NHM Readers recommend: Cooking classes for six year olds

Posted by juliet on 22nd February 2018 in Basingstoke, Children, Classes, Education, Food, NHM Readers, North Hampshire, Older Children, Things to Do 0 Comment

An NHM reader asked “Hello! I’ve been hunting for cookery workshops/classes to attend with my nearly 6 year old son. I’ve found options for preschool age but can’t seem to find anything in the area for his age range. He wants to make real food, not just decorate biscuits or cakes now. Do you know of anything out there? Thanks!!”

Thank you to all of the NHM readers who responded, these are listed below, in no particular order! Thank you also to Juliet who put this post together!!

Tot Cross Buns

Michelle said “Tot Cross Buns run by Allison Woolford. And now they’ve got Kerry on board too.”

Louise said “Tot Cross Buns is awesome!”

Kerry said “Please send us a message and we would be happy to talk to you about our Saturday kitchens which you and your son can come along too, we have lots of fun and are passionate about cooking and want to pass on this passion to children – giving them confidence with food and encouraging them to try new tastes and have fun in the kitchen with mum and dad. We look forward to hearing from you”

Cookery Doodle Doo North Hants

Alison said “My daughter loves Cookery Doodle Doo.. Highly recommended”

Katie said “Hi, I run Cookery Doodle Doo. For primary school aged children we offer the monthly Sunday Pudding Club. Drop your child off with us for 2 hours in Laverstoke and collect them proudly bearing a large pud to share at your family Sunday dinner. I also offer affordable private cookery lessons for any age child (and a group of their friends if liked) – why not get a group together for ad hoc or regular Saturday morning sessions?! They could make their own tea!”

Inspero

Becky said “Check out this page, it’s a charity that does fab cooking and gardening clubs”

Sarah said “Check out inspero. Kids gardening and cooking”

Newlyns

Lyndsey said “I’m not sure if they do many kids classes but Newlyns Farm Shop in Odiham have a cookery school & run some kids events that might be worth looking into”

Marie said “We struggled with this for my youngest. As a cake baker and decorator, and old school home cook, she needed more than the basic stuff at that age. Didn’t find anything, but stuck it out til this year, her 8th birthday, and she has a cookery class at Newlyns cookery school in Warnborough. My eldest has done classes there, and they’re amazing. 2/3 course meals!”

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Basingclog

Posted by juliet on 15th January 2018 in After School Clubs, Basingstoke, Children, Exercise, Group, Older Children, Things to Do 0 Comment

Basingclog is not a dance school, but more of a club.

We’ve been dancing in the Basingstoke area for the last 25 years, and although we mostly have adult members, we do welcome young people from age 14.

During the autumn and winter months, we practice at Sherfield on Loddon village hall on Tuesdays, 8-9:30 pm, and in the spring and summer we dance out at area pubs and the occasional festival.

We welcome beginners and can teach people all they need to know about morris dancing. Our website is www.basingclog.org.uk

Advent Calendar Ideas for 2017

Posted by Louise NorthHantsMum on 16th November 2017 in Babies, Children, Events, Family, Older Children, Organising, Outings, Parents, Pre School, Things to Do, Toddlers 0 Comment

I’ve collated these from previous posts on NHM but please add your suggestions in the comments on the NorthHantsMum FB Page and I will add them into this post. Thanks!!

Advent Calendar Ideas for 2017

Make a Christmas tree decoration

Build a Christmas item like a Lego Christmas tree, Santa sleigh, snowman, etc or with playdoh.

Make a paper chain

Go see the Christmas lights or a street that has lots of decorations. Festival Place, The Oracle, Farnham and Winchester have good local ones.

Do some Christmas baking

December 5th is Saint Nicholas Day, so do someone a good deed in his spirit. The French bake gingerbread as a tradition.

December 21st is winter solstice so take time out from all those Pre- Christmas do’s and celebrate at home by cosying up with loved Ones.

Attend Hook Christmas Cracker (Saturday 2nd December 2017)

Make a Christmas card

Play a board game

Christmas Nature Walk – Take a walk to your local park or woods and collect pine cones and see if you can spot a robin or some holly. Check out Nature Detectives to see what you can find.

