Single Dad for the weekend, young kids, where to go?
Discussion
V8mate said:
Why? Both are so young they'll never remember the weekend.
Empty cardboard boxes for the two of them to play in. Bake some cupcakes with the eldest.
It's about stimulating the kids....not about whether they'll remember it. Empty cardboard boxes for the two of them to play in. Bake some cupcakes with the eldest.
I'd also challenge the memory thing...I reckon the 4yr old will I certainly have memories from that age. I do.
Not sure where in the country you are coming from so not sure if you are considering Paultons Park and Peppa Pig World as a trip away.
Either way I regularly have my two (3 and 1 1/2) on my own and they love the place, I live locally and have a season ticket, and if you know how to use the park to your advantage then it’s great.
Should you be interested my crash course tips for doing the park on your own with the minimum amount of hassle is as follows:
I get there early i.e. for when they open and T my kids up for the fact that we won’t do any queuing (we’ve tried it, they don’t like it so why bother) so we normally fly in, straight to Peppa Pig World do a couple of rides before it gets busy (whatever you do don’t do the helicopter ride – Windy castle is the best) and then use the indoor play park they have there – 4 different zones for kids of all ages – my kids love it and usually last a good hour in there.
After that it’s a quick blast around the outdoor Peppa Pig play park, but this is usually very busy and not really worth the stress – everything is recreated elsewhere in the park and with half the volume of people.
Then it’s off to one of the sand pit play areas in the main park (swings, roundabout, slides etc), via the Wind in the Willows thing (dark room where things glow) again no waiting and the kids love it.
Then I usually take them to the bouncy castle and trampoline hut (via a walk through Dinosaur Land), again usually not too busy as most small kids stay for hours in Peppa Pig World, and of course it’s best to do this before feeding them!
By this time it’s usually time for a picnic (park opens at 10am) – plenty of places to stop especially if you take a picnic blanket.
After lunch it’s off to the Sealion and Digger ride (my two can go on these rides on their own, which they love and so go multiple times) with a stop on the way for the rabbit ride (car on a track – same sort of thing as Daddy Pigs car ride but longer ride and shorter queues).
If you are going in the summer and the weather is good you can take their swimmers and they can then run around a water park playground, which is right next to another playground consisting mainly of slides and tunnels.
Believe me after that lot(an easy 5-6hrs) they will be knackered and with luck you won’t have had to queue too much but you will be a legend!
Finish it off with a Slush Puppy or an ice cream on your way out of the park (yes I bribe the eldest to leave so we don’t get tantrums) and my two are happy and quiet all the way home.
There are many other things to do / look at as well, that don’t involve too much queuing e.g. a small train ride around the park, penguin feeding, bird enclosures, Tractor rides etc but I find the above is usually more than enough to amuse my two.
And yes I do realise that I spend far too much time at the damn place but living so close it’s a great way to kill a day or just a couple of hours and as my wife works on Saturdays it make my life so much easier.
Either way I regularly have my two (3 and 1 1/2) on my own and they love the place, I live locally and have a season ticket, and if you know how to use the park to your advantage then it’s great.
Should you be interested my crash course tips for doing the park on your own with the minimum amount of hassle is as follows:
I get there early i.e. for when they open and T my kids up for the fact that we won’t do any queuing (we’ve tried it, they don’t like it so why bother) so we normally fly in, straight to Peppa Pig World do a couple of rides before it gets busy (whatever you do don’t do the helicopter ride – Windy castle is the best) and then use the indoor play park they have there – 4 different zones for kids of all ages – my kids love it and usually last a good hour in there.
After that it’s a quick blast around the outdoor Peppa Pig play park, but this is usually very busy and not really worth the stress – everything is recreated elsewhere in the park and with half the volume of people.
Then it’s off to one of the sand pit play areas in the main park (swings, roundabout, slides etc), via the Wind in the Willows thing (dark room where things glow) again no waiting and the kids love it.
Then I usually take them to the bouncy castle and trampoline hut (via a walk through Dinosaur Land), again usually not too busy as most small kids stay for hours in Peppa Pig World, and of course it’s best to do this before feeding them!
By this time it’s usually time for a picnic (park opens at 10am) – plenty of places to stop especially if you take a picnic blanket.
After lunch it’s off to the Sealion and Digger ride (my two can go on these rides on their own, which they love and so go multiple times) with a stop on the way for the rabbit ride (car on a track – same sort of thing as Daddy Pigs car ride but longer ride and shorter queues).
If you are going in the summer and the weather is good you can take their swimmers and they can then run around a water park playground, which is right next to another playground consisting mainly of slides and tunnels.
Believe me after that lot(an easy 5-6hrs) they will be knackered and with luck you won’t have had to queue too much but you will be a legend!
Finish it off with a Slush Puppy or an ice cream on your way out of the park (yes I bribe the eldest to leave so we don’t get tantrums) and my two are happy and quiet all the way home.
There are many other things to do / look at as well, that don’t involve too much queuing e.g. a small train ride around the park, penguin feeding, bird enclosures, Tractor rides etc but I find the above is usually more than enough to amuse my two.
And yes I do realise that I spend far too much time at the damn place but living so close it’s a great way to kill a day or just a couple of hours and as my wife works on Saturdays it make my life so much easier.
I often have to look after my 5 year old daughter during the weekend as SWMBO works nights as a nurse.
The best thing I did was buy a National Trust membership.
We now use it all the time. Their app shows their sites close to you or further away and what is happening at them.
In the past few months we have taken her teddy bear to use a zip wire at a ruined castle, Geocached in sand dunes, ground her own flour at a water mill and hunted for clues to get Easter eggs on an island.
