Finkley Down Farm

24 things to do during the summer holidays with young children in Basingstoke

Posted by Louise NorthHantsMum on in Babies, Children, Summer Holidays, Things to Do, Toddlers 0 Comment

This is an incredibly long overdue post, but as it’s the last week of the school holidays you might be desperate for some inspiration, so I thought I would post it up anyway!

Many of these suggestions are free!

1. Swim in an outdoor pool.

You could investigate rivers, reservoirs, lakes or canals with towpaths as this will be a new landscape for your child to take in, e.g.:

Fleet Pond

Frensham Ponds

Basingstoke Canal

Lido’s in Hampshire

Splash pools

Or you could just play in the water at Festival Place (the big green phalic things!! lol) or check out the baby swimming pool and the stepping stones in Eastrop Park.

There is also a new splash park which was opened in May 2016, near the Spotlight centre. We are hoping to visit it soon!

2. Walk through the Woods

A trip to the woods can also be exciting – see the woodland trusts nature trails for inspiration – or bike rides. Don’t forget to check out my Basing Wood, Farleigh Mount, Basing Lime Pits, Micheldever Wood and Alice Holt reviews.

3. Visit an Ice Cream shop

We have some friends who live in Birmingham which has a fantastic ice cream parlour in the city centre. We always make a trip here, as the children really enjoy it. It’s become a bit of a tradition.

Sundaes Gelato is in Basingstoke and is perfect for an ice cream or sorbet!

4. Fly a kite

Crabtree has to be the best place for this in Basingstoke.

5. Pretend to be a pirate

My little one is obsessed with pirates at the moment. When she’s bigger, we hope to take her to the Historic shipyard in Portsmouth.

She was christened on HMS Victory, so I want to see if they have finally sorted out her plaque!

6. Play ball games

I never realised how much fun you can have with a football till my little one started kicking one!

7. Go on a bear hunt (or a Gruffalo hunt if your little one has read the book)

We are very lucky because we live very close to some little wooded areas which are perfect for bear hunting.

If you don’t live close to some wooded areas, have a look at this post HERE.

8. Go to a Country show

You may be just in time for the New Forest Show this year (it was in July), but maybe something to think about for next year.

It’s a great opportunity to see shiny tractors, lovely animals and yummy things to buy and eat. Or check out some other country shows that are coming up HERE.

9. Go to the Zoo.

Marwell is probably the closest zoo to us, but I went to London Zoo in April 2014 when she was three years old with my little one and can thoroughly recommend this too. Just don’t walk it from Waterloo like we did!

10. Sleep under the stars

We are going camping next weekend and I’m looking forward to doing this!

11. Build a sandcastle or have a sand Castle Competitions

Fleet Pond

Frensham Ponds

Or go to the Beach! The Nearest “Beaches” to Basingstoke are Fleet Pond on the way to Fleet and Frensham Pond, just past Farnham. Otherwise, head to West Wittering, which is great for toddlers.

12. Run through the sprinkler

Not particularly environmentally friendly, but great fun!!!

13. Create your own perfume

I was obsessed with doing this when I was about 8 years old. All I needed was a jar with a lid, some water and a rose bush. My poor parents had to clean out the remnants! lol

14. Roast some marshmallows

“Burning Nights” are a big thing in our house. We have a chiminea and Miss NHM loves it because we can roast marshmallows over it. We recently learnt something new about counting to “50” after you’ve roasted your marshamallow to ensure you don’t get burnt.

15. Go on a train adventure

For a proper train adventure, check out the Watercress Line or Exbury Gardens and Steam Train. Otherwise, just a trip from Basingstoke to Winchester or Farnborough will probably be exciting for little ones.

16. Rainy day card making

Click HERE for some ideas

17. Explore art and music

There are lots of music classes in the area or maybe just a trip to the Anvil or the Haymarket will be inspiring.

18. Learn a new language

Borrow some books in a different language from the library. There are even children’s books in different languages at the Basingstoke Discovery Centre.

Or maybe investigate Linguatastic, the local language school.