Visit your local garden centre to see The Christmas decorations

Write a letter to Father Christmas. Use stickers for younger children

Go to a local school Christmas Fayre and pick up some fabulous bespoke Christmas presents.

Make Christmas Gloop (put in a couple of baubles and some glitter) ????

Put together A personalised video message for your child from Santa (and it’s free!) (this is AWESOME!) and play it to your child.

Visit a local library and find some nice Christmas stories, e.g. Father Christmas needs a wee!

Make a bird feeder

Have a Christmas boogie. When the music stops, do a christmas movement. Roll like a bauble, chickle like santa, twirl like a snowflake

Eat dinner by candlelight.(We use the electronic version of candles as I’m banned from using real candles since I set fire to my bedroom when I was 14 years old. Don’t ask!)

Have a Christmas sing song round the piano. All use instruments like jingle bells or triangle

Learn about Christmas in another country

Read Christmas books whilst snuggled under blankets

Go ice skating at the local ice skating rink

Play Christmas charades

Go see a local pantomime

Christmas dressing up

Go Christmas Caroling (even if it’s just to Grandparents!)

Give something back, make a donation.

Make jolly jars. Take an old jam jar and decorate with stickers or glass pens and then fill with sweets and treats to give to loved ones

Hand deliver some Christmas cards to neighbours

Print off some Christmas puzzles, word searches, colour pages.

Tell some of our favourite Christmas jokes

Do a Christmas jigsaw puzzle

A lovely activity to do on Christmas eve is to have a special Christmas box with new pyjamas, a Christmas DVD and snacks that your children can unwrap and enjoy while they wait for father christmas

Watch the Santa Fun Run in Eastrop Park. Is there one on this year?

Buy and decorate your Christmas Tree

Write a letter to Santa – find out about the NSPCC version or send one via Royal Mail

Listen to Christmas Music (there are normally dedicated satellite channels for music and films at Christmas!) or you can download your favourites from i-Tunes.

Have an indoor snowball fight with scrunched up paper

From today the word “Christmas” is jinxed – every time you say “Christmas” you have to sing Jingle Bells – this can run all day or all month

Put Christmas decorations up in your bedroom

Send Christmas cards

Make Christmas crackers from old toilet rolls!

Watch a Christmas movie. Which are your favourites?

Visit Santa’s Grotto at Festival Place and take a ride on the train

Sing the 12 Days of Christmas without saying Christmas.

Drive round looking for houses with Christmas lights.

Have a super duper Hot Chocolate – make your own at home with flake, marshmallows, squirty cream, etc or nip out to your favourite cafe.

Catch a ride on the Santa Bus.

Dress up as a Christmas character all day or wear a Christmas Jumper

Make a Christmas collage

Build and decorate a gingerbread house

Jazz up a chocolate Swiss roll for an instant Yule log

Christmas i-spy – make a list of Christmas items to spot then go for a walk and tick things off your list.

Track Santa’s progress around the world on the Norad website

Thank you very much to Heidi W for her suggestions in 2014!!!!

1. Put up tree and outside lights

2. Santa train ride in town centre

3. Christmas books by candle light

4. Christmas snap cards, make paperchains

5. Write Christmas cards

6. New Christmas jigsaw

7. Watch a Christmas DVD

8. Go and see a Christmas show either at the Anvil or the Haymarket.

9. Paper crafts (angels, snowflakes etc)

10. Lion’s Santa tour stops outisde our house – with glowsticks

11. Paper/foam wreaths

12. Sticker activity books

13. Make your own Christmas badge kit

14. Check out a local museum (Milestones or the Willis Museum) for their Christmas activities with little ones

15. Childrens Carol service at church

16. Do a Christmas Craft together – e.g. foam Christmas tree kit, make Christmas crackers, Christmas baubles.

17. Christmas books

18. Stencils/sticker craft

19. Nativity Play scene set

20.TBC

21. Winter Ice Art or go and see the Christmas Ice Rink either at Winchester Cathederal or if they have one in Festival Place