After three or four days out the membership has paid for itself.
She has a National Trust passport and whenever we visit a new place it gets a stamp. The staff love looking through it and talking about all the places we have visited.
You could book a room in a Travelodge and go somewhere further away. It is only one night. Your kids will treat it like a big adventure.
Just remember to join in with whatever they are doing. I always join in the activities and this makes it more special for my daughter as a lot of parents just stand to the side and expect everything to be done for them. Finally take lots of photos to show the other half and to remember the adventure with.
The best thing I did was buy a National Trust membership.
We now use it all the time. Their app shows their sites close to you or further away and what is happening at them.
In the past few months we have taken her teddy bear to use a zip wire at a ruined castle, Geocached in sand dunes, ground her own flour at a water mill and hunted for clues to get Easter eggs on an island.
After three or four days out the membership has paid for itself.
She has a National Trust passport and whenever we visit a new place it gets a stamp. The staff love looking through it and talking about all the places we have visited.
You could book a room in a Travelodge and go somewhere further away. It is only one night. Your kids will treat it like a big adventure.
Just remember to join in with whatever they are doing. I always join in the activities and this makes it more special for my daughter as a lot of parents just stand to the side and expect everything to be done for them. Finally take lots of photos to show the other half and to remember the adventure with.
I look after my just over 3 and a half year old every other day 6 days a week (1 day is all 3 of us) and have done since she was 6 months old.
To echo what the previous poster said, we've just bought English Heritage membership - there are more EH sites than National Trust ones near our house, and she loves castles so it seemed a no-brainer. We've already done three new castles this year. After a year of membership you get free entry to most CADW and Historic Scotland sites too.
Basically it's a lot of running up steps and around walls with a little bit of "What used to be here?" and "Why has it got no roof?" type questions thrown in, but there is normally somewhere you can have a picnic and buy a hot drink. Our car always contains a groundsheet, some pegs to stop it blowing away, some water bottles, a couple of milky ways, some fruit, a scooter and a football. And a £20 note in the ashtray because of the nightmare that was "the time I forgot my wallet"
Center Parcs is all well and good, but it's expensive. We've just had a weekend at Butlins which would absolutely not have been my choice, but is amazing for kids - there is a fairground, a pool, rides, a beach - and the food was decent too.
We take her all sorts of places and yet the places she has loved the most are:
the garden centre with the water features display
the park
the local swimming pool
Butlins (because it has a pool and rides)
Aldi (she likes to go to new ones and compare them to the others)
car boot sales (especially ones where she finds toys she likes)
and the thing she mentions most about last summer was "the day we had breakfast, dinner and tea in the garden"
We've bought a tent ...
To echo what the previous poster said, we've just bought English Heritage membership - there are more EH sites than National Trust ones near our house, and she loves castles so it seemed a no-brainer. We've already done three new castles this year. After a year of membership you get free entry to most CADW and Historic Scotland sites too.
Basically it's a lot of running up steps and around walls with a little bit of "What used to be here?" and "Why has it got no roof?" type questions thrown in, but there is normally somewhere you can have a picnic and buy a hot drink. Our car always contains a groundsheet, some pegs to stop it blowing away, some water bottles, a couple of milky ways, some fruit, a scooter and a football. And a £20 note in the ashtray because of the nightmare that was "the time I forgot my wallet"
Center Parcs is all well and good, but it's expensive. We've just had a weekend at Butlins which would absolutely not have been my choice, but is amazing for kids - there is a fairground, a pool, rides, a beach - and the food was decent too.
We take her all sorts of places and yet the places she has loved the most are:
the garden centre with the water features display
the park
the local swimming pool
Butlins (because it has a pool and rides)
Aldi (she likes to go to new ones and compare them to the others)
car boot sales (especially ones where she finds toys she likes)
and the thing she mentions most about last summer was "the day we had breakfast, dinner and tea in the garden"
We've bought a tent ...
Edited by blugnu on Tuesday 9th April 17:43
Great memories of this place a few years back when we went down in the HSV I had at the time!
http://bedruthan.com/
http://bedruthan.com/
It's mad isn't it what kids like?
My 3 years old idea of a perfect day varies, but he loves getting the train (2 stops) to go to the library and a cake. We could do that in our village, but the addition of the train makes it so much more fun!
National Trust is great, we have membership as there are 2 within 4 miles of the house that have loads of good grounds to walk and explore (Gruffalo hunting is still a popular past-time). We did a forest walk when we were in Aberdeen a few weeks ago, they had brass rubbings on the path for the kids to do which he loved. He also loved the beach - he had his hat, gloves, waterproofs and wellies on but it didn't matter.
Local kids farm is good too. We try and do fun stuff that won't cost a fortune - they don't appreciate the value of things at that age and you can make anything an adventure but you have to get involved with them to make it work.
My 3 years old idea of a perfect day varies, but he loves getting the train (2 stops) to go to the library and a cake. We could do that in our village, but the addition of the train makes it so much more fun!
National Trust is great, we have membership as there are 2 within 4 miles of the house that have loads of good grounds to walk and explore (Gruffalo hunting is still a popular past-time). We did a forest walk when we were in Aberdeen a few weeks ago, they had brass rubbings on the path for the kids to do which he loved. He also loved the beach - he had his hat, gloves, waterproofs and wellies on but it didn't matter.
Local kids farm is good too. We try and do fun stuff that won't cost a fortune - they don't appreciate the value of things at that age and you can make anything an adventure but you have to get involved with them to make it work.
http://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=d...
Our kids used to love this place, especially the adventure park,
Our kids used to love this place, especially the adventure park,
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