Chickenshed Theatre is an inclusive theatre company based in
North London for all ages. Tales from the Shed is a hugely popular interactive
performance especially designed for 0-7 year olds, and older children will love the regular workshops and shows.
This summer the guys from the Shed are entertaining 0-7 year
olds with Tales – Run, Brer Rabbit, Run. Based on the traditional stories and
characters of Brer Rabbit, mayhem is caused when they collide with the present
day London Olympics. Children are always encouraged to make lots of noise as
they share the same space with the performers. Lots of fun to be had!
If you would like the chance to win tickets to see Run, Brer
Rabbit, Run at the Chickenshed Theatre just visit the Tot Friendly website here
and enter – good luck!!!
Dates and times: 26 – 28 July & 2 – 4 August with two
shows a day at 10am & 11.30am.
We set off early for our outing to The Snowman at the Peacock Theatre in Holborn with fingers crossed that Freddie wouldn’t have a meltdown due to the lack of sleep we had all had the night before. Another story for another time...
We needn’t have worried as his favourite thing ever – Trains! – set him off in high spirits, the train was on time too which helped!
We arrived at the theatre and after purchasing a flashing snowman made our way to our fantastic seats in the 3rd row of the stalls , but I would think most seats would be good as the Peacock Theatre is quite intimate as far as London theatres go.
The show opens with a wonderful curtain of snow and the young boy, James, waking in his bed – the story that follows is both magical and festive and, much to the surprise of my hubby, had every child and adult in the house transfixed for an hr and 50 minutes, from toddlers to grannies and grandpas.
The music, costumes, stage and choreography is perfect and what you would expect from a production linked to Sadler's Wells and offered clever distractions throughout the show for any toddlers or youngsters who might have been bored.
Many fantastic characters join James and The Snowman on their adventure to the North Pole including dancing foxes, badgers, rabbits, more snowmen, Jack Frost and of course Father Christmas.
Freddie hasn't stopped asking to see ‘the boy’ again even though we keep telling him the show is called ‘The Snow Man’ which just shows how powerful a production can be when the only non costumed character sticks in a 2 year olds head!
A must for families wanting to share a little bit of warmth at Christmas we loved it!
For more details and tickets visit the Salder's Wells website
The Enchanted Christmas House is located in the London Art House in Islington. This magical wonderland offers children from 18months to 9 years + a festive treat to remember.
Our visit was booked for 10.30 and Freddie was very excited to be meeting Father Christmas to ask him for a “choo choo twain and tea pot” but when he actually came face to face with the man in red it was a different story...
Once you arrive you are taken through to the Garden of Winter Wonder, an area full of Christmas trees and fairy lights with various areas for imaginative play including; a puppet theatre, a mini bouncy castle, the seaside, karaoke, drums and an area with lots of role play toys such as a dolls house, cooker, .....
Freddie could have spent hours here! Video here: Snow not included!
The show begins on a small stage and offers a theatrical experience from here on with a host of Christmassy characters from Mrs Christmas, Father Christmas and his elves to Aladdin and a rubber duck! These characters and more appear from time to time throughout the rest of the journey.
The first room we were taken to was the Elves Workshop where Freddie made a Christmas tree and other festive decorations, at one point a large white rabbit entered the room and Freddie was for the first time ever not scared of a person in a furry suit! He enjoyed the renditions of Sleeping Bunnies especially when the giant bunny went to sleep right next to him!
Soon we were off to the Gingerbread kitchen, a wonderfully decorated room with enormous sweets and candies adorning the ceilings and walls. Freddie just had to decorate two gingerbread men with coloured icing, balls and sweets and half way through this was summoned to Santa...
We shot down the stairs with Mrs Claus and as we arrived Freddie stopped in his tracks, Santa sat in a wonderful grotto surrounded by lots of presents and snow but Freddie froze. All of his words had disappeared and he wouldn’t go within 4 feet of Father Christmas! Father Christmas took it all in his stride and chatted away and gave an early pressie to Freddie. His first meeting with Santa was a memorable one even if it didn’t go according to plan!
Back to the Gingerbread Kitchen for a few more songs and fun and then we ventured off to Aladdin’s Cave singing a “walking, running, hopping, stopping” song along the way. Freddie began to loosen up and sing and hop along too... However, in Aladdin’s cave he spied the Duplo and that was it! He did join in the treasure hunt briefly but the theatrical experience had left the building for him as his second favourite toy was on offer! Every other child in the room joined in the fun as Aladdin summoned up a variety of characters by rubbing his lamp...
So to the finale and a mini stage show featuring all the characters from the day along with some new characters with songs, dancing and lots of audience participation which our little chap thoroughly enjoyed along with every other child!
After 2 1/2 hours of fun everyone was offered some food which included meatballs, pasta, houmos, carrot sticks, pitta bread, very yummy cakes, chocolate and satsumas with a variety of drinks including water, juices, tea, coffee and a mulled wine which was actually rather good!
