and six.  For those of you who have never done laserquest before the aim of the game is to shoot at each other with your electric packs and different teams are different colours.  Cant say I was particularly brilliant if I'm honest but had a lot of fun doing so.  They do birthday parties which I think would be great fun for kids.  What I will say is that it was a very hot day in Brighton so maybe pick your time wisely as you will get very sweaty!!!

Website link-http://www.laserzone.co.uk/brighton/

After all that sweating you will do you should head to Sprinkles Gelato Shop.  I am a Sussex born girl so have been to Brighton many times but never have been here but glad I have now I had the yummiest sundae for £4.50 and that got me six scoops of my choice.  There are so many flavours of ice cream to choose from as well as waffles and other yummy desserts.

Website link-http://www.sprinklesgelato.co.uk/default.aspx

If your not to full up of sweet treats head to the seafront and enjoy some fish and chips on the beach.  Plenty of places to choose from just wonder along the coast road and you will find them.  We didn't go on the pier in the end but I have been on countless trips to Brighton and there are acarades and rides typical of an English pier.

Finally a trip to Brighton should involve a trip to the famous Choccywoccydoodah Shop.

https://www.choccywoccydoodah.com/

See the amazing cakes that are available for your special event or buy some treats or go and have a sweet treat/drink upstairs in the café.  To note they also have a London base so check out the website for more details.

I realise this post has mainly been about food lol but other activities done on this weekend were not child friendly so this is it I'm afraid.  I can recommend The Sealife Centre also but cant review this as I haven't been recently.

I recommend a trip to Brighton loads to do and places to visit and if the weather is good great to be on the beach.  For more info on places to go see thishttp://kidsinbrighton.co.uk/places_to_go/places_to_go.html

Harry Potter Studio Tour Review

Looking like abit of a goon on the night bus!!

Website- https://www.wbstudiotour.co.uk/

Are you or your child/charge a Harry Potter fan? Have you read the books or seen the movies?  Then the Harry Potter Studio Tour is defintly for you.  I try in my reviews not to be biased but I am a huge Harry Potter fan and in the last two years have visited twice once for my younger brothers 21st birthday and more recently in November for Hogworts in the Snow.  My youngest brother and sister in law have actually been three times in last two and a half years.  She has actually become a fan since the first visit having read all the books and watched all the films and seems to be able to quote Potter trivia.

What is there to do?

Where do I start? I'm going to summarise in bullet points

• walk around the studio sets from the movies
• film your own short movie on a broomstick
• talks from guides
• special events
• seeing the set designs in sketch
• props/costumes from the movie
• try some butterbeer or as ive just spotted online butterbeer ice cream

Multimedia facilities?

I have not used the audio guide on either of my visits as I was going with family and decided it may be anti social.  However, I wish I had as the guide tells you extra bits of information.  This would be good also.for children with any visual difficulties.

How does it engage children?

Lots to do and look at with props and guides around the tour showing you how they did parts of the movie.  In November there was somebody showing people how they make fake snow I thought that was really cool.  You can also make your own short broomstick movie which I did on my first visit (I'm such a kid) but it was over £20 to have your own copy on a memory stick so in retrospective I shouldn't of bought it. 

On the website I have just seen that there is an Activity passport available which includes a Golden Snitch hunt (wish I had done that now!) to get children engaged in what they are seeing and lets be honest who doesn't like a treasure hunt.

Ideal age of children?

As this is based on the movies I do not really think really young children can get a lot from it till they have read some of the books and seen some of the movies.  I also think you need to be a HP fan or this wont really be enjoyable for you/them.  Saying that I did see some very young children but as the later movies are quite dark I presume they hadn't seen those yet.

Places to eat/facilities?

As you go in there is a Starbucks and a Studio Café to get small snacks and drinks.  About halfway round on the Backlot there is another café in which you can purchase the famous Butterbeer!  Slightly expensive for a small cup however delicious and you must try it as it is Harry Potter after all!

Yummy Butterbeer!

The gift shop is so cool but a lot of the items are very expensive so be warned if visiting with small ones.  What annoys me though is how they place it right at the end of the tour as you walk out so you have no choice but to walk through there.  They are not stupid right? Obviously this has been done deliberately for making money and small people going "I want I want".

How much does it cost?

I have linked the pricing page on the website below

https://www.wbstudiotour.co.uk/plan-your-visit/ticket-information

Favourite parts?

So many favourite parts but to highlight the studio sets as they were used in the movies.  They look so small in reality to how they look on the screen.

Any special events going on?

Yes they often do special events and check the website for details.  On my most recent visit I went to Hogwarts in the Snow although some of my family as well as myself felt it was advertised to be more than it was.  Other than some parts of the tour being dressed festive and some fake snow in places we felt a little disappointed.  I will say however that they often create new parts to the tour to encourage people to go back such as adding the Hogwarts Express and I have seen on the website that they are making more of a feature of Privet Drive this month.

The Great Hall dressed for Hogwarts in the Snow

Any criticisms?

I think the only criticism I have of this studio attraction is what I have said previously about the Hogwarts in the Snow event but that is just my opinion I'm sure many people have enjoyed it.  Also the gift souvenirs are abit on the pricey side but is this all relative to the whole experience of the attraction?

I hope you have found this blog useful and I definitely recommend this as a place to go visit as a family, with children or just as adults just as my family did.