22. Make Christmas biscuits

23. Visit Santa’s Wonderland at Paultons Park

24. Open your Christmas Eve box together (New PJ’s!!!)

Season Tickets to local attractions in North Hampshire – updated 2017

Posted by juliet on 13th October 2017 in Babies, Basingstoke, Berkshire, Cheap, Children, Family, Half Term, Hampshire, Money, North Hampshire, Older Children, Organising, Outings, Pre School, Things to Do, Toddlers 0 Comment

I’ve recently just invested in a Season ticket for a local attraction. I wanted somewhere that was near to Basingstoke, that we could just pop into after work or when my husband is at work on the weekend.

Paying for entry to attractions can be very expensive, but if you find somewhere that you like, and you know you will visit maybe once a month, it makes sense to invest in a Season ticket.

You also get discounts and extra perks with most Season tickets. I am planning to get a season ticket for a different place each year, so we don’t get bored of the same places.

This is an exceptionally long post. Sorry about that! It was really difficult to know what to include, so I’ve tried to include the key highlights and the costs. Hope you find it useful!

Updated September 2017

Wellington Country Park

Wellington Country Park Season Tickets

Not only do you receive ‘unlimited access’ to the Park but also a whole host of other benefits…

2017 Season Ticket Benefits

Gold Annual Pass:

- UNLIMITED ADMISSION to Wellington Country Park during normal opening hours
- 3 FREE day passes for a Gold Annual Pass holder to bring friends or family to the Park
- 3 FREE train ride vouchers for a Gold Annual Pass holder with ALL subsequent train rides only £1.00 each
- 5 FREE drinks (valid for regular hot drinks, bottled water or a children’s juice carton)
- FREE PARTICIPATION in all of our in-house events – excluding Christmas and additional ticketed events
- E-NEWSLETTER called ‘Welly Park News’ to keep you up to date of what takes place here at the Park

Silver Annual Pass:

- UNLIMITED ADMISSION to Wellington Country Park during normal opening hours
- ALL train rides only £1.00 each
- FREE PARTICIPATION in all of our in-house events – excluding Christmas and additional ticketed events
- E-NEWSLETTER called ‘Welly Park News’ to keep you up to date of what takes place here at the Park

Please note: Terms and Conditions do apply. For full details, please see ‘Terms and Conditions’ on their website.

How much does a Season Ticket cost?

2018 Prices

Gold (for adult or child)	£85.00
Silver (for adult or child)	£65.00
Children 2 and under	FREE

Please Note: Don’t forgot that when your child turns 3 years old, they will need their own Annual Pass

Finkley Down Farm

Finkley Down Farm Season Ticket

An Annual Pass enables each person purchased free admission to the farm park for 1 Year from date of purchase. Ideal for a short visit even after school for a quick play on the playground or all day in the holidays.

Also if you purchase a pass before your child turns two they are free the duration of your pass.

There is also a Childminder’s annual pass, details can be found on their website.

Please note: Terms and Conditions apply.

Person Type	Monthly Direct Debit (Online Only)	One Off Payment
Family (4 persons)	£24.00	£260.00
Adult	£7.00	£75.00
Children 2 – 16 Years	£6.00	£65.00
Children Under 2	Free	Free
Senior Citizen	£6.00	£65.00
Student Student ID Required	£6.00	£65.00
Disabled + Unnamed Carer Disability Proof Required	£6.00	£65.00

Beale Park

Beale Park Season

Season tickets will soon be available to purchase on-line. In the meantime, please read the options on how to buy a season pass below. A season ticket to Beale Park is fantastic value, offering:

Access to the Park for one calendar year from the date of application.
10 train rides during the course of your season ticket
Subscription to the Park’s electronic news updates

…and, by becoming a season ticket holder, you are actively supporting the conservation projects that Beale Park undertakes, as well as contributing towards the care of the animals.

It’s easy to join. Simply print out the form on the website and bring it with you to the Beale Park ticket office where, on payment, a photograph will be taken and your application processed, enabling your season ticket to be produced.

