Having thoroughly enjoyed the Stick Man trail during the winter we were keen to try out the new Gruffalo trail. For a change we were at Grizedale forest as we were going to be trying out Go Ape Junior later in the day. We were joined by a friend and her 3 year old to test it out.
We were given the trail leaflet by a friend who had been 2 days before which saved us £2. She had also told us where the trail started so we just headed up the blue trail where we found the start of the information boards.
The first challenge board asked the children to move like the various animals in the story. My daughter duly posed for me stomping like the Gruffalo:
To encourage little legs and keep us on track there were little signs along the way:
For the next board it was using as many of the senses as possible. This is my daughter listening to the bird song:
Further along it was time for Hide and Seek - turns out wearing red jumpers made this quite hard! The forest will be better for hiding in as more leaves come out though:
My daughter then helped our young friend with the next challenge of thinking about where the characters live in the forest:
All too quickly the trail ended with a You did it sign and a chance to do some woodland art:
Someone previously to us had created this lovely owl picture out of twigs and bark:
We made the most of some tree trunks acting as seats to sit and enjoy a picnic whilst enjoying the view on a beautiful day:
Then the children decided that it was time to build a log pile house for the snake, all three of them picked up sticks based upon their size:
In no time at all they had finished their construction:
The walk is not a very long one and there aren't as many activities as for Stick Man. The Forestry Commission have received plenty of feedback after the first few days and are going to add more to the trails. They were already in the process of making sculptures for a few of the forests in time for the Gruffalo birthday party on 7th June. One of these is our more usual forest of Whinlatter so I will definitely go and see it! I will be back to Grizedale again though as its a beautiful spot.
Great photos looks like you had fun! Love that the sun has come out for the Gruffalo! x
ReplyDeleteit wasn't such a deep DARK wood maybe that;s why he wasn't there!
ReplyDeleteI tried to say that on your blog! We must be made of hardier stuff in Cumbria (says she who was born in Nottingham!). My daughter loved it
ReplyDeleteWe were at Westonbirt this week and they have a Gruffalo trail too. We didn't do it, but we did pass a few groups who did. They seemed to be enjoying it. Same signs, by the looks of it. Lovely idea and I can imagine it keeps even the youngest child eager to walk. #CountryKids
ReplyDeleteAh we've just done the Gruffalo trail at Whinlatter! I've blogged and linked it for this week's country kids too :) It was a lot of fun for our little ones too. In fact the whole lakes holiday has been fab, as usual :)
ReplyDeleteThey are fun but bits being added to make them better
ReplyDeleteGlad you have enjoyed it the weather has helped!
ReplyDeleteGrizedale looks lovely. We have Alice Holt near us where there is also a Gruffalo trail but I think my two might be a bit young for it at 4 and 1! #countrykids
ReplyDeleteWhat a beautiful setting for a fun trail, it looks like the children had a great time and enjoyed building the log pile house! It's good to hear that the Forestry Commission are listening and acting on the feedback too. Thanks for linking up and sharing your outdoor fun with Country Kids.
ReplyDeleteInterested to read your post after I saw some really negagive posts on Facebook. We loved the Stickman Trail and Monkey adores the Gruffalo so we'll definitely be visiting our nearest Forestry Commission site once the wood carving is in place #CountryKids
ReplyDeleteThat looks amazing, absolutely something i'd never ever do because i'm a lame scaredy cat but my eldest would love it!
ReplyDeleteThank you for sharing. We've been planning to do the trail too, near Farnham. Interesting to hear the Forestry Commission are taking on the feedback. Hopefully, they'll make them longer #countrykids
ReplyDeletewell the 4 year old would be OK!
ReplyDeleteI love Go Ape. Such a good idea they've introduced courses for the younger ones. Looks like you had a great day : )
ReplyDeletethey really enjoyed themselves
ReplyDeleteI had heard bad things before I went but treated it as an extra fun way to walk and the kids seemed happy enough!
ReplyDeletehope you enjoy yourselves
ReplyDeleteMy eldest is dying to do this! We're at Whinlatter this week so maybe I wil give Go Ape a ring
ReplyDeletex x
I am scared of heights ;-)
ReplyDeleteyes as younger kids want to have the fun too!
ReplyDeletethey only have full one there http://beckywilloughby.blogspot.co.uk/2013/10/countrykids-go-ape-at-whinlatter.html
ReplyDelete