Oh no it's the Gruffalo !! (trail at Bolderwood)

Our annual 'family staycation' started on the Thursday as Hubbie had taken a day off so that we could start our long weekend early. It began brilliantly with all three of us in the kitchen rocking out to the Prodigy - Firestarter. A sign that our son has inherited his parents' unfailing love of music and inappropriate dancing all at the same time.

Puddle jumping 

Exploring the forest

As usual the plan was to stay with the in-laws who live near the New Forest. We often see ponies, cows, sheep and even pigs when we're down there and now the boy is getting older we're hoping to treat him to more forest-related fun. To introduce him used to the great outdoors we've taken him to the woods near our house before now as he loves tromping around in wellies and - of course - jumping in muddy puddles.

Oh no it's the Gruffalo !

This year it's the 15th anniversary of the Gruffalo so there are a lot of activities being organised to celebrate and one of these is the Gruffalo trail that we took him to at the weekend. Like many kids our boy enjoyed then fell in love with then became obsessed with the Gruffalo. He has the books, the ones with the sound buttons, an advent calendar and a chocolate figurine as well as his last birthday party having a Gruffalo table cloth and some Gruffalo themed snacks - I did draw the line at crumble, but it will happen I'm sure !

Off he goes...

So, after a bit of a drive to get to Bolderwood in Hampshire we found the start of the Gruffalo trail. We had hoped that the boy would be excited about this, but he mithered and moaned about it. We did it anyway. You see he loves being outside and he loves the Gruffalo so I figured that the two would be a winning combination.

With Grandma

Checking the activities

As it was there was plenty to keep us all busy. Our boy enjoyed the change of terrain under foot from soft and earthy, to a bit tougher and twiggy then - his favourite - wet and puddly. Hubbie found a small stream and played pooh sticks with the boy. He seemed to really enjoy this so it's game we will definitely play again.

Grandma spotted the best - and weirdest - thing of all. This 'animal' foraging in the tree roots is actually a tree root !! I admit I find it quite creepy to look at, but it really is quite amazing.

Is it an animal ? Nope it's a tree root.

The trail was fun with some great activities involving collecting, counting, drawing and using all the senses in addition to experiencing some great forest to walk through. Towards the end our boy enjoyed hiding behind trees and us trying to find him. It helps that he's only just a metre tall I guess. The final challenge was the cattle grid to get back to the car park which both the boy and Grandma negotiated with some grace.

Hide and seek 

Careful...

At the end he was given a sticker and some lovely colouring sheets to take home - it's amazing how much a sticker will cheer up even the most miserable threenager.

This weekend we're going to take part in the big picnic to celebrate the Gruffalo's anniversary and we're hoping to spot one of the wooden sculptures of him that we've heard so much about. Fingers crossed for nice weather and me not forgetting to pack mine and Hubbie's wellies :)

This post is part of the fab and fun #countrykids linky from the lovely Fiona at Coombe Mill

We love bees :)