How much will it cost

Adult Season Ticket – £48

Senior Citizens (60+) – £38.00

Child Season Ticket – £34

Registered Disabled + Carer – £48

Family Season Ticket (2 Adults + 2 Children) – £135

Terms and Conditions apply

Bucklebury Farm

Bucklebury Farm Park Membership

Why not become a Farm & Deer Safari Park member and enjoy access to the farm and deer park throughout the 2017 season? An ideal opportunity for numerous short visits either after school, school holidays, rainy days, to visit the animals, go round the deer park on a tractor, safari or deer expedition, have a stroll or just for the children to let off steam!! All our park attractions are included in the price with the exception of special events. Joining costs you the equivalent of around £5 per month. Make six visits and then go FREE!

The membership includes a 10% discount on group party bookings for 2017. This can be used for birthday parties but also your children’s class (only one discount per class can apply!) at school – well worth mentioning to your children’s teacher. We also offer all season ticket holders a very special 20% discount in Woody’s for ten visits – great for breakfasts, family lunches or just coffee and cake with friends (excluding special event menus).

How much will it cost

Adults – £60

Children & OAPs – £54

Disabled/helpers – £46 each

4 Kingdoms Adventure Park

4 Kingdoms Adventure Park Annual Pass

Enjoy their 12 Special Events through the Summer Season for the price of 6: Purchasing an annual pass costs less than the equivalent of 6 visits over a twelve month period.

You can visit 4 Kingdoms 7 days a week throughout the year: An annual pass runs for a full twelve months from the date of purchase.

“Try Before You Buy”: When you go to 4 kingdoms on any day and buy day tickets for you and your family, if you buy an annual ticket before you leave you will have your day ticket refunded (T&C’s Apply).

An Annual Pass gives you 10% off your child’s special birthday party event at 4 Kingdoms: Choose from any of their special themed birthday parties and get 10% off the price.

An Annual Pass gives you 10% off their magical Christmas Event: Join them for a magical Christmas family experience and get 10% off the ticket price.

Visit 6 times And Every Other Day Is FREE!

Single – £59.90

Family of 2 – £115.00

Family of 3 – £165.00

Family of 4 – £210.00

Family of 5 – £250.00

Birdworld

Birdworld Membership

If you are a regular visitor to Birdworld then why not become a Birdworld member. Their members enjoy many benefits including:

Unlimited Visits – As an Annual Pass holder, you can visit Birdworld as often as you like, be it for half-an-hour or a full day. Just show your pass with photo at the Information Desk on arrival, thereby avoiding any queues at Admissions on busy days.

E-Newsletters – Their regular newsletters will keep you up-to-date with happenings within the Park, so you’ll hear all about new arrivals amongst the birds, fish, reptiles and animals on the farm, seasonal activity in the Gardens, and generally be aware of what’s going on around Birdworld. You may opt to receive this via E-mail.

Annual Pass Holder Events – You can join their team for exclusive events at Birdworld, which are only available to our pass holders. This includes our annual supper evening, which you can enjoy at no extra cost.

Discounts & Special Offers – Annual Pass Holders are eligible for a 10% discount on any purchases from the Gift Shops (excl. foods), and 15% discount on Birdworld Birthday Parties. You will also receive special prices for our Santa’s Winter Wonderland. When buying your pass you will also receive a one off 10% voucher to use on many products at Forest Lodge Garden Centre.

If you are still not sure, then visit Birdworld for the day and they will be pleased to refund the cost of that ticket against the pass if you decide to join on the day.

Pass type	1 year
Adult	£55.95
Child	£46.95
Pre-School Child (3-6 years)	£29.95
Disabled Child	£35.95
Concession (Senior citizens, students and disabled adults)	£46.95
Family: 2 Adults & 3 Children	£185.00
Family: 1 Adult & 3 Children	£135.00
2 Adults Joint pass	£99.95
2 Concessions Joint pass	£89.95
Carer	£19.95

The Hawk Conservancy

Hawk Conservancy Membership

By becoming a member you can be an invaluable part of our mission while enjoying as many visits to the Hawk Conservancy Trust as you like – not to mention many other benefits throughout the year.

