If you’ve been watching our stories today, you’ll see we went to visit the beautiful Gruffalo Adventures at Wakehurst. I was a lucky winner of a giveaway and what a fantastic win it was.
Okay, so Wakehurst is one of the Kew Royal Botanical Gardens in the heart of Sussex. There are 500 acres of gardens, woodlands and a nature reserve, that’s 50 football pitches for context. Incredible. The boys love the outdoors, so this was a great day out for all of us. Even with it being a wet soggy Saturday we loved it.
There are three options
- You can embark on the Gruffalo trail– you just follow marks and feathers to solve clues along the trail and learn skills from other creatures in the garden to seek out the Gruffalo.
- There is also an adventurous Gruffalo crumble hunt in the Asian Heath Garden. You have to find all the ingredients needed to make a Gruffalo crumble, from apples to sugar. On you with your completed shopping list, you’re rewarded with a special Gruffalo prize and our top-secret Gruffalo crumble recipe. This is an additional £4 and is for 3 yrs. +.
- Suppose your children are a little older, 5 yrs. +, they can join a workshop and listen to tales around the fire. How exciting. You still get to enjoy the scenic walk seeing Gruffalo characters along the way before returning to the base camp for some creative fun. Your little ones can make mud owls, snake bread, Mandala Mayhem nature art, Barking Gruffalo (charcoal bark rubbings of Gruffalo characters) and go footprint finding with a mixture of animal prints including Mouse, Snake, Owl, Fox, and Gruffalo. There is also an additional fee for this of £15.
Apart from the actual trail, there is so much to explore:
- The boys enjoyed crawling and climbing the trees on the adventurous log trail in Coates Wood.
- There were so much natural play spaces scattered across Wakehurst for the boys to explore. Look out for woven willow structures to run through, a labyrinth, the acoustic chair and some talking totem poles.
- Older children will love the Millennium Seed Bank. There is a one-way system in place, and the face mask is required.
There is so much to do in Wakehurst; children will love it. The annual Glow Wild winter lantern trail (for all ages) kicks off on Thursday 26 November through to Wednesday 30 December 2020.
The important bits
Where is it?
Selsfield Rd, Haywards Heath RH17 6TN
When is it open?
10 am – 6 pm
How much is it?
Adult £14.50
Child FREE
Who is it suitable for?
Everyone
How long do you need?
A full day
What is closed due to Coronavirus- Covid-19 or maintenance?
- The Mansion is closed
- The Children’s Heritage Garden is closed
Other information
- Baby Changing Facilities available
- Plenty of picnic tables and three eaters.The Stables Kitchen serves a range of fresh hot meals; the Pop-up food stall serves refreshments; and Seeds Café is perfect for a quick-stop for teas, coffee, cakes and sandwiches
- Car parking charges apply:
- Up to 30 minutes: Free
- Up to 1.5 hours: £3.50
- Up to 2.5 hours: £6.00
- Over 2.5 hours: £10.00
Pushchair friendly. There are many gravel and hard surface paths around the gardens.
Would we come back?
Well I would love to come back for Glow.
Other Things to do Nearby
Arundel Castle
Fishers Farm Park
Butlin’s Bognor Regis Resort
Little Street Role Play Centre Rudgwick
Go Ape Crawley
Gruffalo 20th Anniversary Activities
It’s a monster birthday! Celebrate the 20th anniversary of The Gruffalo with these exciting new birthday activities:
The Gruffalo’s Child, Alexandra Palace Theatre, Alexandra Palace Way, London N22 7AY – 28 Nov 2020 – 3 Jan 2021
The Gruffalo and The Snowman, Cadogan Hall, London, SW1X 9DQ – 21 & 22 Dec 2020
The Gruffalo Trail Thorndon, Thorndon Lodge, 29 Brentwood Rd, Ingrave, Warley, Brentwood CM13 3RE
We visited on 31 October 2020; the above information is correct as of that date.