19. Fruit Picking – Local Pick Your Own’s

Check out my previous post on local Pick Your Own farms HERE.

20. Climbing Trees

Basing Wood is perfect for climbing trees.

21. Painting Rocks

I want to do this next year with my little one, as I think it will make less mess then! lol.

22. Have a BBQ

You can’t beat a BBQ in summer! Check HERE for a previous post about outdoor BBQ facilities in the area.

23. Daisy Chains

All you need is an area with daisies in. Hours of fun!

24. Go to a farm

Try Finkley Down Farm, Miller’s Ark, Manydown and Bucklebury Farm.

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Review 2013: Finkley Down Farm

Posted by Louise NorthHantsMum on in Reviews of Days Out 0 Comment

Finkley Down Farm, Andover

I LOVE Finkley Down Farm. I’ve been visiting, on and off, for the last 30 years (OUCH!). It’s been great to see how it’s developed over that time. I remember the old gypsy caravan, when you used to actually be able to go into it and sit on the beds. Anyone else remember that? lol.

Play

There is SO much to do at Finkley Down Farm. It’s quite small so it’s easy to walk around and there’s a lot packed in. A new “play barn” was built this winter and it’s massive! We went on a Sunday morning, and it was very quiet until 12.30pm, where it started to become very busy. I’d expected it to be very busy, but was really pleased to see how quiet it was.  We spent a lot of time in the Rabbit Barn because my Little One loves the rabbits. We then ventured over to the Mini ride on Tractor field and my Little One practically had it to herself for 30 minutes. She had to go on every single tractor! lol.

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We then wandered back through the farm and went over to the Little Tikes play area. My Little One loved this area and we spent a good 40 minutes playing on the slides and on the trampolines.

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I then noticed that there were five very large trampolines nearby that were deserted, so we went and had a go on every single one!! Well, I wasn’t allowed because it was for 10 year old’s and under but my Little One had a whale of a time. She just LOVES bouncing.

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We then went back through the farm again. We didn’t attend any of the Handling sessions because I think my Little One is too young to handle farm animals, at 27 months old. But this is obviously a personal choice. We spent a lot of time watching the Ferrets, which were very funny and then talking to the Ducks. We also went into the Touch and Feel barn again but my Little One was a bit freaked out by the sheep that were “baa-ing” very loudly. At that point, we were both exhausted so went and had our picnic, had one last go in the Little Tikes play area and then headed home.

We had a look in the new Soft play barn when we arrived at 10am (it’s massive!) but decided we would come back later on. When we did go back, the place was heaving. Which was a little disappointing as it seemed most people were inside, even though the weather was nice. It was always an issue before if it rained at Finkley as there weren’t many sheltered areas, but now the Soft Play barn has this covered!

Food

We took our own picnic (we remembered it this time! lol). I did have a quick look at the menu and it seemed reasonable, but without many healthy choices. I did think that £3 for a slice of cake was a bit steep.

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Facilities

Were never that great but they have improved radically over the past few years. However, I was a bit disappointed that I could find any recycling facilities on site, especially as they sell drink cans.

Baby Facilities

Are near the entrance. There are a few baby changing tables and a few nappy bins. All seemed in good condition.

Parking

Is free and there is lots of it. When the main parking area is full, they open up a field nearby and you can park here.

Prices

Maybe I’m getting old, but I was surprised at how expensive the day tickets are. I think I’m getting wise to this now, after my Wellington Country Park review! lol.

SAVER Ticket – 2 Adults & 2 Children £31.00
Adults £8.95
Senior Citizens, Students & Disabled Adults £8.50
Children (aged 2 – 16 years) £7.95
Children with disability and carer £7.50

They also do a reduced after school rate and Serving Military Personnel discount.

However, if you live near Andover or plan to go to Finkley more than four times in a year, the best option by far is to get the Season ticket, which is cheaper if you buy it online.

Rating 4.75/5

Finkley has a special place in my heart, because I’ve been going for such a long time. So I’m giving it a 4.75 out of 5, because it isn’t cheap and doesn’t have recycling facilities, but we always have a fabulous day out there!