Participating Member:

As a Participating Member, you can visit the Trust as many times as you like in one year and support our important conservation work. You’ll also receive:

invitations to our exclusive Members’ Evenings;
discounted tickets for your guests;
three HawkTalk newsletters;
and our Annual Review.

Adult	£55
Joint (couple)	£105
Child	£24
Family (two adults and two children)	£140
Extra child on a family membership	£18

Conservation membership and life membership are also available with additional benefits, details of which can be found on their website.

Terms and conditions apply to all membership packages.

Other Passes or Season Tickets

The Living Rainforest review on NHM (The standard admission price entitles the purchaser to an Annual Ticket, which allows free entry for one year, so keep your receipt!) NOTE: the prices have increased since the review and can be found on The Living Rainforest’s website.

National trust

Culture Trust Membership

Merlin Pass

Inside Out Kid: Kids Fitness Made Fun!

Posted by juliet on 3rd August 2017 in Basingstoke, Children, Classes, Exercise, Health, North Hampshire, Older Children, Pre School, Things to Do, Toddlers 0 Comment

My name is Sarah and I am passionate about keeping children fit and healthy, and making it lots of fun!

I’ve been working as a Personal Trainer for a few years now. Prior to that, I was a teacher and a Deputy Manager of a nursery. So for me, combining my two passions to specialise in children’s health and fitness, seemed perfect!

As well as after school clubs in various local schools, and sessions in some local nurseries, I also teach lots of kids classes at Basingstoke Sports Centre. Junior Bootcamp is on a Thursday and Friday after school, Junior Pedal (indoor cycle classes with disco lights!) on a Wednesday after school, and a Mini Movers session on Wednesday mornings for toddlers and pre schoolers.

I’d love to see some new faces and meet more children who are as excited about keeping fit as I am. Throughout the school holidays I will be running taster sessions for all my classes, so please send your children along!!

Have a look at my Facebook page, www.facebook.com/insideoutkid for the latest information.

And for the grown ups, check out www.facebook.com/insideoutresults, where you will find details of my adult classes and food plans. Mention you saw me on NHM and I will happily offer a discount.

Thanks for reading!!!!
Sarah

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Rock & Pop Foundation Owner and enrolled parent Steve Sammut

Posted by Louise NorthHantsMum on 12th July 2017 in Children, Classes, New Classes, North Hampshire, Older Children, Things to Do, Wellbeing 0 Comment

Look out for details below about the half price taster sessions!!

Rock & Pop Foundation

My personal journey began at the age of 8 where I was desperate to play the guitar and had encouragement from a father who was a professional full time percussionist enrolled in the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst for over 13 years.

Being the youngest of 7 children my other brother and sisters said I was the spoilt one as by the time I started to play mum and dad could just afford to pay for lessons.

Guitar lessons were offered at my middle school St Joseph’s Primary in Guildford where the option was either classical or folk lessons which seems strange now as we teach the guitar and cover a combination of both.

Because I had good finger picking technique behind me and quick chord combinations, I was taught how to read music and went straight in at Grade 2 classical guitar Trinity College of Music passing with a merit within 9 months of starting the classical guitar.

Fast forward, at 14 years old I was studying for grade 8 classical guitar and went through the usual teenage transition of becoming an adult. My father was convinced I was going to the Army Kneller Hall of Music, demanded a military style to practice (an hour a day) and constant nagging with phrases like “When I was in the Army I had to………. and so the story goes!! By 15 I quit playing the guitar!

Secondary school was not inspiring for me as if you didn’t play football your weren’t considered one of the crowd and me loving cooking and guitar meant I wasn’t one of the lads. A similar story rings true of a legend by the name of Ed Sheeran.

After choosing a path in Hotel and Management at college I started working in the Hotel trade and was offered a position with a Caribbean Cruise Line.

On one of my ships there was a crew talent show where crew were invited to play or perform. I switched back into performance mode and wowed the cruise director with my playing so much so that I was offered auditions to play in the show band. Fast forward 5 years later at the age of 28 I left my final ship, performed literally around the world as a professional musician with some very big names in a 6 star environment.

