A Perfect Day out at Willows Farm (London Colney)

When mention of a day trip to Willows Farm was made at playgroup last month, I reserved our seats on the coach within two minutes.
We had been to the activity farm a couple of times before, and loved it each time. Whether you get blazing sunshine or pouring rain, there is always something to do there. Shade is easy to find on a sunny day, and there are loads of activities available for children if it rains. It is not frowned upon to bring your own food and there are plenty of picnic tables all over the activity farm.

A day at Willows can be planned in advance, without having to worry about what the weather might be like. Tickets are quite expensive but we always manage to find 2 for 1 offers whenever we go, and this time, we did not even have to spend a penny. We currently receive support from Home-Start and they have just bought an annual pass that families are allowed to borrow for a day. How amazing is that?

Today was hot, hot, hot! We were in flip flops, short sleeves, hats and had a thick layer of sunscreen on as we left the house just before 9 a.m. today. We had as many bottles of water as we could carry and a water spray to cool ourselves down.

We took our little man to school and headed to town to meet our playgroup friends. It was the girls’ first tie on a coach and they were beaming in delight. They kept waving at passers-by, who were quite happy to wave back.

We started our day in the ‘Young Drivers’ Zone,’ a firm favourite for the girls, and headed for ‘The Farmyard’ shortly after that. There, Beanie enjoyed feeding Bob the horse.

The girls enjoyed seeing goats, a pony, rabbits and alpacas. Poppy, with her sleepy smile, was my favourite!

Although she was not brave enough to hold a guinea pig, Jumpy enjoyed patting the one my mum held for a bit. We went for a tractor ride, which was enjoyed by all. We chose to do that during a show in the arena to make sure we had a less busy ride. We then spent ages racing plastic duck. That one is a fab activity for all ages but next time, I will bring plastic ducks from home (the small duck we bought there was £1). The children were following the ducks along the water trails, and the adults found pumping the water quite enjoyable.

We had lunch in the shade and after some trampoline and bouncy caste action; Jumpy had her first ride on a merry go round with her big sister. It was followed by another and another. The girls were so happy their faces were worth a million pounds! After a bit of agility play, we had an ice cream and the girls ended their day of fun in the indoor play area. There is a ‘drop’ slide in there I found rather scary (just to look at) and nobody had the courage to attempt it whilst we were there.

There were a couple of meltdowns but on the whole we all went home happy and exhausted.

Please note that I was not compensated in any way to write this post. We simply had a fantastic day out and I thought I would share our experience. I really wanted to mention Home-Start and the fact funding cuts affecting services that make such a difference to families is a real shame. We feel really lucky that there is such a strong sense of community in our area and it makes me really proud to live in Hertfordshire.