On the weekend, we went along to Kew Gardens for the first time. There are Christmas activities going on there throughout the festive season, both in the daytime and the evening. We opted for the day time as we felt it would be easier for the children. You can see details of all the festive activities here.
When we arrived, it took us a while before we found the the Christmas fairground so we took the chance to explore the gardens and have some lunch as we made our way across the park. It was a great place for the children to explore, particularly Mr Z, and loads of different looking plants and trees for them to talk about.
Despite being December now, there are still so many leaves on the ground and the colours look quite autumnal instead of just wintry. There are lots of low flying planes coming over head which Mr T and Mr R loved pointing out!
The giant mushrooms were a favourite!
We also explored inside the Princess of Wales conservatory where there are lots of tropical plants and also ponds and a small aquarium:
In the Aquarium there is a Santa’s Grotto every day from 12-3pm which is free to visit. We were just so slightly too late to see Santa, the boys’ dad had made a mistake and thought Santa was going to be there ‘at 3’ not ‘until 3’!! – But we did all still enjoy all the tropical plants inside the green house.
We then made our way to the Christmas fairground. It has a vintage feel with a traditional carousel and helter skelter, along with a traditional car ride which was a hit with Mr T and Mr R (age 3 and 2). Mr Z’s (5) favourite was the helter skelter.
The rides are £2 per ride so while having a few children having a couple of gos on the rides, this will add up quite a bit so do be aware of that and allow for it when planning your Christmas visit to the park. There is also another Santa’s grotto at this end of the park which is a Woodland Grotto is costs £3.50 to visit here. There are Christmas stalls available nearby too for a Christmas market atmosphere.
After they finished the rides, the boys were very keen to go and play in the playground at the Climbers and Creepers area. This was great for them to use up all their energy and there is plenty of play equipment there for them to enjoy.
By this time, it was starting to get towards 4pm and a beautiful sunset could be seen over the park as the children were playing
In the evenings, there is a Christmas After Dark event available at Kew. I have to say this looks really amazing and I am tempted to go again but at night, so that we could experience this. It is the first year that it is on, and it looks really atmospheric from the pictures on the website. I know my sister is extremely keen to go to this too, so we may go and if we do, I will share my pics with you all!
Linking up to..
We were given our tickets so that we could try out the Christmas activities at Kew Gardens and see if it would become a new family tradition. Take a look at this infographic from Millennium Hotels all about Christmas Traditions all around the world – I am there at the moment with some childhood memories of Christmas so do have a look!