Having returned to the UK I got my first teaching position working for a county service music organisation that taught music lessons in schools. The first observation for me was a lack of personal service, syllabus, framework and common standards – the lesson delivery was poor and there was no consistency in the delivery. Some music services started guitar lessons using recorder books!! You would turn up to deliver a first guitar group lesson and 3 out of 6 children had a guitar and only half of them had remembered to buy books.

After training I eventually started my own schools and thought I needed to raise the standards in music education – where there was no framework or syllabus I decided to write one. Within 9 months I wrote the first of the Guitar Trainer Series Books using sports as a theme. Going back to my childhood of athletics and sports training my students were happy to call me coach, enjoyed their guitar training and worked hard to improve on their technique. After a while I had teachers coming to view my lessons and they soon bought into my schemes of work.

When I tried to standardise the concept to the county music service all my fresh ideas like, buying and hiring guitars for first lessons, delivering books direct to schools and even attending exam centres to tune and accompany kids, were not taken on board.

It was a frustrating time and I eventually left and 6 schools soon followed as well as other teachers who wanted to join me. Within the first year I had 4 teachers, 300 children all using my schemes of work and this was all operated with a small home office and one Pentium PC.

Within 3 years we had 1000 children and expanded from guitar into keyboard, piano and drums. Finally in 2000, my scheme of work got nationally accredited by Rockschool who then worked alongside us to make sure our schemes of work had a meaningful qualification and pathway.

Some 40,000 children later we continue with the same principles we started with 20 years ago. A uniformed approach, Industry professional tutors, excellent customer service standards, an accredited scheme of work and now – the icing on the cake, we have college status with Farnham 6^th form College to deliver Level 3 diplomas with Pathways to industry which brings me back to you as mums and dads who are building on your child’s skills and experiences for their future.

The Rock and Pop Foundation continues to grow from strength to strength and our online brochure has a range of activities and services to suit all your contemporary music needs as a school, parent or company. We now have a blueprint school in Germany as well as providing solutions for home school learners. The motto is “ the answer is yes , now what’s the question”

If you as a parent are not happy with the level of music education in your school, or looking for music lessons please call us for a meaningful chat and we can hopefully work with you as a parent or member of the school to find a solution to keep your children motivated. We always work from recommendation and hope to see you all soon.

These sessions are for ks2 and above aged children and sessions are based in Aldershot.

You can also find out more about the rock and pop foundation at: https://www.facebook.com/rockandpopfoundation/

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Review 2017: Relax Kids

Posted by Louise NorthHantsMum on 11th July 2017 in After School Clubs, Basingstoke, Children, Classes, Local Mum Businesses, Mums, Older Children, Pre School, Reviews of Things to do, Things to Do, Wellbeing 0 Comment

Kath from Relax Kids recently invited me to review one of her classes with Miss NHM.

I was one of the first people that Kath “practised” on a few years ago when she started out. I thought she was brilliant then so was very keen to see how she had developed and for Miss NHM to attend a class.

I saw that Kath was doing classes on a Sunday morning as a taster session to come along and find out what it’s all about before committing to a 5 week course, which was perfect for us. It wasn’t too early in the morning too, which was great. I asked my friend S whether she wanted to bring her son K along, and she decided that she wanted to check out the class too.

Kath sent me an email the week before the class detailing what would be happening for the hours class. It included things about what to wear for the session and a child protection policy that needed completing which is brilliant as it shows what a professional Kath is!

Kath follows a 7 step process in helping the children to relax. She was brilliant at explaining to the children what she was doing and the steps that they were taking.

A couple of people turned up late to the class which I always think is a bit rude but then remembered that some children find coming to classes very intimidating. Kath handled their lateness really well and explained things very clearly to everyone.

All of the exercises that Kath used were sooo clever! I love the “Smile to reach your stretch” moment. That was awesome to see Miss NHM stretch and expand. I loved the “hedgehog” and seeing Miss NHM in this position made me quite emotional! The Angry thoughts exercise was fantastic and just such a lovely concept.