The venue is ideal for an enchanted festive treat with each room wonderfully decorated. The staff were very friendly and attentive and the acting was good too.
We had a great time but now for the crunch, a ticket will set you back £49 per person with a family of four ticket costing £159 (a saving of £37) and under 18 months go free. Is it worth it? There are certainly a lot of hands needed to make the event work so I can see where the cost goes and £49 for the little ones is definitely worth its ticket price – the question is whether the price tag is justified for the adults, probably not and so I would suggest to get more for your money go take a couple of kids along with one adult rather than a couple of adults to a child.
Since writing this the Enchanted House people are offering half price tickets to adults of for 3rd and 4th December...
Cost aside the whole experience was fantastic for children and every child in the place had a wonderful time. Freddie fell asleep on the way home clinging to his present from Father Christmas the whole way...
We headed off to Hyde Park Winter Wonderland for the opening night on Friday with our 2 ½ year old. It was an all-round toddler Winner!
The Park is filled with wonder and excitement, whatever you are looking for, from shows, to rides, to eateries ,bars, shops and market stalls it really does spark a bit of Christmas spirit. It is open 10m -10pm through to January 3rd, except for Christmas day.
We parked in the park itself and headed off in the dark for a stroll along the Serpentine. In the distance the sky was illuminated by the park’s Giant Observation Wheel which reminded me of a large snow flake. As soon as Freddie clapped eyes on it he was on a mission in the right direction for once! As we got nearer, his mouth opened wider at this enormous wheel. Like most toddlers he has a thing for wheels and this was the biggest and brightest he had ever seen.
On entering the park from this end you are greeted, much to his delight, with a huge static stream train and an old fashion organ. The giant talking tree received a different reaction as he is a little scary in the dark!
The whole park is very well laid out although I am not sure how it would fair when too busy. To give Freddie a little more freedom we attached his backpack and lead which was a god send as we didn’t need to worry about hands – which are not fashionable in toddler world for Freddie at the moment.
The must visit ride for him was “Santa’s Flying Sleigh”- his first ever roller coaster experience was a memory to behold and his dad and big brother enjoyed it too. Second on the list was Santa’s Workshop, an even smaller roller coaster which Freddie went on by himself and lots of traditional roundabouts where the London bus was a firm favourite.
By the giant wheel you will find Santa Land, a wonderland for children; it is surrounded by the Santa Express, a miniature railway line with the only access being via a bridge or over the railway’s crossroads. In this area there are lots of activities for young children, an inflatable snow man bouncy castle, mini carousels and fairground rides, hook a Santa game, Elves workshop and Father Christmas himself who is free to visit between 10am and 6pm.
If you are looking for a little getaway, head to the fantastic Speigel tent which offered a relaxing atmosphere, food, drinks and highchairs and had a live jazz band when we were there – this is a great brief escape from the busy lights and music outside.
There is plenty to do for families with pre-school children, but away from a toddlers view for a minute, it will cost a fair bit. If your toddler is happy to soak up the Christmas atmosphere with you and maybe go on one or two rides then it’s an all-round toddler winner! However if you have a little one who wants to do everything he sees be prepared to dent your wallet. In Santa Land (an area specifically for the younger audience) Hook a Santa costs £3 a go! Ok you win a prize every-time but if you have more than one child it is pretty expensive.
Taking the cost aside the experience is a festive pleasurable one and we managed to lose over 3 hrs here. Our toddler had three expressions throughout the whole time, mouth open, squealing with delight and grinning from ear to ear.
More details can be found on their website – if you want to avoid the queues you can pre –book the circus, giant wheel and ice skating.
Most of Winter Wonderland is level for buggies with only gentle inclines. There are baby changing facilities at various disabled toilets around the site.
A few weeks ago we visited Bekonscot Model Village & Railway in Buckinghamshire and had a fantastic day.
We arrived kitted out for a full days adventure with picnic lunches to feed an army, but when we saw the modest entrance we thought we had made a mistake and that we would probably only last half an hour! four hours later we were still there just finishing a train ride. To be honest most families would probably get round in an hour but Freddie decided to pitch him-self at the first railway bridge and it took us over half an hour to coax him to the second!
Bekonscot is great fun for all but especially for little ones with 1.5 acres of miniature buildings, towns, railways, castles, and more to discover. They also have a playground next to the picnic areas, a miniature ride on railway and remote control boats.
The miniature village and models comprise of six little towns stuck in a 1930’s time warp. Each village has its own character and the tiny railway connects them all very cleverly with stations for the trains to stop and pick up passengers.
The highlight of the day for our 2+ year olds was definitely the Model Railway which has almost 10 scale miles of track (450 meters in real life) .
The paths can be a little narrow for passing especially with buggies.
If you have a morning or afternoon free it is worth a visit...
Chickenshed Theatre is an inclusive theatre company based in
North London for all ages. Tales from the Shed is a hugely popular interactive
performance especially designed for 0-7 year olds, and older children will love the regular workshops and shows.
