Yesterday we headed for the far side of Windermere via the chain ferry to go to Wray Castle. This is one of National Trust properties offering plenty of the 50 things activities.
The castle itself is a Victorian take on what a medieval castle should look like:
My son had been there before with my parents so he knew exactly where to go once inside the castle to find the rooms dedicated to entertaining children. First of all a chance to play sword fight and dress up:
Next to this was a room with books and bean bags followed by a room they could make paper crowns in. I think my son and his friend stayed sword fighting for most of the visit! Meanwhile I left the grandparents taking turns to supervise and went to explore.. Turns out that dotted throughout the castle there were all sorts of other kiddy distractions that mine completely missed:
The castle is in the process of major renovations having been used as a training centre for Merchant Seaman, a Youth Hostel and as an office. This is going to be long term project and will need lots of money to complete. Its good to be able to see how they are doing so far:
The final bit of fun for the children was the room with the foam blocks for building a castle:
Of course a collapsed castle was a big temptation to leap on to:
After a recuperating hot drink and cake in the little cafe we headed outside into the sunshine to the 50 things activities area:
There was a dead tree to balance on (#18):
A rope swing to swing on (#19):
And den building (#4):
There are 22 more activities you can do on the site but I had to take my friend home whilst my children went down to the lake with my parents to do stone skimming (#5). We will have to go back and see which of the others we can tick off. My daughter seems to have done a large percentage of them with 2 years left to complete them. How are your children doing on their list?
More photos of our day on Flickr
The final bit of fun for the children was the room with the foam blocks for building a castle:
Of course a collapsed castle was a big temptation to leap on to:
After a recuperating hot drink and cake in the little cafe we headed outside into the sunshine to the 50 things activities area:
There was a dead tree to balance on (#18):
A rope swing to swing on (#19):
And den building (#4):
There are 22 more activities you can do on the site but I had to take my friend home whilst my children went down to the lake with my parents to do stone skimming (#5). We will have to go back and see which of the others we can tick off. My daughter seems to have done a large percentage of them with 2 years left to complete them. How are your children doing on their list?
More photos of our day on Flickr
The National Trust excel themselves in providing children with so many activities both inside and out. I can see how much fun they had by the great photos, I'm sure they managed quite a few ticks off their lists - thanks for sharing with Country Kids.
ReplyDeleteCool place. I love that the indoor entertains them as much as the outdoor so really whatever the weather. Really got their imagination going!
ReplyDeleteWe are making most of our nt membership!
ReplyDeleteIt's great to know that we will all have fun
ReplyDelete