Days Out: Pensthorpe Review
I’ve never written a review on here before – probably because I’m normally too exhausted after a day trip with a toddler and a baby. But I had a – dare I say it – successful trip to Pensthorpe Nature Reserve last week with my two under 3 and wanted to give any other mums the heads up on how to get the best day out with their little ones.
First of all, Pensthorpe is FREE to under 3s, but £14.95 for adults during term time and £15.95 during the school holidays. And children’s prices are only a pound or two cheaper so it can be a pricey day out if you aren’t able to make use of offers. Luckily they have plenty of special occasions on their website’s Events page. For our trip, we managed to get Daddy in for free because it was Valentine’s Week.
Because our daily routine is ruled by my eldest’s potty training, we rocked up at a really stupid time. It was just before 11am and we really wanted to go to Hootz House soft play first but their first timeslot runs 9.30-11.30 so we only had half an hour left. (My first tip: if you want a trip to Hootz, call ahead to ask more about their timeslots and book in advance.) Luckily, it wasn’t too busy so we were allowed to stay later.
First of all, can I say how much I love Hootz House? I normally hate soft play centres – they’re so dirty and germy, even the supposedly ‘clean’ ones that everyone normally raves about. But this one’s Owlet corner is looked after and fantastic at separating the Under 3s from the rest of the bigger kids as it’s tucked away from the rest. And it has a network of pipes which sucks up balls from the ball pit to spit them over your toddler’s head! My daughter loved ‘feeding’ the machine. While we went upstairs for the Messy Morning session, there’s nothing there that isn’t already at your local playgroup so we stayed climbing Hootz House until our time was up.
After this, we had lunch at the cafe, which was very bright, newly refurbished and had a good range of adult and toddler-friendly lunches. A takeaway tea was £2.10 to give you a rough idea on prices. Next time we come back, we’ll probably save some money and bring a packed lunch to eat on one of the picnic tables outside WildRootz but at the moment, we’re still reliant on high chairs (although if the ground had been drier, a picnic blanket would have been enough).
Yes, let’s talk about WildRootz – an adventure playground that’s pretty much unmatched by anything else nearby. Across two acres, there’s 30 different ‘experiences’. Even though my kids were too young for the many zipwires – and many of the lower tunnels were waterlogged from recent rain – there was still so much to do, even down to the musical instruments dotted about. In the middle of it, there’s a wooden tower called the Rookery, which is a maze of sorts that I guarantee your kids will both run around and have their photo taken with. Surrounding it, my two year old loved the imaginative play car and basket swing – and tasted some sand in the sandpit.
Past the adventure playground, we walked to the flamingo and crane enclosures, which had bird-watching huts. The route was very pushchair friendly and we stopped along the way for photos at various sculptures – particularly a giant spider my toddler liked the look of. We spent some time looking at the flamingos which were kept far enough away from the viewing bench to not feel like we were disturbing them. Though I must admit, I missed the red squirrels which were once at Pensthorpe and have now been released into the wild and would love for them to make a comeback.
With great irony, the area we saw the least was the nature reserve, which was probably best for the Norfolk wildlife as they were saved from my toddlers’ shrieks. We whizzed the pushchair through the gardens when both toddlers were too worn out to move themselves and even had time to peruse the gift shop. All in all, it had been a good day out, with enough toddler-friendly distractions to avoid tantrums and grumps. Plus, the kids slept in the car on the way home – which is definitely a sign that we’ll be coming back.