I also REALLY loved the books that Kath used and have purchased two for home already as they have such wonderful concepts in them.

All through the class children are doing breathing exercises but they don’t even know it!! I particularly loved the “breathing in happy thoughts, breathing out sad thoughts”. I also loved the relaxing music that Kath uses and really want to ask her where she got it from as I think we could do with a copy of this for home! lol .

Miss NHM is quite a confident little girl at the best of times and I was very interested to see how she responded to the class. My favourite bit of the class was when the children were asked to write out what makes them happy. Miss NHM had written about 9 things within 2 minutes and I was uber proud that she knows what makes her happy and could express this.

I also felt quite privileged seeing all the children relax throughout the class, which was fascinating to watch. There was one little boy who really didn’t want to participate, but by the end of the class he was lying on the floor with the other children and you could see that he had got a lot out of the class even if he hadn’t been actively participating for most of it.

Tips

Book quickly because Kath’s classes sell out REALLY fast. They are very popular and she often has a waiting list!

Parents are allowed in the room. This must have been initially intimidating to Kath, having the parents watching, but she wasn’t bothered.

Rating out of 5

All of the little details were excellent, it’s very obvious that Kath is passionate about what she’s doing as such thought had been put into the whole class.

As you can see, I’m a HUGE fan of Kath’s work. Miss NHM got so much out of just that one class and talked about it for weeks later. I’m very keen to enrol her in a class when she starts Y2 next year!

Definitely 5 out of 5!!

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15 Different Experiences for Children

Posted by Louise NorthHantsMum on 21st February 2013 in Children, Older Children, Outings, Things to Do 0 Comment

I believe it’s important, as a parent, to introduce your child to as many different experiences as possible. Obviously, you don’t want to overwhelm them, but the different activities and experiences may help to broaden their horizons.

For example, I would have liked to have taken my little on to the Olympics, but I wasn’t sure what the logistics would be like. I have some friends who took their 1 year old to see the London Marathon and to the Jubilee last summer. What an awesome experience for a little one.

Below is a list that I’ve put together for ideas on different experiences. Please add your suggestions in the comments.

1. Stroke a wolf at Beenham Wolf. Beenham is near Aldermaston and they have Children’s Wolf Walks which look AWESOME!

2. Go swimming at an outside swimming pool. See the previous NHM Lido Post HERE

3. See a show at the Planetarium in Winchester. See the previous NHM Chatterbox Post HERE

4. Trampolining at the Active Life Centre

5. Pet a Sheep at Finkley Down Farm, Wellington Country Park, Odds Farm, or Bucklebury Farm

6. Pick Your Own strawberries

7. Fly a kite on a very big hill. Crabtree is great for this, or if you want go a bit further, try the hill behind Watership Down on the way to Kingsclere.

8. Take your child to see London. It’s such an awesome experience and we are so lucky to only live 40 minutes away on the train. Check HERE for a previous post about travel discounts for families. Or you could drive straight up to Richmond and park in Deer Park car park and get the train in (it’s much cheaper!). If you don’t want to schlep around London with your kids in tow, I totally recommend the London Sightseeing Bus. You get to see all the sights without moving from your seat 😉

9. Enrol your child on a cookery course. Newlyns Farm do great cooker courses. Or take your child to a restaurant where they do food “differently”. Wagamama’s or La Tasca could be good restaurants for this.

10. Hold a snake at Marwell Zoo.

11. Take your child to a Gallery and use this opportunity to discuss the pictures or photography. The Willis Museum in town regularly has different exhibitions.

12. Show your child some of the military history of this country. You could try the Royal Navy Submarine Museum at Gosport, the Army Flying Museum near Andover or the Gurka Museum in Winchester.

13. Take your child on a steam train. The Watercress Line isn’t far away and is a brilliant experience.

14. Visit an Aquarium. I think the nearest ones to Basingstoke are the Blue Reef Aquarium in Portsmouth or the London Aquarium. Or you could take your children along to one of the local fish shops.

15. Take your child to the theatre. The Anvil and The Haymarket have regular children’s performances.